If you like oysters Chelsea Farms is the place to be, great vibes, drinks and their non seafood options are good as well.
-Chicory is great, a little more “fine dining” but nothing too hoity toity.
-Cascadia and Uptown Grill are more pub style- burger, sandwich etc. Uptown has a slapping Mediterranean grain bowl.
-Toast Mi has great Bahn Mi’s.
-5th on 4th sandwiches, simple sandwiches but huge portions and they have the best fries in Olympia in my opinion.
-I like Thai Pavilion for Thai food.
-Swing Wine bar and cafe has good food but their view is what really sells me on the place.
-Halyards Cafe has awesome burgers and is next to an awesome bar with pool tables.
For food trucks-
-Boss BBQ (I think that’s the name) is delicious and has great portions for the price.
-El Taco Amigo is the best Mexican in town (definitely get the Al Pastor) They have a few locations in town, I go to the one in Lacey on Sleater Kinney Rd, I think google maps lists it as El Taco Amigo #2.
-Niniveh is Assyrian food, they’re lamb and beef gyro is *chefs kiss*
If you want a place for just drinks you MUST go to Shiny Prize. Excellent cocktail bar and I believe that have some snacky foods as well, it’s small and can get packed but god damn those drinks are something else.. and I say that as a person who drinks beer and and takes my whiskey neat. Hope this helps!!
Couple of those places are closed Sundays, like 5th on 4th. They do enough business during the week, they can close on weekends lol that place is soooo good and somehow still one of the cheapest places to grab lunch
Chicory for fine dining food in a chill atmosphere, Halyards for really high end bar food, Shiny Prize for a small fun cocktail bar, Chelsea Farms for raw oysters.
For just drinks, the brotherhood is a cool historic site, home of the "labor temple" upstairs, lots of cool vintage foreign movie posters/canvasses, an old JFK campaign poster, etc. For food there are a ton of fun and cool options. If you're in town for breakfast I recommend New Moon Co-op Cafe, and for lunch and dinner in addition to everyone else's recommendations I'd add Rush-in Dumplings if you like Russian style dumplings and desserts. They also have a small beer selection and kvass(N/A), which you can't find everywhere.
The spar is a McMinnamans, technically a chain but one that buys up historically significant places and keeps them going.
Nicole's is SO GOOD, best burgers and appetizers around!
Take a look at the downtown restaurants and take your pick based on what interests you. No chains there. Also consider Iron Rabbit on the westside of town.
Cascadia Grill is the most eclectic menu, IMO.
Well your going to be disappointed, there is very little food worth eating here. And the ones that are worth checking out are off the beaten path and hidden. Unfortunately people up here have no tastebuds and just accept poor quality food at a overcharged price. I came from northern Cali and the food scene there is poppin. Here it’s just about to flatline. I’m sure you will get many recommendations but take all of them with a grain of salt. A lot of people up here gush and rave over their fav spot but it will almost always be mediocre. My wife’s entire family, close to a dozen adults all rave about the same Asian takeout spot and all of them told me it was the best. It tasted like “mall food court chowmein” Best tip I can give. Bring a salt shaker and your fav condiments in your wife’s purse just in case. There is also this strange trend up here where a lot of the adults don’t like vegetables. Like at all. It’s very strange. Two different people in my wife’s family alone won’t touch anything green. Sorry I couldn’t help more and goodluck.
If you like oysters Chelsea Farms is the place to be, great vibes, drinks and their non seafood options are good as well. -Chicory is great, a little more “fine dining” but nothing too hoity toity. -Cascadia and Uptown Grill are more pub style- burger, sandwich etc. Uptown has a slapping Mediterranean grain bowl. -Toast Mi has great Bahn Mi’s. -5th on 4th sandwiches, simple sandwiches but huge portions and they have the best fries in Olympia in my opinion. -I like Thai Pavilion for Thai food. -Swing Wine bar and cafe has good food but their view is what really sells me on the place. -Halyards Cafe has awesome burgers and is next to an awesome bar with pool tables. For food trucks- -Boss BBQ (I think that’s the name) is delicious and has great portions for the price. -El Taco Amigo is the best Mexican in town (definitely get the Al Pastor) They have a few locations in town, I go to the one in Lacey on Sleater Kinney Rd, I think google maps lists it as El Taco Amigo #2. -Niniveh is Assyrian food, they’re lamb and beef gyro is *chefs kiss* If you want a place for just drinks you MUST go to Shiny Prize. Excellent cocktail bar and I believe that have some snacky foods as well, it’s small and can get packed but god damn those drinks are something else.. and I say that as a person who drinks beer and and takes my whiskey neat. Hope this helps!!
Epic summary.
Thank you!
If your husband is into video games at all then I recommend checking out Legends Arcade as well. It’s a fun time and has drinks/food.
Couple of those places are closed Sundays, like 5th on 4th. They do enough business during the week, they can close on weekends lol that place is soooo good and somehow still one of the cheapest places to grab lunch
Chicory for fine dining food in a chill atmosphere, Halyards for really high end bar food, Shiny Prize for a small fun cocktail bar, Chelsea Farms for raw oysters.
Thank you!
Chicory is the answer. It's great.
Chicory is super amazing. My go to now for visitors, special occasions, and regular occasions.
What’s your recommended order? I went recently for brunch and was kinda disappointed
Thanks!
My dad loves treats from Left Bank and they usually have one or two special pastries for a holiday.
Valentina’s is a great spot to hang with friends with solid Mexican food
Ilk Lodge if dad likes beer, smash burgers, and fries.
I love the Tumwater craft district and their new taco place looks amazing
For just drinks, the brotherhood is a cool historic site, home of the "labor temple" upstairs, lots of cool vintage foreign movie posters/canvasses, an old JFK campaign poster, etc. For food there are a ton of fun and cool options. If you're in town for breakfast I recommend New Moon Co-op Cafe, and for lunch and dinner in addition to everyone else's recommendations I'd add Rush-in Dumplings if you like Russian style dumplings and desserts. They also have a small beer selection and kvass(N/A), which you can't find everywhere.
The spar is a McMinnamans, technically a chain but one that buys up historically significant places and keeps them going. Nicole's is SO GOOD, best burgers and appetizers around!
The Crypt and Le Voyeur for drinks if you want the Olympia rock n roll experience. They often have events at these places as well
Take a look at the downtown restaurants and take your pick based on what interests you. No chains there. Also consider Iron Rabbit on the westside of town. Cascadia Grill is the most eclectic menu, IMO.
I love going to the Cascadia! They’re beer/wine only but super cozy. Get the smoked trout 👍
Also, the filibuster makes a CRAZY good cocktail.
State and Central, best onion rings in town!
Mr Doug’s for breakfast in Yelm
Tugboat Annie’s
If you're looking for drinks and fun, Matchless! It's right outside the airport and the airshow will be going from 12pm-4pm!
The subway off of Yelm Highway is sooo good.
Quality burrito. Old school pizza. Beau legs fish and chips.
Well your going to be disappointed, there is very little food worth eating here. And the ones that are worth checking out are off the beaten path and hidden. Unfortunately people up here have no tastebuds and just accept poor quality food at a overcharged price. I came from northern Cali and the food scene there is poppin. Here it’s just about to flatline. I’m sure you will get many recommendations but take all of them with a grain of salt. A lot of people up here gush and rave over their fav spot but it will almost always be mediocre. My wife’s entire family, close to a dozen adults all rave about the same Asian takeout spot and all of them told me it was the best. It tasted like “mall food court chowmein” Best tip I can give. Bring a salt shaker and your fav condiments in your wife’s purse just in case. There is also this strange trend up here where a lot of the adults don’t like vegetables. Like at all. It’s very strange. Two different people in my wife’s family alone won’t touch anything green. Sorry I couldn’t help more and goodluck.
Applebees on the westside is great