My last meal at 13 Coins

[susandennis]

The first weekend I lived in Seattle, my friend, John took me to 13 Coins and it was a wonderful experience. I returned over and over again for special occasions and non-occasions and it was wonderful every time. Great food, great service, wonderful place. Over the years, it did kind of degradate but I chose to write the issues off as one time problems. Then they moved from way cross town to two blocks away. In the move, they lost all the old staff that had been there forever. And the good cooks. And their desire to make it a great place. I tried to ignore it. Last March, when my brother and niece and nephew were in town, they were downright rude. Twice. I gave them a rest. I thought maybe it was me.

It wasn't. This morning I went in for breakfast. The place was nearly empty. The service sucked. The coffee that I had to ask for twice was burnt. The extra crispy hashbrowns I ordered were barely crispy. I had a gift card. I had been trained by another one of their wait staff that they do not allow tips on gift cards so if I add my credit card, they will run a charge of a dollar and I can add a tip to that. The waitress this morning said that was not possible. So I was not able to leave a tip at all which, honestly, did not bother me one bit.

My gift card has $1.21 left on it. I left it there. I'm done. We had a nice 26 year run but it's you, not me and we over.

That breakfast was preceded by my walk. I slept well and late (for me) and woke up with still an hour and change before the gym opened. I decided to freelance. I walked a circuit around my block and around the perimeter of the football stadium parking lot and then back to my front door - 15 minutes and then repeated it. The route is flat like the treadmill but full of little dips and cracks and stuff. On the up side, the route is free. On the downside, there's little to compel me to do it twice. At the gym, I have to stay at least 30 minutes or it's embarrassing.

But, the gym does not open til 8 on Saturdays and 9 on Sundays. Too late for me. So this is a nice alternative. And it will work nicely to keep up, if I can stand it, after my month at the gym is done.

There's a hotel down by the baseball stadium. Their restaurant has always been meh. But I haven't been in there in a couple of years. The gym doesn't open til 9 on Sundays so I think tomorrow, I'll do my outside walk again and then stop there and make sure it hasn't gotten wonderful.

The cats went wild last night. One of them knocked a coffee mug off the top shelf (about 10 feet to floor). It did not break but clearly I need to get up there and dust! In the middle of the night I heard other stuff falling. This morning I found a little piece of white plastic on the floor in the bedroom. It looks like the battery cover for something. But, what? I have no idea and so far no clues visible.

The Zappos credit, hit my Chase credit card today. The charge has yet to show up. I cannot imagine the call to Zappos to tell them I need to repay for my shoes. That's going to be strange.

The baseball game is at noon. I think I'll start cutting out the bits for my next quilt today. If the cats let me.

Here's what the Old White Lady Enchiladas looked like out of the oven last night.



They were ok. Not fabulous, but ok. I think just cheese on top isn't enough. I need to make a cheese sauce to pour over the top next time. And add some green chilies.

Comments

[dadi.livejournal.com]

It sure looks delicious!

[mac-arthur-park.livejournal.com]

It's always so disappointing when a favorite restaurant goes south like that. :(

[meowmensteen]

Good idea on the walk to the restaurant. It can't be worse than what you described 13 Coins as being right now.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

it's such a drag when a restaurant that used to be really good goes downhill like that.
I make pretty good enchiladas myself, I usually make them in late November because I put leftover turkey in them. (I'm white but i used to work in a Mexican restaurant, plus I live in California and I have relatives in Texas.)

[gneu.livejournal.com]

When eateries go downhill and then disappear, I can understand why but not how. How can you want to deliberately run a place into the ground?

[susandennis]

I hear ya. In this case, my theory is staff. They had a great staff - waiters and cooks who had been there for decades. They lost 'em all in the move. I don't know whether they tried hard to keep them and failed or just didn't care. But, the people who work there now, clearly don't care so probably both.

[gneu.livejournal.com]

And then how are those owners going to react? Blame anyone but them.

[howeird]

Too bad about 13 Coins. Some high school friends took me to the one by Seatac back in the 60's and that one has been my go-to posh place ever since. I'm not sure if I ever went into the old one on Denny, though I thought about it a lot when I worked at KOMO and also when I drove the mail truck from NOAA on Lake Union up to the top of Capitol Hill.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Looks yummy, but I am always an add more cheese person anyway, and the same for green chili. Now that the cooler weather is heading in, the next time I do a roast, I will follow with beef enchiladas with red chili sauce!

[shutterbug.livejournal.com]

I hate when a favorite restaurant goes to the shitter :(

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

That's really sad... I always heard great things about 13 Coins in previous years, but have never had a chance to go. Sounds like I should probably just give it a miss (not that I'd be likely to go these days anyway, since we almost never go into the city except for concerts).

The enchiladas look really good though!! My husband's doctor currently has him doing keto, so I haven't been able to make anything like that for awhile... and with my issues with lactose (it causes a reaction that closer to an allergy... clogged ears, sinuses and lungs), I pretty much have to make my own in order to eat it safely. He's nearly down to his goal weight, so hopefully I can start doing stuff like that again soon!

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

It's always sad when a favourite restaurant sucks