Ivar's Salmon House — Restaurant in Seattle

Went for a holiday work party and was VERY glad that the boss paid for our meal because the food was so disappointing. The restaurant is beautiful and the wait staff were very attentive to our large group, and even accommodated us when we arrived at the wrong Ivar’s location, so they get 5 stars for service, but ultimately it’s all about the food when visiting a restaurant. We got appetizer towers, a blue cheese bacon salad, my entree was the Taste of Northwest, and dessert was the new poached pear dish highly recommended by the waitstaff. The appetizer was decent - calamari was crispy with good dipping sauce, scallops were cooked well, and the seared ahi was fresh tasting. The salads were ordered to share for the table. The boss specifically asked if it was good for sharing among 4 people and was told that it was. The salads were two tiny heads of romaine on a plate that were cut in half length-wise with the toppings scattered around on the sides. Though the presentation looked nice and would be okay for one, maybe two people, it was awful to share one among four. We ended up having to cut up the romaine and try to mix it all up (on a plate) and serve it to each person. Messy. The most disappointing part was my entree. The vegetable medley was super mushy, and each fish was absolutely slathered in the sauces. It overwhelmed the taste of the fish and scallops (which actually seemed to be cooked well). I should have taken a picture because it looked like a big pile of wet brown on a plate. I couldn’t even tell by looking which fish was the salmon and which was the halibut. Two people at the table ordered the fish and chips - the fish was way over breaded and over cooked. One showed me the cross section of the fish piece and it was so thin and dry, they didn’t even eat it. Most people at the table got the surf and turf…the steaks looked incredible and I was so sad that I didn’t get it, but I was at a seafood restaurant, so I wanted fish. If you get steak here you’ll probably be happy with your meal. Lastly the poached pear dessert was a joke. A TINY pear cut in half then sliced with a cup of ice cream on the side and little sprinkles of crumble on the sides. For $14. So all-in-all, if you asked other people in the group their thoughts some may have been really satisfied, but I wasn’t, and two people didn’t even eat dinner. Glowing review to the wait staff who did not rush us, made sure we all got served at roughly the same time for each course and accommodated us even though we stayed...

I brought my 80-year-old mother and 18-year-old daughter to Ivar's Salmon House for a $65 per person Mother's Day Brunch. While the food was excellent and the buffet well-curated, the experience was completely tainted by the behavior of our server, whose actions were not only condescending but grossly inappropriate and beyond the scope of his role.

Upon being seated, I ordered two mimosas and a coffee, and my mother ordered an orange juice and coffee. Since it was buffet-style service, I anticipated minimal interaction with the server so we ordered all of our drinks at once. He delivered the drinks and set both mimosas directly in front of me. As we went up and down getting our food, my daughter—under my supervision and with my permission—took a small sip of my mimosa. I am her 53-year-old mother. She was not driving, and frankly, it was a mimosa—not a tequila shot.

Without discretion, the server marched back to our table and bluntly asked, “Is that mimosa for you or for her?” I answered that I had ordered it and it was mine. He walked away, only to return moments later to say, “I just saw her take a sip. If I see that again, I’ll need to take all your drinks away.” I was SHOCKED to be spoken to in that way. For the rest of the meal I did not look at him, none of us did.

From that point on, he lingered around our table, creating an incredibly uncomfortable and tense environment during what was supposed to be a joyful, celebratory brunch. I absolutely understand and respect alcohol service laws, (I was a server in Los Angeles for 15 years) but the way this situation was handled was completely unprofessional, tactless, and frankly, inappropriate.

And let’s be honest—had my father been sitting at the table with us, I suspect the entire exchange would have played out very differently - if at all. The way we were singled out and interrogated felt less about policy and more about power dynamics or the servers own judgement.

As we left the restaurant, the only thing we talked about was the server’s aggressive, jarring behavior—not the food, not the ambiance, and certainly not the celebration. What should have been a memorable Mother's Day turned into a completely disappointing and awkward experience, thanks to one server who clearly...

I'm posting this in a constructive way because I want to eat here more. I know Ivar's is a chain, with a long-departed originator, but the food should be better, maybe it is on the standard fish and chips, but I don't always want to eat deep fried food. Ordered the Seafood Saute, and it was OK. Hard to say why, lacked flavor. The Caesar salad was also OK, actually worse. The greens were pretty borderline, almost old and bitter and there were like 2 croutons, maybe a shred or two of cheese. The dressing was present, but totally indistinct on any level, and prob mass-produced oil, so good luck on your health. It wasn't a main Caesar salad, it was a side to an entree, but it wasn't good. The mashed potatos were good consistency, lacking in butter, and salt, the latter of which can be added. Certainly wasn't a baked potato or anything nice. The broccoli was cooked right, which surprised me, because the salad was borderline.

The Saute seemed to be cooked the right amount of time. It was on the smallish side, the sauce was real close to flavorless, again seemingly shorting on the wine and cream, and the blackberries were a weird add in but I believe they were listed in the description and they weren't bad berries. Hazelnut halves were fine. I just don't think there was enough seafood. Salmon I hope was local, and there was a scallop piece or two. Honestly, I wish I had just ordered Halibut and chips.

I'm writing this because it's a legacy restaurant with a beautiful interior, and an amazing central location on Lake Union, but the food didn't come close to meeting the experience. It was during the holidays, so maybe the best chef was off, but I kind of doubt it. It's a phenomenal place to take visitors, but then you're going to know their food won't be that good. Seattle standards are high, but this isn't even at the level of an average home chef. Pay the money for someone better and stop riding off the location. At least it's not overpriced, but not a deal on any level either. Could've had this meal at an institutional cafeteria, that average.

We only had contact with the hostess and one server but they were...