Best Restaurants for Birthdays in U Village / U District

Look, I judge restaurants by the food primarily. So the small things I prefer or don't like about noise, value, or service timing matter, but not that much. Because the food at Terra Plata was really really good. We had one course from each quadrant of the menu (starter, earth, land, sea), and they were all good. We had the albracore crudo (really really good despite finding one pinbone), shishito peppers (normally an afterthought at restaurants - not here, the spices added a lot of depth), and the truffle and mushroom risotto (perfect texture). The land course (portuguese roast pig) was probably the only disappointment because it just wasn't as much of a flavor bomb as we expected from the ingredient's listed and just lacked something special. But it was still quite good, just overshadowed by the other dishes. And finally, the dessert (Basque Cheesecake) was amazing. No store bought pre-made dessert here. Unbelievable texture and the blood orange caramel was perfectly balanced. Tiny notes: the food comes out as it's done, which sometimes leads to awkward timing unless you plan what makes sense to have in what order. The service is good, but the restaurant was busy and you won't have them checking on you often. Not inherently an issue - I would rather have someone bothering me less than more. And we did find a pin bone in the crudo. But overall, it's a place I would recommend to foodies.

As always, San Fermo exceeded expectations. From the ambience to the service to the food, our dinner last night was perfect. Our server also suggested two of their new dishes, the charred onion appetizer and the barley risotto and both were fabulous! Thank you San Fermo for yet another delicious evening! We’ll be back soon!

We visited JOEY on Valentine's Day and it was an amazing experience. The hostess was friendly and helped us quickly. We were offered bubbly immediately upon arrival. Our waitress, Shayla, offered excellent explanations of some of the food options and provided some recommendations, but it was more than just a simple opinion. She would provide reasons for her recommendations which was helpful for us to decide if we felt the same way she did about a specific food item. The service was quick but we didn't feel rushed. Everyone seemed to be helping fill waters and we always had full glasses. The manager came by the table to check on us and wish us a good night. Overall it was a 10/10 experience.

Always love going to Queen Mary. The ambience is carefully curated, charming clutter (changes with the season), the food is very good and the selection and quality of teas is outstanding. You can purchase them all at the emporium across the street! It’s fun to dress up and drink tea out of pretty cups on white linens. The High tea service is very pretty. Perfect for a special occasion. (Or just a nice lunch)

I had family here from California, and we arranged to meet at this restaurant, which I had been to once previously. I remembered that it was good, and also that it was near Seattle Center, and I had a hunch these two would want to poke around over there once our meal was done, so it was a perfect location. The service was warm and friendly, but never intrusive, and the food was divine. I ordered the "sweet stuff" French toast with caramel and strawberries; nobody else makes it like this, and it was mouthwatering! I also ordered (to go) some "soft scramble" eggs with asparagus and Dungeness crab. It's so hard to get real, fresh crab anymore, what with the overfishing, but my eggs had actual leg segments of crab in them, a perfect ratio of filling to egg. The eggs came with their amazing potatoes, and my husband and I had that dish, along with a small amount of leftovers from my French Toast, for dinner that night. This may be my favorite Seattle restaurant right now! The cherry on the sundae, so to speak, was that when we were finished, we sat and chatted and nobody seemed anxious to kick us out of our booth. Oh hell yes.