PBR150: Seattle Georgetown Neighborhood Lunch Food

Lunch #10: Jules Maes Saloon

2010-03-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

Georgetown loves the myspace like it never went out of style. After a solid showing at the Falafel truck we're back to the sit down joints. Today - Jules Maes Saloon.

Jules Maes Saloon, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 3.7 R's
Address: 5919 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: American: Burgers, American: Upscale Bar Food, American: Bar
Website: www.myspace.com/julesmaes...
Lunch date: 3/9/2010 @ 11:37:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 2 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 30 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 58 minutes
Chair quality: Old-timey Bar
Beers on tap: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Odin's Gift, Manny's Pale Ale, Chopper's Red Ale, Roger's Pilsner, 9 Lb Porter, Pike Weiss, Skull Creek Lager, Imperial IPA
Bar type: Full Bar
Year Established: 1888
Number of tables: 14
Number of occupied tables: 9 (64%)
Number of white collar tables: 6 (66%)
Number of blue collar tables: 0 (0%)
Number of hipster tables: 4 (44%)
Healthcode Score: 5
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Reuben - $10.95

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Is it the neighborhood that influences the feel of the bars or is it the other way around? Jules Maes Saloon may be missing an apostrophe, but it has everything required by the Georgetown cultural code: old-timey saloon feel, check; neon "R", check; oddities on the walls, check; hipster staff, check; higher class menu than its appearance might suggest, check; great beer selection, double check.

The menu was a particular surprise to me; I expected a lot less. There is nothing too pretentious, but it is a definite step up from typical bar fare. I was particularly interested in the Lamb Burger, the Georgetown Cheesesteak, and the Cuban Pork Stew. In the end, however, I went with the Reuben, as I always seem to do, and a Chopper's Red Ale to whet my appetite / wash it down. As we waited for our order and sipped our beers we had a chance to admire the old safes around the room, the jackalope mounted on the wall, and the wallpaper itself.

There was only one server and one cook and it seemed like a pretty large crowd for such a small staff. Regardless, the service was prompt and friendly and the food all seemed to come out together but it did take a bit of time. The fries were hot and delicious. They were the thin greasy type, which I like. The Reuben looked beautiful, and had a tangy red kraut, and gooey cheese, but the corned beef was a bit dry and chewy in spots. I think it was left on the grill too long. The lone cook was young (lots of undershorts showing above low jeans) and was in the weeds most of the lunch which may explain the below par execution of what had the potential to be a great sandwich. In all, Jules Maes showed lots of potential and is definitely worth another visit.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Basil Soup - $7.25

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Jules Maes is a sleeping giant. I'd never really heard about it before and I fancy myself at least a little hip(ster). Solid food, good beer selection and games. This place will make an excellent weekend hangout.

First, the food: I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato basil soup. The grilled cheese was totally solid, a great crispy (but not burned) and soft piece of bread. I wish I could remember the cheese on it a little better, but from what I remember it was a nice little blend of white cheese, I'm thinking: white cheddar and maybe some dubliner (it definitely had a little "edge" to it). The sandwich to soup ratio was a little off; I feel like I could have used a little bit more sandwich to use while finishing off my soup.

Why am I really excited to go back here (on a non-work-day (of course))? Because this place is loaded with games: Ping Pong, Air hockey, Skee ball, Pool, and some good looking pinball machines. This is the perfect place to set up some sort of bar-game tourney.

A solid food experience, and a solid bar. This place will soon be the magnet that draws non-Georgetowners to the neighborhood

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Chicken Fried Steak - $10.95

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Another saloony place, smells of old wood. I like. The wallpaper has animals on it. There are antlers, battleship, and leather bar stools.

Started with the beer - Odin's Gift was delicious, a South Park-made brew with a lot of flavor. Their specialty - chicken fried steak - sounded like a winner and I went with it. Sadly, it wasn't fantastic. It smelled/tasted like Bush Garden -- a deep, fragrant burnt smell from oil that has been reused too many times. The mashed potatoes were decent enough, the gravy was satisfactory, and I liked that there was something green on my plate.

A miss, to be sure, but I'll be back to try something else, as the rest looked good.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Portabello Sandwich - $9.95

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Well, I somehow managed to miss the Falafel truck, which made me sad. To cheer myself up, I tagged along to Jules Maes. Old-timey decor, good beer, friendly atmosphere -- it put a smile on my face. After the <$10 ultimatum in my last review, I decided to go with the Portabello Sandwich, which just barely squeaked by at $9.95. Sure, with the beer it came out to quite a bit more, but I'll just ignore that part. Anyway, the sandwich was quite good. The portabello was very well marinated, and the gorgonzola cheese and sauteed onions did a great job rounding out the flavors. The fries were good, too, but I had actually ordered the tater tots, which I'd heard positive things about. Alas, I guess I'll just have to go back sometime for the tots.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Lamb Burger - $10.95

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Lamb burger, sublime; fries, o.k.; price, reasonable = 4 Rs

Luncher: Dave

Lunch: Meatloaf - $10.95

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

i've got mixed feelings about jules mae's. the meat loaf could have been great; the loaf itself had a good texture, not tough or chewy but still substantial, and the tomato glaze was sweet and a little tangy. but the slices i got were a little overbrowned. the mashed potatoes were good but not really super hot, and the gravy was good but there kind of wasn't enough of it. the service was friendly but kind of slow for how empty the place was, especially at first. it seems like with a little attention to detail and a little effort the place could be really good, but as it was it just missed the mark a little bit. i liked the feel of the place (4 pinball machines, looked like they were in decent shape, always a plus); i'm sure if somebody suggested going again i'd totally be willing to give it another try. maybe it was just an off day.

Jules Maes Saloon Photos

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Google Street View of Jules Maes Saloon

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Lunch #9: Hallava Falafel

2010-03-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Back to our roots - three strong we hit this bright yellow truck. Hallava has a multi-year history in this neighborhood, along with a myspace page, which makes us super happy. It's been here, it's been there. It's been to Portland and back. And on this warm February day in Georgetown, it's at the corner of Airport Way S and S Doris. Can't wait.

Hallava Falafel, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 5 R's
Address: 5825 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Website: www.myspace.com/hallava...
Lunch date: 2/17/2010 @ 11:55:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 5 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 21 minutes
Chair quality: Rustic Schoolhouse
Beers on tap: None
Bar type: None
Year Established: 2007
Number of tables: 0
Number of occupied tables: 0
Number of white collar tables: 9
Number of blue collar tables: 0
Number of hipster tables: 3
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Falafel - $6.50

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

Reminiscent of our first visit to that crazy top, Hallava does two things extremely well. The Falafel sandwich was a delight - spinach/romaine, beets, a little pickle, both tahini and tzatziki. And I don't even like pickles. The Falafel was piping hot, fresh, green, tasty. He even wrapped it in foil all pretty like, so if I had to drive back to work I could set this on my dashboard and not worry about the juice.

The other option - the Shwarma - is essentially the same sandwich with lamb/beef instead of falafel. I had a bite of Geary's - delicious.

I feel like it's one guy, one truck, making the best falafel he can. And it is good. There were only 4 shitty chairs out there - not even a picnic table for the early arrivals. But it's cool, if it's busy just stand, eat, enjoy.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Schwarma - $6.50

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

Hallava Falafel is a street food vendor based in a truck that is semipermanently located in a small gravel lot on Airport Way. Apparently "hallava" (or "khalyava") is Russian for "hell of a". The owner/proprietor, Rick, was working on improvements to the seating/waiting area when we arrived. The setting has a sort of trashy suburban side-yard feel to it. There's a wooden fence along the street, chain-link on the back, and a small shed over the graveled waiting area. It's the kind of setup you might expect to find someone's RV or their 1982 Skeeter.

The menu painted on the side of the truck has only two items. Adam and Emmett both went with the Falafel, so I got stuck with the Shwarma. It turned out to be the best Shwarma I have ever had. The not-your-typical-dill pickle wedge, the sweet beet slaw, the creamy tzatziki, and warm lamb/beef slices all added up to an amazing sandwich. We sat in the few available chairs, enjoyed the warm February sun, and savored our sandwiches. It was magical.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Falafel - $6.50

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

I like this trend in Georgetown to include the price of tax in the food (GLC does it too). But what makes Hallava stick out, is that it's only $6.50 for a pretty hefty falafel "sandwich"

We rolled up to the truck and put in our order. It was an easy decision, because there are two choices. I was feeling a little vegetarian so I went with the falafel (and forced Geary to get the Schwarma sandwich). The is some of the best falafel I've had; it's in a tie with Zaina, but I haven't been there recently, so I can't declare a definite winner. OK, so this is legit falafel. Now to judge the other thing: the pita bread was doughy and delicious. The toppings were awesome, and this is what made this sandwich really pop: the pickle! I've never had (or even thought about) a pickle on a falafel sandwich (or with any food of this style). It's a total win.

Mozey your ass on down to Georgetown to lay the hurt on a sandwich.

If you're wondering where the name comes from, apparently it's a bastardization of the Russian word, Khalyava: an exclamation for finding a good deal on food... more on Hallava's Myspace.

Hallava Falafel Photos

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Google Street View of Hallava Falafel

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Lunch #8: Calamity Jane's

2010-01-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

Today's outing seems to have just fallen into place. One minute we're in the office doing office stuff and then a text, a little IM'ing, a "hey, it's on" or two and then nine PBR150 lunchers show up to give Calamity Jane's a go.

Calamity Jane's , Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 3.7 R's
Address: 5701 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: American: Burgers, American: Sandwiches, American: Bar
Website: www.calamityjanes.biz/...
Lunch date: 1/13/2010 @ 11:40:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 5 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 38 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 80 minutes
Chair quality: Wood Chairs
Beers on tap: Manny's Pale Ale, 9 Lb Porter, Deschutes Cinder Cone Red
Bar type: Full Bar
Year Established: 2007
Number of tables: 13
Number of occupied tables: 4 (30%)
Number of white collar tables: 4 (100%)
Number of blue collar tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 13
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: G-town Sandwich - $10.23

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

A sandwich based solely on meat will be expensive. A sandwich based solely on meat should be delicious. The first parameter was met by my G-Town Sandwich from Calamity Jane's (CJs). The second parameter was a bit lacking: I was expecting more from a sandwich that costs $10+.

The shredded beef on the sandwich was nice and tender, and had a good texture. The meat had a good but lighter-than-expected "meat flavor" to it, so I was hoping the grilled onions and mushrooms would amp up the flavor a little bit, but unfortunately they fell flat. Provolone cheese was good, but felt a little out of place.

I love the atmosphere of CJs. The local art up on the walls, a couple good beers on tap, a couple good beers in cans, and Kings of Leon playing in the background. We had a relatively large group, so I was a scared we might overwhelm their lunch staff, and it looks like we did: it took 38 minutes to get our food. Not our slowest service ever, but up there.

I'll be back, but I'll be ordering something else.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Wild Bill Burger - $11.82

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

Calamity Jane's is another quintessential Georgetown spot. Its mock-western theme plus hip local art and required Rainier Beer sign all work together successfully to pull this off. The menu with items like braised lamb shank and a daily dessert chalkboard aim at a bit more upscale clientele than other Georgetown usual suspects. We were the first guests of the day and the waitress greeted us warmly and got our drinks out right away.

I ordered a pint of Deschutes Cinder Cone Red (yum!) and the Wild Bill Burger with the SOTD. The soup was rich and tasty with tender chunks of lamb and a savory not too salty broth. The burger was perfect. It was on a handmade bun dripping with tangy BBQ sauce and jalapenos. The meat was fresh with a little pink in the middle, just like I like it.

I can't put my finger on it exactly, but something about Calamity Jane's just speaks to me. I've been twice now and will go back again.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Corned Beef Sandwich - Wednesday Special - $10.68

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

This excites me in a weird way. It's going for a divey vibe, smells good. Cool steampunky shit on the table. Records on the wall with pictures of Bowie, Darth Vader, Dwight. There were some moms in the corner doing the brunch thing with their babies. Other than those people we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The big table by the window was a nice place to camp out and drink.

Corned beef and some onions / greens on a sandwich sounded good and it WAS good. Looking back at the picture I want to eat it again right now. The soup was advertised as "their best" but it was kind of forgettable, especially since I already forgot what the hell kind of soup it was.

She brought the check before dessert. Grrr.... Good thing dessert was an incredible bread pudding. Other than that service was good, though food came slow.

Good beer / good food, and I Want to try their homemade hot sauce on their red beans / collard greens means I'll be back.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Cottage Pie - $10.23

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

What is it with the crazy expensive lunches in Georgetown? This time, with a beer and tax and tip, it came out to $19. Yikes! The PBR150 is going to bankrupt me. If the lunch itself had been amazingly great, then sure, I would have enjoyed the splurge, but it was merely quite good. Admittedly, the cottage pie was a huge portion, and I finished and enjoyed it, although nothing really about its flavors stood out. The main thing that comes to mind when thinking back on it is just how piping hot it was and how long it took to cool down to an edible temperature. Not that that's a bad thing, but half the table left before Jared and I were done with our meals. It's a ginormous carbo-blast that'll keep you going all day, but still. $19 for lunch? And this was the cheapest thing on the menu. I thought Georgetown was one of those indie-hipster-off-the-beaten-track-cheaper neighborhoods, but I guess I thought wrong. It takes $$$ to be different. Ah well. If the upcoming falafel truck costs more than $10, though, there's gonna be hell to pay.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Greens and Red Beans - $10.45

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

It was a nice place with great beer, and good 'comfort' food. A worthy local hangout if it is local to you - but maybe not worth going out of your way for. A solid 4(3.5) in my book.

Luncher: McKenna

Lunch: Mac and Cheese - $10.45

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Best described, Calamity Jane's is a welcoming, laid-back haunt, serving up heaping platefuls of comfort food and down home charm.

While it is reminiscent of an old western saloon, the ambiance manages to stay relaxed and welcoming. The restaurant features what appear to be salvaged chandeliers and light fixtures, giving it an 'old timey' feel. Hipsters will appreciate the rotating local art they feature on their walls, as well.

The menu offers southern favorites like Baby Back Ribs and cornmeal Johnny Cakes with a few vegetarian friendly options rounding it out. I went for the Macaroni and Cheese. It comes baked with three types of cheeses, mushrooms, asparagus and peppers melted right into the bow tie pasta. I really wanted to love this dish. The Mac N' Cheese ended up being a bit bland for my taste, but ultimately I found it to be what you would expect of comfort food: uncomplicated and satisfying.

The bill was a bit pricey for lunch, but I would definitely try this place again. With its great vibe, it would make an excellent stop for happy hour.

Rating: would have been 3 R's but combined with service and atmosphere gets 4 R's.

Luncher: Tyan

Lunch: Jane Burger with Cheddar Cheese - $11.36

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

First off I was surprised (and pleased) to discover that Calamity Jane's serves RC rather than Coca Cola or Pepsi products. I haven’t had a diet RC in ages, and it sure tasted nice! For lunch I ordered a Burger with Cheddar Cheese. It was pretty clear that our group of 9, combined with a few other two and three tops, overwhelmed the kitchen. It took ages for our food to arrive. I doubt this is normally a problem but if you go with a large group keep that in mind. My burger arrived and was cooked to medium as requested. It was decent for a burger but nothing special. The portion size was a bit too large for me at half a pound of 100% angus beef. This cost nearly twelve bucks. I wanted a slightly smaller, cheaper portion. I had a bite of Emmett’s bread pudding as well. Again nice but not fantastic. I might go again but would try something else instead since some of the other dishes looked tastier and more interesting than my burger.

Luncher: Katie

Lunch: G-town Sandwich - $10.23

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Shepards Pie - $10.23

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Calamity Jane's Photos

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Google Street View of Calamity Jane's

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Lunch #7: Two Tartes Cafe

2010-01-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

We headed out today not quite sure what the next stop for the PBR150 crew would be. Based on poor advance work we were expecting the falafel truck. However, just past Corson we noticed a small cafe on the street and pulled over to give it a thorough PBR150 working over.

Two Tartes Cafe, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 4 R's
Address: 5629 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: American: Deli
Website: twotartes.com/...
Lunch date: 8/21/2009 @ 12:25:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 5 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 5 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chair quality: Lawn Furniture
Beers on tap: None
Bar type: None
Year Established: 2006
Number of tables: 8
Number of occupied tables: 4 (50%)
Number of white collar tables: 5 (125%)
Number of blue collar tables: 1 (25%)
Healthcode Score: 20
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich on Ciabatta with Orzo Salad - $6.75

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Two Tartes is a small bakery with a smaller urban deli up front. There are a few tables inside and, in the summer, a few outside as well. It's an order-at-the-counter kind of place, so we stood in the short line, sized up the menu and the salads in the case, and placed our orders. The menu is the typical upper-end office park deli sort of menu with build-your-own sandwich options, a selection of paninis, and a handful of salad options. The salads looked good so I went with the 1/2 sandwich and salad lunch special for $6.75. I chose the Curry Chicken Salad on a Ciabatta Roll and the Orzo Salad.

We grabbed a table outside on the street (it was still summer) and waited for our lunches. The sandwich was good but a bit bland. The orzo was also fine but not memorable. I was still hungry. Luckily they also sell GIANT cookies. We bought a couple and devoured them. They were fantastic. We then bought a dozen more to share back at the office.

If you work near by, Two Tartes is a nice place to grab a well-made sandwich and salad, but it is not worth a drive otherwise unless you are in the mood for a giant cookie.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Chicken Pesto Sandwich with Chinese Chicken Salad - $6.75

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Lunch outside on the sidewalk, basking in the late summer Seattle sun... the setting alone makes you love this place.

You can never go wrong with a chicken pesto sandwich. It's chicken and it's pesto and it's good. The Chinese Chicken Salad was composed mostly of American chickens (as far as I could tell), but still had a nice little kick of the Orient. The lunch was... lunchy. Not amazing, not bad. You don't come here for the sandwiches, though.

If you're looking for cookies that will make your face want to melt with awesome... you've found the right place. These cookies are as big as your ugly head, and if you used them as a mask they will make you more beautiful than Helen of Troy. They're huge, they're delicious, and they're economical. In these hard times, you can hardly turn down a cookie of this magnitude.

My recommendation for life: Come here, eat a cookie, and live your remaining years knowing that you've had these amazing cookies.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Ham and Swiss w/ Pasta Salad - $6.75

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

It shouldn't be hard to find a deli that makes a decent sandwich with a decent side of pasta salad for a reasonable price. Yet, this city doesn't deliver in that department. So it was nice to find a bakery that was no-nonsense, had good sandwiches on good bread, good sides, and didn't break the bank.

It was small-- only a few tables, but fortunately outside there were a couple of tables and the weather was good. I had a half ham/swiss and the pasta salad. Not much to say about ham/swiss except it was good. I'm getting hungry just looking at the picture of it. The pasta salad, also fresh, was delicious.

And the cookies. I mean, look at them relative to my iPod, for an idea of scale. These things are incredible. I'm pretty sure they weigh a pound each. We shared a chocolate chip (it had a special name whose name escapes me, but the lady highly recommended it) and a rocky road I think? We got others, unpictured, because we ate them too damn fast.

5? Yeah let that be a lesson to any restaurant. You merit a higher review score on this blog by having amazing cookies.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Caprese Panini with Veggie Chili - $6.75

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Right off the bat, I have to say that the cookies here are awesome. Bigger than your head and mmm, mmm good. Oh yeah, they have lunch items, as well. I did the soup and sandwich combo. The caprese panini was pretty standard but still tasty because caprese paninis are always tasty. The cup of veggie chili had a nice little kick to it; I liked it. So, the combo by itself I would give a 3. But then the cookies came out -- so good -- definitely 5R cookies. In all, the combo + the cookies = 4. If I'm hankering for a cookie with my lunch, I'm heading back to the Two Tartes.

Two Tartes Cafe Photos

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Google Street View of Two Tartes Cafe

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Lunch #6: Stellar Pizza

2009-12-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

Pizza and beer are best enjoyed in large groups so we showed up today at Stellar Pizza with a record crew of 11 to see if we could enjoy our selves here.

Stellar Pizza, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 3.6 R's
Address: 5513 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: American: Pizza
Website: www.stellarpizza.com/...
Lunch date: 8/14/2009 @ 11:45:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 35 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 75 minutes
Chair quality: Weird Orange things
Beers on tap: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Manny's Pale Ale, Baron Pilsner, Hales Cream Ale, Dicks Danger Ale, Skagit River Beagle Beer, Arrogant Bastard Ale, The Lagunitas IPA, Boundary Bay Scotch Ale, Maritime Pacific Flagship Red, Hoegaarden, Guinness
Bar type: Full Bar
Year Established: 2001
Number of tables: 26
Number of occupied tables: 13 (50%)
Number of white collar tables: 10 (76%)
Number of blue collar tables: 1 (7%)
Healthcode Score: 15
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Family Style Dishes

Antipasti Platter - $10.50
Artichoke Jalapeno Dip - $9.00
Georgetowner - Pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, black olives, and onions. - $24.25
Courky's Veggie - Ricotta Cheese, spinach, red onion, roasted garlic, and Roma tomatoes - $24.25
Corson Classic - Sliced Yukon potatoes, gorgonzola cheese, and sweet white onions. - $22.00
Orcas with Chicken - Artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, feta cheese, on an olive oil base - $24.25
Airport Way Cordon Blue - Canadian Bacon, Chicken, and Gorgonzola Cheese - $24.25

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

A place named 'Stellar' has quite a rep to live up to. And I love pizza. I'll be honest, I was looking forward to this place. With a crew of 11, we're riding strong on this journey.

Personally, I'm partial to the thinner brands of pizza: NY-style, so greasy you can squeeze it like a sponge over your sink before rolling it up and shoving down your hungry maw; the super crispy cracker-crust, which Pizza Hut did a not-so-bad version of growing up but I've since found Zayda Buddy's in Ballard does excessively well; Neapolitan, cause simple is good, and I love the fact that people build huge ovens in their backyard or hack their ovens to get the required 800-degree temperatures. Thin, crispy at times, with perfect ingredients, make perfect pizza in my humble opinion. Seemingly easy, but remarkably hard.

Stellar brought us a good set of beer pitchers, and the size of our party afforded us some of their best pies. The Georgetowner ended up in front of me - italian sausage, pepperoni, olives, onions. Great ingredients, a soft, thick dough that smelled great, tasted delicious. It was a full 30 minutes in coming, but was delightful. Despite aforementioned preferences, I can deal with thick crust. This crust delivered. There was a Corson Classic with potato on it, which I didn't go near. Potato should stay far away from pizza. The Veggie and Orcas also had a nice balance of toppings.

The ambiance is nice, service good, a delightful way to blow off work. Go.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

I've always liked Stellar. It's quintessential "Georgetown" in my book: cool retro signs (required), sandwich boards on the street, eclectic art and collectibles throughout, old Rainier Beer neon sign (required), and hip wait staff each of which is likely either in a band or sleeping with someone who is (also required). We ordered beers and apps pretty quickly once we got settled. The beers came out right away, but I think someone forgot about the apps. When they finally did show up they were great. The Antipasti Platter was particularly nice. Nothing fancy, but had a nice country Italian meets Georgetown feel.

We ordered a bunch of pizzas that were all good, but nothing outstanding. The Georgetowner was my favorite, with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, black olives, and onions, it was the most classic of the pizzas we ordered. I'm usually not a classics guy when it comes to pizza, but this one was good.

Stellar is a great spot for Georgetown virgins to take the plunge and get some (pizza). It has a friendly atmosphere and the warm pizza and cold beer will happily snuggle with you until late in the evening. I <3 Stellar Pizza.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Yes, Stellar Pizza used to be called Stella. Just to clear up any confusion.

The settings: Stellar is broken into two halves, a bar side and a restaurant (a.k.a. people with kids) section. We sat on the restaurant side, because it accommodated our big-ass group better. This is the biggest crowd we've had on a PBR150 lunch to date... so that's pretty awesome.

The Menu: Much better than your typical pizza joint. I've had enough pepperoni pizzas in my life, and I like to see a little diversity in the menu. I also happen to really love Chicken Courdon Blue... so, that was nice to see on there. The diversity of ingredients and toppings might be what sets this apart from Pizza Hut, Godfathers, etc.

The food: good, but not great. You know what they say: "Pizza is like sex. Even when it's bad, it's better than starving." I enjoyed the pizza but think there are several better pizza options in Seattle.

I would have no hesitations to visit Stellar again, and if I'm in the neighborhood and looking for some 'za... this is where I'm going.

Luncher: Scott

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Food reviews are tough to read. I mean, how does the reader know that the writer has similar opinions on the topic so that the written opinion is trustworthy? With that in mind, I will tell you that if I want to order pizza delivered to me, it's Papa John’s. If I want to go sit down and enjoy something really tasty, it's Romio's. If I drive by a Godfather's, I start to salivate from all the joyous memories of my wasted youth. I have loved cheap pizza and expensive pizza. I have disliked pizza even, on occasion (Pizza Hut 90% of the time and Domino's 95%). For me to enjoy a pizza, it has to have one really great ingredient. Be it the sauce (Papa John’s), the cheese (Romio's) or the crust and video games in the parlor (Godfathers)...there's always something I can point to and say, "that's the part I like" and now you, dear reader, can identify with me or not.

On to Stellar. I had a slice of the Chicken Cordon Bleu and the Yukon Gold somethingorother. The first had ham on it, so continued my longstanding combat with pigs in general. The second was meatless...which is something I don't do often. Both slices were good. Solid ingredients on a good crust, etc. Service was what you'd expect at a sit-down pizza joint, and nothing disappointed me.

Sadly, that's about as far as I can take it. I'm giving the place 4Rs because I'd happily go eat there again, but I won't likely be the one pitching the idea. Everything was good and the rest of the menu looked good, including the various sandwiches making their way out of the kitchen,...but I was left shy of a 5R review because there were too many thoughts of, "this tastes like DiGiorno". At least it wasn't delivery.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

There are lots of things I liked about Stellar Pizza. The decor was fun, the wait staff were hip, the beer was cold. The one pizza I managed to try was good, too, but not great. The appetizers were tasty, which was fortunate because the two slices of pizza I ended up with weren't quite filling enough. Unfortunately, the plates were small, and so I was only able to grab one slice at a time. By the time I finished trying the appetizers and a slice of the potato pizza, all of the second veggie had been gobbled up, and I resignedly snatched up the last potato slice before anyone else could grab it. So yeah, the Corson Classic pizza was all right, but not good enough to make the trip to Georgetown. If I lived in that neighborhood, I'd Stellar-ize on a regular basis, but there's good pizza much closer to where I do live. But if someone else is driving, sure I'll go, and I'll be sure to snap up all the slices I can handle before everyone else chows down on them. It was also a bit spendy for lunch. My unemployed lifestyle can't accommodate many (or any) $16.00 lunches. At least I got more beer than the others because I didn't have to pretend to work for the rest of the afternoon.

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

they are slow

Luncher: Ty

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Nothing quite like skipping a good chunk of work to get your beer on. The pizza, and beer at Stellar's do not disappoint. While the service wasn't exactly stellar (See what I did there?), the pizza, and bruschetta more than made up for it. I would come back again, and again if I lived in the city, but I'm not quite sure the place warrants over an hour and a half in total commute time. Your mileage may vary.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Pizza was good, beer cold, but service slow and antipasto uninspired – 3 bottles.

Luncher: JoeGi

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

Great pizza and ambiance. There's a buzz here = fun, and being in Georgetown, it has a touch of incognito. For the foreseeable future, you can impress others with this real find. Nice to see pitchers of beer around the tables at lunchtime.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Family Style - $11.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

VIP Luncher: Joe from Boston Steamer

Lunch: Family Style - $16.00

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Stellar Pizza Photos

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Google Street View of Stellar Pizza

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Lunch #5: Cutting Board

2009-12-18T16:10:00.001-08:00

We're back bitches. The old Kurry King on the corner of Airport and Lucile is gone and has been replaced in the last year by the Cutting Board, a Japanese sushi & bento restaurant. We're on it.

Cutting Board, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 3.7 R's
Address: 5503 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: Japanese: Sushi
Website: www.cuttingboardseattle.c...
Lunch date: 8/6/2009 @ 12:14:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 18 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 43 minutes
Chair quality: Ikea
Beers on tap: None
Bar type: Bottled Beer & Sake
Year Established: 2009
Number of tables: 8
Number of occupied tables: 5 (62%)
Number of white collar tables: 4 (80%)
Number of blue collar tables: 1 (20%)
Healthcode Score: 5
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Chirashi Bowl - $9.99

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

I remember hearing about what a "chirashi bowl" was at the PayScale company picnic 2 years ago. Betsy and Mario were telling us about the wonders of Musashi's in Wallingford. All I can say is: Thanks. Musashi's chirashi bowl is now my benchmark for all other chirashi bowls. If you're unfamiliar with a chirashi bowl, it is bowl of sushi rice with several types of sushi items (typically chef's choice) scattered on top.

I haven't been eating at many sushi restaurants lately, so I almost yelped with excitement to see that they would make me chirashi. I was also excited because it meant I could quit trying to read the completely overwhelming menu. I think a sushi restaurant needs to have lots of "pre-packaged" menu items for the lunch crowd. We like to make quick, simple and (typically) cheap picks.

The rice in the bowl was pretty danged good. And the ingredients on top were artfully arranged. The fish tasted good, but there wasn't anything that really screamed: "I'm amazing!" There were, however, a couple of things in the bowl that screamed: "You have no idea what the eff I am!" I asked the woman working the counter what the unknown food-stuffs were, but I couldn't discern what she was telling me.

Prices are too high for non-amazing food, but I'd go back.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Samurai Bento - $14.99

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Every place we try down here continues to surprise. I was looking forward to some King Kurry but lo, there was a Japanese place here. Kool.

The inside is clean, well-lit, welcoming. There are a few tables up front near the window and even more back around the side. You can see into the kitchen, right behind the counter where you place your order. A sweet Japanese lady greeted us, took our order, pointed us at a table.

BIG menu, and I like a variety, so I went for the pricy Samurai Bento. At $14.99 it made for a spendy lunch but hopefully some goodness will come out of it. The menu doesn't really explain it so allow me. It comes with: Tuna roll. Ginger chicken. Some salmon. A salad. Some edamame. Some fruit. A vegetable dumpling filled with soy beans. I think.

All in all, the sushi was good, but not memorable. It wasn't any better than Fuji or Tsukushinbo. But if you're in G-town and don't want to drive ten minutes to the ID, this is a good spot. Parking is better here too.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Cutting Board Bento - $9.99

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

First, we screwed up by not ordering any rolls. If you come to the Cutting Board, order rolls. I have never seen such a large selection of rolls. As soon as I sat down, after ordering the Cutting Board Bento at the counter, the order of rolls showed up for the table next to us. I was immediately filled with lunch buyers remorse. The massive menu of specialty rolls should have been a hint. See the photos of their lunch below. Luckily, my bento arrived quickly and I was pulled back from the ledge. It had a nice salad and a fresh tuna roll plus some crispy fried fish and tasty beef croquettes. I was also fortunate to avoid the yoshoku dishes, a horrible Japanese nostalgic cuisine the Cutting Board apparently shares with Fort St. George. I would definitely give the Cutting Board a second try, but even though I enjoyed the bento, it will be all rolls for me on my next visit.

Cutting Board Photos

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Google Street View of Cutting Board

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Lunch #4: Georgetown Liquor Company

2009-08-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

Our first loop circumnavigating Georgetown has been on the outside of the street. After Matt's and the Industry Lounge on E Marginal Way, Marginal joins 99 and we turn right at Oregon Street passing the Hudson on the inside (next pass) and nothing else on the outside. Continuing along the northern boundary Oregon turns to Denver then jogs on 3rd then Dawson then back to Denver before running into Lucile and T-ing into Airport Way. We pass another possibility for lap #2, but nothing on the outside other than train yards and small factories. At Airport we complete our first loop and start on the inside loop. First stop, Georgetown Liquor Company. We conveniently have Veggie Rob with us today to help us navigate the meatless world that is the GLC.

Georgetown Liquor Company, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 4.2 R's
Address: 5501 Airport Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: American: Vegetarian, American: Bar
Website: www.georgetownliquorcompa...
Lunch date: 7/31/2009 @ 11:50:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 15 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 55 minutes
Chair quality: Typical Bar Chairs & Booths
Beers on tap: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Manny's Pale Ale, Stella, Hoegaarden, Budweiser, Believer Double Red, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, 9 Lb Porter, New Belgian Mothership Wit, Strongbow Cider, Hales Kölsch
Bar type: Full Bar
Year Established: 2007
Number of tables: 15
Number of occupied tables: 4 (26%)
Number of white collar tables: 3 (75%)
Number of blue collar tables: 1 (25%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Darth Rueben - Roasted-tomato Field Roast, Ementhaler swiss cheese, sauerkraut and remoulade toasted on marbled rye - $10.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

The sign over the door of the Georgetown Liquor Company has the words Food, Beer, Booze, and Games surrounding the logo. As I evaluated the place after we sat down the proportions seemed right. It's about 50% bar, 25% restaurant, and 25% game room. It feels and smells like a typical hipster bar, dark wood, quirky art, and slight musty mopped out smell. There are vintage video games and even old console games. The menu offers much more than the usual bar fare and has a clear sci-fi geek theme to it. It also offers a lot less on one respect: MEAT. The GLC is veggie only but has lots of meat-like sandwich options.

I went with the Darth Reuben. I'm a sucker for Reubens, and this one might be able to choke me from across the room. I ordered Georgetown Brewery's 9 Lb. Hammer to accompany my sandwich. The beers came out right away, and I had trouble not finishing mine before the sandwiches came. This seems like a serious hazard of trying to be a responsible employee and only having one beer with lunch. I may have to rethink part of this strategy.

The sandwiches were beautiful and the first thing I noticed was the great breads used in all. The marbled rye on the Reuben was crusty and cut thick. The part of the sandwich that was not corned beef was Roasted-tomato Field Roast. This was my first experience with Field Roast and, while I missed the beef, the Field Roast was tasty and made a nice sandwich. I think I would have enjoyed the GLC more if I had ordered a vegetarian sandwich based on vegetables. It was hard for me not to compare this sandwich to the amazing meat filled Reuben at the I Love New York Deli.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: The Cheezz Steak - Field Roast, roasted red peppers, roasted red onions, mushrooms and vegan cheese substitute. - $10.00

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

When you go to a seafood restaurant, you can still get land-based foods. When you go to a steakhouse, you can get food that has flown or swam too. When you go to a vegetarian restaurant, you might expect some land-, air- or sea-based food too. Nay, they only serve vegetarian and vegetarian-er (vegan) meals. That's cool, but I just thought I'd point out a little discrepancy in the taxonomy of restaurants.

This place is pretty cool. A nice rough-around-the-edges feel, big tables, a nice looking bar, and all the classic video games you could ever want. I ordered a sandwich off of the chalkboarded menu of specials, The Cheezz Steak. I feel lucky too, because as soon as I ordered it... they took it off the menu. I got the last one.

Fear not, just because it's vegetarian or vegan... it's still down-and-dirty delicious pub food. This stuff wasn't lacking in unhealthy (unhealthful?) options. The onions and other great roasted vegetables on my sandwich were dripping in something awesome. The biggest question about this sandwich for me was the fake cheese... how was it going to hold up? It was different, but was perfect for the sandwich. It was less like a sticky cohesive unit of melted food, and more like a sauce. No disappointments there.

I initially balked at the prices for the sandwiches. I would have loved to see some cheaper lunch options, because you can't spend $10-$15 on lunch every day... which is how often I want to eat there.

The atmosphere was right. The food was great. The beer selection was wide and plentiful. GLC is everything I want in my Georgetown lunch options.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Tycho - Garlic-roasted portobello mushroom, grilled red onions, mozzarella cheese and baby field greens and roasted tomato aioli toasted on ciabatta. - $10.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

There's a lot about this restaurant that confounds me.

The name. Liquor Company. It's a restaurant, yet. . . a liquor company. I guess cause they serve booze.
It's vegetarian. Why a Liquor Company chooses to sell only vegetarian food is anyone's guess.
My Portabella burger was named after Tycho Celchu, a renowned starfighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance and New Republic. Hmmm.
They have old school video games. Atari 2600. Super NES. And they work. And connected to working, equally old school televisions.

Regardless, this liquor company serves damn good beer and food. Vegetarian food that a meat eater like me would enjoy. With fun Star Wars/Star Trek themed names like "Obi Won-Tons." And a decent selection of old-school video games.

My sandwich, the Tycho, was delicious. Lots of mozzarella and aioli jazzed this fucker up. And the Ciabatta it came on was quite good. The Obi-Won-Tons had a nice zing from the goat cheese. The food here is expensive, but quite good.

Add a full bar and video games to the mix and you have a winner.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: The Sleestack - Roasted red peppers, goat cheese, fresh arugula and our housemade olive tapenade toasted on ciabatta. - $10.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Okay, a $10 sandwich is way too expensive, and probably why the Georgetown Liquor Company felt somewhat empty at lunchtime. I mean, come on, the veggie sandwich at Salumi is less than $10. Sigh. But the GLC is a vegetarian joint, so I'll cut them a little slack, and their grub is pretty darn good. I scanned the sandwich list and the name "Sleestack" jumped right out at me. Tapped straight into my nerdy kid days. And yeah, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, olive tapenade... Yum. It was a bit heavy on the goat cheese, but tasty nonetheless. If only their lunch menu were $2 cheaper, then I'd be going there for lunch much more often than once in a blue moon, especially on my unemployed salary. Regardless, next time I'll have to resist the siren song of the Sleestack and try something else. It's such a lovely feeling to be able to close my eyes, point at something random on the menu, and have it be a lovely veggie meal.

Luncher: Dave

Lunch: Picard - Lentil-sage Field Roast, roasted red onions, fresh mozzarella, Tofutti cream cheese and roasted garlic spread, toasted on ciabatta. Served with vegan au jus dipping sauce. - $10.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

this is a dive bar for geeks; my girlfriend sez it seems like the kind of place where a few people got together and said "let's make a place that we'd want to hang out in", and one of them happened to be vegetarian, so they serve veg food. i think she's right, and furthermore it seems like the kind of place i'd want to hang out in, especially during the relatively quiet lunch. if their twilight zone pinball machine had been working, i might not have ever left.

i had the "picard", which is their goofy name for a french dip sandwich. and despite losing the roast beef in favor of locally made lentil-sage field roast, it was one of the best french dips i've ever had. the garlicky aioli emphasized the garlicky field roast, and the cheese was perfectly gooey and messy. the jus was so amazingly beefy that i passed it around the table for everyone to taste. i even buttonholed the guy and said "there's no way this is vegetarian", and he was like "i know, it's amazing". he told me what the secret is, but i'm a jerk so i'm going to keep it to myself. if you want to know, go to GLC and ask. oh, and the broccoli-cheese soup was good too.

i have a couple minor complaints about the place. for one thing, soup or salad as the only side choices for the gooey sandwiches seems a little odd; why no fries or chips? second, it's spendy. this isn't a once-a-week lunch place, more of a splurge. that said, i'm sure i'll go back; seriously tasty food that happens to be vegetarian, good beer, and a comfortable atmosphere is a great combination.

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Darth Rueben - Roasted-tomato Field Roast, Ementhaler swiss cheese, sauerkraut and remoulade toasted on marbled rye. - $10.00

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

The best vegetarian restaurant where I have eaten. The after taste of my meal wasn't that great though, so I'm giving it a 4.

Georgetown Liquor Company Photos

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Google Street View of Georgetown Liquor Company

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Lunch #3: Industry Lounge

2009-08-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

During our previous visit to the area we scouted out the Industry Lounge next door to Matt's to see if it could be considered a lunch spot. Not only do they have a lunch menu of typical bar fare, but on Tuesdays they serve all-you-can-eat tacos. This is the kind of challenge that the PBR150 lunchers cannot pass up. Bring on Taco Tuesday.

Industry Lounge, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 2.8 R's
Address: 6601 E. Marginal Way S, Seattle, WA, 98108
Cuisine: American: Bar
Website: www.myspace.com/206indust...
Lunch date: 6/30/2009 @ 12:00:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 1 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 30 minutes
Chair quality: Medium
Beers on tap: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Manny's Pale Ale, Budweiser, Bud Light, Speakeasy's Big Daddy IPA, Hoegaarden
Bar type: Full Bar
Year Established: 2009
Number of tables: 11
Number of occupied tables: 3 (27%)
Number of white collar tables: 1 (33%)
Number of blue collar tables: 2 (66%)
Healthcode Score: 8
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Tacos, 4 and a half of 'em - $4.75

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

This place has a fucking myspace page. That's how you know it's good. On Taco Tuesday, their menu consists of . . . Tacos. And Beer. The beer was cold, the service was great, and the tacos were delicious. Oh and the price was right. What more do you need to know?

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Tacos, 4 of 'em - $4.75

Rrrrating: 2 out of 5 R's

The Industry Lounge is in a bleak looking cinder block building on the wrong side of Marginal Way. It is less dive bar looking inside than I expected, but it appears to be a typical blue collar everyman's bar. There is nothing ironic about the name.

Taco Tuesday at the Industry Lounge is an exclusive event. It is exclusively tacos. No burgers. No fries. Just tacos. All the tacos you can eat. "We can't make anything else until later in the day. Our grill is currently covered in taco meat." We ordered tacos and PBR. Duh.

This is the American taco. There is no pretending to be Mexican here. At our request the friendly bar lady delivered a new tray of crisp taco shells filled with ground beef and taco seasoning. We then filled them with toppings from the temporary toppings bar set up off to the side of the bar next to the cash machine. Toppings included sour cream, Pace Picante Sauce, lettuce, olives, Sriracha (the only standout), and cheddar cheese. I ate them. They filled my belly, but I longed for the crazy top.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Tacos, 5 of 'em - $4.75

Rrrrating: 2 out of 5 R's

When entering Industy, you'll be greeted by the cloud of smoke being in- and exhaled by the frequenters (and the employee) of this establishment. Good people looking for low priced food, and middle-school style tacos.

The waitress is going to come over and ask for your orders, which is mostly just asking: "what kind of beer do you want?" because you don't get an option for food on Tuesday, you only get tacos.

The tacos are exactly like the ones you made in college, and come from 100% pre-packaged ingredients. I can tell you their secret recipe: "a shitload of ground beef, and a crapload of taco seasoning". Now breakout the Sysco hard taco shells, add a tub of cream cheese, some generic jug of salsa, a bag of pre-shredded lettuce, and some heirloom tomatoes from the local farmers market (actually, I have no idea about the tomatoes because I friggin' hate tomatoes and all that they represent). Tada: Taco Tuesday!

Anyways: The PBR was cold, cheap and fresh. The tacos were tacos. The service was nice, and consisted of a single woman in the entire establishment. It wasn't bad, but I'm definitely looking forward to better food on this PBR-fueled food adventure.

Luncher: Scott

Lunch: Tacos, 5 of 'em - $4.75

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

Imagine you're in High School and you've invited all your friends over to enjoy the PBR that your parents left in the fridge. You've never made tacos, but you have been to the grocery store. What do you do? Well, you buy a bunch of ground beef and some packets of "taco seasoning" and then you buy a bunch of prepared foods, like shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, a big jug of Pace Picante sauce and a largish vat of Sour Cream. To spice things up, you probably dice the tomatoes yourself. Also, you have some Sriracha hot sauce on hand, so you're set.

Yep. That's exactly what it was like. Straight-off-the-package tacos. Not great. Not bad. I ate 5 because I was hungry, but I might have had 5 anyway. It won't kill you, and therefore will make you stronger.

Speaking of which, the entire matchbook supply was provided by "CJ" Johnson Bail Bonds. Seriously. Large bin of matches, each like the other. All bright yellow so you can find them when you get pulled over for drunk driving after having too many tacos and trying to drink your way to normalcy. I can't decide what it says to me that CJ was so willing to provide so many matches to such an establishment.

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Tacos, 3 and a half of 'em - $4.75

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Lovely service

Industry Lounge Photos

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Google Street View of Industry Lounge

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Lunch #2: Matt's Famous Chili Dogs

2009-08-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

After more Street View scouting and an actual drive by on our previous lunch, we knew that today's stop for the PBR150 train was going to be Matt's Famous Chili Dogs. We embarked from our ID headquarters and arrived shortly at Matt's. On board today were Geary, Adam, Emmett, and Dave (no grabbing needed).

Matt's Famous Chili Dogs, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 3.3 R's
Address: 6615 E. Marginal Way S, Seattle, WA, 98108
Cuisine: American: Hot Dogs
Website: www.mattsfamouschilidogs....
Lunch date: 6/15/2009 @ 11:45:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 1 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 23 minutes
Chair quality: Picnic Tables
Beers on tap: None
Year Established: 1986
Number of tables: 3
Number of occupied tables: 1 (33%)
Number of white collar tables: 1 (100%)
Number of blue collar tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Fire Dog - $3.99

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

When you walk into this Matt's Famous Chili Dogs, you might actually be greeted by Matt. He was there with a smile on his face, a warm welcoming message, and a pen in his hand. He promptly took our order for high-priced saugage-shaped products, and delivered the goods only moments later.

The Fire Dog is definitely delicious. I hate tomatoes though, so I chucked those mofos to the ground (or, maybe I just ordered it sans tomatoes... whichever sounds badasser). Bright green relish is the real eye-catcher on a Chicago-style hot-dog, and this guy had the relish in spades. A pickle spear, onions, mustard, and peppers finished off this spicy polish sausage concoction. In the end: delicious.

But for $4, I would expect a little more out of a hot dog. I understand that businesses have overhead and need to cover some margins to make a profit... but I can't imagine that this hot dog had more than $1.25 of ingredients, so the 3x+ markup is a little high.

Hot dogs are awesome when you're drunk, but lack that extra "pop" when it's before 2AM and you're not being forced onto the streets of Seattle by a huge bouncer named Tug.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Matt's Original Dog, Bratwurst, Reg. Fries - $3.29, $3.99, $1.59

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

I lived in Chicago during its glory years (1984-1986 - Super Bowl Shuffle baby). I was also at the age where I pretty much ate hot dogs every day. Consider me an expert.

Matt's has a shiny colorful storefront. You can't really miss it driving down Marginal Way. We were greeted by Matt, who was working the counter, and got us our orders right quick. I went with the original, no mustard, plus fries. The hot dog was solid - tasty, cooked just right. The chili was just average. I like my chili with some zing, and this was kind of plain, and didn't do much for my taste buds. The fries were fresh, but overly salted. I went back for Bratwurst, with grilled onions and a little mustard. It was a good brat, but to be honest, it's gotta be a little charred on the outside to make me happy. It wasn't working for me.

They have great, fast service, but a little expensive. Two dogs will put you in the $7 dollar range, not including a drink.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Fire Dog, New York Dog - $3.99, $3.29

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Having been to Matt's numerous times before I was eager to return. It's been a few years. This is the original Matt's and has been a Georgetown institution since 1986. It's a small hut on the edge of an industrial block with a brightly painted sign on top. There's a dive bar next door and a few picnic tables in a small grass pad off to the other side. There is some inside seating as well at a few stools along a bar looking out.

Matt, himself, was working the counter today and greeted us with a friendly smile. Clearly he didn't know what we were up to. I ordered the Fire Dog from the Sausages section of the menu. This is a hot polish dog served Chicago style with onions, relish, peppers, tomato, and mustard. Looking to try something new I threw in a New York Dog, a standard dog with sauerkraut, red onion sauce, and mustard. The order was up quickly, and we grabbed a table in the sun outside to enjoy our dogs.

The Fire Dog was as delicious as I had remembered. The little peppers are crisp and together with the spicy polish sausage and other fixin's make great dog. I was not as impressed with the New York Dog. The red onion sauce was overly sweet and it lacked any sort of flavorful punch. Maybe it requires ambiance of honking taxis to fully enjoy.

Matt's serves a great dog and as long as you stick to the Chicago style dogs you can't go wrong. It's a bit spendy for a two hot dog lunch, but I'm willing to pay the extra price occasionally for the pleasure.

Luncher: Dave

Lunch: Fire Dog, Kraut Dog - $3.99, $3.09

Rrrrating: 3 out of 5 R's

i have fond memories of the matt's in bellevue, even though it wasn't the original.

i'd been there a number of times and met people there for lunch a lot, and i generally associated the place with good times. since they closed down i hadn't had a good chicago- style dog, so i was looking forward to hitting the original and seeing if it was as good as i remembered. short answer: not quite.

we get there and i decide to try something other than my erstwhile usual (two fire dogs, chicago style). i get one fire dog chicago style and decide to try the kraut dog. the fire dog was great. if anything it's spicier than i remember, and it's a nice hefty sausage.

the pile of fillings is always a challenge, and as usual i ended up eating half of it off the napkin, but i definitely enjoyed it. the kraut dog, however, was a letdown. rather than a big, meaty sausage, this was just a run-of-the-mill dog with run-of-the-mill kraut and mustard. not awful, but not something i couldn't have just made myself at home. and for way less than $3, too.

which brings me to my other complaint; i may be misremembering, but to me matt's was a cheap, filling meal. the "buy 100 and we'll throw in a free small soda that's mostly ice" shtick works a lot better for me if i feel like i'm getting my money's worth. i know prices go up and portions go down; it's the natural order of business. but a couple of dogs shouldn't run me $7 and leave me feeling hungry. if the crowd's going, i'd tag along, but i'd avoid the plain hot dog options.

Matt's Famous Chili Dogs Photos

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Lunch #1: Taqueria el Trompo Loco

2009-08-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's go time for our new adventure. We have decided to start on Airport Way and spiral around Georgetown counterclockwise seeking out and eating lunch at every independent spot we come across. Thanks to Google Street View we were able to do some remote reconnaissance before heading out today. Our first loop starts on the outside (east) of Airport Way where Street View shows nothing that might server lunch (Lots of likely spots on the inside. We are looking forward those on our second pass). We turned right on Hardy and still nothing. Nothing too along Albro or Ellis. We finally hit the first possible lunch spot after turning north on Marginal Way. It's a Mexican restaurant, El Gallo d'Oro, about which we can find little online. Armed with this intel we (Emmett, Adam, and Geary) grabbed Dave (not like that) and headed out. We followed the route starting on Airport Way and sure enough there was nothing until El Gallo d'Oro. Upon arriving we found the lot empty and door locked. In the derelict lot to the south, however, there was a big yellow taco truck with its name, Taqueria el Trompo Loco, hand painted on the side. It was not clear if it was open either. We asked the woman hosing down mats outside and she said that they were just opening and confirmed that El Gallo d'Oro is no longer serving food and is now just a bar. Our Golden Rooster dreams dashed, we sidled up to the taco truck and prepared ourselves for PBR150 lunch #1. Game on.

Taqueria el Trompo Loco, Seattle
Average Rrrrrating: 4.3 R's
Address: 7047 E. Marginal Way S, Seattle, Washington, 98108
Cuisine: Mexican: Taco Truck
Lunch date: 5/14/2009 @ 11:45:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 15 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 38 minutes
Chair quality: Jersey Barrier
Beers on tap: None
Year Established: 2003
Number of tables: 0
Number of occupied tables: 0
Number of white collar tables: 0
Number of blue collar tables: 0
Healthcode Score: 5
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: 4 Tacos - Pastor, Adovada, Suadero, Carnita - $5.47

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

We had already prepared ourselves for Mexican, but were also anticipating a nice frosty one to wash it down with. The disappointment hung heavy as we sized up the taco meat list and put in our orders. Four tacos seemed like a good goal and I went with Pastor (pork), Adovada (pork), Suadero (beef), and Carnitas (I like pork). When the grill fired up and the aroma from the cooking meats started wafting from the truck (actually, trailer) we started to forget our disappointment and make ourselves comfortable on the jersey-like barriers adjacent to the taco trailer. As we were waiting we learned that the Taqueria el Trompo Loco is famous around the PNW for their Tacos al Pastor that they cut from a vertical roasting spit (like Greek Giros) on Fridays and Saturdays. The spit is colloquially called El Trompo, the top, because it resembles the spinning toy. We were told that people come from as far away as Oregon and Idaho. Really? To this dusty parking lot next to the steel plant? We were not convinced. But then the food arrived.

When the tacos were finally delivered through the tiny window any previous disappointment vanished. The four tacos almost completely enveloped the paper plate. Each taco had a splash of orange salsa and onions, cilantro, and chopped radish piled generously on top. I started with the Suadero since it was new to me. Suadero is apparently grilled beef brisket. It had a nice grilled flavor with crisply bits, but a few bites tasted a bit off, like the meat was approaching its pull date. Not bad enough to put it down mind you. That was the last road bump. The other tacos were excellent. The Carnitas were tender and porky. The Adovada had a nice smooth chili sauce and the Pastor was spicy and full of flavor. The orange colored salsa was the perfect, spicy complement to the meats. While the ambiance was not great, the food was. It was an auspicious kickoff for this new adventure. Still, a beer would have been nice.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: 4 Tacos - Pollo, Chorizo, Suadero, Carnita - $5.47

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

What could be a better kick-off to this adventure than a Taco Truck? Which brings up a question for me: Why do Taco Trucks never move? They're always in the same place. Is there a legal advantage to being theoretically mobile? Anyways, on with the review!

Before ordering, I needed a lesson in what each of these awesome meats were. I'd share my lessons with you here, but it turns out that Wikipedia does a better job than I can. I'm going to list them in their order of awesomeness, but to be fair, they were all light years ahead of the typical Mexican food I eat.

Carnitas - Slow cooked pork in delicious spices
Pollo - Small chunks of chicken cooked in delicious spices
Chorizo - Awesome pork sausage with delicious spices
Suadero - Thin Cuts of beef brisket in delicious spices

All of these tacos were really awesome. And the garnish and hot sauce needs to be mentioned too. The pickled radish wedges were definitely good and a little spicy. The habenero hot sauce was amazing; it was spicy and very flavorful. I even liked it so much that I got a little cup of it to-go to leave in the fridge at work.

Maybe it was the excited of the start of the PBR150, maybe it was the theoretically-mobile food station, but probably it was the totally awesome food. This place has earned a place in my heart, and a 4-Rainier rating.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: 4 Tacos - Pastor, Adovada, Suadero, Carnita - $5.47

Rrrrating: 4 out of 5 R's

Inaugural post, and we're kicking it on a cloudy day by a bright yellow taco truck. This place just smells delicious. I went for four tacos - Pastor, Adovada, Suadero, Carnitas. The pastor was rad, little pieces of pineapple were chilling out in my taco. They claim on Friday evenings they set up the Pastor spit, and grill it up fresh and right. I'll need to come back to verify. Adovada was also quite savory. Suadero was tender rib meet and delicious. The only fail was the Carnitas, which were a little dry, but still perfectly grubworthy.

Y'all may think you've had the world's best tacos (myself included). I don't think these will win any awards, but I'll be honest - these are done right, and worth a visit.

Luncher: Dave

Lunch: 4 Tacos - Pastor, Suadero, Carnita, Chorizo - $5.47

Rrrrating: 5 out of 5 R's

let me get this over with: heineken? eff that ess.

the first PBR150 run meets immediate setbacks. fallback: a taco truck sandwiched between by-the-hour hotels and pipe-testing facilities. inauspicious!

brief aside: i don't know what the PBR150 core ruling is going to be on taking travel time into account; it seems a little unfair, like blaming a restaurant for being in spain or something, so in general i think i'll discount travel, except to mention: emmett really wanted to beat that train.

the tacos look like what i see on the tv shows of people who i wish i were, eating street food in places i wish i were. a little pile of various meats, cilantro, diced onion and radish, lime wedges, and the telltale orange of jabanero salsa. picking bits of meat off, i rate: the beef options are beefy, and maybe a little dry; the al pastor is sweet and delicious; and the chorizo is rich and spicy. eating the tacos, i rate: yeah. the beef options are merely wonderful; the richness of the suadero gives it a little leg over its peer. the al pastor is still sweet and delicious, and the chorizo might be better still; i'll need a few dozen more of each to be sure.

i can truthfully say i've never had better tacos squatting next to a non-jersey barrier. heck, i've never had better tacos squatting in a fancy restaurant. the thing is, on that day, when i popped the last bite of chorizo taco into my mouth, i had never had better tacos. this was 4+ Rainiers for the food, but on that day, this was what 5 Rainiers is for.

Dave's review of Taqueria el Trumpo Loco on his blog

Taqueria el Trompo Loco Photos

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Google Street View of Taqueria el Trompo Loco

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What the hell are we doing now?

2009-08-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

We've eaten at every restaurant in Seattle's ID. We need a new hood to hate on. Georgetown seems like a good candidate. Yes, that's right, the intrepid bottom feeders of MSG150 are at it again setting out to infest the tattooed hipster haunts, dive bars, and questionable ethnic eateries of Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. If you are not familiar with our previous "work", let us fill you in a bit. We started in 2007 on a whim to eat lunch at all International District restaurants. To keep us on target we printed a map of the ID and drew a path that took us down every side of every block in the neighborhood. In less than a year, we had eaten at and posted reviews of all of the restaurants in the core of the ID. We found many pearls in the bunch but encountered the occasional rotten oyster as well. We have since tacked on Japantown and are moving east of I-5 to fill in Little Saigon. For this new Georgetown adventure, we are planning a less frenetic pace and will take time to sample the available cold beverages as we go. Please enjoy and jump in with your own reviews, comments, or suggestions so we can make fun of you too.

"Why Georgetown," you ask?

the Pig Iron
domestic beer
better domestic beer
airplanes
hats and boots
the possibility of destroying promoting "the last outpost of any blue-collar, bohemian arts culture in Seattle" with our mindless musings on beer selection, pork savoriness, and adam's trucker hats.

In any case, we bring you PBR150*, our latest adventure in forced lunching.

Rules

Rules? Where we're going we don't need. . . rules

Designated Lunch Zone

Georgetown is mostly light industrial with all sorts of factories and warehouses but has a few small residential areas as well. It isn't quite the grid that the ID is, compelling us to draw crazy spaghetti monster maps to cover every corner. We've decided to tackle the area defined by the following boundaries starting at the corner of Airport Way South and Corson Ave South, and spiral in clock-wise one side of the street at a time:

the rail yard on the north
the Duwamish waterway on the west and south
Boeing Field to the southeast
I-5 on the east

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Rrrrratings

Each of us will write up some comments about each spot and provide a rating. The rating scale is a five point scale:

1 R: dog food! - I'd rather eat my arm.
2 R: not so good - Not likely to go back.
3 R: average - Sure, if everyone's going I'll go along.
4 R: good - These guys are on to something. I'll be back.
5 R: great - Wow! A top 10 lunch spot.

*PBR150 is not affiliated with any brand of beer, bull riding association, or gas company.