Browsed by
Tag: west seattle restaurants

Welcome to White Center sign
Is White Center now a Dining Center?

Is White Center now a Dining Center?

Comments 0 Comment

Don’t look now, but White Center, WA (a quirky little suburb of the suburb of West Seattle, aka Rat City) is quickly becoming a haven for good eating establishments! Maybe this spunky little neighborhood has finally found a way to distinguish itself!

Here are just a few of the tasty trattoria’s you may want to try. (Please note: this is somewhat random a list, in no particular order. Plus, I have undoubtedly, yet innocently, omitted some worthy contenders. Care to nominate others?)

Noble Barton’s – 9635 16th Ave SW  http://noblebarton.com/

Proletariat Pizza – 9622 16th Ave SW  https://proletariatpizza.com/

Full Tilt Ice Cream – 9629 16th Ave SW  http://www.fulltilticecream.com/

Zippy’s Giant Burgers – 9614 14th Ave SW  http://zippysgiantburgers.com/

Taqueria El Rincon – 11066 16th Ave SW  http://visitwhitecenter.com/biz/taqueria-el-rincon/

Greenbridge Cafe – 9901 8th Ave SW   http://www.greenbridgecafe.com/GreenbridgeCafe/Greenbridge_Cafe.html

Bok a Bok Korean Fried Chicken – 1521 SW 98th St  http://www.bokabokchicken.com/

Salvadorean Bakery – 1719 SW Roxbury St  http://thesalvadoreanbakery.com/home.php

Fresh Flours Bakery – 9410 Delridge Way SW   http://www.freshfloursseattle.com/

Pho 99 – 9828 15th Ave SW  http://www.pho99vn.com/

88 Restaurant – 9418 Delridge Way SW  https://www.zomato.com/seattle/88-restaurant-white-center/menu

Young’s Restaurant – 9413 16th Ave SW  https://www.zomato.com/seattle/youngs-restaurant-white-center/menu

Drunky’s Two Show BBQ – 9655 16th Ave SW  http://twoshoebbq.com/

What’s your favorite White Center eatery?

single diners
Do West Seattle restaurants welcome single diners?

Do West Seattle restaurants welcome single diners?

Comments 2 comments

single dinersI am a single adult, living alone in West Seattle (not counting my awesome canine companion, Tess).

First, let me say that being alone and being lonely are not at all the same in my book. In fact, they’re not even on the same page. But that is not what this post is about. It is about my frustration at being excluded from the benefits of most “dining out” coupons.

I recently received yet another coupon book in the mail filled with money-saving offers from local businesses. Six West Seattle restaurants offered discount coupons. Guess how many of them would benefit me if I chose to dine solo? None. Zippo. Zilch. Zero.

Every single offer (pun intended) required that I buy one full-priced meal in order to get a second one free or at a discount.  (Note: I am singling out West Seattle restaurants only because I live in West Seattle right now. Restaurants everywhere are guilty of this oversight.)

I don’t know whether I am the exception or the norm, but as a single person living by myself, I long ago abandoned any self-consciousness over eating alone in a restaurant or going solo to a movie theater.

Even so, there are definitely restaurants where I feel welcomed and others where I feel my business is undervalued and underappreciated.

Why should restaurant owners care about catering to singles? Don’t they make much more profit from tables of multiple diners? Consider this:

  • Singles tend to eat out more frequently.
  • Singles often take guests out to dinner and choose the restaurant based on their previous experiences there, whether dining alone or in tandem.
  • Singles talk; we recommend (or don’t) restaurants to friends and family both online and in person.

Here are a few of the things that contribute to the likelihood that I will frequent a particular eating establishment. (Only a few are specific to dining alone.)

  • I am welcomed promptly and politely
  • I am able to look over the menu before being seated
  • The menu includes “small plate” options
  • There is comfortable seating available at the bar or small tables
  • The eatery is clean and aesthetically pleasing
  • The food is good
  • The prices represent a good value
  • The server is prompt, knowledgeable and gracious
  • Neither the server nor management makes me feel rushed
  • Plenty of available parking or transit-friendly options

Am I missing anything that you look for? If so, I hope you will take a moment to comment below.

In the coming weeks, I plan to survey a number of the West Seattle restaurants listed on the award-winning, West Seattle Blog to find out what they do, if anything, to welcome single diners? I will publish the results here.

If you are a restaurant owner, particularly a West Seattle restaurant owner, I invite you to beat me to the punch. Comment on this post to let singles know what you do to accommodate us and show you value our patronage.

One final note. Although the coupon book I mentioned above did not contain any dining discounts suitable to singles, I have since seen one that did. One West Seattle restaurant, and one West Seattle restaurant only, included a coupon good for 15% off the entire bill. No stipulations that you must spend a minimum amount or purchase more than one entree. That restaurant is…drumroll, please! Bang Bar Thai Restaurant and Lounge located at 4750 California Ave. SW in West Seattle’s Alaska Junction. I have eaten there (sans coupon) and had a very good experience.

You see? We do talk! Restaurant owners would be wise to listen.

Single diners

 

 

Living Green in my car

Living Green in my car

Comments 0 Comment

I am not a car buff. When it comes to my car, I want it to be dependable and economical with a little bit of “cute” mixed in. My 2001 Toyota Echo fills the bill. The only thing that is likely to convince me to trade it in rather than run it into the ground is the lure of an electric car (or at least a hybrid).

Yesterday’s Seattle Times ran two blurbs on the front of the NW Autos section that apply to me. The headline of the first read, “Been a while since you bought a new car? There are big advances to anticipate.” The second read, “E-FOCUS on sale.”

It’s true. When I see or hear about the features that are now standard in new cars, I feel as if I’m in a time warp. In fact, when I bought my car new, it was devoid of many of the updated features that other cars had, so now I am even further behind.

Even so, I’m pleased that I get an average of 33 mpg, have no car payments, and have logged over 110,000 miles with no major repairs. It fulfills, in part, my commitment to living green in terms of transportation. Yes, I could probably take the bus more often, but even though my job as a Prudential real estate agent requires a lot of driving, I still put fewer than 10,000 miles/year on my car. Fortunately, I live in the Westwood Village neighborhood, which is a very walkable part of West Seattle. Even in the worst snow storms I can walk to several West Seattle restaurants, grocery stores and other retailers, plus the Post Office, Southwest Community Center and more.

I suspect that it may take another 5-10 years for the auto makers to really perfect electric cars, which should be just about the time my current car “runs out of gas” (pun intended). That, and the $40,000 price tag on the E-FOCUS, give me the incentive to wait for my first electric car.

How about you? Will your next car be a hybrid or all electric?