LJ's Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Lake Stevens

We've been here twice but could not get in. Both times there's a line out the door I figured eh small local place no big deal. Tonight we made reservations to celebrate the day after Father's Day due to I don't like to celebrate the day of's because of the crowds, and not into public shootings.

Again the line was out the door. We walked in they sat us down I said to myself finally. The only 1 star I took away was one for the atmosphere because I couldn't see the menu due to the darkness of the restaurant. Tori was our waitress what a Ball of pleasant Sunshine!Outstanding server attentive prepared and knowledgeable happy friendly and capable!! I ordered the Karaage chicken Amazing and tender, small portions for $18 but good. You can get a bigger portion of authentic karaage from a Romen house for about $5 less, but again this was pretty tasty however I would not consider this a shareable, maybe for 2??

We ordered the seared scallops, bolognese fettuccine pork shoulder, petite steak, and my pork chop.

No matter what I tell you or describe to you it will never touch a hint of what this amazing Chef prepared meals tasted, felt and experience was like. This was not food this was a work of God inspired creations. Other places we frequent are Fogo De Cho, claim Jumpers, the Keg, the landing, just to name a few. Those few restaurants pain me to say this taste like Arbys in comparison. I would imagine this is what Fentanyl addiction would be like just a high that you can't get over.

I don't remember all the details but here goes. If I misspeak or am incorrect my apologies. Seared scallops I don't eat scallops not a fan but they were soft in the middle the sear was outstanding with very nice crust and had the most amazing flavor of a seafood dish I have ever had. It was served with Faro what I thought at first was Risotto but definitely not. Did not care for the Faro as it felt like Al Dente Risotto also there was a spice that made it taste off. Again IMO. Petite Steak wow definitely seasoned garlic mash and green beans. Gorgeous plate steak was very higher end. The cut was good looking not just cut then grilled , potatoes d beans were clean presentation natural original colors and perfect seasoning. Big difference in seasoning which is usually the fastest tell tale of a chef compared to a cook. Perfect meal for the spouse as they don't consume a lot, even though this was petite they did not finish it.

Fettuccine Pork Shoulder Bolognese What the heck who serves fettuccine with bolognese sauce and who would make add pork shoulder to bolognese sauce?? Well if you have this you will never ask that question again. I was poking at the pork on the plate questioning what it was and why it was there. I put a piece on my fork with sauce then noodles, the pork was softer then the noodles and no the noodles weren't under prepped the meat was as if you were putting warm chocolate pieces in your mouth just melting down both sides of your tongue. It was mind blowing Tori said the pork is processed and prepared at least 2 days. Amazing Dish. IMO the portion was almost perfect but a smidge small nothing to bock over but I'm sure some will.

I wasn't excited to order a pork chop due to pork is usually dry. This pork chop is cooked in a Sous Vide then grilled, has amazingly moist and very flavorful. Mushroom creamy sauce I think and don't remember the greens in the sauce but the sauce was creamy. The pork chop was a double size chop including 2 bones it'll be 3 meals for me. Again Amazing and well seasoned. The potatoes would be like God's Toes unrealistic. They are smoked then grilled they taste and are crispy like bacon I had to check several times to make sure I wasn't eating bacon flavor off the chart. This plate was the best plate I have ever had. Pretty much have a good PTSD on my plate as I can't get over the flavors size and presentation. LJs is now my go to place for personal celebrations! Best Food Around! A must try but go when i'm not going Please.. To the Chef; WOW! JUST...

I've had a request to add more pictures to my reviews. I'm going to admit that I suck at doing this. I take lots of pictures of food I prepare myself but I almost never do it when I'm eating out. I don't know if it's subconscious avoidance of acting like a hipster white chick or if it's just that when the food arrives, my mind goes, "OH BOY, FOOD!" and I get right to eatin'. I'm pretty sure it's the second one. I said to myself while I was waiting for my food to arrive, "don't forget to take a picture" and then I didn't think about it again until I was down to my last three bites.

We've been hearing about this place from all of our friends who live in Granite Falls and Lake Stevens for a while and we had to run an errand out that way so we connected with some of those friends to give it a try. I take three primary factors into account for my reviews, taste/quality, price/portion ratio and service. Sometimes cleanliness, ambiance and location factor in but those first three are the big ones. The taste was a solid five star win. My double pork chop with roasted potatoes, kale and sweet bacon-mustard drizzle was cracktacular. I don't even usually like kale and I ate every bit. The chop was tender, juicy and delicious. The truffle fries appetizer was good but not great. At $6 for only good, they became a ratings liability. If they had been $4, they wouldn't have moved the needle in either direction. Granted, I'm not a huge fry lover but potatoes are pretty cheap and there wasn't a ton in this. Did the truffle part of this drive the price for a couple of sliced and deep fried potatoes up to $6? The truffle flavor just didn't seem that strong to me.

Price/portion ratio gets a ding as well. My family loves pork chops and I make them pretty often. For $25, I should have gotten two of these or at least more roasted red potatoes with it. I realize that it's always going to cost a lot more to have a restaurant serve me something but this is a well liked, busy place. I always appreciate a restaurant that understands the Walmart principle. A small percentage of a large number is better than a large percentage of a small number. These guys are doing very well based on how packed they were on a Thursday night. They're on the wrong side of the price tipping point for me.

Finally we come to service. It was OK but SUPER slow. Our server was friendly. I asked her for some pickles because I saw on the menu that they make their own in-house and I'm obsessed with pickles. She brought me a tiny plate and told me not to eat them all before my pork chop arrived. It took so long for our main dishes to arrive that I'd cleared all of them by then. I was not offered any more. There was no offer to split our check and we went long periods with empty water glasses as well. I had read many other reviews that talked about the slow service so we made sure to go with good friends we would enjoy chatting with for a long time. Ultimately, after tip, our bill was nearly $74 for two pork chops and an order of truffle fries. We ordered no drinks, dessert or salad and we were there for nearly two hours.

Final verdict; we'll go back. The food was delicious and I saw several other things on the menu that I really want to try but at these prices, we won't be...

Where to start... First look, the place is nice. Newly redecorated, clean. They put a lot of thought and effort to make it look good. Food was good, not great or anything you can't get somewhere else, but good. Unfortunately, they didn't make service a priority. First of all, our server was wearing a black sweatshirt, yes a gym sweatshirt, that was stained with what looked like grease spots. Secondly, our order arrived piecemeal, meaning one entree came, then several minutes later another came. So either you ate by youself as your food arrived or you waited as your food got cold for others' meals arrived. Mine never did arrive as the server forgot to ring it in. But because they brought everything piecemeal, it took several minutes to realize mine wasn't coming. Then, because the sever was so busy with other tables (only 3 servers for 19 tables), she didn't come back to check on us for a while and by then everyone was done with their food. While they did try to make up for their shortcomings, (1. Offered to make my order- too late, everyone was already finished and we had been there for an hour already , 2. They bought my appetizer and HH fries) they never did anything to try to get me to return. No manager table touch, no coupon to redeem next time, not even a "thank you for coming, please come back", which I will never do. Owners, if your service staff is overloaded, your guests WILL suffer. And as we are your only source of income, that's not a successful business model...