Last week we heard that a favorite restaurant is closing at the end of January.
When we relocated to Seattle almost 9 years ago, our first dinner date was to restaurant called Monsoon. I was 7 months pregnant and prone to falling over. The sidewalk was a little uneven and I fell outside the restaurant. Right across the street there was a huge line of people waiting for Kingfish Cafe to open. As embarrassed as I was I thought, 'Look at that line! I should try that place!'
Over the years we have taken the kids, visitors and just ourselves to Kingfish dozens of times. If you've stayed with us you've likely eaten there with us too. The food was always delicious, and the service friendly. The wait for a table was sometimes formidable. We routinely lined up 30 minutes before opening or waited up to 2 hours for a table. We observed a few tense moments between parties waiting for the doors to open. Tensions ran high if someone tried to inch their way in front of a group who had been waiting longer.
So upon hearing these were the final weeks for fried green tomatoes, spicy mac and cheese, shrimp and grits and yam fries, we hurried ourselves over last Saturday for one last meal. Instead we saw the restaurant already full and a line of hopeful diners stretching down the block. Not to be denied, Ken headed over to scope out the restaurant yesterday around 3:30. At 4:00 the line materialized. Doors opened at 5:00 and we were seated by 5:05. Success! Here's how we feel about the end of an Era:
Dylan and Caitlin were barely holding on by this point. Luckily we were tucked in a fairly secluded corner of the restaurant, protecting most other diners from the downward spiral of two hungry kids. Unluckily for us that secluded table happens to be by the front door that remained open for most of the evening. It was a cold evening!
Our main courses followed in an equally untimely manner, arriving an hour and a half after we ordered. The shrimp and grits have always been, and still were, worth the wait. If shrimp and grits appears on a menu anywhere we are sure to order it. And no one's grits are as good as these.
When the owner- who delivered our main courses last night- asked who had ordered the mac and cheese, she seemed surprised it was for me and not the kids. But it's got a kick! Caitlin would be very put out if this were her meal. I have ordered this mac and cheese for myself many many times. But never before last night have I been disappointed to find the cheese sauce confined to the top layer of noodles with plain noodles beneath.
The kids always share an order of the fried chicken, with Dylan scarfing up all the collard greens before anyone else gets a taste. Caitlin doesn't care about that but we had to order a second helping last night so Ken and I could try them. So no problems there.
Over the years we have taken the kids, visitors and just ourselves to Kingfish dozens of times. If you've stayed with us you've likely eaten there with us too. The food was always delicious, and the service friendly. The wait for a table was sometimes formidable. We routinely lined up 30 minutes before opening or waited up to 2 hours for a table. We observed a few tense moments between parties waiting for the doors to open. Tensions ran high if someone tried to inch their way in front of a group who had been waiting longer.
So upon hearing these were the final weeks for fried green tomatoes, spicy mac and cheese, shrimp and grits and yam fries, we hurried ourselves over last Saturday for one last meal. Instead we saw the restaurant already full and a line of hopeful diners stretching down the block. Not to be denied, Ken headed over to scope out the restaurant yesterday around 3:30. At 4:00 the line materialized. Doors opened at 5:00 and we were seated by 5:05. Success! Here's how we feel about the end of an Era:
See all the people lined up behind my head? The wait list for a table filled up in the first 30 minutes or so.
It pains me to say this, but after the victory of landing a table the rest of the evening was a letdown. We are filled with goodwill for this place but our last meal was problematic. We know they can run a busy restaurant- they've been doing so for close to 20 years- however they appear to be straining under the pressure of closing. We ordered right away and then waited and waited and waited for food. During a restroom run we passed plates of fried green tomatoes awaiting their hush puppies and garnish in the kitchen. We returned to our table and half and hour later we were served cold tomatoes and cold yam fries.
Dylan and Caitlin were barely holding on by this point. Luckily we were tucked in a fairly secluded corner of the restaurant, protecting most other diners from the downward spiral of two hungry kids. Unluckily for us that secluded table happens to be by the front door that remained open for most of the evening. It was a cold evening!
Our main courses followed in an equally untimely manner, arriving an hour and a half after we ordered. The shrimp and grits have always been, and still were, worth the wait. If shrimp and grits appears on a menu anywhere we are sure to order it. And no one's grits are as good as these.
When the owner- who delivered our main courses last night- asked who had ordered the mac and cheese, she seemed surprised it was for me and not the kids. But it's got a kick! Caitlin would be very put out if this were her meal. I have ordered this mac and cheese for myself many many times. But never before last night have I been disappointed to find the cheese sauce confined to the top layer of noodles with plain noodles beneath.
The kids always share an order of the fried chicken, with Dylan scarfing up all the collard greens before anyone else gets a taste. Caitlin doesn't care about that but we had to order a second helping last night so Ken and I could try them. So no problems there.
By the time we finished the kids had moved past 'punchy'. We need to airlift them out of there! A farewell meal at Kingfish just is not complete without a dessert. No one is hungry when dinner is done, but that doesn't really factor into your decision. Since Ken waited so long for the table I sent him home with the kids. I ordered a slice of cake to go and paid our bill.
I forgot to take a picture of our cake and since I got it to go it wasn't plated so fancily, but this is what you get. So before sending the kids off to bed we had some chocolate cake.
Our final Kingfish experience was a mixed bag. I could see the kitchen the whole night and there were only 2 people in there. I can't say if two people always run the whole kitchen or not, but it obviously wasn't enough last night. Servers seemed in shorter supply and unlike last night, in the past there have always been bus boys clearing plates and refilling water. Are they short handed because staff members are moving on to new jobs already? Ken had a strange experience last spring of taking the kids to a restaurant we loved only to find out the restaurant was closing unexpectedly that day. The disgruntled staff of that place did very little for their patrons that night. I can't believe the Kingfish is suffering from apathy. I can only chalk our disappointments up to overextending themselves in an attempt to accommodate their faithful patrons who all want one last meal. I just wish my one last had been a little better.
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