Ravenna's Varsity Restaurant
Classic Ravenna diner serving piping hot coffee, all-day breakfasts and slices of pie.
(206) 525-2701
2300 NE 65th St
(at 25th Avenue)
Seattle,
WA
98116
47.6758
-122.3026
Neighborhoods: Ravenna, Northeast
What People Are Saying About Ravenna's Varsity Restaurant
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
Classic Ravenna diner serving piping hot coffee, all-day breakfasts and slices of pie.
User Reviews
aee9488
March 15, 2009
I live just around the corner from the Varsity and would go there weekly if it weren't for the glacial pace of service. The food is excellent, the coffee is good, the staff are genuinely nice people and work very hard. Perhaps they're short-staffed: no bus-boys, only one or two wait-staff when the owner is not around. I've never seen the staff dawdling or gossiping or hiding out from the customers. And still... Expect to be seated rather quickly and then wait five minutes or so to be asked if you want anything to drink. Ask for a cup of joe and someone will be back to fill your cup in another five, Alas, that person can't take your order, and you'll finish your coffee waiting for the person who can. You'll order and ask for a refill on the coffee. The refill will not come until you flag someone down on their way to another table. A day or two later, the food will arrive. If you've ordered toast, the waitress will promise that it'll be along shortly (i.e. after she puts it in the toaster). When she delivers it, she'll make a big deal about how "piping hot" it is. Your eggs are cold by now, but whatever. Can we have some more coffee? Sure, the waitress will reply, I'll send the other girl over. (By this time, the coffee girl has graduated from the U and is enrolling in a Masters program out-of-state.) The owner is a very nice lady. I've spoken with her about the service on four separate occasions, but not noticeable change. It's a shame, because the food is great and the location is very convenient for neighborhood folk. But it's faster for me to drive down to Pike Place or Cap Hill and get a great breakfast served quickly. If the traffic isn't heavy and I catch the lights I can LITERALLY get there and back faster than if I go to the Varsity.
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us5466
September 25, 2008
I'm surprised by the tone of some of the reviews posted here. I've eaten in restaurants all over Seattle and all of them have the occasional off day or wait person who is not on his/her best game. For a breakfast joint, the Varsity is as good as any place in terms of price, quality, service, location, decor, etc. Just look at the people waiting on weekend mornings....that tells you that most of the time they are doing a pretty good job of what they do.....basic American breakfast and lunch menu at reasonable prices. I notice that none of the highly critical folks named a different restaurant that embodied their idea of what a good place would be. I suspect that is because such folks are universally cranky and critical. Anyway, I've eaten many times at the Varsity in the past 25 years and I'm a purchasing agent by trade...which makes me focus on value...that is, is what you get for the price a good deal and does it match up with a reasonable expectation? The answer is yes. Remember all those people waiting on weekend mornings. The owner of the Varsity is a friend of mine and many of the people who work there are here sister, daughters, etc. It's a family business. If you aren't happy with something, try talking to one of them about it. They care a lot about customer service.
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frimml
September 06, 2008
Let me first say that I'm not particularly picky or needy when dining, but if I could give this place a minus 5 rating, I really would. My husband and I had breakfast on a Saturday morning at 9am. The place was not busy (many tables were available) and there was no wait in being seated. We waited 15 minutes for our order to be taken. I opted to have my beverage served at the time of the meal. We waited 30 minutes for our orders. My meal was delivered first (without the beverage) and then, my husband's meal was delivered 5 minutes later. After we were completely finished eating, our server then showed up to ask if we needed anything. And, then, had the freaking nerve to ask if I had forgotten that I'd wanted my beverage. Since she literally disappeared after delivering our plates, how could I have reminded her? My meal tasted strange and my husband's meal was obviously from a can. My husband then went to the cash register to pay. The server had made up her own pricing for our meal but miraculously had removed the cost of my beverage from the bill. A relatively new employee verified the charges and our total ended up being different (less) from what our server had initial had on the slip. I'm never going back to this place and if my husband suggests it again, I will have very strong words to use when reminding him of this debacle. If the server hates her job, then she should quit and find some other more satisfying work elsewhere. Like where she doesn't have to actually talk to people, fake caring about anything and/or having responsibility for anything. When the best part of the meal is the nice dog sitting in the grass outside our window... I cannot say anything further about this place other than if after reading this posting you still decide to go, good luck, my friend. It looked like there were nicer and more attentive servers there so pray you get one of them.
read full reviewThe Details on Ravenna's Varsity Restaurant
Category:
Payment Methods:
American Express, Visa, Discover, MasterCard
Restaurant Special Features:
Family-Friendly Dining, Breakfast, Lunch Spot, Brunch, Cheap Eats
Cuisine:
Message from Ravenna's Varsity Restaurant
