Aaron E.'s Profile

Hookah lounges are somewhat hard to review. Seattle doesn't have that many of them, and the few that are here kind of suck. I definitely wasn't eager to spend extended amounts of time at Cobra, but I certainly didn't leave unhappy.

The $5 fee to be a member is definitely not a big deal, and the $18 bowls are priced decently. Considering a bowl of shisha can last you a while, the price is really low if you split it with a few friends. Also, if you tag Cobra Lounge in a facebook post, you get free bottled water!

We arrived around 9 pm and while the downstairs was completely packed, the upstairs (where we sat) was empty. We had our choice of seats but couldn't really find anywhere comfortable. All of the plush looking seating was really just hard benches covered with a thin pad. Definitely uncomfortable.

At most places I've been to, one orders a flavor of shisha and someone brings over a hookah and coals. Here, the hookahs are already placed at seats, and someone brings coal. We waited a solid 15 minutes for coal, which was kind of irritating. To make matters worse, they only gave us one, teeny, tiny coal! We needed more almost immediately and had to wait another 15 or so minutes.

Despite uncomfortable seats and a slow turnaround time on necessities, it was still a pleasant time. There was no DJ, but the music they played was awesome! A great mix of hits from the 70s to present. Additionally, this is probably the nicest hookah bar in Seattle. Majles (or whatever it's called) is more dingy and, as I recall, more expensive. This definitely isn't a place I will frequently go to, but for the rare urge for hookah, it's more than sufficient.

While enjoying happy hour at Poquito's, a friend from out of town was eager to eat some substantial food to help compensate for the substantial amount of cocktails we had just consumed. After hearing so many good things about Marination Station, we decided to check it out since kalibi tacos and kimchi rice sounded delicious.

We lucked out and the place was pretty quiet and the employees were helpful answering our questions on which items were most popular, etc. We ended up going with their recommendations and ordered kalibi tacos, kimchi rice bowl, and another order of a different taco. We considered getting beers as well since they had a decent selection on tap, but figured we'd just wait and get drinks later.

The kalibi tacos were probably my favorite item. The kalibi was really tender and I loved the garlicky, sweet, and savory flavor of the sauce and I really enjoyed the slaw. The kimchi rice was quite delicious as well. We went ahead and ordered it with meat (I think it was kalibi) but the meat was almost undetectable. However, the perfectly cooked fried egg totally compensated and the dish was packed with flavor. Far from what I consider to be spicy, but had a tiny bite to it. The last item we split were tacos of some other kind. I'm pretty sure we ordered the spicy pork, but the item seemed to be really lacking flavor in comparison to everything else on their menu and while it was fine, it was certainly not memorable and the only redeeming thing was the delicious slaw they use on all of their tacos.

I'll definitely be back to try their sliders and quesadilla... and of course to have more kalibi tacos!

I'm not sure when or how, but Grim's has become "my bar." My friends and I all seem to just gravitate here for one reason or another.

For starters, the cocktails are usually mixed well and incredibly strong. I also think they're reasonably priced considering they're typically 90% booze. The Dark and Stormy is my go-to drink but I've probably sampled their entire cocktail specialty menu and on countless occasions have had bartenders whip me up something random (one in particular makes his own unique version of a Long Island.... which has almond liqueur and whisky among other things... potent but tasty).

I find the downstairs to be awkward (the cafeteria sitting isn't my style and I don't like the weird swivel chairs) but that's fine, I try and spend as much time as possible in the Butterfly Lounge. The Butterfly Lounge is the second floor of Grim's and is much more intimate. The bench and ottoman seating create an atmosphere more conducive to chatting and relaxing and the wait at the full bar is always short.

The third floor is The Woods, which is their version of a dance floor, and is usually where I end up at the end of the night. They play a nice selection of music and there's a third, full bar located on this floor. If I was exclusively looking for a club setting this wouldn't be at the top of my list (I'd look to Belltown or Pioneer Square for that) but it's a nice option when you're only down a flight of stairs.

While Grim's does get incredibly busy, service only occasionally suffers. There have been times where I've had to wait a long time for a drink, but isn't that true of most places? My main advice is always try and order drinks directly from the bar (if you order from your server and it's busy you're looking at a 10+ minute wait).

If you're in the area, check it out!

Order the Old Fashioned.

That's all.

Well, that's not all. Feel free to read on but all you need to know is order the Old Fashioned.

After bringing a friend from out of town to Poquitos and Marination Station we were still looking for somewhere to have a few drinks when he said he wanted the best drink in Seattle. Now, I think "best drink" is such a complicated and tricky term because, for me, best drink can mean different things depending on my mood, the weather, the ambiance, things like that. While I haven't decided if Quinn's Old Fashioned is the BEST drink in Seattle, I've decided it's one of the best and regardless of my mood or the weather it always is strong and satisfying.

Their Old Fashioned can be described in two words: strong and amazing. The ridiculously heavy pour of Maker's makes the price seem reasonable and the combination of orange and bitters is flawless. I'm used to seeing those disgusting maraschino cherries in old fashioned and I'm pleased to say Quinn's does not incorporate that vile ingredient. Instead, their old fashioned is served with a twist of orange and a proper, glass stir stick. To make the experience just a little better they opt for one massive ice cube opposed to a ton of small ones that melt too quickly.

Food here is good, other drinks are good, but all you need to know is that the Quinn's Old Fashioned is life changing and might just be the only bourbon based drink you'll ever want to drink again.

I get incredibly excited when new froyo places open. After experiencing the wonder of the tart original at Pinkberry I've taken every opportunity to find a replacement. I'm sad to say that nothing comes close to comparing to that tart and tangy froyo from a land south of us, but Menchies is a respectable alternative.

One thing I like about Menchie's is that you can sample as many flavors as possible. I typically will sample a few of them, usually flavored variations of their original, but now and then I'll go crazy and get cupcake or red velvet.

As far as toppings go, I'm relatively boring and predictable. I usually go with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, kiwi, and mango. These are pretty standard no matter where I go and I have to say this is where Menchie's falls flat. Of all the times I've gone, they've had blueberry only once. Their blackberries are usually really sour and their kiwi rock hard. Their strawberries are usually the only thing guaranteed to be awesome. The raspberries, when rarely available, are also consistently good. I do realize it's expected that fresh fruit quality not be as good in the winter months, but their Queen Anne location and Yogurtland manage to have consistently good produce.

In the grand scheme of Seattle froyo, Menchie's original ranks my second favorite. A step above Cefiorre and Red Mango but falls a tiny bit short of Yogurtland.

Considering this location is spotless and less crowded and more organized than other DIY froyo establishments it would normally warrant 4 stars but the mediocre quality of their fruit knocks them down a star.

If you're in search for some good wings, Buffalo Wild Wings is totally worth the drive to Tacoma.

For starters, they have happy hour from 2-7 Monday through Friday. They have a few appetizers, well drinks, domestic beer, and I believe a Jack & Coke or an Absolut & mixer of your choice drink (all for $3.

Roasted garlic mushrooms: deep fried, tender, and super garlicky from the roasted garlic. An amazing happy hour value at $3 but totally worth the normal, non-happy hour prices. Fried pickles: not on happy hour, but be sure to order them. They were battered in corn meal which gave them a unique flavor from other fried pickles I've had and the chipotle aoli they were served with was smokey and really complimented them. We both wish the pickles had been fried to be a little more crisp.

The boneless wings were solid. They managed to be both tender on the outside but incredibly crispy on the outside. The spicy garlic sauce was super garlicky and relatively spicy. The Caribbean jerk sauce (recommended by our server) was my favorite sauce of the night. Spicy, a teeny bit sweet, and full of flavor. I highly recommend you get this sauce on your wings.

The traditional, bone-in wings ordered were also good. The parmesan-garlic wings: were super garlicky, tangy, and creamy. I preferred this to the spicy garlic. The other wings we ordered were all somewhat spicy, so these were great to balance out the heat of everything else. Asian Zing was my second favorite sauce of the night. It had a mild level of spicy (despite being towards the middle/higher end of the spectrum) and was sweet, salty, and tangy. The combination of soy and ginger was a great compliment to the chili. I would highly recommend this flavor of sauce. The third sauce we had with the traditional wings was the hot BBQ. It was fine, relatively spicy, but not especially memorable. I would compare it more to a medium buffalo as it didn't have a very noticeable BBQ taste and wasn't especially spicy. I will definitely pass on this particular sauce on my next visit. While I appreciate that the wings were larger and more tender than what they serve at Hooters, the coating wasn't as crispy as Hooters, which was a disappointment.

BWW has 16 different sauces and 4 different dry seasonings. The wings themselves are solid, but the sauces are by far the best I've had. My dinning companion went as far as to say these were in her top 3 favorite. If you're looking for good wings, look no further!

Yowza! Crazy crowded! Since Japonessa is so awesome I expected a crowd but there were just way too many people. Rather than elbowing my way through people it seemed easiest to leave early.

I obviously didn't expect to be fed copious amounts but it was impossible to get any food. I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest to this so I'm not positive of the details but I was under the impression that we could get there early to take advantage of the happy hour. Unfortunately the wait staff prior to the event was quite confused about us showing up early and the kitchen was already closed. The lack of food during the event was no big deal but it was unfortunate we couldn't order anything prior to the event... I get the feeling a lot of people showed up early to order some food and drinks because people in general seemed disappointed and relatively cranky from a lack of food and as a result whatever came out of the kitchen/sushi bar disappeared in seconds. I also wasn't a fan of the one item I was able to snag (the tuna/cucumber dish which was really heavy handed on the onion).

I'll definitely go back to Japonessa since it's f'ing awesome but I don't think the event was a very good representation of the stellar food and service typically found at the venue.

I think I need to spend every Tuesday at Shultzy's! They have trivia and $4 tequila! Yes, for $4 you can get a boozy, limey, strong margarita. WINNING! In addition to Tequila Tuesdays their trivia will also bring you here. They have a nice array of questions ranging in every topic imaginable and they're hard enough to be challenging but not excessively difficult.

Our server was really attentive and friendly. Our group of 4 found seating immediately and were definitely taken care of throughout the course of the night. When 2 additional people joined us there was no problem squishing them in and our glasses (whether water or margarita) were virtually never empty.

The food itself was probably the least memorable aspect of the night, but it certainly wasn't bad... rather it was just okay. The bacon cheeseburger I had was a little on the dry side and it could have used some more cheese. The fries were most definitely fried perfectly and everyone at the table seemed to devour theirs. The chocolate cake was the one epic food item. It was the size of a small house and was so rich and decadent and was perfect for our table of 6 to share. I always, always have room for dessert and in all honesty I don't like sharing but the portion was so generous I had no problems doing so.

Great trivia, awesome drinks specials, and outstanding service compensate for only fine food. I'll definitely be back!

Eh.... not sure if this is even a solid happy hour destination anymore.

Sickly sweet mojito.

$5 ribs and onion ring basket had the potential to be good but it literally came out of the kitchen minutes after it was ordered. The ribs were tender and pretty decent tasting but were lukewarm on the outside and cold on the inside. The one onion ring it came with was hard and chewy and cold. The highlight of the dish was the side of blue cheese bbq sauce on the side.

The macaroni and cheese, on the other hand, took an eternity to arrive. It too was also cold. The thin, watery cheese sauce was incredibly bland and the only thing that added flavor were the three or four crumbles of bacon. On the bright side the pasta was flawlessly al dente.

Willing to give Stanford's another shot but their previously solid happy hour was a major disappointment.

A few months ago one of my friends ordered a dirty chai (chai latte with shots of espresso) and I nearly gagged. First of all, I'm a coffee purist. I like my espresso simple... usually just plain, sometimes over ice, with maybe a splash of water. Good espresso should shine, not be covered up by other flavors. Plus, the flavor combination just sounded awful. However, the rest of the world seemed to disagree with me... it seemed like people were ordering this beverage left and right so after a few weeks I finally decided "what the heck, I'll order one."

SO GLAD I STARTED ORDERING DIRTY CHAIS! They're life changing and totally delicious. I've noticed the quality varies a lot from place to place but you can typically count on them being a delicious beverage. Kataluma Chai DEFINITELY makes a delicious dirty chai. Quite possibly the best dirty chai I've had. Seeing as Chai is in their name, I was expecting a good one, but I was definitely blown away. While I've only had their traditional chai, they do have a wide array of flavors. They use powders, which for some reason I think makes a better chai. It's aromatic, pleasantly sweet (but in no way overly sweet), and a great blend of spices.

The staff is also quite pleasant. I've been a few times now and have been blown away by how friendly and efficient the service has been. If you're in the area and looking for good chai, espresso, or espresso with chai then look no further!