Bang Bang Kitchen — Restaurant in Seattle

Visiting from New Mexico and it's comlletely unfair to compare our food to this restaurant. Still, I can't help myself in the hopes the chef will benefit. :) I had the relleno, my sons had the hamburger and the enchiladas. All looked super fancy on serving (lol, not typical for NM) with sour cream artfully applied in a pattern on the relleno and enchiladas. A small serving of beans and rice was served in a separate bowl. The relleno came with three tiny but homemade flour tortillas. Usually, rellenos come in pairs with rice and beans served on the same plate so you can mix them together if you want. Both the green and red chile sauce were runny. NM green/red chili is usually much thicker and much hotter- this was pretty tasteless and I suspect from the light green color on mine that maybe they don't roast the chilis first? That definitely would help with the flavor. The relleno was battered only on top. Traditional is to dip them so they are fully covered on all sides. You leave to stem as that's what you hold for dipping. The relleno had too much cheese -hard to believe but I like more breading and a little less cheese. I think maybe not cooked at hot enough temp as also very light green in color. I picked all the cilantro off- it is more a Mexican spice than NM. Usually we serve with shredded lettuce and tomatoes instead. The beans were cooked with some different spices. We cook them fairly plain and the best is when they are just done so not soggy. These were a bit past done but ok. The rice was OK too. The enchiladas were better but red chili is usually much hotter even than green and this was not hot either. The hamburger was good but my son could not taste the green chili. So...don't expect real NM food but it's still good enough for a nice meal. The tiny tortillas were yummy and traditional except for size. They should be served with honey though as some people prefer that. Sopapillas are always served with every meal no charge so we were disappointed to have to order and pay for them. We usually serve with honey but you can ask for cinnamon and/or sugar in NM. The service was great though and it's a nice trendy-looking place. Prices were high for NM and the amount of food but better than some places we've been in Seattle. It was fun to see what the chef did though and I hope they do a little more research so it's a little more...

We really wanted to like this place. I love Mexican food, my partner and I really like the owners' other restaurant, Pettirosso, and so we were thrilled when we found out Bang Bang kitchen was coming to Othello and anxiously waited for them to open.

The first time we went was shortly after it opened (mid January 2019). The service was fine though it was oddly super bright and really loud and we got the impression they were still trying to figure things out. The $10 house margarita came in a very small glass and was mostly full of ice. I took a few sips and it was gone. It tasted pretty watered down. What a let down! What's a Mexican restaurant if you can't have a good margarita? The house burrito was overpriced but otherwise unremarkable. We tried both the red sauce and the green sauce, and neither one was very exciting. I can say the chicken wings were pretty tasty though. When the bill came we noticed we were charged a little more for one of their drinks than the menu stated, not a big deal, but overall we decided to avoid their cocktails in the future and wait a few months for them to iron things out before coming back.

So four months later (early May 2019) some friends and I went to try their happy hour. We were seated right away and then a very distraught server brought us water and menus, mumbled something, and ran away. We sat there for about 30 minutes and no one came to ask if we wanted drinks or to take our order. It didn't seem especially busy, probably 70-80% of the tables were empty, but it appeared they hadn't hired or scheduled enough staff for the day. Eventually after waiting long enough with no one checking on us, not even to get a drink order going, we left and got dinner somewhere else. My partner wanted to let the server or host know we were leaving but they were nowhere to be found. I felt silly that I had suggested the place to our friends and we ended up wasting all of our time while we sat there starving before ultimately realizing we'd be better off going somewhere else.

Such a bummer. We live so close by and would go to Bang Bang Kitchen every week if they could their act together, but each time we've gone has just...

My experience at Bang Bang Kitchen left me wondering a few things: first, is this Mexican food? And two, was it worth it?

I live in the area and pass this establishment several times a day and my husband and I have been curious about it for a while. So, one day when I got off work early, we decided to try it out. Atmosphere was interesting, tables were decent, all the chairs matched, and there was a neat looking fake fireplace. However, if you told me this was supposed to be a Mexican restaurant I would be shocked.

Since we went during happy hour we decided to try one of their small bites, we got the shishito peppers. They were really good, spicy and the crunch element was nice as well. However, shishito peppers paired with hummus don't scream Mexican cuisine to me.

When it came to the entrees, I ordered the huevos rancheros and my husband ordered the enchiladas. Both featured a strange, dark, thick sauce that appeared burnt or forgotten at the bottom of a jar. Needless to say, it was unpleasant. Food was ok, desperately needed salt. Also, the food sas not hot, maybe lukewarm/tepid, and despite our waiter warning me about the top plate being hot, I had nothing to fear. My husband's enchiladas also came with a side of beans and rice. Both of which were bland, I would not be surprised if Uncle Ben had a hand in that side dish. Also the beans were whole, not refried which I guess is a "healthy" take on the dish, but most of the menu contains cheese so what's the message? Is it Mexican? Is it fusion? And if so, fusion of what? Confusion. We both agreed to never...