I've been here twice, but only eaten once. The first time I came there was no where to sit. The second time was the same, but I decided to give it a whirl anyway. I cannot say anything bad about the food. It was delicious. Good food isn't all a restaurant needs to be a great place to frequent, for me, though. My experience of eating here was as bad as any in Seattle, short of the old Minnie's on Broadway. After a long wait in line, in which it was impossible to not feel like my ass was in someone's face (tables are so goddamn tightly arranged, with an isle barely wider than your average human), I asked the cashier (not a server, mind you) what to do if there wasn't anywhere to sit when my food came up. Every table was taken. "Take it to go", she said. She was barely joking. I know the question must come up a lot, but let's not be snarky, please. This has to be one of the most poorly thought out spaces in the city. Luckily, someone got up to leave just then, and we had to shoo off someone from the back of the line who was trying to get to it first, then bus the dishes ourselves with two trips to the bus tub in the back of the space (not the most sanitary way to start brunch). Getting by the line is hard enough without an armload of dirty dishes. There was nothing to stir cream into the coffee (cream not at the table - in the back), except a straw, which melted into the coffee. The food (eaten between the armpits of the two adjacent couples) was fantastic. Remember - there is a lot of fantastic food in Seattle. I then bussed my own dishes because I didn't want to bestow my own fate on the next unwitting person. Wandering Goose, you have to do something about that space. I don't know, get rid of one table and put a host stand at the front. Make people wait outside until there is room. Waiting outside is always a better fate than eating 6 inches from someone's ass. Making people bus other people's and their own stuff is fine in a coffee shop, but you barely get away with it at Volunteer Park Cafe. You only reason you do is because there is space to walk and the staff are so damn sweet. It does not work at the Wandering Goose. I won't be back until I here it's pleasant to eat there.

Wonderful food ruined by an impossibly awful space. Perpetually busy and crowded. Loud. Takes forever to get the food. And yes to the above comment about asses in the face. I felt like an ass was in my face for half of the hour we were there. That's only fine for strip clubs I think.

@yelahneb Um, it's not that it's crowded. It's that you seriously can't eat without someone's ass near your head. I can deal with crowded. I can't deal with packed like sardines.