Tavolàta Capitol Hill in Seattle

Usually go there for dates with my wife and will continue to for the exceptional blend of quality ingredients, service, atmosphere, and fresh takes on classic dishes. Big fan of Ethan Stowell Restaurants yet this is one of our favorites of his and we keep coming back. Consistent excellence in dining.

Bad food, no flavor, not worth it.

My husband and I were really looking forward to dining at Tavolata Capitol Hill because we wanted a special place for our Friday date night and we liked the downtown location a lot. The reservation was easy to make and it strictly specified that there was a fee for any cancellations after 12 hours before the time of the reservation, which once again set us up to think we were going to have a really special dinner. Unfortunately, everything else didn’t meet the bar the establishment tried to set so high. We were greeted by a chatty host who, after taking a quick look around the room, pointed us to the first available table he saw that was right next to the exit door, in front of the reception desk. To my question whether there was a better table available he answered ‘maybe at the bar’ which was hmmmm surprising? Shouldn’t you keep tables for your reservations? Next, once we sat, we were given one set of paper menus we had to pass back and forth for 15 minutes while we were waiting for someone to come up and talk to us, my frustration growing by the minute. Once the host/waiter was finally available, he started joyfully talking about some lamb ragout special they had that night clearly not giving a damn about how we felt about the whole thing. After another minute of debating whether to leave or stay we decided to go and wandered into Via Tribunali down the street where we were taken great care of without any reservations or cancellation fees. The food and service were amazing! The next morning I forgot all about the failed Tavolata dinner overjoyed by the election results until I saw an email in my mailbox from the ma...