We told you that the Porterhouse was coming to West Seattle. The grand opening is this Wednesday, August 12th. The doors swing open at 2:00. Expect a horde of anxious locals to have amassed by dinner time.
Last night we were fortunate enough to be invited to the soft opening. We have nothing but good things to report.
Let’s start with the beer. They have 24 taps pouring a wonderful array of west coast beers. The slogan is West Coast Beers, West Seattle. Some highlights: Rogue Brutal Bitter, Stone 13th Anniversary Ale, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, Laugunitas Lucky 13, Schooner Exact Regrade Pale Ale, Lazy Boy Pilsner, Big Al’s Irish Red, Skagit Skuller’s IPA, Snoqualmie Falls Steam Train Porter, Georgetown Roger’s Pilsner, and many more. They have a beer engine and we understand that the first beer that it will pump is Big Time Scarlett Fire.
Now, let’s talk about food for a moment. Hoochie momma! Porterhouse West Seattle is run by three chefs and the food shows it. The food we witnessed was an upscale, ecclectic and delicious twist on traditional pub food. They even have vegetarian and gluten-free options. The french fries are seasoned with truffle salt. The chicken wings are marinated in IPA and served with a chipotle-gorgonzola-ranch dipping sauce. Hello? Do I have your attention?
Fish-n-chips is always a good way to evaluate a pub’s food. Deciding to go with the fish-n-chips at the Porterhouse gives you the option of either salmon or halibut. The halibut is breaded tempura-style (we think) so it gets crispy and golden without overcooking the fish. Halibut can so easily be destroyed by overcooking. Frying it is risky. It is not a problem here. The halibut was simply amazing – crispy, moist and flavorful.
The cheese dip… oh man, all I remember is that there is parmesan, sour cream and roasted tomato involved. Ridiculously good!
Another thing we really loved about the menu was the pricing. The entire menu was under $20. Even the steak. The pricing is very reasonable for the quality of food. We don’t want to quote exact pricing, but we believe that everyone will find the prices reasonable.
We talked with Libby, one of the chefs behind the Porterhouse, and she told us that today (Tuesday) will be all about analyzing what happened last night as the kitchen pumped out its first round of dishes. Beer is easy. Food, especially of this quality, presents challenges for a new kitchen. Libby is confident that her crew will meet and exceed expectations.
No doubt, Wednesday is going to very busy at the Porterhouse. West Seattle has been buzzing about it for weeks. The opening will not slip by unnoticed. We’ll be there and we will let you know how crazy things get.
I work directly across the street and we have all been awaiting the Porterhouse opening. Thanks for the little preview on whats is to be expected. Nice write up.
Went there tonight for opening night. It was AWESOME !!! What a place. It really seemed like they had been open for awhile. Great beer selection. We really liked the Rogue Brutal Bitter. Best beer around as far as I’m concerned.
Food was great. The cheese dip was great. The halibut and chips were great. My wife had the Rueben and she said it was the best reuben she’d ever had.
Went there tonight for opening night. It was AWESOME !!! What a place. It really seemed like they had been open for awhile. Great beer selection. We really liked the Rogue Brutal Bitter. Best beer around as far as I’m concerned.
Food was great. The cheese dip was great. The halibut and chips were great. My wife had the Rueben and she said it was the best reuben she’d ever had.
Agreed, we loved the food tonight. At my table we tried the Porterhouse burger, Buffalo salmon sandwich and reuben. All delicious. We’ll likely be back for more in the next couple of days. (After all, it’s only two blocks from our home – that’s almost TOO close for comfort.)
Agreed, we loved the food tonight. At my table we tried the Porterhouse burger, Buffalo salmon sandwich and reuben. All delicious. We’ll likely be back for more in the next couple of days. (After all, it’s only two blocks from our home – that’s almost TOO close for comfort.)
Hmmm…we had a very different opening night experience. Harried staff, mediocre food (and that’s being VERY generous). Opening nights are always rough and we’ll give them another chance…but not as auspicious a beginning as we would have hoped. Oh, and who forgot to install light fixtures over the center of the restaurant? Unless you’ve reserved a booth, plan on bringing a flashlight to read your menu.
Hmmm…we had a very different opening night experience. Harried staff, mediocre food (and that’s being VERY generous). Opening nights are always rough and we’ll give them another chance…but not as auspicious a beginning as we would have hoped. Oh, and who forgot to install light fixtures over the center of the restaurant? Unless you’ve reserved a booth, plan on bringing a flashlight to read your menu.
We might go back in for another try tonight and see if some of the service wrinkles we heard about are ironed out. In retrospect, the biggest issue we experienced was the lack of a printed beer list. With 25 taps on, there’s no way the servers were going to be familiar with every beer in such a short time. And I think that led to some of the service slow-downs because the servers had to spend a lot of time figuring out what beers to recommend to customers. Hopefully that will be corrected this weekend.
We might go back in for another try tonight and see if some of the service wrinkles we heard about are ironed out. In retrospect, the biggest issue we experienced was the lack of a printed beer list. With 25 taps on, there’s no way the servers were going to be familiar with every beer in such a short time. And I think that led to some of the service slow-downs because the servers had to spend a lot of time figuring out what beers to recommend to customers. Hopefully that will be corrected this weekend.
We went there two nights in a row (8/17 and 8/18). The food was great, but the service was not good. It was very slooooooooow. I know that it is the first week of being open, but we both work(ed) at restaurants in Seattle, Tutta Bella and Cantinetta. The service we got at the Porterhouse would never fly at either of those restaurants. It seemed like the servers had tunnel vision. Don’t get me wrong, they were nice, just not up to par with their service. I hope that they get these wrinkles worked out, because like I said…the food was good and worth the prices.
We went there two nights in a row (8/17 and 8/18). The food was great, but the service was not good. It was very slooooooooow. I know that it is the first week of being open, but we both work(ed) at restaurants in Seattle, Tutta Bella and Cantinetta. The service we got at the Porterhouse would never fly at either of those restaurants. It seemed like the servers had tunnel vision. Don’t get me wrong, they were nice, just not up to par with their service. I hope that they get these wrinkles worked out, because like I said…the food was good and worth the prices.
There are always opening night jitters. I pass by every night and it’s packed. I’ve talked to some of my neighborrs who have tried it and said it’s very good, great service and food.
Hopefully, everyone will give it a chance and not be so critical as we need some good restauranrts with all of the condos going up in WS.
There are always opening night jitters. I pass by every night and it’s packed. I’ve talked to some of my neighborrs who have tried it and said it’s very good, great service and food.
Hopefully, everyone will give it a chance and not be so critical as we need some good restauranrts with all of the condos going up in WS.
We waited 20 minutes for a soda refill and even longer for a beer refill, and were fed up and leaving just as our food arrived (over 40 minutes after ordering). We chose to leave and eat next door.
A casual acknowledgement about the wait for food/beer/etc would have been enough but we got NOTHING. If this is what is to be considered normal service we will not be returning.
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Have your cake and eat it kind of a dillema. What should today’s brides do? Have a expensivewedding or save for a home? I would take the second any day
Have your cake and eat it kind of a dillema. What should today’s brides do? Have a expensivewedding or save for a home? I would take the second any day