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Cafe Stellina - CLOSED
Rating Details »
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: First Hill1429 12th Ave
Ste B
(between Union St & Pike St)
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 322-2688
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
14 reviews for Cafe Stellina
Closed, oh no!
My fiance and I were in Seattle for a conference earlier in the year and stopped into Cafe Stellina for lunch while wandering around Capitol Hill. The space was airy and sunny, and we were given a little table right by the window. I don't remember what we ate, but our meal was delicious, as was the dessert we shared.
The one unpleasant thing about our visit was the dustbunny I found attached to the Sugar in the Raw packet I pulled out of the sugar service - but the waiter (who may have been the owner?) noticed immediately and rushed over to make sure everything was OK.
We really enjoyed Cafe Stellina - it was a lovely little spot for a quiet meal, and I'm sad that we won't get to visit it again.
CAFE STELLINA, R.I.P.
Last week I noticed paper over the windows, and thought maybe they were remodeling - the sign was still up.
But Saturday I saw contractors working in the space and got confirmation that Stellina is gone. Not sure if they are opening elsewhere or..?
The space will be a vegan cafe called Plum, by the owner of the Hillside Quickie fame.. stay tuned..
New Years Day, Hungry, Nothing Else Open, We gave it a whirl. Emphasis on "Cafe", good if you're into wine and/or coffee, very bad if you want beer - they had one selection, Stella, in the bottle. Menu is fairly simple, the dishes we ordered we OK, nothing to write home about. Selection and atmosphere makes you want to think French, but with American-esque food. I think maybe a buck or so more a plate than it's worth.
Location is funny - like a half-walled glass cubicle in the middle of a larger restaurant. The cook kept turning up the radio to drown out the noise of the children screaming near the toy store located behind them.
it's too bad this place doesn't advertise more.
wine is 5 a glass (or 20 a bottle), the food is delicious and most of it made from scratch per order, and well, i love the staff. it's definitely a place i go back to again and again for these reasons.
the spinach, pear, gorgonzola salad -- yummy!
try it, you'll be happy you did, for sure!
I went here with my parents before taking a tour at Seattle University.
I had an AMAZING appetizer comprised of 5 or 6 little toasted bread rounds, a long slice of creamy brie, and kalamata olive jam. I would eat the sweet and tangy kalamata jam every day, if I could. Too good.
My mom had the red bell pepper soup -- super hot but really tasty.
My dad had a massive salami sandwich with pesto, spinach, delicious bread, and a couple other things. I ate a quarter of it and could have eaten the whole thing, if he hadn't hogged it all for himself.
I was fully satisfied with the atmosphere, as well.
YUM!!
Underwhelmed. Popped in on a Friday night when the waits for Cafe Presse and neighboring La Spiga were too long. The three entrees ordered by our table ran the gamut from bad to good. The Italian sausage entree I had was just three naked, skin-colored sausages (the kind you can buy at the grocery store--and I'd call them German, not Italian) with a bit of balsamic drizzled on them. They looked like dismembered male genitalia splashed with blood. Unappetizing in appearence and accompanied by a blob of undercooked (read: crunchy) green lentils with the texture and flavor of hard mud. Bland-o-rama! The only goodness in front of me was the lovely glass of wine I ordered (albeit a much-too-small pour for the price and the amount of work it had to do to make up for the lackluster food).
My friend had the parchment-wrapped tilapia dish. It was good even if it took a bit of wrangling to extract. My partner had the salmon on corn cakes. The corn cakes were way undercooked, but the flavors of this dish (when all of the ingredients actually came together on the fork) were pretty good and it was clear that the ingredients were fresh.
Overall, Stellina is a beautiful little cafe. I really wanted to love the place. I wish they would pay more attention to the food they're serving. When I see such a small menu, I typically get excited because I assume that each dish will be a home run. Unfortunately we only experienced a couple of foul balls and a base hit.
We have eaten at Cafe Stellina several times and I am surprised by the average reviews some posters have written. One of the most challenging aspects of finding a good restaurant in Seattle is consistency. You can have a great meal one time and the next, after taking there friends to impress them, a disaster. Every time we have been at Cafe Stellina has been great.
Cafe Stellina offers the rare combination of great food at reasonable prices. The specials daily specials are worth trying and there will be enough for lunch the next day. The food is prepared to order with wholesome ingredients. My wife is on a low sodium diet and particularly likes this place as the chef avoids over seasoning allowing the natural flavor of fresh ingredients to come thru.
We live in the Capital Hill area and Cafe Stellina has become our regular place to eat.
Our plan was to go out to dinner at The Rose Bud, but when we arrived there my ex was sitting front and center. To avoid a scene, I turned around and changed plans. We wondered down pine looking for other dining options that weren't packed. It was a Friday night on Capitol Hill so we had to go quite a distance. When I noticed Cafe Stellina with it's intimate, dimly lit interior I thought I was in luck. There were even tables open. We were seated promptly by a very polite and attentive server. I ordered a beer and my girlfriend and I argued quietly about not going to the Rose Bud. Yes, we were those people.....
To start, we ordered the eggplant/balsamic appetizer which I thought was passable but under-seasoned. Its hard to go wrong with eggplant, and this was nothing I couldn't do at home in the comfort of my own broiler.
For the entree both my girlfriend and I ordered the salmon on polenta dish that has been mentioned by other reviewers. I don't know if we ordered no a bad night, but the dish was horrible. The salmon had a heavy fish taste that overpowered the polenta, and sat on the back of my pallet. There was no seasoning to be found. To Cafe Stellina's credit, the creme fresch was in fact creme fresch, not sour cream.
I left Cafe Stellina feeling unimpressed. The food was underdressed and pretentious, like my least favorite Seattleites.
The restroom was shared with the other stores/restaurants in the building. It seemed clean, but overused. Paper towels spilled over the top of the garbage can like an erupting volcano, and there was water pooling all over the sink.
I have now been here twice. The first time, the amazing waitress Emily, is who so friendly, suggested the Polenta with Salmon. I must say, I HATE SALMON...or so I thought. She was dead on when she said I would enjoy it. It was like dessert, I was taking small bites so it would not end. The second time, I ordered the sausage entree. YUM
I love red wine, don't know it well. Emily was very helpful, both times suggesting a wine that went perfectly with my meal.
It is nice laid back place, casual. Not many people in there. I am afraid when everyone finds out HOW AMAZING it is, it will soon be very crowded. I suggest, go now. You will not be disappointed. ENJOY!
Like so many before us, we went here because everything else was packed. Not a great sign when we're only the second party in the place at prime dining time on a Friday night. I was pretty much prepared for it to be not very good, so I was pleasantly surprised by our starters. Our entire party was pleased - I had the spinach, pear, gorgonzola salad, others had the beet salad and soup - big portion sizes and everything was tasty.
Sadly, the main course did not live up to expectations. My husband and I both ordered the chicken pot pie and we had differing opinions on it. I didn't mind that it was "deconstructed" but I did mind that it was like chicken pot pie soup. Not thick and creamy, but rather, totally soupy - and seemingly unseasoned. What is a pot pie without thick creaminess? My husband didn't seem to mind the soupiness, though, and thought it was good. Another person in our party really enjoyed their pork tenderloin (which I tasted and found good). The final dish was a blue cheese risotto with radicchio, which none of us liked and which was bad enough that the person who ordered it just didn't eat it (nicely, they didn't charge us for it). It was such a weird dish - you either got a very bland bite that tasted like nothing or a bite that just tasted like bitter, bitter radicchio - and you couldn't even taste the blue cheese, which is typically a very strong cheese. Probably one of the worst dishes I've ever had at restaurant. I just can't believe the chef would taste that and think it was menu worthy.
I struggled with whether or not to give 2-3 stars on this one, and ultimately opted for 3 because the service was impeccable, the starters were good, and they did comp us on the dish that wasn't good with no questions asked.
This a small family run cafe. It lives up to the name "cafe" by having a small but complete menu and having a casual style and service. Looking at the menu and meeting the mom chef, dad waiter and their kid who asked if if everything was good and offered to refill the water glasses I wanted this to become a that perfect neighborhood place that you can count on a Monday when you really don't want to cook.
While I would go back for a meal it is not going to become a local favorite.
The key with simple cafe food is to have perfect preparation. The wife was happy that there were many veggie choices but less happy with the dishes. She had the beets with cheese and it's hard to mess that up and they didn't but the brie and bread was messed up. As she said they should know to let the brie sit out for a couple of minutes to get soft and the brie was very average not the kind I would expect to pay 8 dollars for. It was served with grapes and bread that was so greasy my French born and breed wife wouldn't it.
My dish was more successful. I had the pork tenderloin with couscous with prunes and green onions. At 14 dollars it was a steal based on the amount of meat and the wonderful way it was cooked. There were four medallions of perfectly pink tenderloin with a smear of beurre blanc on each. I would have liked the beurre blanc to have more flavor because it added little to the wonderful taste of the tenderloin. The couscous on the other hand was a letdown. Again there was very little seasoning and little taste of green onions but the prunes were lovely.
The service was just what you expect at a casual cafe and the atmosphere was nice without being uptight. I really like the light fixtures and the space is open and inviting.
Would I go back, yes. Will I rush to go back, no.
went back a second time and service and food were much improved.
Great ambience- perfect for one of those rare sunny days with the windows raised and the breeze blowing in. I had a delicious rustic tart with greens and the best piece of carrot cake I have EVER had. Service is friendly and attentive without being overbearing. Why aren't more people dining here? It's delicious!
Wow! The dinner experience here was great (and I don't say that lighltly). The service was exceptional. The food top shelf. The wine recommend was spot on (and what a steal on the price, 28 bucks, they could easily charge 10 bucks more per bottle). I'm giving this four stars for one reason only, the decor/ambiance. It's totally comfortable, but there is something a little bit off about it. My dinner companion and I concluded that it is the white table cloths that are too stark in comparison to the rest of the decor. The lights could be dimmed a little and the high-backed bench seating would do well with some cushions for color. Really though, it's the white table cloths-maroon or a similar or darker colour would do well to set a more consistent mood/tone. It's really just too bright with white.
The food was exceptional. Details like humus with the bread, unusual, textured plates, a charismatic server and strurdy, stemless yet elegant wine glasses were all well liked, I really like the stemless wine glasses, it's a neat touch that is starting to catch on, which the French have been doing forever.
We started with a Pear and Blue Cheese Tart over greens that was actually housed in an incredibly flaky puff pastry. It was exceptional. Not too much blue cheese and just enough braised pear. A perfect light starter for two. Next up we had entrees. I had the Chicken Pot Pie and my friend had the Angel Hair Pasta baked in parchment paper. Woah. What a presentation on both. With my Pot Pie the top was an insurmountable piece of puff pastry that covered the goodness of the pot pie filling. If anything, I'd have liked my entree to be a bit thicker, but I think that's just me comparing it to "mom's." It was lovely. Perfectly cooked veggies inside, nice chunks of chicken. Yum. My friends was really about the presentation at first. She had to 'open' the parchment to get to dinner. It was like a little present to get to the inside and see what was there for you to gobble up. Very cool and unusual presentation. Nice mesh of flavors and textures. Could have been saucier for me. But I didn't order it! We opted to take home dessert as neither of us wanted to overindulge. So I ordered the lemon tart to go. Ate half of it today. Yum. Yum. Yum. The crust (they really have their pastry items nailed down) was light and flakey. The lemon portion itself was perfect, not too tart, and certainly not overly sweet. Good stuff. I'll be back. Many times. Many, many times. Especially given the lack of anything we got at La Spiga right next door.
Please, go to and eat at and check out Stellina. I want this place to stick around for a while.
Cafe stellina is the overshadowed next door neighbor of la Spiga. The entres are all between 10-15 bucks, the atmosphere is cozy, clean, and beautifully decorated, and the food is to freaking die for. The service was incredible. Nick, our server, was the only one there besides the owner/chef. He gave us just the right amount of attention and advice on the food. We also talked to the chef for a while too (I can't remember her name!) She was so wonderful! It felt like we walked into someone's anthropologie gourmet kitchen for a home-cooked gourmet meal. It's classy without being pretentious. I'm amazed I've only just discovered this place. our dinners melted in our mouths and it was just the right amount of food without all the creamy fattening stuff that la Spiga next door serves. And the PRICE was so REASONABLE!! I can't say enough about it. It's my new favorite restaurant. Go for an early dinner or late lunch so that they can open up the big garage door on a nice day.
