We've previously had a bone to pick with 15th Avenue icon Coastal Kitchen, but not this time. An everyday 9-11 p.m. happy hour suits us just fine. (We love a good happy hour, but sometimes you want a drink outside of the 5-7 window.) In addition to $3 well cocktails, draft beers, and house wine, Coastal invites you to shell out just $3 for fish tacos, mini burgers, or fried calamari. We didn't even know Tunisia had a happy hour, but $3 can also net you a bacon-fried lamb meatball sub, chicken wrap, or flatbread pizza with tomato sauce and goat cheese.
Coastal Kitchen Adds Late Happy Hour
For Fall, Coastal Kitchen's Own Private Brittany
Alerted via email to Coastal Kitchen's new Brittany-inspired menu (that's Brittany as in Bretagne, as in savory crepes and cider), we stopped in last night to see what looked good. We ended up ordering a ratatouille crepe for $14.50. We're not vegetarian but we wanted a crepe, and the smoked salmon crepes only come with the "platter for deux," which runs $42.50. This ratatouille did not taste like the spicier ratatouille we've had in the south of France or even this side of the puddle in Québec. It tasted mainly like the lightly sautéed vegetables in it, with a hint of sweetness from the otherwise bland, steamed cider curry cream sauce. (As we've mentioned, Chow Foods doesn't strive so much for authenticity as for a "romantic notion" of coastal cuisines.) We'll be back at brunchtime for their sweet and savory crepe, but we have a hunch Coastal isn't going to be stealing much crepe business from 611 Supreme.
Two Noteworthy Capitol Hill Dining Options For Your Enjoyment
We hadn't been to the Twilight Exit since they moved across the street to the other side of Madison. We weren't mad at them, we just had moved ourselves at the same time, and they weren't as close. But last Friday we stopped in and had some of the best fish and chips that we've ever had in Seattle -- wonderful golden brown, Guiness-battered fish and chips that leave your fingers shiny and your digestive system well-oiled. Yelpers like the joint, too. We'd been on a run of terrible gooey, breaded fish and chips that left us so nauseous it put us off our Guinness; it was good to see someone still knows how to make this essential pub dish.
What Kind of PR Firm Trolls Seattlest for Leads?
Apparently the same kind of PR firm that emails proposals from a yahoo account. So says our confidential source at Coastal Kitchen, who told us that, just minutes after Ronald Holden's hilarious, pun filed Seattlest screed showed up in her RSS feed, she was immediately bombarded by PR companies offering to help her "spin" this story.
Holy Crap There's an Actual Real Celebrity in Town
We spotted Jim from The Office--real name: John Krasinski--having drinks at the Crocodile Friday night with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (who Seattlest Jack chatted with last week).
Old Tree Tries To Take Out Old People
We had thought our 15th Avenue breaking news this morning would be pointing out that Coastal Kitchen is still closed from last night's flooding. But that was before we got to 14th Avenue East and East Thomas, and noticed something ... different. Luckily we had our camera phone with us.
And We Were On Top Of A Hill
About 5 o'clock tonight we were walking through the monsoon, and decided to duck into Coastal Kitchen for a drink to weather the storm. But we were turned back out onto the street because Coastal Kitchen's basement was flooding. On the street, water had overflowed the gutters and was taking over the sidewalk. We continued down to Hopvine (is that a new website?), which was also closed due to flooding. Finally, we arrived at Liberty, which was open and dry. Robb poured us a 15-year-old rum, and we all allowed as to how we'd never seen rain like this in Seattle. Crazy winds. Trees falling across arterials. Here's KIRO TV on the Queen Anne mudslide.
Ask Seattlest: Where can I Get a Good Waffle?
An email from a reader posed a relatively simple question: Where can I get a good waffle? Turns out said reader was from Houston, where they'd managed to find themselves a waffle sent straight from some whole-grain, nutty heaven, and they hadn't yet found themselves a suitable alternative here in the Northwest.
Give A Little Bit
Seems like everybody and their mama has been raising money for the Red Cross or other agencies helping in hurricane relief efforts. Even Seattlest's local karaoke dive bar was taking cash for the cause last Sunday night. What follows is by no means a comprehensive list, but just a smattering of upcoming events by local businesses where your money can make a difference:

