Old standbys

[kieran]

Time for an egullet poll.

What are your top three standby restaurants? They might be your favorite places, they might be the ones with the best food, or they might just be the ones in your neighborhood that are cozy and convenient. But I'm thinking of those places that you just keep going back to no matter what other places are out there jockeying for your attention.

For us, for dinner:

Kisaku

Cafe Lago

Seven Stars Pepper

For me, for lunch on the eastside during the workweek:

Sapporo Teriyaki

Taj Palace

Taqueria Rinconsito

Anyone else?

[lalala]

Pathetic, but true

Tulios

Nells

Burgermaster by U Village (seriously, we go there before most international trips, so usually 10 times a year without even thinking).

lalala

[kiliki]

You think that's pathetic? We go to Seven Stars and get (among many other things) a Szechuan crab every week, usually on Friday. One out of every 21 meals is that damn crab.

And:

La Spiga

Green Leaf, for the past 6 months or so

Lunch:

Market Grill

Mae Phim-in large part because it's cheap, fast and close to work

Mr D's Greek Deli-ditto

[pupcart]

1) Cafe Lago - went there last night, go there often, always feel well loved, well fed and continually delighted by the entire experience.

2) Shanghai Garden - at least once a month for 14 Flavor Tofu, Szechuan Eggplant, Shrimp with Pea Vines, Dry Roasted Green Beans, Barley Green Shaved Noodles, Moo Shu Vegetables, Brown Rice.

3) Probably a tie between Siam on Broadway (we don't go as often as we used to, but it is our standby for Tom Kha Gai when we need comfort soup), Pho Cyclo, and recently we've re-discovered La Medusa, and will be going there more often after our last stellar dinner.

[rockdoggydog]

If we're seperating these into lunch and dinner then this gets easier

Lunch:

Hawaiian BBQ

Tokyo Garden

Thai Thom's

Dinner:

Rocking Wok

Union (eating in the bar is great)

Gordo's

Rocky

edited to make my life easier

Edited May 17, 2006 by rockdoggydog (log)

[jkonick]

1. Seven Stars Peppers. If I get nothing there but potstickers I am happy. Of course, if I get a whole fish I am even happier

2. Best of Bento. Basically you average U. District teriyaki place, but they have the best sushi of anywhere on the Ave. Plus, it's about three blocks away from where I live.

3. Szechuan Noodle Bowl, next to Green Leaf. If I can't think of anywhere else to go, I usually go there.

Also, before it closed, Top Gun's Seattle location. That place was great, and a family favorite. Any extended family get together or birthday dinner or whatever happened there. I really miss that place, especially since it's been replaced by a so-so vegetarian place (although better than the vegetarian place that was there before it).

[hhlodesign]

Lunch:

Baguette Box

Salumi

Matt's

Dinner (proximity seems to be key here):

Marjorie

Jai Thai - close cheap takeout

Mistral (I hang in the kitchen and they feed me I can't afford it otherwise!)

[dimsumfan]

1. Malay Satay Hut

2. Than Brothers

3. Saigon Deli - either the BBQed Pork Banh Mi for $1.75, or a rice box for $3.

Speaks a bit more to my budget these days than my desire, but great bang for the buck!

[dandelion]

1. Than Bros.

2. The Honey Hole

3. The Kingfish Cafe

Before it closed not too long ago, Stella's in the U-District would have been at the top of the list, especially back when it was open 24 hours. Between 1998 and when it closed, I must have been there nearly a million times... sigh.

[mamster]

This is pretty easy:

Pagliacci

Siam on Broadway

Red Line

[tsquare]

lunch/brunch

Matt's

Market Grill

Persimmon

dinner:

Restaurant Zoe

T&T Seafood

holding out on this one as nothing really comes to mind

[little ms foodie]

I usually bring my lunch but if I do go out it is

Bebas

Essential Bakery

7 Star Pepper

Dinner would be

Palace Kitchen

Le Pichet

Pagliacci delivery

[tighe]

Green Leaf

Muy Macho

Belle Epicurean

In a former life Brasserie Margaux and Union would have been on the list too....

[cburnsi]

I hadn't realized how close to home I was sticking until I started thinking about this! These are the ones I tend to favor when the "where to go" decision gets too overwhelming.

Hilltop Ale House

Orrapin Thai

Ototo Sushi (I'm thinking Tuna Tataki Salad for dinner tonight)

Lately, I've been wanting to favor Bricco over Hilltop - but the waitstaff just isn't all that friendly.

cburnsi

[crouching tyler]

Our default dinner restaurants:

Taste of India

Siam on Lake Union

Musashi

Sometimes I wish I could arrange a combo meal: Spinach Naan, Pad Thai and Noodle Salad.

Ugh. Actually, that sounds awful all together like that. But, at each of their respective restaurants, I love them dearly.

[GourmetLight$]

We're REALLY stuck in the "local" rut (all in downtown Edmonds!):

Olives Cafe & Wine Bar

Sahib Cuisine of India

Shell Creek Grill & Wine Bar

Cheers,

[BradS]

Lunch:

Paseo (take-out)

Shiki

Boat Street

Dinner:

Collins Pub

Old Town Ale House

Elysian

Kisaku

If I were only less busy, there would be a lot more regulars! But these are some of the ones I definitely do end up going back to....

BradS

[kieran]

Seems like a few places keep recurring on many of these lists.

We recently moved from our apartment in Capitol Hill since we bought a house in Phinney, so I've been playing a game with myself trying to figure out which local places are going to make the standby list over time. Of course, seeing as my standbys on the list that kicked off this thread aren't particularly more convenient to Cap Hill than they are to where we live now, maybe not much will change.

There are also a few places that I wish were standbys, but which don't occur to us often enough when the pressure is on and we need a place for dinner or weekend lunch. Paseo is a great example.

One thing I'm really glad about with our new location is the easier proximity to Ballard -- it makes it a lot easier to head to La Carta de Oaxaca on weeknights when the line is shorter.

[JasonTrue]

Phinney Ridge is also home to Red Mill, and not far from Greenwood, which is home to Olive You and Gorditos, which all have their charms and are suitable for basic needs.

I don't get to Carmelita very often, but I'm quite fond of it.

I also forget about Paseo quite often and I think it's because 2 blocks is just too close. We wanted to go there mid-week, found out they were sold out of sandwiches, (the reason why we came), and almost ate at Persimmon (which suffers from the same problem for us), but then changed our minds and walked toward downtown Fremont, craving crepes. Before we quite made it to Au Bouchon, my girlfriend suddenly decided she wanted to go to Chiso. So our $7 sandwich morphed into $35/person dinner.

My "standbys" for out-of-town guests are Lark, La Carta de Oaxaca, La Medusa, and Cafe Besalu for breakfast/brunch.

But for lowbrow food Gorditos (I usually order the smallest stuff possible), and for my girlfriend, Red Mill, are favored "It's 8 o'clock, we have no groceries and we have no energy" spots.

Seems like a few places keep recurring on many of these lists.

We recently moved from our apartment in Capitol Hill since we bought a house in Phinney, so I've been playing a game with myself trying to figure out which local places are going to make the standby list over time. Of course, seeing as my standbys on the list that kicked off this thread aren't particularly more convenient to Cap Hill than they are to where we live now, maybe not much will change. 

There are also a few places that I wish were standbys, but which don't occur to us often enough when the pressure is on and we need a place for dinner or weekend lunch. Paseo is a great example.

One thing I'm really glad about with our new location is the easier proximity to Ballard -- it makes it a lot easier to head to La Carta de Oaxaca on weeknights when the line is shorter.

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[Arianna]

Lunch:

The Honeyhole

Than Brothers when it's raining and cold, but not really in the summer

Saigon Deli (the one on 12th on the north side of Jackson)

Dinner:

Teapot

Vios when we feel fancy

Umm probably the Honeyhole again. Although I can never finish more than a half sandwich and for dinner you don't have the choice, so I have to share or eat my Dirt Burger remnants later.

We go to the Honeyhole a lot.

[kieran]

Phinney Ridge is also home to Red Mill, and not far from Greenwood, which is home to Olive You and Gorditos, which all have their charms and are suitable for basic needs.

I don't get to Carmelita very often, but I'm quite fond of it.

I also forget about Paseo quite often and I think it's because 2 blocks is just too close. We wanted to go there mid-week, found out they were sold out of sandwiches, (the reason why we came), and almost ate at Persimmon (which suffers from the same problem for us), but then changed our minds and walked toward downtown Fremont, craving crepes. Before we quite made it to Au Bouchon, my girlfriend suddenly decided she wanted to go to Chiso. So our $7 sandwich morphed into $35/person dinner.

My "standbys" for out-of-town guests are Lark, La Carta de Oaxaca, La Medusa, and Cafe Besalu for breakfast/brunch.

But for lowbrow food Gorditos (I usually order the smallest stuff possible), and for my girlfriend, Red Mill, are favored "It's 8 o'clock, we have no groceries and we have no energy" spots.

←

I really like Carmelita. We actually only went for the first time pretty recently, and we'll definitely go back.

Red Mill and Gorditos we went to on occasion even before moving into the neighborhood if we happened to be nearby. Haven't checked out Olive You yet, but we've been meaning to.

Another interesting question is what your standby make-at-home meals are. (I very much like Deborah Madison's supper cookbook from last year in this regard -- lots of good standby stuff therein.)

[Eden]

I also forget about Paseo quite often and I think it's because 2 blocks is just too close. We wanted to go there mid-week, found out they were sold out of sandwiches, (the reason why we came), and almost ate at Persimmon (which suffers from the same problem for us), but then changed our minds and walked toward downtown Fremont, craving crepes. Before we quite made it to Au Bouchon, my girlfriend suddenly decided she wanted to go to Chiso. So our $7 sandwich morphed into $35/person dinner.

I thought Au Bouchon was dead, did they reopen in Fremont & I missed it???

[JasonTrue]

Sorry, that should have been Bouchee. It apparently isn't one of my standby places

I also forget about Paseo quite often and I think it's because 2 blocks is just too close. We wanted to go there mid-week, found out they were sold out of sandwiches, (the reason why we came), and almost ate at Persimmon (which suffers from the same problem for us), but then changed our minds and walked toward downtown Fremont, craving crepes. Before we quite made it to Au Bouchon, my girlfriend suddenly decided she wanted to go to Chiso. So our $7 sandwich morphed into $35/person dinner.

I thought Au Bouchon was dead, did they reopen in Fremont & I missed it???

←

[malarkey]

oohhh fun topic.

Lunch:

Usually do Amy's, yes, it's frozen, but it's also all organic and all vegetarian. Not that I'm a vegetarian, but I do think I should have some meatless meals. BUT if I go out into the wasteland that is Totem Lake, it's gonna be:

Cocorico (the lamb gyro rocks)

the Taco Truck on the corner (Rancho something, erg can't remember)

Izumi

Dinner:

Le Pichet

Orrapin

Barbacoa

Malena's

something to go from Sea Garden (shrimp and chinese greens chow mein!)

On school nights:

Thai Thom's

Mandarin Chef

Atlas

Brunch:

Cafe Campagne

Besalu croissants to go!

[eco-tofu]

Lunch:

Paseo (not just sandwiches, but the beans!!)

Tubs Subs (Cajun sandwich)

Than Bros. (any with soft tendon), I like Pho Tran too, but their cream puff needs work.

Dinner:

Inn Bin (we come for their soup when we're sick: mandarin garlic chicken, hot & sour soup... every time)

Yasuko's Teriyaki (close and fast, 1/2 chicken or the pork)

Jade Garden (steamed fish... mmm)

Later Than When I Should Be Eating:

Le Pichet

Dick's

Jade Garden