Comments on A Very Exciting Soft Opening

"Zoë is named after the owners’ daughter, Quinn is their son"

Awww, now isn't that precious.

lots of people ate at that Mexican restaurant...the margaritas were cheap and you could see just how many men went into Basic Plumbing...if you took a drink for every guy who went in, you'd get drunk in about 15 minutes...

the food WAS dreadful though...like high school cafeteria Mexican food...

¿La Puerta esta cerrado? Muy mal.

Um, lots and lots of people went to La Puerta. I've been in there scores of times (it was one of the first restaurants I ever ate in in Seattle), and the place was always reasonably attended, if seldom full-up.

The food was was decent and filling, if not exactly spectacular; sort of like Azteca, but run by actual mejicanos.

wow sounds like the same fancy inedible status-oriented shit they serve for brunch at smith. i was excited about this place until i saw the menu. yes, i know i don't have a 'sophisticated palate' or whatever but i just don't really get all that excited over these things.

Why would actual mejicanos serve food that was in any way like Azteca?

Yeah, actually having grown up in a Mexican household, I can say that the food served at La Puerta was authentic. That's not to say that it was to the taste of an overanalytical gourmand(e), but it was a rustic combination of basic ingredients and flavors—something I prefer in Mexican food. I've been craving it all day, in fact.

La Puerta was solid enough. Real nice people there.

The following morning, however, I'd always give my toilet the nickname "La Casa del Tan Crayon".

Fuck brandade, fuck oxtails, fuck gougere. This town needs real food -- not yuppie shit to match the condos going up across the street.

The new place sounds delicious. See, we only dream of these sorts of restaurants in midwestern college towns. Sad, I know.

@2, Watching Basic Plumbing? Uggh, surprised you could keep your food down. I have seen guys go in there and it was not pretty, not pretty at all...

Is "crispy marrow" a type of margarita?

If not, fuck that too.

i agree, la puerta was decent mexican fare, i ate there many times. quinn's menu sounds pretentious as fuck, as does this restaurant "review".

...menu sounds like Lampreia - only cheaper - where you get a small portion of braised bok choy on a sterile white plate the size of a manhole cover - plus something virginal, something drizzled and something couched on a bed of nails frisee. Real food for real people - go to Yankee Diner - if only it were still here.

..bed of Lee Press-On Nails frisée.

I'm not a vegetarian, but if all menus offered "braised farm animal of the week", I might consider earthier offerings. Sounds like preparation would involve an in-house execution with oinks and all - or is that the point?

This is what getting date raped by Fergus Henderson must feel like. Where's the crispy pig's tail?

wtf are you talking about? I loved la puerta. Their pollo asado was the shit, and the place was run by older mexican women that were really nice. they felt like aunts or something.

Nick @ 15: Please inform this Luddite how one Italicizes, underlines, uses diacritical marks, et.al. - in the Slog? Do you have to copy from a word document - or what? I hit "Nick" but it just sent me back to later Slogs. M'aidez!

Oxtail is real (good)(southern/soul) food. I'm not sure if I'm ready to give away the name of the amazing, cheap, fun place in Seattle that cooks it up perfectly, along with the best mac & cheese I've ever had in my life.

La Puerta was I think the first proper restaurant (i.e., not a Dennys) I ever visited with friends instead of my parents. That's a LONG time ago. It's one of the oldest businesses in Pike/Pine. It was tolerable American-style Mexican, nothing more. Très nostalgique.

As for "soft openings", well, wouldn't you like to know.

I don't get excited about that menu either, but it looks at least worth sampling.
I went in for a drink last night and have to say - the atmosphere is fantastic... 'w/o trying to hard' is exactly right.

Oh - and I'm no yuppie.

man, i havent been to la puerta in years.

la puerta's old owner was colombian and his son use to own, pollo loco on broadway, which is now the hideous magic dragon. when i first moved here from philly, I loved pollo loco though it was always empty, pollo loco use to serve south american food, and they use to have good parilladas and served a mean chimi churri sauce with their steak caleño, but back then there were not a lot of latinos in seattle so the only latino-style restaurant that could survive was mexican restaurants since gringos back then didn’t really like other types of latino food, seattle is not like NYC, Philly, San Francisco or LA where you can find peruano, Nicaraguense, colombiano, Puerto Rican and Cuban restaurants.

people here really miss out on latin cocina, and those of us who are not mexicanos have a hard time finding the food of our youth in the places where we go out to eat, but that’s been slowly changing. actually, im still amazed that people actually eat the burritos at bimbos and at tacos del mar.

la puerta wasn’t so bad, they had some decent dishes and they use to serve decent enchiladas suizas which are pretty common in el distrito federal de méxico and galerías serves their own bastardized version, but enchiladas suizas are not what many consider norteño mexican cuisine which is what most gringos in the US eat.

la puerta was just as good, if not better, than that place that gringos on the hill love so much-and i have no idea why- el gallito.

anyway, la puerta's old owner’s son was deported for drug traficking back in the 90's, last i heard he prospered in the island of san andres as a scuba instructor for sun stroked and tomato looking gringos.

Whatever you may think of this new location's past and present incarnations, Quinn's burger is quite possibly the greatest thing on earth, or at least the first one was. Holygoodfuckingburger. I'm going to need some statins up in here!

I'll eat oxtail in the South but in Pike/Pine I'm pretty sure it tastes the same as baby penises.

This place sounds like a chick restaurant.

i'll certainly give it a try but i'm not sure i'll eat anything

the menu reminds me of a cruel 'my-kid-could-paint-that'-esque inside joke - how to fool people into paying ridiculous prices for absolute shit all on account of marketing, status, low-self esteem and cluelessness. art is lies, and so is this culinary movement.

Fans of La Puerta: I believe they've taken over the former Torero's space, upstairs in the Broadway Market. You shouldn't have any trouble getting a table.

You dumbass hipster prick, la Puerta had some of the best genuine Mexican food this side of South Park and kickass Sangria.

And you're excited because it's now a "dependable upscale" place? Ya frickin' yuppie, move to Bellevue.

I have so many good memories of sitting in La Puerta and watching the hipsters, meanwhile eating a huge platter of Cochinita Pibil or Carne Asada. The gals who ran that place reminded me of my aunts, and would always tempt me to get the Fried Ice Cream.
I don't want to hear you crying about the gentrification of Pike/Pine after this, you seem to be comfortable with it.

Naming a restaurant that sells "braised farm animal of the week" after your children is so unbelievably fucked.

Why not add Zoe and Quinn's pets to the menu as well?

Can't wait to not eat here.

You shouldn't have any trouble getting a table.

Thanks for the tip, you smug d-bag.

No, no, no. La Puerta was NOT good Mexican food, no matter how fond your memories are of the place.

And fuck off with your "oxtail and marrow are yuppie food" bullshit. Oxtail and marrow, served in the South, old England, or on Pike/Pine, is some of the finest food in the world.

Dear Quinn's: I can't fucking wait.

Dear the Rest of You: Pipe down.

I tipped people off to the fact they may open last night: http://gayseattle.blogspot.com/2007/10/quinns-on-capitol-hill-set-to-open.html
Don't know if anyone payed attention but I did write a review of the place.

i never said it was good, but it did have a working class atmosphere and it was basic food with friendly folks, and from what i see the place had some history in the neighborhodd, i think some folks were commenting on bethany's dismissal that nobody had ever eaten there. i agree that some people went a wee far in calling her a yuppie, and i agree that oxtail is not yuppie food, hell mexican oxtail soup is the best, but you are not gonna say that place is not yuppie. settle down.

La Puerta always seemed to be full on Friday and Saturday nights.

It's been there since the mid-80s and I used to catch a meal there before hitting the movie at The Egyptian. Haven't been in a long time, but it wasn't bad back then. Seattle's always struggled with authentic Mexican, I think. I mean - beyond rice and beans and cheese. La Puerta was, believe it or not, a step up.

Happy retirement to the owners.

*Now* I know why the Mexican place upstairs in the Broadway Market started sucking so badly.

I won't be back.

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, and it was some other place, but I'm pretty sure I ate at La Puerta in the mid-70s, not the mid-80s.

yuck.

@37 Fnarf, I should have said La Puerta had been there since at least the mid-80s. I only discovered it then. I'm not certain when it actually opened. It was there a long time. Bauhaus regrets the error.

the burgers at quinns are pretty good

The beer with lunch was good at La Puerta.

The ladies were Tapatias - from Guadalajara. I liked talking to them about their vacations there. Pretty low-key, unassuming place.

Oh my god, Betheny Jean Clement, I have no idea who you are but I'm seriously hating on you right now. That review is obnoxious on so many levels, in so many ways.

What is up with the Stranger? Every pretentious yuppie gastro-crap place that opens on the Hill and you guys are creaming your jeans. I think it started with Havana...I was surprised you all were so into such a Belltown-ish joint that was so uncool. But since then, it's everywhere - Victory, Smith's, Presse, etc. Now this place with it's braised farm animal of the week! Who is your demographic? Apparently the people buying condos in the Trace Lofts or something.

La Puerta was a nice little place run by good people. I liked going there, and it wasn't empty. No, they didn't serve gougère, whatever the fuck that is, but it was comfortable and unpretentious.

But I can't wait for the next article in your rag complaining about the gentrification on the Hill.

how messed up is it to choose your kids' names based on what you think will sound good as a restaurant name.

my girlfriend and i went by quinn's and looked at the menu which was pretty awful looking.

the place was full of assholes, and we decided it didn't need two more. instead, we got nice burgers and beers for roughly half the price a little further down pike. ho hum.

i'm not sure what's up with the food reviews, but you'd think an alt/weekly would actually have the presence of minf to review places that people who can afford to pay for a (free) paper would actually go to. then again, after walking west 10 blocks on pike street, i feel like we walked through the god damned pearl district of portland. what's happening to this neighborhood?

Darlings, if I am not mistaken, Seattle is home to the very first "soft opening". It occurred when the Four Seasons company reopened the Olympic Hotel after it's extreme makeover in 1980!

The hotel wasn't quite finished, room-wise, so the opened the hotel floor by floor.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to counting napkins in the linen closet...

Nobody will ever be happy. Oh well. I'm going to check it out. I make killer gougere, I'll have to compare.

God, people on this thread are annoying. Go to an Applebee's if all you want is burgers and 'regular' food. I'm happy that my neighborhood has stuff like this at a decent price.

I have already been twice. Yesterday and today. We have been able to sample several of the beers and my only complaint is the glasses and beer are not cold enough for me but I think that is European style. The $8 bottle of beer was good and dark, but $8? The food could be a tad bit cheaper (more in line with Cafe Presse) since most are buying beer too. I did feel better about the place than Smith except when I am in that Haunted Mansion mood. And the burger was pretty good and at $12 about the same price as 22 Doors. Interesting the anger on here - probably the Kincora Pub crowd. :)
The warm cheesy gougère is now 3 for $5 which makes more sense since they are pretty small and I am sure people may be pissed after ordering only one.

That food is cheap and delicious. In Manhattan you can't get a cup of soup for $10. I love how Seattle "natives" whine about prices when this is the cheapest place I've every lived.

La Puerta was delicious if you like a pound of melted cheese with some rolled up stuffed tortillas hidden under it. I'm not sure it was anything you couldn't duplicate with some shredded chicken breast, a can of Rosarita refried, a jar of Pace Picante sauce, some Minute Rice, and a stack of flour tortillas. And a pound of cheese and an oven.

LoL! Anyone with a discriminating taste would be repulsed by La Puerta. The place stank and the decor was hideous. If that was "old Seattle" good riddance!

When I moved here from Manhattan I expected a cultural backwater of flannel shirts and crappy food. I'm glad Pine street is shaping up with some dependably excellent upscale dining. Let "old Seattle" go to their Taco Bell in Burien. Downtown Seattle should be fine cuisine and great cultural events.

OK...I have to take exception to the "no one in the history of time" comment. This is such a perfect example of why I can't tolerate most of Seattle anymore. Capitol Hill in particular.
Once upon a time, when the people of the hill were less pretentious, that Mexican restaurant was good. It was small-town-ish and homey. Certainly not cool enough.
I kind of miss that.

Ummmm - lak dat ol' time religion - I ...gotta have me sum kale and lentils - dey stick to de ribs. Kale and Lentils - years from now, the names of a bride and a groom - parents pale washed-out vegans - the couple emaciated wraiths swathed in muslin and cheesecloth exuding jasmine and myrrh - aha - the Seattle future where it will be so easy for us all - we'll simply do whatever the prevailing zeitgeist dictates and we'll like it, choice having been deleted as an option. As Nancy Sinatra predicted, your boots are made for walkin' as there will have been no comprehensive transit package found acceptable to every single King County amoeba and his/her paramecium pals.

Braised farm animal of the week? Does that include horses?

hey kinkos ,and fredrick r...!!!!
Im a cook myself.. do you even know how to cook at all?
these dishes reallly are not special.just smart classics. asshole, brandade has been made for 300 yrs just like braising a farm animal.dont fear what you dont understand. this is peasant food with an wordy menu.its just a place with beer and food and rock and roll.

oh and la puerta was our nieghborhood..I know the place I saw the woman everyday at work. thay moved people.its not like the got pushed out let it restjezzzz.and yes the food was maybe okay.most poeple liked it for hangovers or getting there or coating the hole ...amen

Good food is a GOOD THING.

Not like the population of Marysville is going to haul ass down here when they hear about marrow bones for dinner and subsequently move into the neighborhood. This place is one more way that makes the area worth living in.

Sophistication is your friend. If you disagree, have fun at the Olive Garden.

This is hilarious...more people are reviewing the Mexican place than Quinn's. Which I think is just fine. I stopped by & scanned the menu, was instantly grossed out. As several earlier postings suggested, it's one more yuppie scum Belltown wannabe to compliment the condo crowd. Don't need it, don't want it. Go away!

there is some good hate in this thread.

somebody suggested going here tonight and i checked this out. So let me get this straight:

If I go I am smug, yuppie scum with eccentric tastes for meat and assorted poultry.

If I don't go, I am an anti-hipster supporter of locally owned and operated sub-par mexican food with devinely cheap margaritas.

Hmmm, the choices. No wonder we cannot have a civilized dialogue about much in this country/state/city.

Guess I'd better stay home.

to elvis

feel free to go to either restaurant, just don't post about how the food at quinn's is hipster shit if you've never tried it (and don't even know what it is).

and if you decide on la puerta, don't use creative license when talking about it - the mongoloids of seattle will tear you apart.

otherwise, eat what you like.