Cascadia Cafe — Restaurant in Skykomish

Almost the little engine that could…

Stopped in on our way home from a weekend of backpacking, and Cascadia Cafe was just the kind of quirky roadside stop you hope exists but rarely find. First off: gluten-free burger buns. A rare win for those of us who refuse to let dietary restrictions derail post-hike cravings. The burgers? Solid. But the house-made potato salad? Oh, they really wanted us to try it. Like, menu-highlighted, server-hyped, might-have-chanted-it-if-we-hesitated kind of pushy. But hey, it delivered. Creamy, tangy, just enough crunch. I’d hike back for that alone.

The vibe is a charming mashup of railcar nostalgia and “Grandma’s been collecting train-themed knick-knacks since ‘54.” If you don’t leave knowing what a caboose looked like in 1902, you weren’t paying attention.

Bonus points to our server who bantered with us like we were old regulars and not just a quintet of dirt-streaked backpackers with questionable sock odors. That kind of playfulness is rare and appreciated.

So why not five stars? Ah, the milkshake betrayal! I wanted rich, velvety chocolate. What I got was milk, vaguely remembering cocoa’s existence. Not thick, not decadent, just... there. Like it forgot why it showed up to the party.

Still, if you’re passing through Skykomish, this spot is worth a detour. Just maybe grab your milkshake elsewhere, or tell them to add an extra scoop...

Bad service, didn’t feel welcomed: We waited to get seated, but the person working didn’t pay any attention to us despite us standing at the table next to them for a while. We seated ourselves thinking it’s self-seating. After seeing them clear off other tables and getting to others, they came to us and I asked if us using the table is okay. They complained that they didn’t have a chance to clear the table. They made their rounds again to everyone else before taking our order. We got food (which was decent) and at some point noticed that there was another large group coming in and offered to move to a smaller table that had become vacant since we sat down. They just said “if you want to” with a disapproving look which made me feel like they were still hung up on the table situation. Overall felt like shouldn’t be in...

Service is outrageously poor. They had a middle aged lady waitress when we went there. She was very rude and dismissive of my 4 year old girl.

My daughter is not even a loud or bratty kid. She for some reason wanted to swap out the ketchup bottle on our table with a ketchup bottle on another empty table where there was no one. The waitress just sneered at her and shooed her away with “no. No. Just go” as if she would shoot a dog. Felt very racist.

Outrageously rude and poor service. I still forced myself to atleast leave a 15$ tip on 98$ bill. because I am not an a$$hole and I know tips are for all waiters. I feel so bad I left the 15$ tip though. Food wasn’t bad. Just avoid this place and eat somewhere else. Don’t encourage their business and vote with your feet that bad...