Ms. Crankypants

I was tagged by WriterChick recently. So here’s the thing: I’m supposed to list five of my favorite restaurants here in my local area, then I tag five more bloggers to do the same. Food? Fun!

1) The Home Port (aka “Anthony’s” to locals).

Various locations throughout the Puget Sound region. A “chain” of semi-gourmet seafood restaurants in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Yeah, I know they’re not technically the best seafood places in Seattle (although they’re not bad at all!). The main reason I like them, though, is because of their Sunset Dinner specials. Early dinner menu served Monday through Friday, from 4:30 to 6:00pm. Each 4-course dinner includes a chilled shrimp cocktail, chowder or salad, entree and dessert. All for just $18.95.

2) The Urban Onion.

Olympia, Washington. Semi-vegetarian, fairly healthy fare. Omigosh. My mouth is watering just thinking about going there. I absolutely LOVE their freshly baked herb bread. It’s worth a stop just for the bread they serve with the dinner meals. It’s located in the historic Olympian Hotel building in downtown Olympia. Their menu is a bit on the expensive side for a place that’s almost a glorified lunch room in beautiful old building … but the portions are HUGE and I’ve yet to have anything to eat there that wasn’t delicious. My personal favorite is their Chicken Enchiladas. Mmm. My younger kids think the children’s pizza is wonderful … but a bit too small. You might want to order two for each child if they’re big eaters. I believe that nearly all of their meat entrees can have tofu or TVP substituted to make it vegetarian. I couldn’t find their website online, but I found a link to a review which includes location and contact information.

3) Dick’s Drive-In Restaurant.

Various locations around Seattle. I think Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants are probably the best living history example in Seattle. Simple food. No extras. And without a doubt, THE BEST fries anywhere — made from freshly cut potatoes. Yum! Unfortunately their burgers are no longer nineteen cents a piece … but they’re still reasonably priced. No trip to Seattle is complete without a trip to Dick’s. I remember having field trips to the local Dick’s with my Blue Bird troop in the mid-60’s. Yes, even Bellevue, Washington (now home to Bill Gates and other Seattle billionaires) actually used to have a Dick’s restaurant, believe it or not. My dad and grandfather are both named Dick, so when I was really little, I thought the restaurant was named for them because they ate there so often. I would tell the employees when we’d go there, “My daddy is Dick!” I thought that made my family soooooooooooo important. (And on a side note, I also thought that Richards Road in Bellevue was named for my dad and grandpa since they drove on it so much. I guess I thought the whole world revolved around our family, didn’t I? lol!) Dick’s has a section on their website where people have shared their memories of Dick’s restaurants. One of the pages is called Car Memories. My most vivid car-related memory of Dick’s was sitting in the car eating our hamburgers, french fries and root beer floats with the windows down enjoying a beautiful Seattle summer day. Seagulls were circling the parking lot looking for handouts … and then one of them flew right over our car … and pooped into the open window onto my oldest daughter. EWWW! LOL!

4) Brewery City Pizza.

Not quite sure why it’s so good, but this is my absolutely favorite pizza restaurant in the Olympia area. The crust is sooooooooooooo tasty. My personal favorite of their specialty pizzas is their Maui Wowie. Here’s the description from their menu: “Our signature barbecue sauce, mozzarella, shredded cheddar, red onions, green peppers, pineapple, diced tomatoes and marinated barbecue chicken.” The prices are very reasonable … and the food is so good. Sometimes they have really good steamed clams at the Lacey location as an appetizer (when they’re in season).

5) The Salmon Cooker.

Located at 1301 Alaskan Way on Pier 57 on the Seattle waterfront. Not high class dining by any stretch of the imagination … it’s essentially just fast food on the waterfront. The fish is alder smoked (oh, gosh, it’s good!), flaky and moist. There’s an oyster bar, fish sandwiches and Caesar salads. And if you’re still hungry, there’s an ice cream bar where you can grab a sundae or cone. Outdoor dining, but the picnic tables are under cover with heaters overhead for those cold, rainy Seattle days.

Now … I need to tag five people. LOL! Well, I’m not sure that this particular blog even has five regular visitors.

Okay, I tag Kelsey … and if you’re reading this, whoever you are, TAG, you’re it!