What Italian restaurants are good in Seattle besides il fornaio? (Bellevue: appointed, loans)

[annonymous0381]

Finding a good Italian restuarant in Seattle is harder than i thought. My 2 favorites in Seattle so far is il fornaio in downtown seattle. Il fornaio is a big chain restuarant. Another good Italian restuarant that i like in Seattle is Mondello in the magnolia neighborhood. I have tried many Italian restuarants accross the city and have been very disappointed. San Francisco has excellent Italian restaurants. In the San Fernando Valley portion of LA where im from there are better italian restuarants than Seattle. In terms of chineese food there are only 2 Chinese restaurants in Seattle that i found edible. Those 2 are Wild Ginger and Judy Fus Snappy dragon. Many of the chineese restuarants in Seattle that i have been to are worse than Panda Express which is sad.

In terms of Japanese Teppen Habachi Seattle only has 2 teppen places. One place is in the international district called Mikado and another is a restuarant that was formerly a Bennihanna. This past weekend i was at Mikado and got tough steak and dried out hibachi chicken.

In the san fernando valley portion of LA where im from there are tons of teppan hibachi restaurants that are 1p times better than Mikado.

Here in Seattle interms of New York jewish deli you are out of luck. Roxys deli in Fremont and Goldbergs deli in Bellevue is terrible.

Even though people in Seattle like Molly moons ice cream and Blue Bird ice cream i can get better ice cream at the supermarket by buying a pint of haagen dazs.

San Francisco has wonderful ice cream places.

LA has mcconells,three twins and sloans. All 3 beat Molly moons out of the water.


My experience with Seattle restaurants seems to be a hit or miss. Why does it have to be this way??

Also i notice that many Seattle restaurants even on Saturday nights arent supper busy. In the LA,CA area most restuarants without a reservation on a saturday night normally have 1 hour waits.

[tobester]

Maybe go back to California ... seems they have all the food you want

My favorite Italian is a little local place in Seward Park neighborhood ... Pizzuto's - nothing fancy, but good comfort food. Been there for over 30 years.

[annonymous0381]

I will have to try Pizzutos.

I like living in Seattle much better than California. Id rather live in Seattle over LA anyday even if the restuarants arent as good.

[fnh]

Machiavelli on Capitol Hill, Vendemmia in Madrona, Serafina in Eastlake... to name a few.

[CrazyDonkey]

Have you been to Borracchino's? Not a restaurant, but an Italian Bakery that's been around for 95 years in Rainier Valley (from back when it was known as "Garlic Gulch"). Also has an excellent selection of imported Italian foods.

[bluehorseshoe]

Altura /thread

[Edward234]

Originally Posted by annonymous0381

I will have to try Pizzutos.

I like living in Seattle much better than California. Id rather live in Seattle over LA anyday even if the restuarants arent as good.

For good Italian try Spinasse, Il Corvo, Bizarro, Pichollino's, Il Terrazo Carmine, Machiavelli, The Pink Door, Il Bistro, Tulio, Assagio, La Spiga, or Tavolata for starters. I grew up in the Bay Area and know the restaurant scene well - these places are all on par (or better) for what you'd consider good Italian food in SF. Honestly, in terms of Italian I don't think there is that big of a difference between Seattle and SF. The best pizza in Seattle, in my opinion, is Italian Family Pizza.

As for Chinese food, I have to agree that overall the quality is significantly worse in Seattle than the Bay Area. However, there still are some very good places - Qin in Edmonds, Din Tai Fung, Dough Zone, Seven Stars Pepper, and several others.

One of the things Seattle does best, though, is Southeast Asian cuisine. If you like Thai or Vietnamese food, Seattle is about as good as it gets in the US, in my humble opinion (I've eaten Thai food in Thailand and in many cities across the country). There are so many to choose from in Seattle and the standards are really high. Better than the Bay Area.

Seafood is also exceptional in Seattle - from casual fish and chips places to waterfront family restaurants to high end experimental seafood and raw bars.

[daberkow]

Originally Posted by Edward234

Seafood is also exceptional in Seattle - from casual fish and chips places to waterfront family restaurants to high end experimental seafood and raw bars.

Really? All the waterfront family restaurants I can think of are overpriced or tourist traps or usually both. You either get fried frozen stuff you can find anywhere, overpriced hipster stuff with 3 choices trying to impress you with their menu writing skills, or expense account places. RockCreek is the best I have found, then maybe Blueacre, but really McCormick and Schmicks is right there with them. Nowhere to go casual unless you want oysters or fried (or fad poke) which you can get in any two horse town. Overall the fish selection is severely lacking for a costal city. I had better fish options in Texas, and it was cheaper even after the daily flights.

[annonymous0381]

Originally Posted by daberkow

Really? All the waterfront family restaurants I can think of are overpriced or tourist traps or usually both. You either get fried frozen stuff you can find anywhere, overpriced hipster stuff with 3 choices trying to impress you with their menu writing skills, or expense account places. RockCreek is the best I have found, then maybe Blueacre, but really McCormick and Schmicks is right there with them. Nowhere to go casual unless you want oysters or fried (or fad poke) which you can get in any two horse town. Overall the fish selection is severely lacking for a costal city. I had better fish options in Texas, and it was cheaper even after the daily flights.

One of my favorite fish restaurants is Ivars Salmon House. They have really good seafood chowder and great fresh halibut.

[bellamushy]

Tropea Ristorante Italiano in Redmond is the only Italian restaurant I like but I haven't been there in years.

I thought people liked Full Tilt Ice Cream.