04/15/09

Not one of Tom Douglas' best

by urbantwentysomething

I'm obsessed with Tom Douglas' restaurants. We frequent Lola's and Dahlia Lounge quite often! Considering how brilliant his other restaurants are I was anxious to try his Seafood restaurant. For my husband's birthday I made reservations at Etta's.

Don't care for the location. Your view of the water is blocked by the Pike Place Market Park. It felt like a diner inside. And worst of all the food was simply okay. Nothing like the infusion of unique but perfectly Pacific Northwest flavors and atmosphere his other restaurants deliver.

• Pros: Tom Douglas
• Cons: Location, decor, food

10/07/08

innovative dishes, good service

by alexlovestoeat

We went here one friday afternoon with friends. we all loved our dishes. good option for vegetarians too. If you are tired of tasting same dishes over and over, you will find new dishes here. We would definitely go again!

• Pros: food, service

05/21/08

There is no better Brunch in Seattle

by bgeorge98121

When we are in town, Etta's is the first stop on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The menu is broad. And everything is great. The hosts and servers are first class.

Make a reservation.

• Pros: I'm a fan. Everything is great!
• Cons: Make a reservation

05/11/08

Tom Douglas is slipping badly

by Terry338

Etta's is run-down at the heels like an old slipper. It's relies on location at the foot of Pike Market. It cooks seafood at a mediocre level and serves a limited seafood menu. The Crab Cakes are the one exception and they are terrific. It's Kobe Steak is pitiful. Served raw with a side of sliced semi-raw potatoes and his soggy corm bread, the over-all impression is shows a distinct lack of management and zero quality control. The wait staff was uninformed and hopelessly fielded questions. One must ask, "what does Tom Douglas bring to the party?" The salmon at $30 is over-priced.

So if you like the foot of Pike Market, High Prices, Dumb Waiters, raw steak and potatoes, this is your place.

• Pros: Service, Ambience, Food Quality poor.

04/27/08

Seafood, Tom Douglas

by sandalou

Met friends who were in from Phoenix for the weekend (in January, go figure), who wanted to try a PNW standout. Always wanted to try Etta's myself being a Tom Douglas fan but coming from 40 miles south it took out of town visitors to lure me up. Parking was no problem, maybe because it was colder than all get out. We were seated instantly and had a friendly and competent server who answered many questions for our friends about the seafood. We all swapped bites but I especially enjoyed the crab cakes (enough to buy the cookbook on the way out!) and cornbread pudding. Definitely DON'T need to know how to make that at home. Had to order the coconut cream pie (my dessert weakness) to go because I was stuffed (complaints about 'small' portions are bunk, those are realistic, healthy portions as they should be, not the troughs we Americans have become used to).

Met the same friends in Portland this week for 4 days and they were still talking about the food at Etta's. It's about time for the hubby and I to hike up the freeway again I think.

• Pros: Seafood, great place to take out of towners to impress.
• Cons: Don't think I'd take little kids as it's kind of pricey for someone that really would rather have McNuggets.

12/04/07

what a treat!

by kad

Being relatively new to Seattle I now know why the fish mongers in the Pike Place Market recommend Etta's so highly. We had the evening we wanted to have; attentive yet not hovering service, knowledgeable cocktail and wine recommendations, truly wonderful whole trout and scallop entrees, and a personal touch champagne toast with our flourless chocolate cake. I look forward to going back to try the Kobe beef, Alaskan Salmon or maybe even simply the Cheese and Bacon Burger. Tom Douglas' reputation shows!

• Pros: Food, professional & friendly staff
• Cons: dessert selection was less exciting the dinner selection

11/17/07

Good Food, Nice Atmosphere, Great Service

by tackle71

On a recent Friday night, my wife and I ate at Etta?s and really enjoyed the casual atmosphere of the restaurant. Despite being told they were running late, we were seated within 10 minutes of our reservation time.

We started the meal with the fried calamari and the Penn Cove mussels and clams. We enjoyed both dishes but the calamari stood out more due to the good texture and light breading. For our main course we enjoyed the Scallops and King Salmon. The scallops were tender and sweet with just a hint of spice. The salmon was perfectly cooked and very flavorful. Not sure what he uses in his rub but it really works with the king salmon. We finished off by sharing a slice of chocolate cake with ice cream. The cake was very moist and the icing was ? inch of chocolate ganache. Some would find this really rich, but not my wife.

Someone else commented on the portion size and I would have to disagree. Etta?s does not conform to the bigger is better theory of American cooking but my wife and I definitely walked away full after our three courses despite splitting the dessert.

• Pros: Food, Service, Atmosphere
• Cons: None

09/05/07

Superb

by adial

I just returned home to Florida from a Seattle vacation. I made a point to go to the best restaurants. Ettas was clearly the best of the bunch. I had the dungeness crab cocktail, which tasted like a top notch ceviche. It redefined, for me, the potential of ceviche. For an entree, I had the seared albacore. The entree was top notch. The presentation and taste of every dish was incredible. My wife had the halibut. I had halibut the night before at a popular eatery across the street from Ettas. The Ettas preparation was worlds above the "other place." After four days of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all at different Seattle restaurants, I can confidently say that Ettas was the best.

07/31/07

Incredible Seervice, right on the money

by dp0ktd

My wife and I visited Etta's Seafood for lunch last week after a terrible dinner at one of Tom's other restaurants(That is a different story in itself) we have heard and read so much on Tom Douoglas's restaurants and culinary skill that we were not going to let one bad night ruin our experience, anyway we had an incredible lunch, Jeff our server cound not have been better. Everything about Etta's made our Seattle experience well worth it. P.S. I'd stay away from Dahila's........

• Pros: Incredible experience
• Cons: Non

06/07/07

JUST DON'T GO

by hungrybusybody

Make no mistake: Tom Douglas is a phenomenal culinary mind. Great meals are to be had at Dahlia and Palace, but this place is the absolute redheaded stepchild. I'm shocked that he has his name on it. My risotto was broken (the oils in the sauce had separated out), the asparagus was overcooked -- in fact, everyting on my wife's plate was overcooked. I ordered a sapphire tonic before we ate and I had to explain it to the waiter. When we left, we were embarassed to have gone there. Never again.