The Hi-Life

09/05/2008 Posted by dnsd2008

I really wanted to like this place! Three of us went, and after a long wait to get a table we ordered and started the long wait to get our food. An hour later the waiter told us the kitchen had lost our ticket. Two of us got ours eventually, but another hour after we got our food my husband FINALLY got his burger! And when he got it it was RARE!!! And I mean bloody and cold inside! The waiter did give us a free dessert for our trouble, but we were too tired of sitting there to wait another hour and a half for my husband's burger, especially since the rest of us had been done with our meal forever! I did give the place another try (may have just been a bad night for them?) and went with a friend for drinks and appetizers in the bar. The first 4 appetizers we ordered were sold out. We finally got their bread stuffed with cheese which was excellent, and our waittress was great. I general, I am very dissappointed with this restaurant. Hopefully they will get their "S" together.

Pros: Staff is friendly, great atmosphere

Cons: Staff is SLOW, parking in Ballard can be hell.

05/14/2008 Posted by getfuzzygurl

My boyfriend and I decided to give The Hi-Life a shot after going to The 5 Spot, it's sister restaurant, so many times. The Hi-Life was very nice in that it had a quieter and classier feel than the 5 Spot but still had several of the signature 5 Spot dishes on the menu. I had a wonderful Greek dish, the Mezzes Platter, that had just the right combination of flavors without being too overwhelming. The bottle of Greek wine that was paired with it was decent enough. My boyfriend enjoyed a penne dish which was nothing extraordinary but the chicken on top was very tasty. We finished our meal with an espresso cheesecake that was the perfect finale to our experience; not too rich but incredibly yummy! Our waitress was attentive and friendly and we loved that the atmosphere allowed us to have a more intimate dining experience as the restaurant was not crowded but wasn't dead either. I will probably go back again to induldge my Greek food cravings!

Pros: attentive wait staff, good food, classy without frills

Cons: limited street parking, wine list could be better

02/29/2008 Posted by berger_bar

Mediocre. Sunday 10:30 am. Needless to say had to wait for 35 minutes for a table. What we didn't expect was the 50 minute for the food to arrive after we ordered it. The waiter must have topped up my coffee about 7 times - he would have been better off giving the chef a hand. The place was stuffed - obviously the kicthen cannot cope when it gets like this. The food was bland too. We'll not be back.

Pros: Nothing

Cons: The wait and the food.

12/29/2007 Posted by tomasguevara

Went to Hi life with 12 family members. They were very accommodating with our table and provided good service considering we had people rolling in over the space of an hour or so. Problems began as soon as the food started rolling in. Appetizers were terrible, the calamari was a soggy oily mess and the sauce was flavorless. Also had a bread platter that came with some equally flavorless dips. The mini ribs were the only thing that had any flavor at all. We ordered a duck confit and braised beef family style plates at my end of the table and they were both terrible!!!!!!!! Both were plainly not seasoned and tasteless which is really hard to do with a braised dish. The side dishes we ordered were equally flavorless. I would never recommend this place to anybody for any reason! Do not go unless you really enjoy tasteless overpriced food. Uggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Pros: Accomodating service

Cons: Terrible food!!!!!

12/23/2007 Posted by homechef206

My parents really like this place, and I've been out there with them a few times. Generally it's pretty good (I work in the industry, so I may be a little more critical than most). Anyway, last night we're in having dinner, and the service was incredibly bad. The guy was not particularly pleasant tableside, and he tried to walk away before I could place my drink order. When he showed up to take our dinner order, he just stood by the table and looked down at us. My mother finally had to say "we're ready if you are". After we got our food order placed, we settled in to wait patiently for our salads. Meanwhile, our server was nowhere to be found. No stop by the table to check on us. No explanations. I could see what had happened. We'd gotten seated behind a couple of big-tops, and clearly the kitchen was just overwhelmed a little. That's fine, especially during the holidays & especially on a saturday, but our guy should've come and let us know. I'd ordered the Pork Porterhouse with some kind of a fig sauce (fig sauce was very good). When I ordered, our boy told me it'd be medium unless I specified. I told him medium would be great, so imagine my surprise when it showed up well done (and not just well done, but blown away & dried out). Somebody else (manager or bartender?) was running our food at this point, so I sent the pork back with him. He asked if it would be fine to bring my starch and veg back while they re-cooked the pork (of course that would be fine), but then he brought back the same plate with indent of the pork chop still in the polenta. When the pork did come back, it was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was, as noted, very good. After we'd finished, there was no offer of a dessert menu, much less an offer to comp a dessert to make up for the half-hearted service. Overall, just a very frustrating dining experience from a place that I know can do better.

12/10/2007 Posted by kaitrott

I went here for my 30th birthday. We called a week before and spoke with the woman who answered the phone and booked a private room for our large party. Upon arriving, we were told they don't do private rooms on Friday or Saturday, even though we were specifically told over the phone that we reserved a private room and no one in our group could be under 21 since the private room was in the bar area. There was no apology from the hostess and they were even 20 minutes late setting up our table. Now to the food... The food was overpriced and not good. The peppercorn steak for $25 was a $4 cut , a third of which was gristle. The mashed potatoes that accompanied it were a powdery mess. However, the brussel sprouts were tasty. The two $8 crab cakes were the size of quarters. Our small plates that we ordered ahead of time came out with the rest our entrees. Our waiter was in a daze the whole time and included things on our bill that we did not even eat because they were out of stock. Overall, it was a horrible experience! We probably would have never gone there in the first place and went only since we were told we could have a private room,. Don't go!

Pros: It's a nice space

Cons: Food and service

06/20/2007 Posted by allilang

I went to this restaurant a few times. Once about a half a year ago with three other girlfriends. Another time about a month ago with another family including two children, and then just last week with my husband and daughter. We got seated promptly with menus but it took a real long time to get water and our order taken. We were about to leave but then the server arrived. She didn't acknowledge the extremely long wait time. We are usually very easy to please guests. But this time although the food was good, the service was so bad that it didn't matter. The customer service makes a huge difference in one's experience in a restaurant. If you want to have a good time, don't go to Hi Life.

Pros: Good food

Cons: Lack of attentiveness among servers

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01/29/2007 Posted by sunkissd1

If you haven't had brunch here yet, you're really missing out. The food is consistently of high quality, prepared to near perfection and the portions are what normal serving sizes should be. Not too big, not too skimpy. The staff is usually quite friendly as well. Parking is fairly easy. If you like Atlas in Uvillage, you will be quite happy here too. I highly recommend it! Come and try it! PS I highly recommend the Ham Scram and the french toast. We order a side order of the french toast and split it. It's very decadent, but so incredibly tasty!

Pros: Good food, good value for the $, fun atmosphere

Cons: Bathroom is 3 stories up!!

01/15/2007 Posted by andreanh

I had wanted to visit the Hi-Life for a while and finally today my boyfriend and I decided to go for breakfast. We were greeted at the door, sat by the cold brick wall and were quickly given water and menus. So far, acceptable. I loved the interior and the menu had plenty of options. I decided to order the one thing that brought me down there from taking a peek on the website, the Cleanup on Aisle 12 Hash. Our food arrived fairly quickly and I dove right in, immediately stopping to feel the grit of sand in every chew. I thought maybe it was a fluke and tried another bite to find the same appalling feeling of eating sand. I tried yet a third bite and finally gave up. We were asked how the food was and my boyfriend said he thought something was wrong, and I let her know the food was inedible. She apologized, quickly took it away and asked what else she could get for me. Though I wanted to try something else, I refused to take the chance. We were not charged for my meal and quickly left. It was probably a rare occurrence, it's just too bad the one time I try the Hi-Life it spoiled my appetite, not only for food that morning, to ever go back.

Pros: location, service, open everyday even for breakfast

Cons: cold, food

12/20/2006 Posted by valko206

Weekend brunch is always super packed but we always find quick seating at the bar and good service. Bummer you can't call ahead to put your name on the list! Late nights are always quick seating, good eats and best of all good drinks. They've got a killer Happy Hour menu. If you're into spicy try their Con sopressata Pizza; it’s only $3.00 after 10:00PM.

Pros: Happy hour menu, bar staff, location

Cons: It can get really loud and crowded.