10/27/08

Not romantic :(

by PattyBellevue

Cafe Juanita was warmly recommended to us as a really special restaurant. So, I reserved a table a month ahead to celebrate both my husband 's birthday and our 15th anniversary and I made sure they knew it was a special occasion.

First ,we had trouble parking because the restaurant 's small parking was full. Second and more importantly, they gave us a table beside the open kitchen (imagine the clatter of plates and the somewhat loud interactions between the kitchen staff: I couldn't hear the waitress when she was telling us about the specials). Not very romantic...Even my husband, who is a very easy going person, commented on the table 's location.

The staff was great and so was the wine list.

The food was good and sophisticated but not excellent. My husband took the rabbit and didn't like its very salty crust. My Chanterelle risotto was good but I have had much better ones in several other local restaurants. My beet salad was excellent though.

To conclude, good restaurant but not worth the money we paid for it.

• Pros: Good food overall
• Cons: Not romantic if you get a table by the open Kitchen, very expensive

10/07/08

Tops in Seattle Area

by RickinSeattle

My wife and I recently dined at Cafe Juanita for our anniversary. As always, the food was innovative and expertly prepared, and the service was friendly and efficient. In my 12 years of living in Seattle, I haven't eaten at a better local restaurant. The food comes first here. The atmosphere is elegant, but understated, relaxed, and unpretentious. It is like having an intimate dinner at a good friend's home (who happens to be an award winning chef). The entrees are all bold and innovative, but they also do the little things well, like the homemade flatbreads, the salads (the baby beet and almond butter salad is amazing), even the house aperitif list is fun - each coming with a bite-sized appetizer. It is a spendy restaurant. With drinks, wine, desert, and coffee, our bill topped $200, but nothing here is ordinary. If you love food, you will not regret the splurge.

If trendy presentation is more important to you than flavor, and you prefer a room full of poseurs, wait staff who try to upsell you on everything, and a feeling you are being processed like a credit card number, there are plenty of places in Belltown or Bellevue that will suit you better. I find that Seattle has many good restaurants, but very few great ones. I am disappointed in my local fine dining experiences far more often than I am impressed. This place is great. The only downside is the 40 min drive to Kirkland from my house. Otherwise I'd eat here far more often.

• Pros: Great, innovative food, especially game and other meats.
• Cons: Bit far from Seattle.

09/09/08

Nice Classy Restaurant

by steveareno11

Cafe Juanita has joined our short list of excellent restaurants for those special occassions. This was our first visit at Cafe Juanita to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary. We were very pleased with the overall atmosphere, food and service. I wanted to treat my wife to someplace different/unique and this choice turned out to be an excellent find. I'm certainly no connoisseur of fine dining/food, so don't take my absence of food ravings to imply that the meal was merely acceptable. I also rarely take the time to write a review. So, I had the Rabbit (first time ever) and my wife had the Quail; it was very good. The bread and desserts were excellent(chocolate cake a real favorite of mine). However, for us, I think it was the complete experience that made for a special anniversary dinner. We were impressed by the friendliness of the staff, but at same time they had a way of being attentive but not intrusive. They allowed the two of us to enjoy our night out w/o excessive interruptions, but also ensured we were taken care of. While the meals were somewhat pricey, it was reasonable given our desire for a special experience. They recognized our anniversary with a nice table location and complimentary dessert wine after the meal. Kudos to Cafe Juanita. Cheers! Steve

• Pros: Ambience, Service
• Cons: Nothing significant; limited parking