Monday, February 5, 2007

17th Street Cafe


Thanks to a series of fortuitous events this Friday, I was able to enjoy a completely unexpected dining experience. Booyeah-kai Lemony Snicket. I had originally planned to dine at El Cholo in Santa Monica, however, when I called Friday afternoon to secure a table I was informed that there were no more reservations available. Even though there were no available reservations the hostess assured me that I could arrive at 8:30 and be seated within 20 minutes. I was a little skeptical but really in the mood for some guacamole so I decided to take my chances and arrive with no reservations. So my friend and I roll up to the valet (and no we weren't ridin' dirty although that might have made this story a little more interesting) a little after 8:30 only to find out that there will be a minimum wait of about an hour. Even though I was totally feeling the need for some guacamole, there was no way we were going to be able to wait at least an hour to eat. So my friend and I decided to proceed to the 17th Street Cafe on Montana which was just a few blocks away.

The previous Friday, my friend and I attempted to get some pie at the 17th Street Cafe but arrived as they were closing. At the time the place looked promising and my friend really liked it. Plus, by this time I was pretty hungry so I was looking forward to trying out the new locale. I was so excited I even made a quasi-fool of myself when parking.

So we arrive and put in our name for a table. My name was used because my friend's was too difficult. I don't think the hostess ever won her school spelling bee like I did. Booyeah-kai hostess. So within minutes we were seated at our table which was pleasantly surprising. However, we were seated next to a table of stereotypical sorority girls who must have thought they were bumping and grinding at Hyde by how loud they were talking.

After perusing the menu we ordered the halibut and the balsamic salmon and an order of sweet potato fries. Our server was really struggling though and for some reason forgot to put in the order for the sweet potato fries. I was also worried that she didn't get the balsamic salmon right because we repeated ourselves a few times and she never seemed to acknowledge the order.

Based on the previous paragraphs, one might be thinking that 17th Street Cafe is not a good place to dine. However, this is not the case. The halibut and the balsamic salmon were A-Mazing. It totally exceeded my expectations and really surprised me. My perception may be slightly skewed based on my hunger level at the time but I don't think so. I was totally energized by the end of the meal because it tasted so good.

So to sum up the 17th Street Cafe:


  • Reservations needed: No

  • Ambiance: Solid but can be a little loud depending on who you are seated next to

  • Service: Terrible

  • Food: Fantastic

I would definitely return to the 17th Street Cafe and I would definitely recommend it to friends. I thought the food was that good.


PS Here is my best Earl Hickey impersonation:

3 comments:

matt said...

I don't know what ridin dirty is, but I don't like it.

Anonymous said...

Very funny man, I like the part about how you felt energized after the meal, and the Booyeah-kai Hostess was pretty funny. But who is Earl Hickey?

boxpilot said...

ssoooo . . . who is this mysterious "friend" ?

oh yes, and what is "ridin dirty"? i think i DO like it, unlike matt. . .