The Crawlspace Gastropub

This restaurant is amazing and exactly what Mercer Island needed. We sat at the bar and had exceptional service by our bartender Natalie. We tried and shared several dishes, and all of them were excellent! So flavorful and unique. We started with their orange tofu, which is a take on orange chicken. Absolutely delicious! Even non-tofu fans would love this dish. My dining partner enjoyed the spam Musubi Which was his favorite and he would definitely order this again! I had the seared Ahi tuna, which was done rare to perfect perfection we shared a Korean Banchan salad, which was very flavorful and complex with a great crunch. we finished with the Indonesian style fried rice entrée, and loved the depth of flavor.To top it off, they have incredible and unique cocktails. The owner is very hands-on and came to greet everyone at the restaurant. Such a nice personal touch.Really can’t recommend this place enough and already looking forward to my next visit.

Amazing food and a great atmosphere! The bulgogi tacos will change your life!

Really good food, fun cocktails, interesting menu and great service. We’ll keep coming back and introducing this place to more friends!

Great atmosphere! Lots of exciting new spots on the island and this is one of them. Normal new restaurant kinks. Encourage you to try and support local biz. It’ll continue to get better! Good Hawaii grinds and fusion menu items. Staff is friendly and is willing to help! Enjoy!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I was tempted to leave a terrible review just to keep this gem all to myself—but the truth is, the food was absolutely incredible, the chef was incredibly kind, and the entire place was amazing. I couldn’t recommend it more—1000% worth it!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Served by Joe on 12/2. Amazing service, 11/10 on every scale there is. Food is off the charts good. My new favorite restaurant. Ngl im jealous of the owner’s family, I need more of this food in my life😭

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Bulgogi Tacos

Food: 9/10
Price: 7/10
Cleanliness: 10/10
Customer 0

My first time here was excellent with customer service, food, cleanliness, everything. I placed a reservation for my second time to come back again with my wife and showed up at our scheduled time and noticed that the restaurant was about half full unlike the first time were it was full. We placed our order quickly since we already knew what we wanted to order and waited a little over an hour for our food after asking a different waiter for updates since ours kept going back to other tables across the restaurant and what it appears to be ignoring the tables next to us. People came into the restaurant with large parties of around 6 after us and received their food and left the restaurant before we even got our food. Totally different experience from the first time to the second time visiting. For the food taking over an hour to make it wasn’t very hot although it tasted good. People 2 tables over were experiencing the same exact thing so we both had to get up and go to the bar to get service. Right before we left, new people sat next to us, ordered, and received their food which is exactly what we ordered all within 10 minutes. In the end it all boils down to communication if there was an issue in the kitchen or something else going on to take this long.

I had an excellent first experience at this restaurant, with outstanding customer service, delicious food, and a clean environment. Based on that positive visit, I made a reservation to return with my wife for a second time. Unfortunately, this visit did not meet the same standards.

We arrived on time for our reservation, and noticed the restaurant was only about half full, unlike our first visit when it was packed. We quickly placed our order, as we already knew what we wanted, but after waiting for over an hour, we had to approach a different server for an update. Our original server seemed to be focused on other tables, which left us feeling somewhat overlooked. During this time, larger parties who arrived after us received their food and even left before we were served.

When our meals finally arrived, they were not as hot as expected, although the taste was still good. Interestingly, the table two spots over from us appeared to be experiencing the same delay. We both ended up walking to the bar to get assistance since at this point, we were here for over 1.75 hours. To our surprise, new guests seated next to us ordered and received their food exactly what we had ordered in less than 10 minutes.

In the end, the experience was disappointing, especially compared to our first visit. I believe this situation came down to a lack of communication, whether there was an issue in the kitchen or something else that caused the delay. While the food was enjoyable, the service needs improvement to match the quality we experienced during our first visit.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Crawlspace Burger, Chicken Katsu Bowl, Chicken Wings

Excellent restaurant and people. We came to the island on Thanksgiving Day, and after a half-day visit, we found that there were no restaurants open today on the island. So we just sat down in front of a restaurant-this one. The staff who were preparing for tomorrow's restaurant activity found us and came out to ask if we needed a free French fries. Later, he even invited us into a restaurant to take a seat.Everything happened when they were not in business time.😭😭😭😭And vertical bars are absolutely delicious.The freshly fried French fries are crispy and salty on the outside, and the aroma and soft taste of potatoes are inside. Just fried, a little hot, and cold tomato sauce can stimulate your taste buds to the greatest extent. In short, both food and people are too good to be perfect. Recommend to everyone! ! !

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Creole Fries

Great service and food, a bit loud but just worth it anyway. I had the ahi salad and a beef bolgoli burger, & one of the chicken tacos. Everything was great.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

This is food that you keep talking about after you have left the restaurant. The vibe and drinks really compliment the whole experience. Can't wait to go back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Spam Musubi, Creole Fries, Kimchi Grilled Cheese, Bulgogi Tacos

Awesome place for amazing food! Really comfortable and easy place. All the food looked great and the double crawl burger and the fries were so good! I love the sauce that came with them too! A great place to go to that isn't crazy expensive too!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Crawlspace Burger, Creole Fries, Smash Burger Fries

I want this restaurant to be successful as we need more good restaurants on Mercer Island but the service is not yet good. Waitress seemed like a shy newbie who lacked training on basic customer service -- could make a list but the flow of the interactions were all awkward and lacked professionalism. I noticed at our table we were all trying to help out and fill in the gaps but that's not a good place for a full price restaurant. There were other signs that the restaurant hasn't yet been able to recruit good service staff. My fingers are crossed that they figure it out.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 1

I cannot be more satisfied with the response to my complaint, in writing, by the owner (?), Jason. Please see the owners response below my original review. Each potential future or existing customer can determine for themself if this is the type of establishment you want to engage in a food/family/ experience. Anytime an individual is slapped on the arm, profanity yelled in their ear, while dining, is unacceptable and inappropriate. The owners believe being physically approached and slapped in their restaurant is ok, no big deal, after they previewed their video tape. Below, the owner (Jason ?) references he refunded the items from the complaint—-no complaint about alcohol, and yet, alcohol was refunded. Attached; tip, tax, dessert, and alcohol, when the owner states he gave a refund. Below the owner refers to a ‘Shake down’ intended to gain access to free food? Who on the Island takes their family, including a 3 year old grandchild to manipulate a $150 tab..asking for ‘free food’? Complaining that food was greasy, creole spice was ‘twice’ added to a toddler’s (3 yrs old) meal, equates to the owners perspective of the ‘shake down’ and demanding free food. The ‘video’ comment referenced by the owner that all the food was eaten? The food in question was returned. Food is one part of a dining experience. Lack of hospitality knowledge, personally attacking someone who brings a complaint to their attention; ‘whatever you may be going through-we hope it gets better’, and, believing that physically touching/assaulting someone while yelling profanity in their ear during a meal at their establishment is ok…should raise red flags.

My opinion; stay clear of the Crawlspace Gastropub on Mercer Island.

Parking: It’s the old hair salon space in the Rite Aid parking lot.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 2

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Bulgogi Tacos

Food was good but the serving size was ridiculously small for the price. Could have ate twice as much

We started with the best wings I’ve had in a long time and every dish that came afterwards was spectacular! Great atmosphere and attentiveness to us

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Spam Musubi, Creole Fries, Bibimbap, Butter Mochi a La Mode, Chicken Wings, Bulgogi Tacos