The Crawlspace Gastropub — Restaurant in Mercer Island

I’m updating my review back to 5 stars. I just got off the phone with Jason, the owner, and he is incredibly passionate about his restaurant. He was genuine, acknowledged that they didn’t get this right, and explained that they understand what went wrong and are working to improve. Again, I’m definitely coming back—by no means have they lost a customer!

2nd review after coming again: I recently hosted my birthday party here after having an incredible dining experience here a few weeks prior. The food was just as amazing as before, but unfortunately, the service for our party was extremely disappointing.

From the start, the server was rude and unaccommodating. Despite confirming ahead of time that separate checks would be allowed, she insisted we could only have four across our group of 25–30 people. She also initially told me we didn’t have access to the private room, which I had also previously confirmed. Throughout the event, she refused to take food orders from some of my guests, would take one drink order and then disappear, and seemed irritated when we needed additional silverware and napkins. When it came time for the cake, we had to ask four times before it was finally brought out.

All of my guests raved about the food, but the poor service left a bad impression, which was embarrassing since I had hyped up the restaurant so much. Some guests were even told they couldn’t order food when they needed to leave early, which was frustrating.

I wouldn’t recommend hosting a large event here based on this experience, but I’ll likely return for dinner or takeout because the food is genuinely great. I hope management addresses this issue so that others don’t have a similar experience.

1st initial review of 5 stars: I’ve been waiting for a place like this to open on Mercer Island for so long, and it did not disappoint! I went last night for the first time with my husband and 7 of our friends. We made a reservation on OpenTable, and as soon as we arrived, our table was ready. We were greeted enthusiastically by Thomas, the manager, who is probably the best restaurant employee I’ve ever encountered—seriously, his energy and attention to detail were unmatched.

We ordered quickly, and the food came out super fast. Jason, the owner and executive chef, checked in with us several times throughout the night. I always think it’s really cool when owners take the time to engage with their guests, and it made the experience even better.

Between the nine of us, we tried nearly half the menu, and everything was incredible. Some of the items we ordered were: the Ahi Tuna Salad, Chicken Katsu, Indonesian Rice, General Tso’s, Kalua Pork Tacos, Bulgogi Burger, Bulgogi Tacos, Ahi Tuna appetizer, Mochiko Chicken, two orders of the appetizer wings, several Musubi, and five cocktails. The only “negative” feedback from my friends was that the drinks weren’t quite as impressive as they expected, but honestly, the food and service more than made up for it!

I would have attached some pictures, but I ate everything too fast!

Parking was super easy since it’s in more of a strip mall setting. I’d definitely recommend making a reservation because it filled up really quickly. I’m already planning to come back to celebrate my birthday here soon! We’ve been so busy it took us too long to try this spot when we live so close, but we’ll be regulars from now on....

Food: 9/10 Price: 7/10 Cleanliness: 10/10 Customer Service: 3/10

My first time here was excellent with customer service, food, cleanliness, everything. I placed a reservation for my second time to come back again with my wife and showed up at our scheduled time and noticed that the restaurant was about half full unlike the first time were it was full. We placed our order quickly since we already knew what we wanted to order and waited a little over an hour for our food after asking a different waiter for updates since ours kept going back to other tables across the restaurant and what it appears to be ignoring the tables next to us. People came into the restaurant with large parties of around 6 after us and received their food and left the restaurant before we even got our food. Totally different experience from the first time to the second time visiting. For the food taking over an hour to make it wasn’t very hot although it tasted good. People 2 tables over were experiencing the same exact thing so we both had to get up and go to the bar to get service. Right before we left, new people sat next to us, ordered, and received their food which is exactly what we ordered all within 10 minutes. In the end it all boils down to communication if there was an issue in the kitchen or something else going on to take this long.

I had an excellent first experience at this restaurant, with outstanding customer service, delicious food, and a clean environment. Based on that positive visit, I made a reservation to return with my wife for a second time. Unfortunately, this visit did not meet the same standards.

We arrived on time for our reservation, and noticed the restaurant was only about half full, unlike our first visit when it was packed. We quickly placed our order, as we already knew what we wanted, but after waiting for over an hour, we had to approach a different server for an update. Our original server seemed to be focused on other tables, which left us feeling somewhat overlooked. During this time, larger parties who arrived after us received their food and even left before we were served.

When our meals finally arrived, they were not as hot as expected, although the taste was still good. Interestingly, the table two spots over from us appeared to be experiencing the same delay. We both ended up walking to the bar to get assistance since at this point, we were here for over 1.75 hours. To our surprise, new guests seated next to us ordered and received their food exactly what we had ordered in less than 10 minutes.

In the end, the experience was disappointing, especially compared to our first visit. I believe this situation came down to a lack of communication, whether there was an issue in the kitchen or something else that caused the delay. While the food was enjoyable, the service needs improvement to match the quality we experienced during our...

This Hawaiian-Korean fusion hit the mark. As a Korean-American who travels to Hawaii every other month for work, I feel like I have the creds to say so. I've been waiting for this place to open on Mercer Island for months. There are very few options for good food and drinks on the island and I am breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, I don't have to leave the island for good food and I can invite my friends to come to me instead!

I knew going on opening night would mean some wait time. It still would've been nice to be greeted by the host within a minute of entering, but another party and I stood by the door for over 5 minutes before the host came out to say hello. He was nice enough, just not timely. Opening snafus.

Once we got seated, we ordered:

1. lilikoi mai tai - 4/5. not quite the Monkeypod with the lilikoi foam, but was still good and a good size.
2. Smokey old-fashioned - 4/5. VERY smokey, but good
3. fried chicken sandwich - 5/5. hard crispy crunch and juicy. Our fave! Could use a little more pickles.
4. kimchee fried rice - 5/5. We thought the kimchee was just on top rather than integrated throughout, but come to find out they blend some kimchee (like in a blender) and still do infuse it into the rice. More palatable for those not so accustomed to kimchee, but still adding extra kimchee on top for kimchee lovers like me. Smart.
5. mochiko chicken - 3/5. This was our least fave since it wasn't as flavorful and didn't have furikake like I'm used to in Hawaii.

Overall, we would definitely go back to try other dishes and to just hang out on their comfy chairs. The owner came by every table to say hello and to ask how everything was. That's a nice touch that makes people think a place is good to bump it up to a great. Soooo glad we finally have a place that has good food, good drinks, and...