The Purple Cafe - Woodinville

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wucky

Joined 10 years ago

Almost always great. We love this place. Go there every few months. Woodinville might be the best location. Just a wonderful place to enjoy a nice meal in a good, comfortable setting.

Went last night and enjoyed things (as usual). This time just ordered soup, a few of the appetizers, salads, desserts, then a nice flight of cheeses (with a glass of port).

Waiter was cool.

One BAD dish ... not usual for this place, but very BAD. The calamari. We used to LOVE their calamari, but have not ordered it in a while. They changed it ... now comes in a square bowl instead of spread on a plate. Result? Except for those pieces right on top, all others (under) are soggy! Yuck. Dumbass move.

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AngieS

Joined 4 years ago

One of my husband and I's favorite place to go!. Of all the 4 purple locations, the woodinville location is by far my husband and I's favorite. We love to go here, especially on a cold, rainy evening. If you are able to get seated upstairs (on week nights you usually are fine), it is by far the best place to be. We usually ask to be seated on their little leather couches, close to the fireplace. Then we grab a trivia game, order some cheese and wine flights, and enjoy a couple hours of fun! Sometimes we order food, and sometimes we just do apps and almost always dessert! I am huge creme brulee fan, and they always have it. So it is a must! My husband always loves their different risottos.

If you love any of the other purples, even if the woodinville location isn't as convenient for some, I recommend trying it out.

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johnnali

Joined 6 years ago

Inviting food and service. I had my wedding rehearsal dinner here back in September and all in attendance were thoroughly impressed. We had 15 people in our party and Purple accommodated us perfectly. We set a family style menu for the party and everything from the appetizers to the cheese flight were delicious!! We started with some yummy seared ahi, calamari and grilled asparagus. The ahi was particularly tasty. We then had goat cheese and roasted pepper salad, that even the kids in our party were thrilled with. The main course was the biggest pleaser amoung guests. We passed lobster baked mac and cheese, pan seared halibut and chicken marsala around the table accompanied with sauteed green beans and red pepper polenta cakes. All of it was so fabulous, the sauces were scrumptious, but not overpowering, perfect balance. The cheese flight at the end was to die for and the wine served throughout was magnificent. The whole evening was a blast and the service was great! I was really impressed when they brought fun little toys for the kids in our party to play. I can?t wait to go back!

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mgratzer

Joined 11 years ago

Great food, relaxing atmosphere, good service. I gave this place a bad review many years ago. I don't know where my review went, but now I'm glad it's gone! I decided to give this place another shot, and now it's one of my favorites. I don't often splurge for the entrees, but the sandwiches and salads are consistently great, the food is always fresh, the service is always friendly and attentive, and I love their wine selection. I just wish they'd change the flights out a little bit more, because we've already gone through all the red flights!

This place is comfortable and great, and it's one of my go-to places. I am thankful that they are just a few miles away.

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pixalu

Joined 6 years ago

Very nice!. What a great find. My mom and I went here and had a lovely time. We don't go to Woodinville often and were looking for a nice place to eat. What a pleasant surprise. We both got the prix fixe menu with paired wines. The goat cheese was divine! As well, the scallop and prawn skewers were fresh and cooked to perfection. The chicken marsala, also cooked perfect, had a fantastic sauce. Also recommended is the apple/walnut/stilton salad. The wines were well paired and all totally delicious. Considering we each had the 3 course prix fixe with 3 paired wines (about a half glass of wine for each course) as well as shared a dessert special, with coffee and a full glass of muscat, our bill came to a mere $108. Not too shabby for the quality of food.

As for the person that complained about the big glasses with "small amount of wine" in them. I've found in my wine tasting and enjoying experience for that to be typical to allow for swirling and aerating the wine to bring out the aroma. The restaurant is not trying to be stingy. There was no less in the glass than other restaurants I've been to.

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food_is_good

Joined 7 years ago

Good food, shoddy service.. I ate at The Purple Cafe last weekend with some girlfriends to celebrate a birthday. It was a Saturday night and packed. The atmosphere is nice, and I particularly liked the candle votives that were protruding from the brick walls. Our server was nice enough and made sure we knew about the cheese and wine flights. We ordered wine and the baked brie appetizer and our main courses. The brie is supposed to take 15 minutes to bake, so we expected it to arrive with our food. Time goes by and no brie. Eventually, we got our entrees...still no brie, and no waitress. We were constantly cocking our heads to track her down and finally after we had finished our dinner, we flagged her down and told her we never got the appetizer. She looked surprised and said she thought they had brought it out already. Well, a quick check on our table in the hour that we'd been there might have helped. My friends had salads that they both enjoyed, while I had the lobster mac 'n cheese which came with crunchy green onion and what looked like sweet potato chips on top. It was good and debatably worth the $20 price. We shared the 'peanut gallery' for dessert which was mouthwatering. The bread was really good and the butter was soft enough to spread, a simple thing that not every restaurant gets right. On a side note, the wine portions were skimpy and they serve it in huge glasses which make it look even more skimpy (a possible ploy to get you to buy another glass?). I would consider going back for the food and setting, but not the service.

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binman69

Joined 7 years ago

great wine....food is good. this is a good cozy place for a date or to get a glass or two of wine. they have recently remodeled and made it bigger--it is always less crowded here than kirkland

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Anna Roth

Joined 8 years ago

More than 300 by-the-bottle selections at this friendly Woodinville wine bar and cafe.. In Short
Eastside oenophiles don't have to go far for their fix--this friendly cafe offers all a wine-lover could ask for. The long list has an amazing variety of glasses and bottles, separated into categories like red, white, under $30, hard to get and magnum size; there's a handy glossary in back for those who don't know a Riesling from a Rose. Food is upscale cafe fare, including sandwiches, pizzas, pasta and other entrees.