June 30: Easy Joe's American Pub [CLOSED]

[CLOSED LATE JULY 2018]

For some reason, I thought Easy Joe's* just opened, but I'm seeing mentions of it online from five years ago, and of its location on Capitol Hill from before that. Maybe it's the construction of Cherry Street Coffee's new digs next door that's made me overlook it.

On this sunny Seattle Friday before a four-day weekend, the place had maybe a dozen people in it. Some were obviously regulars; one of them switched bar seats back to "her spot" after another patron finished up. Service was friendly, happy, and helpful -- I might even say "perky" -- fast with beer suggestions, a menu, the wifi password, and refills. Despite the brickwork and dark woods, the pub wasn't nearly as dimly lit as I expected. The large windows facing First Avenue let in a lot of bright sunlight, and the early 90s pop (Red Hot Chili Peppers "Hey Oh") made it feel a bit brighter. And then "The Piña Colada Song" came on to add a little WTF flavor to my lunch.

The menu gave me some tough choices. I've been thinking about a big plate of nachos for a few weeks now, but don't really want to eat a whole pile by myself. I'm glad I found somewhere that has it, though. I considered the bacon cheeseburger, but I'm trying to cut back a bit more on my beef consumption. I almost settled on the BBQ pulled pork sandwich, readying myself for disappointment thinking it wouldn't live up to Hole in the Wall's flavor. I wanted something lighter, though, and prepared to order the chicken taco salad. At the last second, though, I turned the menu over, saw BBQ pork tacos, and knew that's what I'd be having.

The tacos arrived quickly, as described: a side of tortilla chips, and two flour tortillas with coleslaw, pico de gallo, and chili lime sour cream (not red, hot, nor very chili pepper-y). The bartender delivered it with a fork and stack of napkins, because she knew better. I messily dug in. Although I did my best, the first bite on one end of the taco sent a creamy blob of pico and pork glopping onto my plate and fingers. Yay, napkins!

It tasted wonderful. The BBQ pork was warm, the slaw was cold, and the sauce was mild. Together they blended into a perfect bite of contrasting temperatures and of sweet, spicy, and mildly bitter flavors. Before I knew it, the first taco was gone and I was about to start on the second. Several tasty globs of sauce/pork/pico were in my way on the plate, so I happily scooped them up with a couple of chips. Mmmm.

The tacos and nachos also appear on their 4 PM happy hour menu. I'm inclined to suggest to my co-workers that we stop by for future after-work socializing.

So good. Next time, maybe the chicken taco salad.

Easy Joe's American Pub
704 1st Ave.
BBQ pork tacos, diet Coke, $17.20

* Yes, I know that link points to an old page on archive.org. EasyJoes.com seems to have been pointing to their web hosting provider's placeholder page for several months now.

 

Nibbles: Kigo and Halal expand; Radici gets busted; trucks get halved

Kigo's not-yet-open 105 First Ave S. location

Kigo Asian Kitchen looks to be expanding their three Seattle locations to a fourth, on First Avenue, between Delicatus and Taco Del Mar. There's no indication as to how soon "coming soon" is, but I'm looking forward to trying their stir-fry bowls.

The Halal Guys seem to have quite a following for their chain of gyro joints, so I expect lines once their first-in-the-Northwest location opens up next to Merchants Café (101 Yesler Way). Eater.com said "this spring", but I walked past it this afternoon, and they've got a ways to go. Someday, a restaurateur will go conservative on their projected opening date and surprise me.

(Late edit: The Seattle Times is reporting that 13 Coins hopes to open its Pioneer Square location in late fall, moving out of their south Lake Union site at the same time. Their lease up north ends December 1, so maybe they'll be one to surprise me. The "coming 2017" sign has been up at 2nd and King Street for several months now.)

We're down from four food trucks to two in Occidental Park, and it looks like that's the way it'll be for a while. No idea why. Maybe other spots around town are doing better during tourist season? I think Westlake's food truck scene has expanded to five trucks, but I'm not certain of that.

And more to blame the tourists on: Three times in the last few weeks, I've tried to go to Jack's Fish Spot at Pike Place Market. All three times the line has been out to the street and I've given up. <sad emoji goes here> I ended up one day at Los Agaves, but was disappointed with their nachos. Cold refried beans? Really?

Tsk, tsk, Radici

Meanwhile, back in Pioneer Square, Radici looks like they've gotten their wrist slapped by the Liquor Control Board. In their window this morning was this notice of liquor license suspension (at right), for "sale or service of alcohol to  minor", which looks like it has been in effect since Friday. Their suspension ended today, according to the sign.

Still good, with nothing new to report: Taco Del Mar, Pizza Professionals. And Einstein Brothers Bagels (600 4th Avenue -- city hall) was fast and non-notable. I'm saving my review for a return trip when I'm not rushing between meetings and can do more than quickly toss it down my gullet.

For months, I've been craving a good quality piece of Key lime pie, or a Key lime tart, or something similar. I've had no luck. Any ideas, readers? London Plane, Café Umbria, Grand Central Bakery, and the Starbucks pastry rack all struck out.

June 19: Manu's Tacos

Actually, I've been to Manu's Tacos twice before, but just never blogged it. There's not much to say about this little window next to Flatstick Pub, other than the street tacos are $3, and are available after hours downstairs at Flatstick.

I've had the chicken tacos all three times, which are small yet satisfying, and come with onion, black beans, cilantro, green sauce, a wedge of lime, and messy fingers. Good stuff, quick, close, and tasty. Grab extra napkins.

Manu's Tacos
Three chicken tacos, $9.90
210 S. Main St.

Food safety: Spotted an "OK" in the wild

On the way to Tat's today, I noticed the new food safety rating sign in the window of Nirmal's. If you haven't yet noticed these signs everywhere, it's because the Seattle/King County health department just started rolling out the new signage system in January.

Restaurants get rated Excellent, Good, Okay, or Needs to Improve. I've only seen Excellents and Goods before today, which according to the health department accounts for 90% of the restaurants. But today, I encountered one of the 10%:

The health department says "Okay" means "the restaurant has had MANY red critical violations over the last four inspections." In Nirmal's case, it was handwashing issues and food storage temperatures that earned them the "Okay". During Nirmal's routine inspections, it received a score of 80 at its May 8 , preceded by a clean scores January 27 and last year on September 14, but received a 75 last July. A subsequent inspection on May 22 shows they remedied their defects, getting a clean score again.

Meh. It's probably Okay to eat there.