Dreamland Bar & Diner — Restaurant in Seattle

Racist treatment of women of color by white staff - Don't recommend people of color visiting this place.

Two of my friends of color were here on a Wednesday night trying to get drinks at the bar -- almost 20 minutes had passed and they weren't able to get the bartender's attention despite everyone else receiving their drinks. Finally a worker came by and told them that they had to move from where they were waiting at the bar because they were taking up someone else's seats (despite this seating being at a bar). Later, my friends talked to some white girls who had started waiting for drinks at the same time as my friends; the white girls told my friends that the former had received their drinks almost immediately after they were ordered. My friends left that conversation and approached the worker at the bar who had initially told them to move -- my friends asked calmly, without any aggression, any expletives, why they had been asked to move and why it had been so difficult for them to get drinks that night. The worker (who was white) replied to them again that my friends were taking up someone else's seats. My friends then pointed out that they were the only people of color in the whole bar -- again, without any aggression or expletives. The worker subsequently said "You are not doing this right now" and then told my friends that they had to leave the establishment. Despite how angry they were at this mistreatment, out of fear of events escalating, my friends subsequently left Dreamland.

It is so frustrating, but unsurprising, that this event occurred at an establishment in a predominantly white neighborhood in a predominantly white city. I'm incredibly disheartened by the fact that my friends had every right to question why they were not receiving the same service as other patrons of the establishment, and in return were treated with dismissal and asked by staff to leave. It is incredibly angering to think that the white staff who mistreated my friends probably do not even remember this encounter despite how horribly it affected my friends, and that the white staff probably did not understand the racial implications of their (a white person) treating my friends (people of color) this way. I'm also so dismayed that throughout this entire ordeal, my friends kept asking themselves why this happened despite using the right tone, the right language, the right "lack of aggression", when clearly the presence of women of color asking why they are not receiving the same treatment as white patrons is in itself, tragically perceived as an aggressive act by white staff. I will not be going to Dreamland in the future and strongly advise other folks of color to also...

We had a really wonderful time at the Dreamgirls drag brunch at this restaurant-diner. I thought that it was a drag venue that happened to serve breakfast but actually it’s a breakfast venue that has a drag show on the weekends. I say that because the food was really good. We were not prepared for that as we’ve been to other drag shows and know that The Food is an afterthought. I had the enchanted for us which sounds all boring and vegan, but was full of bold color and tasted so so good. The cocktails were good too and you get to keep your water cup!. The staff here is really sweet and helpful, they ended up splitting our check by what we had. There was five of us and this really helped settle the bill with ease. The drag show had a lot of heart and was super fun. You won’t get death drops or wild dance moves, but you’ll get fun pop songs, and queens that want to turn it out so that you flash the cash. Had a few qualms with the queen that didn’t care to dance in drag halfway through their performance if I wanted to see a skinny boy body, I would ask my husband to take a shirt off! Padding and tights anyone!? Could also refresh some tired costumes to make the show more alluring. They have a person going around that can change your money into ones which I thought was super convenient. Don’t miss the hallway to the bathroom where you can get pictures in this disco ball tunnel. If you book the drag show in the general seating area you’ll be on stools that are very uncomfortable, but we thought it was worth the price and we spent what we saved on food drink, and tips for the queens. You do have a blocked view from the stools sometimes but honestly it wasn’t that bad at all, we got lots of love and performance face time. Parking is really rough in this area so recommend coming by public transportation. The biscuits and gravy is on the online menu but not on the restaurant menu so if that’s what you want be sure to speak up. Thank you queens and Dj and the lovely Irene Dubois, our host and Season 15 Drag...

👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽We went for Sunday brunch (at 12:30 PM) for the first time ever at Dreamland, and enjoyed the friendly wait staff and festive atmosphere. While we made reservations, we probably didn’t need to as there were plenty of tables available for our party of 3.

It was mid-November and they already had their Xmas decorations up. The space is very bright and spacious which was great. They had numerous booths next to the windows. I’d request those in my reservation if I go back. You could have a conversation without screaming over the din of the dining room noise. We were seated at bar stool tables in the middle of the dining area so, if you don’t like that, you can request that in your reservations. Music and overall ambience was good.

🍳The food was average. I enjoyed my vegan dish (The Evergreen Forest) and would happily enjoy again, but my friends said their fried chicken with biscuits and gravy, and 2 eggs with toast, ham and hash browns were just OK. Not bad but not something they’d come back for.

That said, the best part of the meal was The Pimento Cheese Plate appetizer. It was a modernized version of the pimento cheese ball except this version featured sliced kielbasa sausage in a sweet and tangy sauce, deep fried saltines, sliced dill pickles and creamy homemade pimento cheese spread. Pile all of it on a saltine, and enjoy! They were delicious.

🚗If you go in a Sunday, parking is a nightmare so plan accordingly. It took 30 min. to find free street parking (& it’s far away). One of us took the bus and there’s a stop right a few blocks from the restaurant. Very easy.

🛍️This is bc the Fremont Market happens year-round on Sundays from 10 AM - 4 PM, and right next to Dreamland is a great vintage market (hypermarket) where you can find vintage clothes, home decor, jewelry and more. It’s great to browse while waiting...