Union Square Grill

02/20/2008 Posted by miki156

I recently went here on a business lunch and was blown away by the service, menu options and how quickly the kitchen turns around an order. Our server was extremely attentive and very personable. The menu options are fairly lengthy and diverse enough where everyone gets what they want - whether it's a sandwich, salad, combination of the two, or an actual entree (i.e. blackened cod). Given the fact I was having a business lunch, I was blown away by how quickly the food came out and helped make our lunch more efficient. The group I was with were seated promptly and the hostess was very warm and inviting. I would highly recommend this place to anyone - and I'm pretty conservative about recommending places.

Pros: phenomenal service, prompt seating, diverse menu

08/11/2007 Posted by ames321

Last week one of my friends had suggested that we should have drinks after work here to celebrate a promotion. I have to say that the happy hour was GREAT...the bar area was not only lovely and spacious, but they served great specialty drinks (try the "Pomegranate Orange Drop" or the "Raspberry Mojito".) Pretty soon it got really crowded in the bar area so we decided to have dinner and continue the celebration. The hostess said it would be a possible 20-minute wait, however in less than 10 minutes we were seated! For dinner, we started off with the king crab bisque and the smoked NY carpaccio. They were delicious! The bisque had just enough crab (which I loved) and the carpaccio with the white truffle oil was yummy. Next we shared a nice warm goat cheese salad and then for our main courses, we had the seared ahi tuna and the lamb. I have to admit we were in heaven! The lamb was so tender, full of flavor and with the corn soufflé it couldn't of been better. Usually when I order the ahi tuna at restaurants I am disappointed, however this was cooked and prepared to perfection. With the miso sauce and the wasabi potato cake that accompanied the dish nothing was left on the plate afterwards. Throughout the evening the service was impeccable. Overall, it was wonderful time and because of the positive experience I took my boyfriend back and once again we had a lovely dinner. He was most impressed with the wine selection and service when we couldn't decide what wine we should select. Right away a manager came to our table and spoke with us to get a feel as to what we would enjoy the most with our meals. He was very knowledgeable about wine and soon enough suggested an amazing particular red wine (I even wrote the name of the wine down because we loved it so much.) I am thrilled to have been introduced to such a great restaurant. If you are looking for wonderful food and service with a lovely atmosphere, I highly recommend it!!

02/18/2007 Posted by rwjiii

We went to the Union Square Grill with great expectaions, with a great attitude, and were going to have fun. After we got over the price shock, we ordered, and were on the way to a nice dinner. The bread was excellent. I had a cesar salad to start, it was fine, but tiny. My wife had the antipasto plate, the nice variety of food was extremely spicy, and not at all what we expected on an antipasto plate. I had the lamb, and it was tasty, but the portion was so small, as to leave me wanting dinner. My wife had the vegetarian lasagna, it was nothing like any lasagna we had ever seen, smelled, or tasted, it was sort of like a sweet potato or yam loaf, no noodles, no cheese, wierd to say the least, the mushrooms were ok. Our friends dinner, she had the New York strip, it came with potatos, and seemed to resemble normal food, with a correct portion, and was tasty, he had the roasted chicken, and said it had no flavor, the portion was certainly small, it came with crutons on the plate, which we thought was wierd. Dessert, The mango sorbet tasred like mango peel, the chocolate cupcake was ok, but dry, the cheesecake was not like any cheesecake we had ever experienced, it was more like eating watery whipped cream, not rich at all, and the crust was terrible. Overall, a poor experience, we can not understand how this place gets packed like it was. I think it has a good location, and attractive name. The bar drinks were good, and imaginative. I would not reccomend this place, I am sorry to say.

Pros: Nice Place

Cons: Unpredictable Food, Small Portions, Overpriced

10/11/2006 Posted by zulan78

We were running a little late, but were seated promptly. The service was fine except for the fact that I heard our waiter complain about something in the back, which didn't seem to be very professional. My husband and I were there to celebrate his birthday. The food, on the other hand, is definitely worth trying. I ordered a bowl of Dungeness Crab and Salmon Chowder as my first and thought it was quite good. It was more on the hearty side, but was still good. I had to dig towards the bottom of the bowl to finally find my crab meat pieces in the soup. My husband ordered the Ahi Tuna Tartare, which was OK, but it was very well presented and beautiful. As our main course I ordered the Cider Brined Pork Chops which came out looking charred on the outside, but was actually cooked to perfection. It was the best pork chop I have ever tasted and wasn't over or under cooked. My husband was quite happy with his Prime Top Sirloin cooked medium rare. To our surprise, my husband was given a Fallen Chocolate Scouffle which was OK. We couldn't complain since it was given to us free of charge. I definitely won't mind coming back. We were able to get free parking with the restaurant's validation at the Union Square Garage and is good for all night. My husband and I went to watch a movie at the Meridian and left the garage without paying anything extra. If you're running to a show and you want to grab a bite to eat with free parking, this is the place to go. Validation parking is available after 5pm.

Pros: Food, Free Validated Parking after 5pm and works throughout the night, Seated promptly

Cons: Complaining Waiter

09/24/2006 Posted by peterapple

I went to dinner with my girlfriend to the nearby Cheesecake Factory at about 6:00 on a Saturday night, but they were packed to the gills and had a 45-60 min wait. So, we went back the car and walked past the Union Square Grill. We walked in around 6:15. They said there would be an hour-and-a-half wait for the main dining room, so we sat at a table in the bar area. And, since smoking isn't allowed indoors in Washington anymore, we were fine with that. Once seated and been given our menus, we practically had to beg someone to take our order. But, once the waitress came, everything changed. My girlfriend ordered a Prime Sirloin done medium with seasoned sweet potato fries. And I ordered the Sitka Alaskan Salmon and a USG Pomegranate Fizz. She took our orders and was relatively quick to return with our meals. I was skeptical of the small portions that were presented to us, but the design was pleasing. We both dove into the tower of heavily seasoned sweet potato fries. Every bite of every dish was nothing short of breathtaking. The salmon was on a bed of potato hash brown, topped with wonderful green herbs, bordered with a tangy green sauce, and was moist on the tongue and not a bit over or underdone. The pomegranate-lemonade-gingerale drink presented a gentle sparkle for only $5. The steak dish came topped with large slices of vegetables on a bed of what may have been mashed sweet potato. (The steak was bloody, but they apologized and said that the dish would be on-the-house. Once the waitress returned with the correct order, the dish was wonderful.) The melt-in-your-mouth steak was done perfectly, the vegetables were done right, and the bed of white stuff was tasty too. The bill was $46, but would've been more like $70 if they hadn't have picked up the tab on the steak dish. The meal was a delight. I recommend it.

Pros: Short, but distinguished menu. Extremely pleasing bouquet of flavor.

Cons: A bit spendy, but worth it.

08/05/2006 Posted by happy_eater

I'm not sure what has happened to this place, but our experience was terrible. None of the foods that previous reviewers rave about are even on the menu anymore. There were 3 steak choices in all. NY Strip, Tenderloin Medallions, and Sirloin. the NY, and Tenderloin was supposedly dry aged, but were completely flavorless. I ordered medium rare, and what they brought me had briefly skipped across the grill on its way to my table. The gristle had not been trimmed, and twice I had to decide whether to swallow an unchewable piece, or covertly slip it into a napkin in front of my fellow diners. The side dish with my NY was a partially sliced, partially cooked whole potato. I'm still not sure what that was about. I would not even try to compare this to a real steakhouse like Daniels, Ruths Chris, or El Gaucho. Please do yourself a favor, and treat yourself to a real Seattle Steakhouse. I will give them credit for their selection of very tasty cocktails, and a decent wine list. but the food was not even approaching what you would expect in this price range.

02/02/2006 Posted by lainylou21

I recently attended a function at the Union Square Grill. The main dining room was busy and bustling with people. After checking in we were led to the top of the Union Square Building. What a breathtaking surprise! The Olympic View Room really lives up to its name. We could see all of Seattle from our private room. What a unique dining experience Union Square Grill can offer! The service was excellent and the room felt warm and intimate. As always the food was excellent! How did they get those steaks there??? I would recommend the Olympic View Room to anyone!

Pros: Intimate, amazing view, valet parking

12/04/2005 Posted by kukana123

We used to love this place and just learned tonight that they changed ownership 2 weeks ago. Wow, we can tell! It was just absolutely horrible. I had seafood fettucine and it was presented to me as if the pasta was swimming in a swamp of watery pesto sauce. There was hardly any seafood to speak of. My fiance' had a fillet and it was over cooked to how he had asked, partially burnt and dried out. The service used to be great, now, its just as bad as the food. Our waiter was unattentive, he didn't ask how our food was. nor seemed to care that most of it was still there when he went to clear the table. I wouldnt recommend this at all. This was way too over priced and clearly not worth the money, nor the effort of chewing.

Pros: Ambiance

Cons: Food, Service, Price

10/04/2005 Posted by jilsid

Just returned for lunch since the remodel. Went at a peak time, no one was there. The menu has changed...not for the better. All I can say is "the condiments are good". Don't know why they fixed something that wasn't broke...but now they have to fix something that is.

03/26/2005 Posted by bigipps

Well, I guess you have to start with the steak: I had the prime rib, my wife had the filet. Both were cooked perfectly, and tasted amazing. We had started with a couple of appetizers, and definately have to recommend the potato crusted goat cheese plate (bread, cheese, and 5 different toppings). We were surprised that there wasn't any bread served with the meal, but that meant there was room for desert...mmm much better actually. The service was attentive, but not in your face. Never felt rushed during our two and a half hour dinner.

Pros: Awesome steak