Three Girls Bakery

Three Girls Bakery
Lunch counter and bakery in Pike Place Market in Seattle

There are a hundred places to get food in Pike Place Market. At least, it seems that way to us, walking through it. On a random recommendation, we selected the Three Girls Bakery, a bakery and sandwich counter, to stop at for lunch.

If you like the idea of the old lunch counter, you'll love this place. A harried counter-culture staff of four sporting chains, tattoos, and piercings somehow dances through the narrow area behind the L-shaped counter, everyone keeping track of customers and calling to each other when someone needs service. The meats are in one area, the sandwich fixings at a large station behind the counter, and the breads opposite the fixings, in a large cabinet facing the customers. All around are old signs and a simple menu offering a choice of the aforementioned meat, bread, and fixings. You might wait five minutes or ten after sitting down for someone to take your order, but the staff are unfailingly polite and friendly, apologizing for any delays and willing to take the time to help you out if you ask what they recommend.

We ordered the clam chowder (on our waitress's recommendation--she "just went vegetarian again" that morning, but she said when she's not she eats bowls full of the chowder) and a simple turkey pastrami on caraway rye sandwich. When we told her we were sharing, she tossed an extra pickle on there rather than making us split one.

The chowder got top marks for the thick chunks of potato and the fresh clams (one would expect that at a fish market), as well as the broth, which was perfectly balanced between creamy and soupy. The turkey pastrami was delicious, the bread unimpressive but good. Overall it was a solid sandwich, and we quite enjoyed the lunch counter experience.

We'll have to go back to try some of the delicious-looking pastries or cookies. There were so many restaurants that we had to move on to sample another place. But Three Girls was definitely worth a stop in the crowded market, for good food and good atmosphere.

Gandy Dancer Saloon, Pittsburgh

Gandy Dancer Saloon
American bistro fare in Pittsburgh's Station Square

Attached to the more elegant Grand Concourse restaurant in Station Square is the Gandy Dancer Saloon (named for its sister restaurant in Ann Arbor, also located in an old railway depot). We had come to Station Square in search of a late lunch or early dinner, and in the sea of chain restaurants (Houlihan's, Buca di Beppo, Hard Rock, Hooters) there was this nice-looking place with an outdoor patio where we could enjoy the warm afternoon.

The setting was perfect for people-watching, and the ambiance inside the saloon seemed good, too, very "western bar." Our waiter was very friendly, attentive, and helpful, though he seemed a bit confused when we asked for the tuna sandwich to be delivered without bacon (we changed our mind and said he could go ahead and bring it, and ended up getting a sandwich with no bacon, cheese, or sauce). There were two menus, the dinner menu from the Grand Concourse and the "pub" menu from the Gandy Dancer itself. We opted for appetizers and sandwiches, trying the raw plate, the brie and chutney, the tuna sandwich (as mentioned), and the salmon burger. The appetizers were great, but we found the sandwiches somewhat disappointing. The tuna was supposed to be chili-dusted, but was actually somewhat bland, and the salmon burger (made of ground salmon, not a fillet) was a little salty. In both cases, though, the bread was good and fresh, as was the house bread (warm twisted bread sticks--we refilled twice) and the fries.

Our friends who got entrees seemed pretty happy with their meals, though we didn't try them. On the whole, this was a good choice for a place to sit and watch people go by on a sunny afternoon, and certainly the majority of the food was quite good (we loved the brie and chutney). Their menu changes from day to day, but we'd recommend ordering from the Grand Concourse menu as the food seems to be a bit better from there.

Angelica's Bistro, Redwood City

Angelica's Bistro
Salads, sandwiches, and desserts in a European open courtyard setting

We're not familiar with Redwood City, so we took the time to explore when we were there last Friday night for an art show. On Main Street, Mark found an interesting-looking bistro behind an antique store, so we decided to give it a shot.

You have to walk down a little alley to get to the restaurant proper, or through the adjacent store. The arched entrance, stone-paved alley, and antiques give it a distinctly European feel even before you get to the courtyard where most of the restaurant's seating is located (they have live music there most weekend nights, but a noise complaint, we think, kept it quiet the night we visited). Small tables, flowers, and old statues really give you the feel of being tucked away in a small patio behind a Paris cafe. It's so Parisian, in fact, that upon seeing "French toast Monte Cristo" on the menu, my mind tricked me into thinking it was a "croque monsieur." Fortunately, I liked what it was when it came, even if it wasn't what I was expecting.

The food more than measures up to the setting. We started with crostini, small pieces of toast with various toppings: red bell peppers and capers, blue cheese and walnut, grilled and marinated eggplant and mint, marinated cherry tomatoes, and cream cheese spinach and artichokes. The cream cheese might have been my favorite; it was hard to decide. For our dinner, we got a couple sandwiches: the aforementioned Monte Cristo (which is actually ham, turkey, and melted Jack cheese on slices of French toast) and a smoked chicken with roasted pepper, pesto, and melted Provolone on ciabatta. The Monte Cristo was served with fruit preserves and Dijon mustard on the side for dipping, and the French toast gave the sandwich just enough sweetness that both worked equally well. I've said before that a great sandwich depends on the bread, and both the French toast and the ciabatta were top-notch. The melted Jack cheese really added flavor to the sandwich as well as making it pleasantly gooey. I didn't notice the Provolone as much on the smoked chicken, but the chicken and pesto went really well together, the red peppers providing a nice accent.

We ordered both with small side salads. There was no choice of dressing, but fortunately the house vinaigrette is quite nice. The salad ingredients were all fresh and tasty, very enjoyable. Our only regret is that we were so full after the meal that we had no room for any of the delicious-looking desserts. Or the homemade crepes. In fact, we're planning several return visits to sample more items on the menu, and to relax in the outdoor patio. The owner was in attendance the night we dined there, walking around and talking to everyone, clearly very much enjoying his new venture and already familiar with a number of regulars. Would that we lived close enough. If you find yourself in downtown Redwood City, definitely make time for a stop to Angelica's.

The Counter, Santana Row

The Counter
Do-it-yourself burgers in an urban diner setting.

We first heard about The Counter when they opened a store in Palo Alto on California (pictured)--alas, long after my office had moved from that area. Our friends on Santana Row whose condo overlooks the site of the new location had been watching it for months, so it was with great excitement that they announced to us that it would be opening on July 2. Better still, The Counter did a training day to which they invited Santana Row residents, and our friends invited us, so we got to go on June 30.

They didn't have all the decor up yet, but The Counter in Palo Alto has a modern-urban feel which this location says they're going to keep. The restaurant itself is all gleaming silver and white, brightly lit, with huge open windows and a counter that resembles an old soda fountain counter. A faux garage door hangs as if poised to close over the large front window. The whole place exudes a diner-like feel, updated to this decade or perhaps the last.

It might have been a training day, but the staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. The only strange thing was the instructions for ordering, making sure that we ordered a variety of dishes to give the kitchen practice (e.g., no more than 2/3 lb. of the same kind of meat per table). We had no problem as we liked a variety of the dishes anyway.

The appetizers, though all fried and unhealthy, must be tried. The sweet potato fries are delicious, as are the fried dill pickle chips, and they give you several sauces for dipping. Our waiter told us about an appetizer plate called "The Sampler," which wasn't on the menu, that featured those two plus their regular fries and their onion strings, so we ordered that, and all four were nicely warm and crisp.

The do-it-yourself burgers are the featured menu item, though they have pre-assembled burgers if you're not in an adventurous mood. You can order from 1/3 to 1 lb. of ground beef, ground turkey, veggie burger, or chicken breast; one cheese topping, four burger toppings (ranging from the standard tomato to shredded carrots, cranberries, or pineapple), and one sauce (you can get a roasted garlic aioli, for instance, or a dijon vinaigrette dressing, or apricot sauce, or sweet barbecue, or nine or ten others). Then you can pick your bun (regular, honey wheat, or english muffin) or choose to have it in a lettuce bowl.

The veggie burgers are really good. They're actual veggie burgers, not meatless patties trying to taste like beef. The chicken is good too, and I'm told the beef burgers are good. We were less impressed with the turkey burger than we've been in other places, though. Assembling your own toppings is definitely the way to go, though it can be daunting. We all erred on the side of too little spice to our toppings, and the veggie burger in particular needs something like the dijon or the barbecue. But the burgers are good, the toppings are fresh and plentiful, and the sauces are served on the side so you can dip or spread, as you like. Everything's tasty--the garlic aioli was less garlicky than I was expecting, but still good. And we got out of there for about $15 a person, which around here is not bad for lunch.

I have yet to try a dessert or milkshake there, but I'm told they too are worth trying. Perhaps that'll be the subject of a future post. In any case, if you're in Santana Row and looking for a good, cheap option, The Counter or the nearby Wahoo's Fish Tacos will serve admirably.

The Loft Bar and Bistro

We'd set out to lunch on Memorial Day and found our original destination closed, so we wandered around San Jose and happened upon The Loft, a very vertical restaurant with a small bar on the ground floor and a couple tables on the sidewalk, a larger loft space upstairs, and a rooftop patio. The loft space, where the seven of us ate, was beautiful, large and well lit, and that does a lot for a dining experience.

Mark and I shared the grilled chicken sandwich and the pear and blue cheese salad. Both were quite good, the grilled chicken thin and flavorful with onions and sun-dried tomatoes and a mayo that contributed a nice light flavor to the sandwich. The bread had a good consistency and the cheese even worked well, I think because the other flavors were so light, even the onion (many times I find cheese on a sandwich just adds fat while the flavor gets lost in a strongly-flavored sandwich). We had to try the fries, and here they were nice and thin, with good flavor, but not quite crisp enough for our tastes. The salad came with a little too much sherry vinaigrette, but the dressing's flavor was good, and the candied pecans and blue cheese went well with the crisp, sweet pear slices.

Service was good overall, the complimentary bread served with a balsamic dressing that we sopped up quickly and refreshed without our asking. Other dishes ordered were the French dip, the tri-tip steak, and the panko-crusted chicken, all of which were quite satisfactory.

We'd definitely come back. Though it was a little pricey, it wasn't any more so than Gordon Biersch, which is just down the street, and the ambience is definitely nicer even if the menu is a little more restricted.