Best Kitchen Store

[col klink]

Having just found City Kitchen (1527 Fourth Avenue) to be one of the best spots on the planet for kitchen gear, where do you shop?

Williams Sonoma has some really nice kitchen gear but they're horribly expensive. Sur La Table is awlfully expensive too. "Blood" Bath & Beyond has a pretty big selection but try and find a non non-stick roasting pan for under $200 or decent help.

Cash N' Carry is great for generic restaurant supplies at a great price but you're not going to find anything with character.

City Kitchen has all of the top brands as well as some of their own and some of the best looking pottery I've ever seen. Not only that, their staff is INCREDIBLY knowledgeable. CK is THE place to buy a kitchen knife in this town, they even have the Henckel's 14" chef's knife. It's a monster!

If you haven't been to City Kitchen, get thee hence!

[nightscotsman]

I love City Kitchens for many of the same reasons you discovered - good prices and selection, especially for baking stuff. Another great place is Seattle Restaurant Supply up north near Central Market. Other than those place I usually buy stuff online, because most of the items I'm looking for these days are extremely specialized pastry tools.

[col klink]

The Seattle Restaurant Supply store is really cool if you're looking for a nice set of used knives or a $5k bread mixer but I found the glasses, bowls, ramekins and the like to be over priced. I did spend a long time in the used equipment aisle.

[Blue Heron]

Another vote for City Kitchens. Great quality and good prices.

I don't get 'downtown' all that often though, but am more often at Pike Place Market (like today) where I like to sometimes stop by the kitchen store that's tucked into the market on the same side of the street as Sur La Table, but further north, and inside. I've also bought knives, scissors & cutting boards at the 'knive store' at the market on the same side of the street. There's just something about seeing that wall of knives that gets to me.

[MsRamsey]

When I needed a stainless steel work table recently, we visited all of the restaurant supply places, and it was Seattle Restaurant Supply (on Aurora) all the way. We bought a 60" work table for $179, which was a steal. The store is far CLEANER than its competitors, and you can actually find someone to help you.

But in most cases, City Kitchens is #1. They have a far better mix of products than Sur La Table.

I'm very lukewarm on Williams Sonoma. Everything I've ever ordered from them had to be sent back for quality problems. It's fun to browse their stores, but all of their silly, pricy food products are a turnoff.

Edited May 12, 2003 by MsRamsey (log)

[LEdlund]

City Kitchens for sure. I love their close out room towards the back! Their prices on Global knives were the best I found anywhere, including Vancouver and on line discounters.

Since I am there so often, I also shop at The Mrs. Cooks at U Village.

And, of course, Seattle Restaurant Supply on Aurora.

I like Sur La Table, but the market location is soooooo small and cramped that it makes it difficult to shop. But when I was on a mission to find a salt pig, they were the only place in town to carry one............................

[Really Nice!]

I like to sometimes stop by the kitchen store that's tucked into the market on the same side of the street as Sur La Table, but further north, and inside.

City Kitchens is great, especially when you are impulse shopping. They indeed have a wide variety. If I don't absolutely have to have 'it' now, I wait until their September "Everything in the store is 10%(?) off" sale. Not sure if it's 10, 15, or 20 percent, though. I think last year they also had one in March. Not sure if that's an annual thing or not. It's worth waiting for.

Two weeks ago I went into the Kitchen Store tucked away inside and up the street from Sur la Table. They changed the store (decor, floor layout, and inventory) from what it used to be. I used to hang out there for an hour looking at everything. This time I was in and out in 5 minutes. They seemed to be going more towards trinket kitchen stuff. IMHO.

For professional stuff, try Bargreen and Ellingson on Mercer. It is a bit pricey, but when I was a culinary student I got 10 percent off with a discount. However, there is a separate used equipment store behind the main building. If you don't mind buying stuff used, it's worth it to check it out. (Actually, every restaurant supply store will have used inventory to sell.)

Bargreen and Ellingson

Store Locations

1275 Mercer

Seattle, WA 98109-5514

Phone: 206-682-1472

Hours: Mon-Fri 8-6; Sat 9-1

[Placebo]

I'm a big fan of Bargreen & Ellingson. I've gotten some great heavy-duty gear in the main shop and some amazing deals in the seconds shop downstairs in back. The guy who runs the seconds shop is also great for stories about local restaraunts (though the stuff he told me about the gear they got in when Minnie's closed their Cap Hill location was a bit scary -- glad I never liked the place to begin with).

Edit: The seconds store also gets in a lot of non-seconds stuff. Recently B&E bought out a 2-store operation in Missoula and then sent a bunch of the inventory that they no longer planned to stock straight to the seconds store in Seattle.

Edited May 19, 2003 by Placebo (log)

[col klink]

Thanks for the tip Placebo and welcome!

[awbrig]

Im boring... Williams Sonoma and sur la table. But I do them love them both!

[Fay Jai]

Any suggestions on a local kitchen supply store that is not Sur La Table?

I will be coming into a little bit of $$$ that I will (finally) be able to buy some Le Creuset and a good stockpot with. Any palces out there that won't gouge me too badly? I'd really like to stay with a local place and avoid Williams Sonoma if at all possible. (That being said, I'd take W/S over Sur La Table anytime. Everytime I have been in there, the attitude that I have received at S.L.T. was ridiculous. Never again.)

Thanks!

[thelastsupper]

City Kitchens downtown is pretty good , though I have not noticed the prices on Le Creuset or stockpots. They always have good deals on knives and other random items (calaphon cookware), so I would guess that they might be pretty fairly priced. . .

[tsquare]

and they have some great sales on occassion - I think November might be the one that applies to the whole store.

[col klink]

Last spring my wife (to be at the time) raided City Kitchens when they had electronic scales on sale for $30. We went in only for that and left spending over $250! They had a sale on open stock house knives (they're very nice). I picked up a 10" chef's knife and a carving knife both for around $35 a piece.

I can't remember what they're prices on Le Cruset are but you can make a killing during their sales.

[LEdlund]

I love City Kitchens too. And they have a good selection of Le Crueset. The Mrs. Cooks in University Village is another good store.

There is a Le Crueset store in the outlet mall at Woodburn, Oregon (about 30 minutes south of Portland). It might be worth a trip there.

The Seattle Restaurant Supply Store at 14910 Aurora Avenue North might be a good place to look for stock pots.

[kiliki]

City Kitchens just had a huge 50% off Le Crueset sale.

There is an online store with great Le Crueset prices:

http://www.caplanduval.com/lec1.html

[BaconFat]

Amazon.com has good deals on Le Creuset. I purchased a 16 qt Stock Pot that retailed for ~$150 for $79. They also had a great deal on the oval 6 3/4 qt French Oven that I couldn't pass up.

Edit:spelling

Edited February 27, 2004 by BaconFat (log)

[malarkey]

City Kitchens annual store wide sale is in September. If you want to support local, go there.

[Jill-O]

Hi folks,

I've been meaning to post this and here's a good chance...

I found a few small used Le Creuset pots and pans at the Monticello Antiques Mall on SE Stark (near SE 86th Ave. in PDX...and didn't folks say that they would tag their threads with location names a while ago??).

I couldn't believe it. Sitting on the floor of one of the stalls under a table was: a small saucepan with lid (#13), the combo small fryer lid w/saucepan(#14), and a small to medium sized skillet (#23?). They ranged in price from $4 to $5.95 and I bought them all - woohoo!

All in good shape, all clean...and all in the the most horrible color I have ever seen - like a peachy kind of color. But who cares, right? I got 4/5 pieces of Le Creuset for about $20.

Keep your eyes peeled at those kinds of places, my friends. (insert wide-eyed emotijiggy here) Look under the tables!

BTW - does anyone know what the name of that horrid color is and when they discontinued it? Just curious and can't find any info at all about it online.

[Fay Jai]

JILL-O!!!

Welcome! Love reading your posts on that other board...

everyone, thanks for the tips! (Hmmmm...no sales tax in Portland.... )

[Human Bean]

Do outlet malls have good prices? Maybe good; probably not spectacular; I dunno. Maybe on discontinued stuff??

I live in PDX, and there's a Le Cruset store at the outlet mall in Woodburn (south of PDX, and far enough away that they MIGHT offer better prices). There's a mega-outlet-mall in Centralia; not especially close to SEA, and I don't know if they have a Le Cruset store.

There's probably an outlet mall closer to SEA, but, again, I have no idea about prices; I strongly suspect that Amazon at the right time might be the best bet if you're not in a hurry.

[MGLloyd]

I live just north of Seattle, and I am familiar with the outlet malls in Centralia, North Bend and Burlington. None of them have a Le Cruset outlet store, and none of them are particularly good sources for high end kitchenware. You have your generic Farberware, Kitchen Collection and Corningware stores, and the North Bend outlet mall just added a Le Gourmet Chef store, but that is pretty much it.

In terms of a bricks and mortar store, I would also suggest Mr. J's, in Bellevue, next to the QFC and across the street from University Bookstore on Bellevue Way adjacent to Bellevue Square.

In terms of future development in the outlet mall area, the Tulalip tribe just signed an agreement to develop a 'high-end' outlet mall next to the tribal casino right off exit 200 on I-5. The developer is the same company who built the Woodburn mall south of Portland. Ground-breaking is expected to be later this year, with the mall completed in 2005. Another example of some brilliant business planning by the Tulalip tribe, who is becoming quite the economic powerhouse of north Snohomish County.

[chuck]

Take a look at Bargreen Ellingson just north of the big REI store in Seattle. It's kind of the only place restaurants go for industrial strength equipment. I'm not sure if they carry Le Creuset specifically or not, but you could probably order it and it would end up being cheaper. If you're willing to fib and say you work in a restaurant (just pick one...they won't check) you get an even better price.

If you do order something make sure they understand that you are serious and that you will come back and put the hurt on if it doesn't show up.

Also, they have a huge used selection in the basement. You have to go around in the alley to get in, but the guy down there knows what he's talking about, is friendly, and will go to bat for you. Unlike upstairs...

[Fay Jai]

Hi Chuck ---

Thanks for the tip, did not know about the used stuff...I'll check it out!

Thanks!

[tsquare]

Take a look at Bargreen Ellingson just north of the big REI store in Seattle.  It's kind of the only place restaurants go for industrial strength equipment. 

So not true. They are one of a number of places - and BE is not necessarily the least expensive. Other options are Dick's near the stadiums - has used equipment as well, and a host of other places nearby, as well as other big players such as Smith and Greene (in Kent - I don't know that they retail, but I don't know that don't) and Sysco...I'm sure there are others as well.