McMenamins Tavern on the Square — Restaurant in Bothell

The late afternoon adventure started off with several empty drink glasses greeting me outside of the front entrance to the tavern. My friend and I sat at the bar. After bellying up, our very Connor McGregor-esque bartender asked if we were eating, we mentioned we might get some apps.

He brings us a menu to split. Keep in mind, my friend invited me out here for happy hour and they are a member of the whiskey club there. He gets her order of a whiskey and turns to me. What do you want, sport? or something along those lines. I say that there are a lot of taps there, and that I like pilsners after jokingly asking, what's on tap? There were about 15 unmarked taps behind him..so, I get a " let me do you a favor" and he flips over the drink menu and says "they're all right here". Wow, thanks for your expertise and making me feel stupid there. After leaving and getting ready for what seemed like a shift change, I have to flag him down to order truffle fries. Consider also that my friend had to ask him to bring us a happy hour menu. Why didn't he lead with the happy hour menu? You lead with that, especially during rush hour. We're on a budget after all. After telling him we.eant them, he turns and asks us if we want the happy hour portion or full priced orders. Ugh, won't even comment here.

After around 20 more minutes to get these truffle salt friends, and him disappearing for 15 minutes unannounced while a customer sat and waited, we get the fries. They're tasty and simple..not worth the happy hour pricing of 9 dollars at all, but tasty. We finally decided to take our meeting outside to let the new bartender that just clocked in settle in.

Even though we were put off with the cold service and lack of attention, we decided to go outside to the garden bar area. We noticed there was a band setting up so we decided to hang around to watch and listen to the band. A new waiter/bartender comes by, no menus, no waters. My friend has to ask for whiskey menu and apologizes for the service we're getting. After telling the bartender that we needed waters, we finally get them to go with her whiskey. She clearly loves this place and wants to share her love of it with me. We ended up leaving early after this second cold, inattentive and unsmiling person left us with empty water glasses and a whiskey snifter.

This is a lot more than I'd intended writing, and I hate to pick on things and don't expect everything to be exceptional, but when the service is both indifferent and poor, you just want to...

You have seen this chain all over the Pacific Northwest. Some of you have been to all the restaurants and got the badge. It is not a normal chain where every place is the same. Each restaurant has their own decor, their own menu and their own level of quality. The one in Centralia is great. The one in Queen Anne is terrible. The one in Bothell is nice. My dining companion and I are still deciding if we are boyfriend/girlfriend or not. She texted me to see if I was interested in a date and I said yes. Our first date was at the Queen Anne McMenamins, so when she suggested that I was happy for the memory, but not excited about the food. She threw me a curve by picking the Bothell option. Now, I was all in. Good food, good company - this would be nice. She was late picking me up, but we did not have reservations, so the schedule was not a big deal. Since we were going for lunch, I was not worried about them being full on a Saturday. As it turned out, we got there around 3, the deadest time of day. There was no problem getting seated. There was a problem finding the place. The Anderson School area is complicated and there are not nearly enough signs to help find your way around. There was a group following us. One of them was on the phone trying to link up with whoever he was talking to. He said that this was the worst place for meeting up with people. I have to agree. Since we were already together, we had no trouble meeting up, but finding the place and then finding the door was a bit of an adventure. My cousin works there and I found myself wishing I had called her to be our native guide. As I said before, we were seated right away. The menu was short and featured standard pub fare. I asked for fish and chips and my date wanted a chicken salad. The food came quickly and was well prepared. When I get fish and chips, I like to try the coleslaw first. It was good here. Like all the rest of the food, it was basic, but well made. We both finished everything on our plates. There is a big fireplace next to the dining room. It seemed like a romantic idea to sit by the fire, to hold hands and sip a warm drink. The bartender liked the idea of inventing a warm drink for us. She started with warm cider, added some citrus and cinnamon, then topped it with a shot of brandy. Pretty good, and perfectly suited to the occasion. We spent a lovely time on the red velvet couch,...

I'm not sure how I managed to missed McMenamins Tavern on the Square place in all the time since it opened - it's not like I haven't heard about it numerous times, and I certainly have fond memories of McMenamin's Rock Creek Tavern, which was a favorite when I lived in Portland. Still, I didn't make it here until I was treated to dinner - and what a nice treat it was!

The campus is large, with a hotel and restaurants, and unfortunately a confusing maze of a parking area that may or may not be adequate - I'm not sure I was parked in a McMenamins space, but I was close by and didn't get a ticket or a tow. It's a little confusing to figure out which restaurant you are looking for, as well, but like the parking, it seemed to work itself out quickly.

The Tavern itself is big, and delightfully funky, with a ceiling full of mismatched salvaged vintage light fixtures, and fun, somewhat wonky artwork on the walls. It was cold the night I was there, but there's a large fireplace that was kept at a brisk roar and added some wonderful ambiance along with the appreciated warmth.

We sat in a large, comfortable booth, and the server checked in frequently, but was pleasant about the fact that we took forever to even look at our menus. She answered our questions about the food and was all-around pleasant.

The prices are on the high side, but there are some cost-conscious options, I elected to have the gumbo, which sounded more like a jambalaya from the description. It was beautifully presented with a mound of rice in the center of a brothy stew - and when I mixed it all up, was much like a jambalaya. It was nicely spiced, but not overly so, and very filling.

I was pleased to discover some light dessert options on the menu, and enjoyed the coconut sorbet, which came served in a crisp thin waffle cone shell. A berry garnish would have added to the appeal, but that's just nitpicking on my part - it was tasty and refreshing. I had a pot of Darjeeling tea on the side, and was pleased to discover a whole menu of tea options to end the meal.

My companion and I wandered the campus for a bit before heading out - it's beautiful at night and there's a lot going on here, including a whiskey tasting room that is a tiny, freestanding house. I'm looking forward to my next...