Agua Verde is a little Mexican place in the U District, down alongside the shipcanal. (You can rent kayaks, too.) Seating is cramped and service is sometimes iffy (you may or may not get exactly what you ordered) but the food is amazing. Put away any notions of greasy enchiladas. Think -- chili-rubbed chicken tacos with cranberry slaw. Tacos with yams, cactus, or portobellos. Actually, just go
here and read the menu for yourself. Try not to drool on the keyboard. Best guacamole I've ever had. How good is it? Before trying it I hated avacados.
Also in the U District is Mamma Melina's. Amazing Italian food served in a "spaghetti house" environment. How good was the food? I actually ate my vegetables. Astoundingly delicious and very reasonably priced -- which is why they're so damn crowded. Make reservations. They often have live piano music. Somewhat cheesy at times, but in the best possible way. My favorite was the segue from a classic Italian aria into Smoke on the Water (complete with foot-played tamborine.) And I think that was followed by R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Next time your in the area, GD, skip the chain joint and insist your family head over the water to Mamma Melina's.
Closer to our home (south Everett) is a little hole in the wall called the Gyro House. Run by people that are definitely not Greek. Something Middle Eastern we're dying to know but haven't asked because we don't want to be rude. How good is their food? i thought I didn't like hummus, but I'm licking my plate there. Ditto for the falafal. We've ordered take out so often the wife knows who my husband is by his voice -- and if it's the husband, once he starts calling out items to his wife she shouts back that she knows who's calling and how to complete our order. The first time I was in there she was joking with me about some guy who almost forgot to get his wife baklava and yep, she was talking about my husband. What I wouldn't give for a chicken schwarma right now...
And there's "our" Chinese delivery place, and "our" cheap sushi place, and "our" pho noodle place....Still haven't tried the Columbian restaurant or any of the many terriyaki joints. I could go on for days.