First of all, I am a fan of Ethan’s restaurants for more than a decade but have mixed feeling about the mandatory service fee trend going on in Seattle. It’s not just here but i had experience in elsewhere like the wait staff knew their tips are guaranteed so they don’t work for it anymore.
Example, 4 of us spent $578 last Sunday, included service fee were $94. However our waitress was not that warm in a cold day, provided minimum service like working off a checklist, when asked about ticket number with the InKind payment app, which they advertised encouraging customers to use, she said “oh that’s a third party app that I totally don’t know of. “ I understand if new employees don’t know everything, but what throw me off was that she doesn’t look like she wants to ask her coworkers to learn about it either and just left. Later came back ask me “did you figure it out?” It’s like it’s totally not her business to care.
I have not had this experience in Red Cow, staple and fancy, and how to cook a wolf location in Queen Anne.
It felt like there is a lack of training and without “working” for the tips, some staff just don’t feel like they have to hold high standards, I’m not sure how they evaluate their staff internally, but if as a business going to charge 22% service charge which is super high, customers will only be happy to pay for the equivalent service quality
I do want to give credit to the manager who was covering our service staff at the beginning, very considerate, friendly, even the bartender who came few times were very nice, big contrast on the same team
Service play a important part of experience, hope it gets better for others
Lastly for food, the beef carpaccio was super good, other dishes we ordered were ok. I personally still like the Queen Anne location better, food quality is very consistent over the past decade. 3rd time in this location, not sure I will be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Wagyu Beef Short Rib Carpaccio
Stefan Hofmann
Went there during Seattle Restaurant week. Restaurant looks great. Had Ahi Tuna as a Starter, great taste, but the portion was tiny, I’d say about 1oz of tuna. Thought about getting bread, which is 14$, no thanks. Coke 6$ which is almost double from what you see in other similar restaurants.
My main was black cod, the pumpkin fennel side was great, the cod was bland and could not keep up with the side
My dessert was salted caramel ice cream. While it doesn’t specify the flavor in the menu, it had a salt topping which made it incredibly salty. Nothing on the side, just 1 scoop of ice cream in a bowl
22% service charge automatically included, which adds the tax on top of that. Service was ok, but not more than that. A smile would not hurt.
Overall disappointing experience despite some good food. Not willing to spend almost 240$ for two, we are not coming back
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ch Yen
Came here for Restaurant Week—the 3-course menu (appetizer, entrée, and dessert) was $65. For starters, we tried the wagyu, fritters, and ahi tuna crudo, all of which were quite good. For mains, the shell pasta (conchiglie) with shrimp had a nice touch of spice and was very tasty. The New York steak was initially overcooked (we ordered medium rare), but they remade it for us—decent flavor, though not particularly memorable.
For dessert, the tiramisu was a bit on the heavy side, while the hazelnut ice cream with a drizzle of olive oil was unique and interesting.
The interior is beautiful and stylish, but the noise level was really high—we practically had to shout to hear each other.
One downside: they automatically add a 22% service charge for dine-in, which feels a bit steep given that the service was just average (nothing special even though we mentioned it was a birthday).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Taty G
We had a great waiter named Ozzie he was very charismatic, very attentive and delightful to talk to. He knows how to explain well to help you decide what to order. We had as a starter the polenta fritters that were really delicious, then we asked for the steak that was cooked medium like we asked but wasn’t really anything special, the pasta with pesto (the pesto sauce was delicious but the pasta was more cooked than al dente) and finally we had the pistachio cake and that was the best! All and all it was a good restaurant and the ambience and service were great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hanger Steak
Jennifer Ruys
Go for the food, stay for the conversation with Osmond. Bartender and waiter extraordinaire!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Raili J
First time at this restaurant and we really enjoyed everything. Service was lovely, with good suggestions to help us choose the meals. I like, that the menu is not overly long, with too many choices, but at the same time there are good variations to choose from. Hamachi crudo and carpaccio were delicious for a starter, we also dried steak and pasta - which were so good. The caramel gelato among other desserts was perfect. Great wine selection and cozy atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amirhossein Herandi
Such a wonderful experience overall. The wagyu carpaccio, the sacchetti and the Hamachi Crudo were mind blowing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
wynne
came here for our anniversary and we enjoyed the dining experience and ambiance. however, few hours after getting home we started feeling nauseous and bloated which are signs of food poisoning (i would say probably on the acute end, but still doesn’t feel good). kinda sad the night ended with me puking :/
we ordered cavetelli with manila clams and steak tartare, which we suspect are the two dishes that may have caused this.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Mari Johnson
I think this has been the best meal we’ve had out since moving to Seattle. To start we shared the sea wolf bread which came with the tastiest fennel-honey butter which we paired with the burrata and rhubarb. For our main we shared the gnocchi which was simple but full of flavour, the fresh peas were a favourite of ours. The NA cocktail choices were also great and extremely well balanced. We look forward to coming back here when we next need a treat!
Chunneath Kravanh
I feel like Ethan Stowell restaurants are pretty well known, so I gave this place a try. First impressions, the inside is very aesthetically pleasing, with beautiful woodwork and a clean setup. For food, I ordered the hamachi crudo, pork chop, and strozzapreti pesto. The hamachi and pork chop were both full of flavor and really well done. The pesto isn’t your typical style, it’s more earthy due to the pea vine, and it was a bit on the bland side for me. Drinks were solid and nicely presented. Overall, I didn’t have any negative experiences here, so definitely worth a try if you’re in the area. It’s a bit of a drive, but there’s plenty of street parking around
At first I was very excited to try this place, I’ve heard lots of good things, but I have not been back for a couple of reasons.
I ordered a pasta with meat and it had little bones within the ground meet, all throughout. They offered me a new one, but my appetite was gone after realizing I ate a bunch of bones. With this experience I was kind of expecting them to take care of my bill, but to my surprise it was not.
We were also celebrating a birthday and got the cannoli, it just did not taste good. We barely ate any of it because it was not tasty.
I truly do not like writing bad reviews, but just sharing my experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
Courteney Lerch
Great service. Everyone was extremely friendly and the food and drinks were phenomenal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lynn Hubbard
The Queen Anne How to Cook a Wolf is consistent in being excellent. The food is always prepared to perfection. The ingredients are well sourced. The atmosphere is lovely. The staff is incredibly friendly without being intrusive. It's my favorite neighborhood restaurant and one of my top 3 in Seattle.
Jeanne S
My first time visiting Washington and my relatives took me to this restaurant during my first night. The place was very cozy and charming and servers were all very kind. They also recommended some dishes and we ended up ordering most of them!
What we ordered: 1. Baby Gem Lettuces - was just okay. It is what it is— a starter salad. 2. Burrata - this went well with the salad! tasted very very fresh!! 3. Polenta Fritters - i was surprised at the taste of this. It was like a donut but made of polenta… but still good (but very heavy!). Make sure to eat it with the whipped ricotta! 4. Pork Chop - this came a few mins after the pasta dishes so we were a bit full by this time and couldn’t finish it.. But it was good! Not sure what was in the sauce but i liked it so much!! Plus the dish came with cherries and it was surprisingly great with the pork chop. 5. Lamb Ragu - really tasty!! I liked this dish so much. 6. Sacchetti di Carciofi - we wanted to try this since it was a bit different from usual pasta. It tasted very flavorful and light! 7. Drinks (cocktails and wine) were great!!! 👍🏼
Sophie DiDonato
We went to dinner here for the first time and we had the best time! The food was so tasty - I would come back again solely for the polenta fritters. The staff took great care of us and our food/drinks came to our table in a timely manner. The overall ambiance and energy added to our positive experience here! 10/10 recommend.
First of all, I am a fan of Ethan’s restaurants for more than a decade but have mixed feeling about the mandatory service fee trend going on in Seattle. It’s not just here but i had experience in elsewhere like the wait staff knew their tips are guaranteed so they don’t work for it anymore.
Example, 4 of us spent $578 last Sunday, included service fee were $94. However our waitress was not that warm in a cold day, provided minimum service like working off a checklist, when asked about ticket number with the InKind payment app, which they advertised encouraging customers to use, she said “oh that’s a third party app that I totally don’t know of. “ I understand if new employees don’t know everything, but what throw me off was that she doesn’t look like she wants to ask her coworkers to learn about it either and just left. Later came back ask me “did you figure it out?”
It’s like it’s totally not her business to care.
I have not had this experience in Red Cow, staple and fancy, and how to cook a wolf location in Queen Anne.
It felt like there is a lack of training and without “working” for the tips, some staff just don’t feel like they have to hold high standards, I’m not sure how they evaluate their staff internally, but if as a business going to charge 22% service charge which is super high, customers will only be happy to pay for the equivalent service quality
I do want to give credit to the manager who was covering our service staff at the beginning, very considerate, friendly, even the bartender who came few times were very nice, big contrast on the same team
Service play a important part of experience, hope it gets better for others
Lastly for food, the beef carpaccio was super good, other dishes we ordered were ok. I personally still like the Queen Anne location better, food quality is very consistent over the past decade. 3rd time in this location, not sure I will be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Wagyu Beef Short Rib Carpaccio
Went there during Seattle Restaurant week. Restaurant looks great.
Had Ahi Tuna as a Starter, great taste, but the portion was tiny, I’d say about 1oz of tuna.
Thought about getting bread, which is 14$, no thanks. Coke 6$ which is almost double from what you see in other similar restaurants.
My main was black cod, the pumpkin fennel side was great, the cod was bland and could not keep up with the side
My dessert was salted caramel ice cream. While it doesn’t specify the flavor in the menu, it had a salt topping which made it incredibly salty. Nothing on the side, just 1 scoop of ice cream in a bowl
22% service charge automatically included, which adds the tax on top of that. Service was ok, but not more than that. A smile would not hurt.
Overall disappointing experience despite some good food. Not willing to spend almost 240$ for two, we are not coming back
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Came here for Restaurant Week—the 3-course menu (appetizer, entrée, and dessert) was $65. For starters, we tried the wagyu, fritters, and ahi tuna crudo, all of which were quite good. For mains, the shell pasta (conchiglie) with shrimp had a nice touch of spice and was very tasty. The New York steak was initially overcooked (we ordered medium rare), but they remade it for us—decent flavor, though not particularly memorable.
For dessert, the tiramisu was a bit on the heavy side, while the hazelnut ice cream with a drizzle of olive oil was unique and interesting.
The interior is beautiful and stylish, but the noise level was really high—we practically had to shout to hear each other.
One downside: they automatically add a 22% service charge for dine-in, which feels a bit steep given that the service was just average (nothing special even though we mentioned it was a birthday).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
We had a great waiter named Ozzie he was very charismatic, very attentive and delightful to talk to. He knows how to explain well to help you decide what to order. We had as a starter the polenta fritters that were really delicious, then we asked for the steak that was cooked medium like we asked but wasn’t really anything special, the pasta with pesto (the pesto sauce was delicious but the pasta was more cooked than al dente) and finally we had the pistachio cake and that was the best! All and all it was a good restaurant and the ambience and service were great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Hanger Steak
Go for the food, stay for the conversation with Osmond. Bartender and waiter extraordinaire!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
First time at this restaurant and we really enjoyed everything. Service was lovely, with good suggestions to help us choose the meals. I like, that the menu is not overly long, with too many choices, but at the same time there are good variations to choose from. Hamachi crudo and carpaccio were delicious for a starter, we also dried steak and pasta - which were so good. The caramel gelato among other desserts was perfect. Great wine selection and cozy atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Such a wonderful experience overall. The wagyu carpaccio, the sacchetti and the Hamachi Crudo were mind blowing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
came here for our anniversary and we enjoyed the dining experience and ambiance. however, few hours after getting home we started feeling nauseous and bloated which are signs of food poisoning (i would say probably on the acute end, but still doesn’t feel good). kinda sad the night ended with me puking :/
we ordered cavetelli with manila clams and steak tartare, which we suspect are the two dishes that may have caused this.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
I think this has been the best meal we’ve had out since moving to Seattle. To start we shared the sea wolf bread which came with the tastiest fennel-honey butter which we paired with the burrata and rhubarb. For our main we shared the gnocchi which was simple but full of flavour, the fresh peas were a favourite of ours. The NA cocktail choices were also great and extremely well balanced. We look forward to coming back here when we next need a treat!
I feel like Ethan Stowell restaurants are pretty well known, so I gave this place a try. First impressions, the inside is very aesthetically pleasing, with beautiful woodwork and a clean setup. For food, I ordered the hamachi crudo, pork chop, and strozzapreti pesto. The hamachi and pork chop were both full of flavor and really well done. The pesto isn’t your typical style, it’s more earthy due to the pea vine, and it was a bit on the bland side for me. Drinks were solid and nicely presented. Overall, I didn’t have any negative experiences here, so definitely worth a try if you’re in the area. It’s a bit of a drive, but there’s plenty of street parking around
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
At first I was very excited to try this place, I’ve heard lots of good things, but I have not been back for a couple of reasons.
I ordered a pasta with meat and it had little bones within the ground meet, all throughout. They offered me a new one, but my appetite was gone after realizing I ate a bunch of bones. With this experience I was kind of expecting them to take care of my bill, but to my surprise it was not.
We were also celebrating a birthday and got the cannoli, it just did not taste good. We barely ate any of it because it was not tasty.
I truly do not like writing bad reviews, but just sharing my experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
Great service. Everyone was extremely friendly and the food and drinks were phenomenal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Queen Anne How to Cook a Wolf is consistent in being excellent. The food is always prepared to perfection. The ingredients are well sourced. The atmosphere is lovely. The staff is incredibly friendly without being intrusive. It's my favorite neighborhood restaurant and one of my top 3 in Seattle.
My first time visiting Washington and my relatives took me to this restaurant during my first night. The place was very cozy and charming and servers were all very kind. They also recommended some dishes and we ended up ordering most of them!
What we ordered:
1. Baby Gem Lettuces - was just okay. It is what it is— a starter salad.
2. Burrata - this went well with the salad! tasted very very fresh!!
3. Polenta Fritters - i was surprised at the taste of this. It was like a donut but made of polenta… but still good (but very heavy!). Make sure to eat it with the whipped ricotta!
4. Pork Chop - this came a few mins after the pasta dishes so we were a bit full by this time and couldn’t finish it.. But it was good! Not sure what was in the sauce but i liked it so much!! Plus the dish came with cherries and it was surprisingly great with the pork chop.
5. Lamb Ragu - really tasty!! I liked this dish so much.
6. Sacchetti di Carciofi - we wanted to try this since it was a bit different from usual pasta. It tasted very flavorful and light!
7. Drinks (cocktails and wine) were great!!! 👍🏼
We went to dinner here for the first time and we had the best time! The food was so tasty - I would come back again solely for the polenta fritters. The staff took great care of us and our food/drinks came to our table in a timely manner. The overall ambiance and energy added to our positive experience here! 10/10 recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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