Best Restaurants 2006
Tutta Bella
4918 Rainier Ave S, Columbia City| 206-721-3501
4411 Stone Way N, Wallingford| 206-633-3800
www.tuttabellapizza.com
At any given crowded moment—and all the moments are crammed in this pair of authentic Neapolitan crowd–pleasers—it seems that half the crowd consists of children. Smart parents. The place is casual and forgivingly clattery (especially the vast new Wallingford outpost), serves apple juice and cheese pizza, dispenses a packet of bendable Wikki Stix for little people to amuse themselves, and offers a dessert called “biscotti and assorted Italian cookies and candy.” And did we mention underpriced?
Order up! The Tutta Bella Mista, with its sweet red onions, matchstick carrots, roasted red peppers, generously dispensed kalamatas, optional gorgonzola, and creamy–dreamy white beans, wins our vote for finest house salad in town. With it? Anything that’s been in that fancy wood–fired oven.
Prime time Ever since the liquor board busted Tutta Bella for one of the many things that made them so neighborly—gratis wine for any adult in line for a table—waiting isn’t nearly the fun it once was. Alas, unless you arrive very early at Columbia City—a wait is all but guaranteed.
Pssssst Don’t go thinking it’s a reservation—but they’ll do their best to save you a table if you call before you come. (Don’t tell ’em you heard it from us.)
But… We’re pretty sure carta da musica is Italian for “What’s bland flatbread doing on such a sensational menu?”
Vios Cafe and Market Place
903 19th Ave E, Capitol Hill| 206-329-3236 www.vioscafe.com
Boisterous as a Greek family reunion, this Capitol Hill fixture features families happily clustering around communal tables all day for orzo salads and souvlaki sandwiches; all evening for grilled lamb chops and zucchini tarts. It’s beautifully executed and briskly flavorful. Kids choose spaghetti or a hummus plate off a menu they can color, then skedaddle off to the fenced–in play area in back while their parents blissfully disappear into the Retsina.
Order up! Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki; Greek salad
Prime time More families seem to congregate Tuesday nights, after Vios’s two–day closure, than any other.
Pssssst One recent evening’s sighting of no fewer than six pregnant women made us wonder just how far the life–giving spirit of this place actually reaches.
But… If you believe children should be seen and not heard—Vios ain’t your place.
