Seattle Restaurant Week has returned to town, this year adding even more restaurants to bring the total to over 160 participants. This week and next (Seattle Restaurant Week is actually two weeks), Sunday through Thursday (April 7-11 and 14-18), diners can indulge in a three-course menu (appetizer, entree, and dessert) for just $28. (Drinks, tax, and tip are extra.) An even better deal, in my view, is that many of these restaurants offer a three-course lunch for just $15. (Note that Sunday brunch is excluded.)
My caveats are the same as in the past. The three-course menus are limited—typically to three choices in each category, with the option to order additional items from the regular menu. And the restaurants tend to be especially busy for this two-week period.
To the first point, I still believe that Seattle Restaurant Week is a great (and affordable) way to check out a place that’s been on your must-try list for too long, and to know that some of the dishes will be the restaurants’ signature dishes. And to the second point, I’d say to simply adjust your expectations accordingly. Recognize that kitchen crew and waitstaff might be a little more stressed than usual for these two weeks. Though if the restaurant is already popular, you probably won’t see much difference in service or overall quality.
If you’re still concerned, go early. I did. I kicked off this go-around by grabbing Anchovies & Olives’ first seating of the very first night of this Seattle Restaurant Week. My dining companion and I got a nice table and great service from an unhurried staff. It was our first time to the restaurant together, and the food was terrific—definitely a bargain for the price.
We thoroughly enjoyed three courses each, plus a pasta dish (the signature bigoli—we wanted anchovies to go with the olives in one of our other entrées!) for good measure. Dinner started with fried oysters and salmon crudo for our first courses, then grilled Spanish mackerel and cioppino for our second courses (prompting a discussion about “regular” mackerel vs. horse mackerel vs. Spanish mackerel), and finally buttermilk panna cotta and gianduja terrine for our desserts.
Check the gallery above for photos and information about each dish, as well as a little more about mackerel.
