Seattle restaurant question - Dahlia Lounge
 

I am going to be in Seattle for one night for business and need to take 3 business colleagues out. Through my research on Zagat, I came across a place called Dahlia Lounge. Would love to hear from any locals or any who has been to it, what they know of it? Thanks so much!

This is one of (if not the) most popular fine dining restaurants in Seattle. I like the food, but I don't like the tables on the north end of the dining room or the tables bordering the bar.

What do you like in a restaurant?

We ate at Dahlia Lounge a few years ago, prior to embarking on our cruise. Sat at a front window. We all loved it. Great food, great service. Our 20 something daughter thought it was so cool. A great choice--

i'm not local but we went last year and loved it!

Although I have not eaten at the Dahlia Lounge I want to. I live near Seattle, but just haven't gotten there yet.

The owner is chef Tom Douglas. He has an excellent reputation in Seattle. He has competed on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America" show. I believe the crabcakes are the house speciality.

His "Triple Coconut Cream Pie" was featured on the local PBS channel's fundraiser (they invite local chefs to donate a recipe to a cookbook, then they send you the cookbook if you donate $$$). They showed the pie being made on TV during the fundraiser.

Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with the Dahlia Lounge. I wish I were going.

I live here in Seattle and work just a couple blocks away.

Dahlia Lounge is my absolute most favorite #1 restaurant. I eat there every chance I get (though lunches mostly) and it is great.

What kind of specific things do you want to know about it?

Wow...maybe I need to eat something else there.

I just went to Dahlia Lounge with a visitor from NYC. Our service was *great*, and so were our appetizers (bread salad for me, scallops for friend). But halfway through our appetizer course, I noticed a woman (not our server) walk to our tables with our entrees. She saw we had our apps still, so she quickly turned and headed back to the kitchen.

Once the apps were done, the entrees came out. And...well...they were warm but not hot. And the flavor was just eh. I had halibut and friend had duck. The halibut was definitely not as good as I've had in other restaurants in Seattle.

Maybe we didn't order the "right" things? And yes, I probably should have mentioned to the service that our entrees were not hot and that they had been sitting out too long.

On a side note, the donuts for dessert were fab.

If it were my group, I'd probably take them to Matts in the Market instead.

Thank you so much! This sounds good. Just a place with good food, a nicer restaurant, but not fancy and ornate or anything. Good food, good service, and a nice business dinner. Sounds like it should work. Once again - fodor's forums came through!

ha! i was going to mention the donuts too! but now i'm going to try that pie next time....

Wow, that's too bad about timing the meal, beanweb24. A real rookie mistake & their servers are usually better trained than that. Like I say I've not eaten there at dinner time myself, only lunches.

Beanweb, Why not write a letter? Maybe you can get a gift certificate out of it -lol! Their cards are good at all the restaurants... Lola's, Serious Pie, Etta's, etc.

The Dahlia Lounge is fine for a dinner with colleagues; note however that like most of Doulglas' places it can become quite noisy, so if business discussion is on the menu you might want to think twice. It's not a good thing to have to raise your voice talking about something sensitive.

If you want something a little less public, but with terrific food and great ambiance, I strongly recommend 94 Stewart, a small place at the corner of First and Stewart (in the Pike Market precincts.) We have yet to go wrong there. Sort of an undiscovered gem IMO.

http://www.94stewart.com

I think that's an excellent (negative) point for any Tom Douglas restaurant as location for a business meeting. They are all very noisy and usually crowded to capacity.

I've had great experiences at Dahlia Lounge when I've dropped in for dinner on the spur of the moment, without a reservation. Other times, not so much. In general, I feel Tom Douglas' Etta's maintains a more consistent standard.

One thing is for sure, Mr. Douglas is a superior guy.