Cafe Septieme

10/19/09

Love (Almost) Don't Live Here Anymore

by rBryanH at Citysearch

Once upon a time, Café Septieme was fun, funky, tasty, and reasonably clean. The staff were terrific, the service quirky but good, the food always good, and the menu consisted of some good buys.

Then it changed hands, purchased by the owner of the resoundingly mediocre "La Cocina" further down Broadway. The new guy immediately fired many of the interesting staff, began incrementally redecorating the place toward ever-increasing hideousness, and increased his profits at the expense of food quality, tables clothes, tolerable noise levels, and edible desserts.

At any given time, half the staff mean well but are so badly trained you wonder if they have themselves ever eaten in a decent restaurant. The few good waiters do the best they can to compensate, sometimes with extraordinary style and humor. They're like rock solid scrub nurses working in a doomed public hospital. I adore them.

All in all, it's a shell of what it once was, but still not a bad place to have a drink or five. By all means order food, but be prepared to send it back if you receive an $18 plate of swill. Avoid the desserts, which look ok but are in fact all variations on sweetened, whipped air. The coffee is still very drinkable, though if you get one of the lower waiters you may have to demand a fresh pot. But whatever you do, don't enter the men's room, where the leaking urinal has been rotting through the floor for years. The stench is sometimes truly gut wrenching.

There's still much Bohemian charm to be had, but when that wears thing, check out Table 219, right across the street. You'll find a more coherent and interesting menu, better realized, with prices commensurate with the quality and good service.

I love Café Septieme, but then I'm the kind who adores all my exes no matter how badly they treated me.

• Pros: Rodney the bartender; funkitude.
• Cons: Mediocre food, high prices, ever-declining quality.

09/29/09

Always charming but food's been slidin' for years

by giantreflector at Citysearch

I've been going here since 1995, I love the place. I don't mind that it's always a bit of the fugal gourmet, but I recently got a very insipid hummus platter that had bar olives on it (c'mon you guys!) and they served me some skanky previously frozen processed fries instead of their awesome home cooked potatoes. I'll still go, but I'm not not not getting those fries again!

The cocktails, however - the bartenders here are always super friendly and enthusiastic to make you a drink just the way you like it and they don't charge you an arm and a leg just to specialize it for you.

• Pros: individually tailored cocktails without an outrageous markup
• Cons: the food quality keeps sliding

05/06/09

Worst Place

by BexJ at Citysearch

Worst place ever. The place smelled. The pasta was watery, more like mac&cheese with no cheese. My chicken was pink, not even cooked. My broccoli was old. This was the worst food ever. I will never go back. Bad service, bad and old food.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Everything

01/13/09

Whither Septieme?

by kaffe at Citysearch

It would seem that, in its long history (and I've been going to this establishment since its days as a chic coffee shop that sold food in Belltown), Cafe Septieme has gone through a few notable transitions. It moved up to the Hill; it expanded its menu; it was handed over to new ownership; it made the paper with the "manager firing" incident; it painted some its venerable red walls yellow -- all the while making subtle improvements, rotating the artwork, and enduring a fairly regular turnover of staff. Someday, no doubt, a book will be written about the history of this venerable Seattle institution. Maybe even a documentary film.

Meanwhile, the latest change has been the lowering of prices. The last time I ate there, I didn't notice a huge drop in the cost of food, but what I did notice was that the offerings had definitely gone a la carte. So, for instance, a pasta dish going for about $15 that used to come with salad and bread is still about $15, minus the salad and bread. So, it strikes me as less of a cost-savings and more of an amenities-loss. I can't figure out if Septieme is therefore trying to be more like other restaurants in balkanizing its menu or trying to lure in customers (new as well as old, some of whom have stopped going there).

I'm not sure where Septieme is going anymore. I get the feeling it's lost its bearings. The food has become so-so, undependable, at best; the wait staff remains cheerful, under difficult circumstances; and only the most die-hard regulars, and a smattering of unfamiliar faces, populate the tables nowadays. Still, the drinks are stiff, as is the frosting on the fabulous cakes.

Wither, Septieme?

01/03/08

a classic

by goldina at Citysearch

i don't know what i would do without this place. septiemme is appropriate for the most awkward meeting with the ex and is comfy for the sexiest date. you can get lots of stuff done there in groups, have two hour long existential conversations, and mull over your bottomless cups of coffee with a rotating cadre of friends. you never get pressured to leave before you are ready.

the service is usually pretty good, esp eves and weekends.

i consistently get the open faced flank steak sandwich (cheesy and yummy with a side sept. salad) which is a deal. anything with the septiemme salad is good too (walnuts, gorgonzola, and pears oh my!). most of all, they make their own ketchup which i could eat on its own, it is so delicious.

sure, the place is kind of dark and the cheaper part of the menu is too sandwich-y - but i can't think of a more lovely place on the hill to get together with friends.

• Pros: location, service, chill ambience, no rush to leave
• Cons: no parking, menu imbalanced in price (its either burgers/sandwiches/apps or things above $18...)