tenakee
Full Member
Posts: 229
Aug 9, 2014 2:05:19 GMT
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Post by tenakee on Aug 14, 2014 3:00:59 GMT
Hi all. Long time member but *hangs head in shame* very infrequent poster on old board and now new. Hoping that you won't hold that against me as I ask for some help discovering Seattle. We actually live in Juneau, Alaska (just moved up last summer, LOVING it!!) but are headed to Seattle in early September for some serious shopping and eating out. (Juneau is very big on scenery and wildlife, not so big on shopping and restaurants.) So, Seattle Peas, help a fellow Pea-er out with some info? We'll be staying near the Southcenter Shopping Area and will have a car, so distance isn't really an issue for most things. Except we might not drive an hour to have dinner, KWIM? Anyway, we're hoping to find: - Cool papercrafting stores - I do know of Impress, anywhere else a must-visit?
- Cool cross-stitch stores - these are getting so hard to find and I don't do needlepoint, just cross-stitch
- Good Mexican food restaurant - not necessarily looking for authentic Mexican, more like the Tex-Mex that we miss so much having lived in Texas for the past 35 years!! And must have good margaritas. Here, they think that such drinks are made with white wine. Can you believe that?
 (Restaurants can't serve liquor, so they "make do". I'm thinking when it comes to margaritas without tequila, it's more of a "make don't!!) - A really top-notch steakhouse that we don't have to bring evening clothes for - this particular trip we're not doing the "take everything you need to dress up for an evening" thing.
Thanks in advance...
Valeria
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Post by honeyb on Aug 14, 2014 3:19:45 GMT
I live just south of the Southcenter mall, so very familiar with the area. First, papercrafting stores are scarce around here. There is one in Kent (about 20 minutes south) called Scrapbook Nook. That's probably the best in the area, but it's not even that good. In Issaquah there's the Mad Scrapper (maybe 30 minutes from Southcenter) again, I'm not that impressed, not sure I would drive that far for it.
In Southcenter, you will find every chain imaginable. Not a lot of unique restaurants. Our favorite Mexican in the Southcenter area is Azteca. It's a local chain (though they have recently opened some in FL and there may be a few in OR). It's not authentic at all, but very tasty.
For a top notch steak house, you won't find it in the Southcenter area. You'll have to go to Seattle. We like Morton's. It's spendy, and very nice, but you don't have to dress up at all (though the wait staff will be in white shirts and ties).
Let me know if there is anything else you would like to figure out in the area.
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Post by epeanymous on Aug 14, 2014 3:21:29 GMT
1. The Ben Franklin chain has some good stores here--the one in Redmond is my favorite. The Impress store near where you are staying is nicer than the one in University Village. There is an Amuse Stamps in Greenlake (near the zoo) if you are familiar with their catalog.
2. There is a needlepoint and cross stitch store in Issaquah, Threadneedle Street. They have a pretty decent collection of cross stitch.
3. The Cactus restaurants here are pretty popular and sound like what you are looking for -- there is one in Madison Park and one in West Seattle by the beach. I like La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard. Yum.
4. I'm not really a steak person so do not know where to send you, but I wanted to let you know that there is almost nowhere here that necessitates dressing up. We are militantly casual.
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Post by honeyb on Aug 14, 2014 3:23:29 GMT
Forgot about Ben Franklin! I love that store. Not so good on scrapbooking section, but love their crafts and the samples of what you can do with their products.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 9, 2024 12:28:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 3:23:35 GMT
I don't have any advice, but I just had to comment tenakee I grew up in Sitka and visited Tenakee with my stepdad quite a few times! Small world... |
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tenakee
Full Member
Posts: 229
Aug 9, 2014 2:05:19 GMT
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Post by tenakee on Aug 14, 2014 5:11:37 GMT
Thank you so much, HoneyB and epeanymous! Great advice and we're so appreciative of the help. Just to clarify a bit, we don't mind driving some. I just knew that from all the "I'm headed for [fill in the blank]" threads, one of the first questions is always "where are you staying?" so I wanted to answer that one up front.  The drive into Seattle proper/downtown won't be that bad around dinner time, will it? If we decide to head to a place like Morton's? Oh, and thanks for the info that I don't have to dress up to go there. I soooo miss the really great steakhouses of Fort Worth. You could always dress up and make a nice evening out of it or just throw on some decent jeans and head out all casual. But the steaks were good either way... HoneyB, your comment about all the restaurants around Southcenter made me laugh. We know ourselves well enough that with that the choices there to decide between after the scarcity of really good places here, we could easily get paralyzed by indecision and never actually get anything to eat at all!  For crafty fun, it sounds like a drive to Issaquah is definitely in order. Paper toys and cross stitch pretties all in one trip? Be still my heart! This is going to be a very dangerous trip for the credit cards.  |
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tenakee
Full Member
Posts: 229
Aug 9, 2014 2:05:19 GMT
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Post by tenakee on Aug 14, 2014 5:19:37 GMT
I don't have any advice, but I just had to comment tenakee I grew up in Sitka and visited Tenakee with my stepdad quite a few times! Small world... Oh my goodness! It is a small world, isn't it?? I can't believe that there's another Pea that knows the magical little spot of Tenakee! Sitting on the cabin deck after a long day fishing and pulling crab pots, cold beer in hand, still light at 11:00 at night, watching humpbacks play in the inlet. Sigh. Couldn't quite make the move directly from the big metroplex of DFW straight to Tenakee, but thought well, if we can do Juneau for a couple of years and love it, who knows??? Going to PM you with some family names just to see how small the world really is.  |
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Post by ScrapsontheRocks on Aug 14, 2014 7:11:24 GMT
Hello there, Valeria, it is indeed a small world, but also a very big one. Shamelessly hijacking your thread to say that I am going to be one of the tourists that Seattle and Juneau residents probably dread- May 2015 cruise out of Seattle, visiting Juneau. Stealing all the info on your thread and waving!
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valincal
Drama Llama
Southern Alberta
Posts: 5,768 
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Post by valincal on Aug 14, 2014 7:22:12 GMT
DH and I really loved our steak dinner at Metropolitan Grill in Seattle.  |
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Post by Crack-a-lackin on Aug 14, 2014 14:25:14 GMT
DH and I really loved our steak dinner at Metropolitan Grill in Seattle. The Met is my favorite, followed by El Gaucho then John Howie. All are very nice steakhouses and while I wouldn't go in jeans I would go in a nice sundress or a nice top and pants/capris/skirt. Keep in mind this is Seattle, our whole culture is a more casual than most places so what you consider dressed up might be practically formal wear to us And yes, traffic into Seattle will be bad at dinner time, especially if there's a game in town (mariners, sounders, seahawks). |
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LisaDorothy
Full Member
"Do it now 'cuz tomorrow ain't promised today"
Posts: 234
Jun 30, 2014 15:47:18 GMT
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Post by LisaDorothy on Aug 14, 2014 14:32:00 GMT
I second the Metropolitan Grill- best steak my hubby and I have ever had!! Yummmm.
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Post by underwatermama on Aug 14, 2014 14:43:31 GMT
Hi Valeria, You might really like a restaurant called Matador for your Mexican food fix. I've only been to the location in Redmond (hey, it's close to Ben Franklin  ) but their website lists a few others in the area as well: Matador
It's a 21+ restaurant, FYI. Enjoy your trip! |
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Belle
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,309
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Post by Belle on Aug 14, 2014 15:21:38 GMT
I can second the recommendation for La Carta De Oaxaca....delish! It is more Mexican than Tex-Mex though.... Matador is good and you might look up Barrio on Yelp and see if it looks good to you. Not a scrapbook store but Packaging Specialties is a neat store. www.ps-stores.comThere is also Paper Source in Bellevue. I think for steak, The Met is a classic Seattle favorite! |
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Post by honeyb on Aug 14, 2014 15:59:05 GMT
If you forget all the political stuff involved, Hobby Lobby is here. There is one in Federal Way. Again, not a great scrapbooking section, but lots of crafts. I don't know how craft store deprived you are, but there is a Michael's in Issaquah also if you are going that way already And when I say that there is every chain imaginable at Southcenter. There is.... Olive Garden, BJs, Cheesecake Factory, Famous Dave's, Applebees, Claim Jumper, California Pizza Kitchen, Outback, The Spaghetti Factory, Red Robin, the list goes on and on! |
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Post by blueeyedpups on Aug 14, 2014 16:52:18 GMT
I like the Scrapbook Nook in Kent for scrap supplies.
For steak dinner, I recommend Jak's in Issaquah. Tiny place, usually a line out the door, but the best steaks.
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Belle
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,309
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Post by Belle on Aug 14, 2014 21:25:03 GMT
If you are interested, Ikea is close to where you are staying too.
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Post by cmpeter on Aug 15, 2014 0:25:39 GMT
I really like cactus and the Matador for Mexican. If you head to Issaquah to hit up Mad Scrapper and the needle craft store you should get steaks at Jak's Grill. Seriously some of the best steaks and more casual and less expensive than the Seattle steak houses.
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tenakee
Full Member
Posts: 229
Aug 9, 2014 2:05:19 GMT
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Post by tenakee on Aug 16, 2014 5:33:42 GMT
Thank you all so very much for the great info and suggestions. We've decided we're going to try the Met for steaks one night. And either Matador or Cactus probably for [non] authentic Mexican food, LOL. Then our final night, we will stand at our hotel room window paralyzed by all those restaurants that HoneyB listed out, reliving the days when we took such selection for granted So looking forward to this trip. Not only for the food and shopping, which you've all been so kind to help out with, but for the new toys we're picking up (my new car, his new motorcycle) and then the trip back from Bellingham to Juneau on the Alaska State Ferry. We wanted to take the ferry up together when we moved up, but the timing didn't work out as the auto spaces on the ferry we needed to take were full up by the time we knew which ferry sailing we needed to work with the new jobs, etc. I know it will be a little while, but promise i'll post an update to which restaurants we decided on and what paper shops I made it to during our visit! Thanks again. For the help and the warm welcome to the board. Valeria |
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(Restaurants can't serve liquor, so they "make do". I'm thinking when it comes to margaritas without tequila, it's more of a "make don't!!)
The drive into Seattle proper/downtown won't be that bad around dinner time, will it? If we decide to head to a place like Morton's? Oh, and thanks for the info that I don't have to dress up to go there. I soooo miss the really great steakhouses of Fort Worth. You could always dress up and make a nice evening out of it or just throw on some decent jeans and head out all casual. But the steaks were good either way... 
) but their website lists a few others in the area as well: 
