Best non-chain restaurants in tri-cities? (Seattle, Richland: how much, prices, mall)

[M3 Mitch]

Yeah, I was thinking of India Palace. If it's the same guy, he was open just south of the Uptown mall, was a great place to go for a buffet lunch. Landlord problems drove him over to Kennewick, and I'm not certain why he's now down by the mall - but anyway he's now across from the mall. If, that is, it's the same guy.

P.F. Chang's is a chain, a good one, but once you have seen one you have seen them all.

[Stevenml155]

Sushi Ya has good sushi for the area -- a bit on the slow side w/service though. Walla Walla has some excellent independent choices if you want to enjoy a scenic drive as well. I would recommend the Tagaris winery, Katya, Book Walter winery as being some of the better eateries in town. We are still in the growing stage in regards to these types of eateries -- chains still rule the area though.

[sarlo]

I just moved to the Tri-Cities from Phoenix and I am used to eating sushi on a regular basis. I've been to both sushi restaurants and I have to say I really miss Phoenix for the sushi. I do like the Tri-cities so far besides the lack of sushi. I would have thought there would have been a lot more privatelly owned restaurants especially with all the wineries aroud here.

[PDXGirlJ]

Sarlo-I agree! I thought there would be a bit more culture here, espcially with all of the wineries close by. I will definatly make the drive to Walla Walla to try some of the wineries/restaurants.

Probably have to head back to Seattle or Portland for some better sushi choices? We haven't tried any of them here yet.

We do like this area though! It seems like this area is really growing though which is really exciting. I hope that it continues to bring in more business!

[GameHog9]

Its growing like CRAZY. 50 years ago (rough generalization) the entire area had a population of less than 15,000, now its 200,000.

Its kind of scary.

Anyways, this area is barely taking its first clumsy, baby steps into developing a nightlife/culture i.e an identity.

Expect the food thing to pick up soon

[bgood]

There is a new family owned restaurant in Pasco on the corner of Road 68 and Argent (the opposite side of the freeway from the TRAC). It is called Magill's and is located in the building that used to be the Heidi Haus -- it was previously moved from Court Street. They have great breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their hand-dipped halibut and prime rib on Friday and Saturday nights is great! My husband loves their reubens and I love their french dips. Very large portion sizes

[GameHog9]

Ive been wondering about that place ^

Whats the main course?

[PDXGirlJ]

Our real estate agent just told us about Mcgill's....sounds like a good place!

[j_k_k]

Food is a weak spot around here. There are certain banana peel locations around town, places where half a dozen businesses or more have failed. Commonly, a new and interesting restaurant takes up residence in one of the banana peels. Business is slow because either it's an ethnicity folks don't understand, or they are just in the habit of going to where they already like. Restaurant shuts down, taking an interesting option with it. I think it's just hard to get established unless you're the strip mall type of place, or a big chain.

[Moon Waffle]

Yes, food offerings are very limited here. Sure, you can get your fast food fix, but when you look at the size of the area, there should be so much more. Unfortunately (and I know I'm going to be flamed for this) I believe it has to do with a few different factors:

1) There is a large retired population here. They flock to TC from Seattle, Portland, and now even California. These are not the type of people that (generally speaking) are going out for sushi or to find a classy wine bar.

2) The lack of the 18-35 demographic. Until recently (just a year or two ago) we did not have a full four-year university and this age bracket was virtually non-existent. This is a bracket that generally eats out more often and eats at a more "diverse" selection of restaurants. When you don't have that population, you won't have restaurants that cater to them.

3) While Hanford generates a lot of $$$, there is still a large, uneducated, poor population in the Tri-Cities. And no, I would not say this is related to a particular race or nationality. It is widespread and again, I blame this partially on the lack of a university for such a long time. Anyway, with that demographic, you have a fairly good sized chunk of the population who won't spend much $$$ to go out to eat.

The GOOD news is that, despite these drawbacks, Seattle and Portland are a short drive away, and if you want REALLY GOOD sushi, among virtually anything else you can imagine, it's all there. And it's freeway the entire way.