Nice quiet quick place for a sit down dinner. Intersection interpretations of popular Chinese food. We dined in and the waitress was awesome. Super friendly and knew the menu offering good advice for what to have. Ended up with great seafood. Worth checking out and getting dinner there. I do recommend reservations as they get busy fast
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Crypt Kicker
For all its airs of being a higher-end restaurant, Puyalapabs Cafe is not without some disappointing yet easily corrected missteps that drag it back to lower-tier cafe status. Ultimately, it’s clear the cafe relies on very hungry gamblers or visiting one-time customers to actually require any change for the better.
First the unfortunate. My two siblings and I needed a place to meet for a private memorial for our mother who’d just passed the night before. Having been to Puyalapabs before, I knew a Monday afternoon would be fairly slow and made a reservation through OpenTable. Without knowing the table numbers, I was very specific about describing one of the round-top standalone tables against the rear rock wall; just in case we became emotional, we wouldn’t bother other diners as much.
My sister arrived first. I’d not mentioned the table preference to either of my siblings because I’d put the request in OpenTable. My sister had been seated alongside other customers against the continuous wall bench tables. I was annoyed, but my sister was already settled, so I let it go hoping things wouldn’t get too emotional. Foreshadowing.
Don’t expect much from the bar. I believe drinks are delivered from the casino bar. From our experience, they aren’t well-stocked or even terribly knowledgeable on the craft of cocktails. My brother ordered a Gentlemen Jack and I asked for an Old Number 7 and cola. Our server returned empty-handed. The bar claimed to have no double-barrel whiskeys, or even simple Jack. I rephrased my order to a Jack and Coke, and suddenly, the bar did have Old Number 7. Again, think of the Emerald Queen bar like you would an overwrought wedding bar: low-shelf, limited knowledge, and no time for complex drinks.
The food at Puyalpabs is typically excellent. This is one of the few places that remain in Western Washington where one can get war shu gai and a few other 60s-era Chinese-American dishes taken seriously. The war shu gai (almond chicken with gravy) is done particularly well, but not without some cautions. First, the chef does not take the time to remove the tendon bits of the chicken breasts, so there are inevitably at least three bites that are disgusting and have to be removed from the mouth and stashed somewhere on the plate. An A+ dish reduced to a C. Despite the name on the menu, there is also an obvious lack of almonds (or even peanuts) on the dish when presented.
Our server was the highlight of the entire experience. She was top-notch and hugely empathetic. Fast, accurate, and communicative, she made our meal pleasant despite the glares we received from the surrounding tables that cramped our location when my brother became very emotional. Solid note to the host manager: Do not train your hosts to seat consecutively with guests packed into the same area when you have an entire empty restaurant. Break this obnoxious habit. Also please properly train your hosts to respect all information in OpenTable. Guests know best.
Will I be back? I’ll likely not recommend Puyalapabs for any future dining events no matter how convenient. There are other options for dining far better in the area with Silk Thai Cafe being top of the list for amazing food, atmosphere, service, and value for the price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Suzy Choi
The food was just fine, but the waitress was so unkind that it was not a pleasant meal. It took too long to ask for sauce and ask for something without asking often. It was very unpleasant because the attitude of paying attention to other tables and appearing indifferent to us seemed to be discriminated against.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Chris Pribbernow
Ate here before a show so there was a 45 minute wait. Fortunately lots to do at a casino to kill the time. I ordered the prime rib and it was cooked perfectly, and 14 oz with potato side and a soup or salad for $37 is pretty reasonable. They also have good clam chowder here. And warm sourdough rolls are provided. Then they have a whole Asian menu as well, so maybe I will try that next time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Carol Mensah
Typically the food is great and service is better. This time we were terribly disappointed. It was salty and the waitress only gave us two rolls.
Terry Stone
I got the pan roasted Alaskan Cod with saffron tomato broth w shaved fennel. It came with a wonderful assortment of vegs. It was the best dish.
Jane
I had a good dinner with my friends. Our waitress was great services and keeps asking us if we need anything
Chelsea Mayfield
To spend 300 dollars and half my order was missing when I got home is crazy.
Ginna Leon-Martinez
The food is BLAND and for this place being very native prideful, I'd expected more native food options..the back of the menu was basically Chinese food.....the veggies was under cooked, and my plate was basically a swamp of sauce covered over shrimp and a fruit cup on my plate with boring walnuts
Souliphanh Vongmani
Ordered the orange chicken, calamari both my favorite. Taste delicious, Ms Karen was very professional she was giving her best efforts. Something I can appreciate, because a lot of times, I am impatient, but seeing her makes me calm.
I took my son to the MMA fight at the Emerald Queen, and I thought it would be nice to go early and have dinner. As a result, we decided to go to the Puyalapabs Café. This place was truly one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten at. My son and I passed by several times, and our order was not taken for almost 30 minutes. There were people that came after us and were being served before us. I hate calling the race card, but I can only wonder why my son and I (the only two black men in the restaurant) were passed by as if we were invisible. It wasn’t until one waiter came to our table and asked if our order had been taken yet that someone finally took our order. Might I mention there were waitresses with water bottles that skipped our table several times and went to fill up water at another table. Wow! You would think this day and time and state that profiling people would be a thing of the past, well it isn’t and that is exactly what happened here. Now the food. After all that wait, you would think the food would be worth it. What a joke. I ordered the Chinese sampler, and we got wood, freezer food that was microwaved and hot mustard. For dinner I ordered the garlic fried chicken and my son ordered the General Tso’s chicken. Wow, where do I start? My chicken tasted like TV dinner chicken with no flavor. My son took a few bites of his food and that was it. The best thing about this food was the glass of water. We paid the check, got to-go-boxes and threw the food in the nearest trash can. Look, save your time, money and taste buds and go somewhere else. This place should be shut down immediately. What a joke! All the money the Emerald Queen makes from gamblers, you would think they could afford a descent restaurant. I will never eat at this place again and I would highly encourage anyone else not to waste money or time. In closing, I probably have more money in my bank account than all the patrons that was there put together, so don’t profile people next time.
Shirley
1 Prime excellent, Prawns wrapped in Bacon excellent, scallopes over cooked, New York steak excellent. Waiter was helpful but never asked if we needed anything or how our meal was. He was very busy. Bread was excellent. French oinion soup looked good but was rather tasteless. Stuffed mushroom were bad. Would try it again for the Chinese menu.
Sandra
Checking in was confusing. Hostess was very abrupt. Server had difficulty communicating. Food was good, everyone enjoyed what they ordered. We were happy restaurant was located in the non-smoking area of the casino.
Donald
I took my son to the MMA fight at the Emerald Queen, and I thought it would be nice to go early and have dinner. As a result, we decided to go to the Puyalapabs Café. This place was truly one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten at. My son and I passed by several times, and our order was not taken for almost 30 minutes. There were people that came after us and were being served before us. I hate calling the race card, but I can only wonder why my son and I (the only two black men in the restaurant) were passed by as if we were invisible. It wasn't until one waiter came to our table and asked if our order had been taken yet that someone finally took our order. Might I mention there were waitresses with water bottles that skipped our table several times and went to fill up water at another table. Wow! You would think this day and time and state that profiling people would be a thing of the past, well it isn't and that is exactly what happened here. Now the food. After all that wait, you would think the food would be worth it. What a joke. I ordered the Chinese sampler, and we got wood, freezer food that was microwaved and hot mustard. For dinner I ordered the garlic fried chicken and my son ordered the General Tso's chicken. Wow, where do I start? My chicken tasted like TV dinner chicken with no flavor. My son took a few bites of his food and that was it. The best thing about this food was the glass of water. We paid the check, got to-go-boxes and threw the food in the nearest trash can. Look, save your time, money and taste buds and go somewhere else. This place should be shut down immediately. What a joke! All the money the Emerald Queen makes from gamblers, you would think they could afford a descent restaurant. I will never eat at this place again and I would highly encourage anyone else not to waste money or time. In closing, I probably have more money in my bank account than all the patrons that was there put together, so don't profile people next time.
Natalie
I ordered the King Salmon dinner. Comes with house salad or Ceasar salad. House salad was good & it had tomatoes, raisins, walnuts, dried apricots in it. With blue cheese dressing it was delicious. Salmon was a good sized portion, & grilled. It was really tasty. Comes with mashed potatoes or rice. Husband ordered the wagu burger & said it was very good, as was the potato salad. We had good service from an excellent server who, when asked, told us she'd worked there for 19 years!
Nice quiet quick place for a sit down dinner. Intersection interpretations of popular Chinese food. We dined in and the waitress was awesome. Super friendly and knew the menu offering good advice for what to have. Ended up with great seafood. Worth checking out and getting dinner there. I do recommend reservations as they get busy fast
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
For all its airs of being a higher-end restaurant, Puyalapabs Cafe is not without some disappointing yet easily corrected missteps that drag it back to lower-tier cafe status. Ultimately, it’s clear the cafe relies on very hungry gamblers or visiting one-time customers to actually require any change for the better.
First the unfortunate. My two siblings and I needed a place to meet for a private memorial for our mother who’d just passed the night before. Having been to Puyalapabs before, I knew a Monday afternoon would be fairly slow and made a reservation through OpenTable. Without knowing the table numbers, I was very specific about describing one of the round-top standalone tables against the rear rock wall; just in case we became emotional, we wouldn’t bother other diners as much.
My sister arrived first. I’d not mentioned the table preference to either of my siblings because I’d put the request in OpenTable. My sister had been seated alongside other customers against the continuous wall bench tables. I was annoyed, but my sister was already settled, so I let it go hoping things wouldn’t get too emotional. Foreshadowing.
Don’t expect much from the bar. I believe drinks are delivered from the casino bar. From our experience, they aren’t well-stocked or even terribly knowledgeable on the craft of cocktails. My brother ordered a Gentlemen Jack and I asked for an Old Number 7 and cola. Our server returned empty-handed. The bar claimed to have no double-barrel whiskeys, or even simple Jack. I rephrased my order to a Jack and Coke, and suddenly, the bar did have Old Number 7. Again, think of the Emerald Queen bar like you would an overwrought wedding bar: low-shelf, limited knowledge, and no time for complex drinks.
The food at Puyalpabs is typically excellent. This is one of the few places that remain in Western Washington where one can get war shu gai and a few other 60s-era Chinese-American dishes taken seriously. The war shu gai (almond chicken with gravy) is done particularly well, but not without some cautions. First, the chef does not take the time to remove the tendon bits of the chicken breasts, so there are inevitably at least three bites that are disgusting and have to be removed from the mouth and stashed somewhere on the plate. An A+ dish reduced to a C. Despite the name on the menu, there is also an obvious lack of almonds (or even peanuts) on the dish when presented.
Our server was the highlight of the entire experience. She was top-notch and hugely empathetic. Fast, accurate, and communicative, she made our meal pleasant despite the glares we received from the surrounding tables that cramped our location when my brother became very emotional. Solid note to the host manager: Do not train your hosts to seat consecutively with guests packed into the same area when you have an entire empty restaurant. Break this obnoxious habit. Also please properly train your hosts to respect all information in OpenTable. Guests know best.
Will I be back? I’ll likely not recommend Puyalapabs for any future dining events no matter how convenient. There are other options for dining far better in the area with Silk Thai Cafe being top of the list for amazing food, atmosphere, service, and value for the price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
The food was just fine, but the waitress was so unkind that it was not a pleasant meal.
It took too long to ask for sauce and ask for something without asking often. It was very unpleasant because the attitude of paying attention to other tables and appearing indifferent to us seemed to be discriminated against.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Ate here before a show so there was a 45 minute wait. Fortunately lots to do at a casino to kill the time. I ordered the prime rib and it was cooked perfectly, and 14 oz with potato side and a soup or salad for $37 is pretty reasonable. They also have good clam chowder here. And warm sourdough rolls are provided. Then they have a whole Asian menu as well, so maybe I will try that next time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Typically the food is great and service is better. This time we were terribly disappointed. It was salty and the waitress only gave us two rolls.
I got the pan roasted Alaskan Cod with saffron tomato broth w shaved fennel. It came with a wonderful assortment of vegs. It was the best dish.
I had a good dinner with my friends. Our waitress was great services and keeps asking us if we need anything
To spend 300 dollars and half my order was missing when I got home is crazy.
The food is BLAND and for this place being very native prideful, I'd expected more native food options..the back of the menu was basically Chinese food.....the veggies was under cooked, and my plate was basically a swamp of sauce covered over shrimp and a fruit cup on my plate with boring walnuts
Ordered the orange chicken, calamari both my favorite. Taste delicious, Ms Karen was very professional she was giving her best efforts. Something I can appreciate, because a lot of times, I am impatient, but seeing her makes me calm.
Restaurantji Recommends
I took my son to the MMA fight at the Emerald Queen, and I thought it would be nice to go early and have dinner. As a result, we decided to go to the Puyalapabs Café. This place was truly one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten at. My son and I passed by several times, and our order was not taken for almost 30 minutes. There were people that came after us and were being served before us. I hate calling the race card, but I can only wonder why my son and I (the only two black men in the restaurant) were passed by as if we were invisible. It wasn’t until one waiter came to our table and asked if our order had been taken yet that someone finally took our order. Might I mention there were waitresses with water bottles that skipped our table several times and went to fill up water at another table. Wow! You would think this day and time and state that profiling people would be a thing of the past, well it isn’t and that is exactly what happened here. Now the food. After all that wait, you would think the food would be worth it. What a joke. I ordered the Chinese sampler, and we got wood, freezer food that was microwaved and hot mustard. For dinner I ordered the garlic fried chicken and my son ordered the General Tso’s chicken. Wow, where do I start? My chicken tasted like TV dinner chicken with no flavor. My son took a few bites of his food and that was it. The best thing about this food was the glass of water. We paid the check, got to-go-boxes and threw the food in the nearest trash can. Look, save your time, money and taste buds and go somewhere else. This place should be shut down immediately. What a joke! All the money the Emerald Queen makes from gamblers, you would think they could afford a descent restaurant. I will never eat at this place again and I would highly encourage anyone else not to waste money or time. In closing, I probably have more money in my bank account than all the patrons that was there put together, so don’t profile people next time.
1 Prime excellent, Prawns wrapped in Bacon excellent, scallopes over cooked, New York steak excellent. Waiter was helpful but never asked if we needed anything or how our meal was. He was very busy. Bread was excellent. French oinion soup looked good but was rather tasteless. Stuffed mushroom were bad. Would try it again for the Chinese menu.
Checking in was confusing. Hostess was very abrupt. Server had difficulty communicating. Food was good, everyone enjoyed what they ordered. We were happy restaurant was located in the non-smoking area of the casino.
I took my son to the MMA fight at the Emerald Queen, and I thought it would be nice to go early and have dinner. As a result, we decided to go to the Puyalapabs Café. This place was truly one of the worst restaurants I have ever eaten at. My son and I passed by several times, and our order was not taken for almost 30 minutes. There were people that came after us and were being served before us. I hate calling the race card, but I can only wonder why my son and I (the only two black men in the restaurant) were passed by as if we were invisible. It wasn't until one waiter came to our table and asked if our order had been taken yet that someone finally took our order. Might I mention there were waitresses with water bottles that skipped our table several times and went to fill up water at another table. Wow! You would think this day and time and state that profiling people would be a thing of the past, well it isn't and that is exactly what happened here. Now the food. After all that wait, you would think the food would be worth it. What a joke. I ordered the Chinese sampler, and we got wood, freezer food that was microwaved and hot mustard. For dinner I ordered the garlic fried chicken and my son ordered the General Tso's chicken. Wow, where do I start? My chicken tasted like TV dinner chicken with no flavor. My son took a few bites of his food and that was it. The best thing about this food was the glass of water. We paid the check, got to-go-boxes and threw the food in the nearest trash can. Look, save your time, money and taste buds and go somewhere else. This place should be shut down immediately. What a joke! All the money the Emerald Queen makes from gamblers, you would think they could afford a descent restaurant. I will never eat at this place again and I would highly encourage anyone else not to waste money or time. In closing, I probably have more money in my bank account than all the patrons that was there put together, so don't profile people next time.
I ordered the King Salmon dinner. Comes with house salad or Ceasar salad. House salad was good & it had tomatoes, raisins, walnuts, dried apricots in it. With blue cheese dressing it was delicious. Salmon was a good sized portion, & grilled. It was really tasty. Comes with mashed potatoes or rice. Husband ordered the wagu burger & said it was very good, as was the potato salad. We had good service from an excellent server who, when asked, told us she'd worked there for 19 years!
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