Holiday dining out made easy
December 11, 2009
Meeting friends for holiday cocktails? Searching for a fine dining experience to celebrate the season? Need a spot for a quick bite between shopping sprints? When downtown Bellevue is your holiday dining destination, follow these tips to ensure your dining experience is a joyful one.
1) Reservations, reservations, reservations. If you want to avoid a 90 minute wait for a table, make an advance phone call and your table will be waiting.
2) Call ahead. If you have a spontaneous desire to dine, call ahead to check table availability. Calling ahead will save time, effort and the frustration of dashing from restaurant to restaurant to find an open seat.
3) Weekdays are best. Avoid the hustle and bustle of the weekend crowds and dine out Monday through Wednesday or on Sunday.
4) Eat Early. Shop late. We call this the reverse commute applied to dining. Make reservations in the late afternoon or early evening to ensure a table, and then shop while the masses are dining.
5) Hit the happy hour. Many restaurant bars offer fabulous happy hours starting as early as 3:00 p.m. Peruse the options by checking out our happy hour guide.
6) Make a night of it. Dine, shop, skate and celebrate. There is so much to see and do in downtown Bellevue this holiday season. Many downtown hotels are also offering holiday specials. Visit MagicSeason.com for a complete list of festivities.
Getting to your downtown dining destination:
To get to your dining destination, follow these easy travel tips and you’ll spend more time enjoying your meal and the holiday sights, sounds and celebrations in Downtown Bellevue.
Try the NE 4th Street Exit: Driving to the Bellevue Collection? You may save time by skipping NE 8th Street. NE 2nd and NE 10th will help you bypass backups as well. And, if you’re coming from the east side of Bellevue, try the new NE 10th Street overpass bridge.
Right Turn Strategy: If The Bravern is your destination, make a right turn into garage entrances on 110th Avenue NE, NE 8th Street or 112th Avenue NE. If you’re traveling west on NE 8th, you can legally make a U-turn at the 110th Avenue NE intersection to get going in the “right” direction.
2+ People: Arriving with friends or family in your car? Take advantage of the direct access ramp at NE 6th Street, as well as HOV lanes on I-405, I-90 and parts of SR-520.
On-Street Parking: Park steps from the doors of your favorite shops in Old Bellevue for up to two hours.
Watch for Pedestrians: With so much going on downtown, even more people will be out and about on foot. Please use caution when making turns.
Transit:Try the bus. Metro and Sound Transit provide many routes to the Downtown Bellevue Transit Center. Route and schedule information is available at metro.kingcounty.gov and soundtransit.org.
by wasabi prime
I totally agree with these tips. I’m a weeknight diner and for weekends, it’s Sunday all the way. Some places offer discounts for first seatings as well, for those who don’t mind eating early. Palomino was doing it a while back, but I’m not sure if they’re still offering it.