84 Yesler — Restaurant in Seattle

I really really wanted to love this place, but there were just a few details that made our experience just a bit underwhelming.

My parents were in town visiting, and I wanted to treat them to somewhere nice. This place had great reviews, so I decided to give it a try. We got into the area early, and we passed by the restaurant while walking around and saw that the restaurant wasn't very busy. Figured they had recently opened and decided to go in to see if we could get seated early even though our reservation wasn't for another hour and a half. The staff was incredibly friendly, and I believe maybe the owner was out in front greetings guests. Super warm and nice. They seated us early and it seemed like all of the staff stopped to welcome us which was really nice.

We ordered some drinks. The cocktail I got was really a really pretty purple, but that's about it. The drink tasted pretty watered down, but maybe I ordered the wrong thing so let it slide and got an old fashioned after, which was solid.

The food itself was just okay. We got the tasting menu, but noticed we were probably the only ones that did. There were just details that made us a bit skeptical about the whole experience. My mom's scallop was gritty and had sand in it. I pointed it out to a waiter to let them know, and he said okay. Then my moonfish had a fish scale in it which I pointed out to a different member of the staff who seemed surprised but again didn't say anything about it. No apologies or anything. The pasta seemed a tad undercooked as it had more of a bite and really little chew, but maybe that's how it was supposed to be. The chestnut filling was nice though. Also, I understand that some of the dishes are meant to be cold, but I felt like none came out hot which I expected from the scallop and braised beef. The only dish I actually thought was really great and would want again was the dessert. Portions were smaller but what I'd expect from a higher end restaurant. Plating was nice.

The service was great at first, but seemed a little awkward. We had maybe 3 different members of staff serving and waiting on us. Different people explained the dishes. I think one asked if my drink was okay, but I don't remember them ever asking us if we actually liked the food. Also, my parents did not like that our waiter did not come by to say bye and someone quietly said thank you as we left, which was a bit disappointing compared to the wonderful welcome at the beginning of the night.

Overall, I ended up spending over $700 on dinner and drinks for 3. Food was just okay, and service which was wonderful at first kind of let us down at the end as the place got busier....at that price point, I guess I just expected a...

The food here is absolutely amazing. Unique food with exceptional presentation and flavors. Too bad our experience was so horribly tainted by the extremely rude, condescending female Somalia on staff. After not finishing one of the wine pairings my girlfriend was asked by a server if she liked it since she had not drank much. She said it was not to her liking but she was fine to wait for the next course. The Somalia then came by and very rudely poured her a different glass and gave her a long lecture about how the wine would’ve tasted better if she would’ve just given it a chance. Then every following course she would come hover over her until she tried it. My girlfriend resorted to saying she liked it just so the lady would back away from our table. The Somalia would then come back and told her WHY She should like it rather than telling her ABOUT the wine. As if, to make my girlfriend uncomfortable if she didn’t drink it all. She would go on and on, after we said thank you(trying again to dismiss her) to tell us how the wine complements the food and “if she knew that then she should’ve enjoyed it the way the Somalia chose it”. I’ve never been to an establishment and had to watch my girlfriend be so insulted in my life by a Somalia, in an effort to just enjoy our evening! Other than that, beautiful kitchen, amazing staff And a present owner who is committed to his establishment. I can’t say I would ever return, even with the exceptional food, as long as the incredibly rude staff member is employed here. My girlfriend ended up leaving the restaurant in tears. However they did stop me as I tried to follow her out and asked to comp the wine pairing. Which I thought was very professional and shows they care about the customer being happy. I would’ve preferred the whole experience to be simply enjoyable and less emotionally charged(by a staff member). I felt extremely uncomfortable and just wanted to spend a nice evening out with my girlfriend. We hope that others have a different experience and can enjoy the amazing this place has to offer as well as an amazing atmosphere. And we wish the owner all the best. I still all in all think this place deserves five stars. I do have to add I LOVED seeing a female head chef in the kitchen. She was...

Service: Friendly, but very disorganized. The place is tiny and there are tons of staff aimlessly walking about, yet drinks took about 20 minutes per round, food was 30+ minutes out and the place was not at capacity.

Food: Good. They are trying. A few items were somewhat interesting. But didn't blow my socks off.

Drinks: Standard - nothing special or 'signature'. But well-made. Probably the most solid part of this establishment.

Value: This is the key to the 2-star rating. The value here is outrageously terrible! I dine in Seattle a lot and I'm not afraid to spend money. But when I spend it, I expect value in return and that is simply not here. The sizes of menu items are not as pictured - they are laughably tiny. After a nearly $500 tab, our party of 3 literally went around the corner to get pizza because we were all hungry. The $18 Octopus dish had maybe 2oz of actual octopus. The $21 Beet Salmon had about 3 bites of cold-smoked salmon - you'd get 4 times as much on a morning bagel. $45 steak pasta had 4 small bites worth; about 1.5oz of meat and maybe 4oz of pasta. The $24 Scallops were the best deal with 3 scallops on the plate.

The the worst part of the experience and the reason I wrote the review is the "mandatory 20% gratuity" automatically added to the check which is then presented to you on a receipt with an additional tip line. If the gratuity is to be mandatory, I feel that it should be built into the represented price. Otherwise, it is underhanded (and technically violates 15 U.S. Code § 54). I actually pulled up the menu at home to see if there was any mention of this, because I didn't see it. It's there - in size 4 faded font at the bottom. Shameful!

Furthermore, "the gratuity" is calculated on the post-tax amount, which is not correct. I prefer to tip the establishment, not the governor.

And to add insult to injury, we were over-charged 2x $4 on one of our drink rounds. Something I didn't want to argue over as we were trying to leave, but also something I do not appreciate, especially when compounded by their shameful "gratuity" policy.

Not...