MILL CREEK – Never has perusing the dinner menu in one restaurant made breakfast in another a necessity. But that’s what happened during a Friday night visit to the Woodinville Cafe.
| Woodinville Cafe
14170 NE Woodinville-Duvall Road, Woodinville; 425-489-1403 |
The Woodinville Cafe is one of five in the Cafes Inc. chain. The others are located in Redmond, Issaquah, Bothell and Mill Creek.
My friend insisted we have dinner at the Woodinville Cafe because it’s one of his favorites. He likes the menu selections, the quality of the food, the atmosphere and the servers. “Everything that’s supposed to be right about a restaurant is right,” he said. “Also, I like the fact that they do senior sizes.”
Each restaurant in the chain is decorated with a different theme, and the Woodinville Cafe sports a railroad-era decor complete with railroad signs and signals, and luggage racks filled with suitcases above the booths.
For dinner, my friend ordered the burger dip ($8.69) which is like a French dip sandwich except it’s made with hamburger instead of sliced roast beef and served on a toasted Hoagie roll. Both come with a side of rich, dark au jus and endless “krinkle-kut” French fries. For me, the nightly special of smoked salmon fettucine ($10.49) sounded too good to skip.
The cafe’s menu features grilled sandwiches ranging from $6.59 for the grilled cheese to $9.49 for the Monte Cristo. There are also cold sandwiches ($6.89 to $9.59) like tuna and meatloaf, and burgers ($7.79 to $9.99). Soups are $5.59 a cup and salads average $9.69. Full dinners, like meatloaf or grilled liver and onions with bacon, average $11.79.
For my friend, it takes quality meat, a bun that it isn’t too chewy and au jus that isn’t too salty to make a great burger dip. His had everything, plus bottled chipotle hot sauce that he liberally added. My salmon fettucine dinner was just as delicious as his sandwich and our servers were attentive.
I like the Cafes Inc. approach to breakfast: “It’s never too late for breakfast.” For dinner, I considered a scramble ($9.49 to 9.99) and an omelet ($9.79 for three eggs). It wasn’t until the Saturday morning hungries kicked in that we headed for the Saw Mill Cafe in Mill Creek. You see, I spotted house-made corned beef hash with two eggs and a biscuit or toast ($8.79) on the menu the night before. Saturday morning, I couldn’t live without it.
The Saw Mill Cafe opened the Monday before our Saturday morning visit. But you couldn’t tell this was a new staff working out the kinks. The service was attentive and our server previously worked at Crystal Creek Cafe before moving to the Mill Creek location and assisting with the opening.
This cafe is decorated with lumber mill-sized saw blades and forest green booths while stacks of lumber rest in bins above the booths.
Our server made a point of asking how I liked my corned beef hash because earlier customers complained that it doesn’t taste like the canned stuff. Thank heavens! This is the real stuff, made with shredded potatoes and chunks of corned beef that’s tossed and lightly fried. It was divine. My friend ordered one of my favorites – eggs scrambled with ground beef, mushroom and onion bits, spinach and Swiss cheese ($9.79). It came with three pancakes and he requested blueberry. His breakfast was as yummy as mine.
After two visits, I agree. Everything that’s supposed to be right about a restaurant is right at the Woodinville Cafe and the Saw Mill Cafe.
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
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