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Osteria La Spiga (Capitol Hill)

1429 12th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 323-8881
Website

Categories: Restaurant

Restaurant Details

  • Even in its suboptimal old home, La Spiga's simple cuisine—of Romagna, land of superlative pigs, cheese, balsamic—made it a perennial favorite. Since it moved to a soaringly, screamingly beautiful renovation of the 1920s Piston and Ring building, it's been a contentious, questionable hit. Service can be slow and food can be iffy. You pays your money, you takes your chances.
  • Features: Bar/Happy Hour and Romantic
  • Cuisine: Italian

Bar Details

The Stranger's Reviews of Osteria La Spiga

 
Upcoming Events at Osteria La Spiga

Green star La Spiga Fundraiser for Haiti

Wed Feb 10 at 6 pm.
206-323-8881
All proceeds from this Italian buffet dinner will go to benefit Unicef.
Osteria La Spiga
206-323-8881
1429 12th Ave
Seattle (Capitol Hill)
map

 

Average Rating:
  • 2.57000/5 Stars.
Reviews/Comments (28) RSS

Newest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a review of Osteria La Spiga
28

Lousy service

Won't be going back. Service was poor, food was ok. Our starters arrived about 15 minutes apart so we ate those separately. Then our server asked if we wanted our mains to be served at the same time?! Weird. Took 20 minutes for our drinks order to be taken. Nice building though
Posted by Fancyeater on October 22, 2008 at 10:20 PM · Report
27

My favorite place

I am surprised to read so many bad reviews about this place. I have been here about 5 times, and every time I have had a great experience- the space is beautiful, I have always had good service, and I love their food. It is simple Italian food, and you can taste every ingredient. Maybe some people aren't into that, but I am! Anyway, the place is always packed so it looks like they are doing well. I just love this place so much, I had to counter all these harsh reviews with a good one.
Posted by seattlefoodie on August 7, 2008 at 3:42 PM · Report
26

I loved it

Came here as a party of six. The waiter was patient as ever with my very picky, very chatty mother. Food was excellent and a good value for the quality. I'll be back.
Posted by crk on bellevue ave on July 30, 2008 at 9:13 PM · Report
25

L for Lousy

I was looking to post a comment and couldn't find the listing for La Spiga. Ah...that's why: It's under O for Osteria. I wonder how many people don't know its full name and hence don't see all of these alarmingly bad reader reviews? Its own website is LaSpiga.com and they consistently refer to themselves as La Spiga, so c'mon, Stranger: List 'em alphabetically under L. And...I must concur: It truly is a Not Very Good Restaurant. The only thing La Spiga has going for it is the architecture, which seems to be what continues to draw clueless customers to dine there. The service is amateurish and the food is only fair at best. (It seems worse than it is because it's overpriced.)
Posted by "Plate is Hot" - NOT on June 27, 2008 at 11:51 AM · Report
24

Italian from a box?

I had multiple "weird" food experiences at this place (in the old location) - the special regional bread tasted exactly (I mean exactly) like Bisquick, while the lasagne and bolognese bore an eerie resemblance to Chef Boyardee (which I noticed someone else mentioned above). I started having these odd visions of this false front of regional artisanal cooking, the stone hearth, etc -- while behind the scenes they were opening cans and making bread from a mix. I dunno, a few folks above insist that we all just don't get the genius behind this place - perhaps being reared on the best restaurants of San Francisco and New York means I have an ignorant palate and am not qualified to judge. My conclusion is that for the price, others can buy into this BS, but I'm gonna eat somewheres else! I can open my own can of Chef Boyardee at home for a buck. And a half-pour on a martini?? - GONG!
Posted by Honest Eater on May 2, 2008 at 10:27 AM · Report
23

love lost

The original La Spiga was magic. I learned so much about food there. Simple, fresh and wonderful. We ate there every chance we could. We had parties there. The new La Spiga is so beautiful and so terribly -- I never, never wanted to say this -- BAD. The food has lost it's charm. I don't really give a shit about the service, though is was very personal and wonderful in the old space. My wife and friends and I have gone several times to new Spiga. We really tried, Pietro. But something is wrong there. We give up.
Posted by jilted on January 14, 2008 at 11:41 PM · Report
22

bethany jean clement is an idiot

first off, since i last ate at la spiga, i'm sure the service still sucks. it's hard to find good help, very, hard. even harder to find is good food. i've been to la spiga three times in the new location. each time the food has been excellent and the service - ok. so service is not la spiga's strong suit. FOOD IS. ms clement clearly knows little about lasagne, sorry bethany, they don't put ricotta in lasagne, you'll have to got to machiavelli or assagio. perhaps if you don't like a dish you should send it back and have it done properly so you don't have more regrets. minh lao used to enjoy la spiga's horrendous food routinely. the wild boar pasta is delicate, seasoned w/ only a few ingredients. that ms clement likens it to stroganoff reveals just how rudimentary her palate is. the ragu merely features the flavor of the board accented w/ white wine. simple. italian food is simple - to the point. if you want to taste what the food of emillia-romagna should taste like - go to la spiga. if your food is cold - send it back. if you don't like it, you should go to one of the italian restaurants in town who've americanised the italian food they serve.
Posted by sam meade on January 12, 2008 at 8:57 AM · Report
21

service sucks, feed mediocre

The service is horrible, with waitresses seemingly more concerned about chatting with their co-workers than actually serving customers or even being friendly.
Posted by tim on January 10, 2008 at 11:34 AM · Report
20

Confused.....

I just don't get it. I have tried to appreciate La Spiga multiple times, but then I realized I was simply going to appreciate the space. That is it - a sad and frustrating conclusion to what should be an overall great experience. The first time I went I thought everything was fine at best. The service was ok, the food was fine, and overall it was a decent experience. However, after this first experience, my subsequent visits have been slowly deteriorating, to the point where I simply will not return. It is unnecessary to write criticism because it is obvious from the other reviews what is wrong. I will say, though, that apathetic bar service (asking for assistance), extremely bad bar pours (a half filled martini), and over priced mediocrity is not a recipe for success. Good luck.
Posted by MANEATER on January 1, 2008 at 1:12 PM · Report
19

Region is everything

Happy New Year! Was at a new year's party and someone mentioned the latest La Spiga review.I guess I'm lucky; I haven't had a bad meal at La Spiga,I lived in Emilia Romagna and I've sent a couple of things back, but otherwise the food's been great. That said, I would never order lasagna not a big part of the regional cuisine, bechamel sauce aside. Bolognese sauce, yes, wild boar ragu, sketchy, at best. Quinn has a decent wild boar sloppy joe. Advice for La Spiga: Ditch the bi-level haired hostess who acts like everything is a crisis. Get Mark from the old 1200 - best bartender hands down and knows how to mix a drink every time, which La Spiga bartenders, eh, no consistency.Cull the menu to dishes that are specialties of the region and not just to appease what you think our american palates or sometimes pallates with the way restaurants approach things, may want. In terms of service - made to order means you wait, but if I've waited for a half hour and its been under the warmer, I send the shit back, period. I've only had bad service once, on the cocktail couch, but not in the restaurant proper, ever and I've been there about 12-14 times, but I feel the folks that have had to wait. Complaining in person, at the time can make things change. And folks the owner is there, during dinner practically every night. Talk to him.
Posted by stone on January 1, 2008 at 1:37 AM · Report
18

You have got to be kidding me!!

geez... You gotta love blogs from self promoting Chefs that tell people what they Should like. I am a chef who grew up in Chicago in a REAL Itslian kitchen and if Chef Boyardee could put his ego in check for a second maybe I could teach him something. I have tried (at this point a metaphor) this place 4 flippin times and do not care how bad the service was. If the food was decent then whatever. It was awful. If you are going to attempt to pre-heat something is it asking too much to heat the whole thing. I have lives here forever (14 years) and have really in the 5 years seen a real disturbing trends of alot of Seattle restaurants. Its this overwhelming idea that I have to have these wacky ideas of what I think something is instead of sticking to the basics. Its interesting because I get down to Portland for photo shoots and on average I would say the food there is much better. Its like they say here it is ... This is Frwnch or Italian or whatever. Here It seems like they try being different and miss completely. Ok. Hopefully this made some sense. I will crawl back in my canoli!! Ha..
Posted by larey on December 27, 2007 at 5:40 PM · Report
17

Beautiful & Bad

Received rude and slightly racist bar service to me and guests who are film makers from out of town. Dude, you are bartender, just make me a drink with a smile and no attitude. The food was gloppy, but edible. The wine was good, but the cocktail was weak.
Posted by SugarCane on December 27, 2007 at 3:27 PM · Report
16

right, bash the critic

nice work, Chef D. when you cannot point to a specific positive attribute, attack the folks offering their points of view. how very politically astute of you. i'd listen to your argument more if it weren't for the fact that the new Stranger review points to the two exact dishes that my wife and I had that were so terrible--namely, the Lasagna and the wild boar ragu. And if I had wanted a free meal, I would have complained on the spot. I didn't, I paid my bill. But I swore to myself that I would prevent others from making the same mistake I made in going there.
Posted by pfc on December 27, 2007 at 9:40 AM · Report
15

Civilians need to learn what good food is before dismissing something they don't understand...

As a chef who has worked in some of Seattle's top restaurants, I am dissapointed in the lack of culinary education in our diners. Let me start by saying, no, I do not work here, but I frequent this restaurant and have adored every dish I have been served. Yes, the service is slow, and sometimes infuriating, but the food itself is a beacon for hope in this food networked- Bobby Flay-ed, Tom Douglass-ed mess of mediocrity. Our food scene is not New York or LA, and our diners are ametures, so these people who are critiquing so harshly are lost causes of the "if I complain enough someone might give it to me free" generation. Granted- every place has it's off day- I have had undercooked halibut at Dahlia, overcooked steak at Canalis and El Gaucho, but do I write them off immediately, no- because I understand the workings of a kitchen, and sometimes they are training someone new, or the server left the food in the window too long. I agree the service here needs a lot of help, but the food is not to be downtrodden. I will pwersonally speak with the owners about fixing the front of the house, and I believe whole heartedly that you all will see the talent in their kitchen. Give them another chance. You won't regret it.
Posted by Chef D on December 26, 2007 at 11:39 PM · Report
14

THANK YOU, STRANGER.

i want to thank the stranger for revisiting La Spiga. Upon my one and only (EVER) visit, i not only received some of the worst service i've ever had at a restaurant, but I also sent back the aforementioned lasagna not once but TWICE. As the revisited review notes, it was clearly reheated and, as i noted to my wife, appeared to come from a tray purchased at Trader Joe's--neigh, probably the Grocery Outlet. It is important to note one major flaw with the Stranger's past reviews--putting the ambiance before the food is unforgivable. Turn in your FOOD CRITIC card at the door and get a job reviewing architecture if you so choose. Screw the bloody space and review the bloody food. It is sad to note that almost every other major publication in this town made the same mistake.
Posted by PFC on December 26, 2007 at 9:15 PM · Report
13

a big disappointment, not going back

First and foremost the service was very poor. Our service was slow and came with a bad attitude. On one occasion he rudely interrupted one of our guests midsentence to tell us about dessert. The first two wines I tried to order were not available (even though they were from a small handful of wines supposedly available by the glass) and of course we got upsold on a much more expensive wine that was available. All this is forgivable if the food is good but that was the most surprising thing of all. The food was very mediocre and at these prices i couldn't believe it. The pasta with the wild boar ragu was cold and uninspiring and the fish special was completely bland. Our same waiter broke a glass at another table that was about to be seated. He never warned the customers about it and was slow to return to clean it up. On our way out I noticed there was still a pile of glass on the floor by their table. That's probably the sort of thing you only care about when you are having a terrible dining experience. And since i was compelled to write this review, i must have really hated this place. I certainly won't be back.
Posted by Ahmed Amin on December 17, 2007 at 8:47 AM · Report
12

Bad food, orse service. 0 Stars if I could.

I've been twice now, and both times were, well, bad. What happened to the food from the old place? This place has no soul. I keep running into more people who have had the same experience, bad food, bad service, yet, like lemmings we've all been more then once. I'm officially puting an end to this cycle in my life, it's time we all did. As a side note, some friends recently went to Spiga and got terrible food poisoning that put them out for days. It was supposed to be their "date night". I think "date nightmare" would be more appropriate. Bad food, worse service. Why pay these prices for that?
Posted by foodie boy on October 26, 2007 at 4:09 PM · Report
11

Sublimation through pasta

I love this place. The food is amazing- hand-rolled pasta really does make a difference, and the gnocci is superlative. The drinks are well-made and the wines by the glass are affordable and delicious. Everyone I've encountered working there has been perfectly pleasant, and, frankly, I think the prices are worth just hanging out there. What a beautiful place. It's too bad so many people haven't been that impressed, but I look forward to going back many times.
Posted by libby on October 23, 2007 at 12:22 PM · Report
10

Nice Decor - Mediocre Experience

The reviews and recommendations brought us in, but I doubt we will return. The service by our waiter was marginal -- no menu information imparted to enhance our first time experience at La Spiga, the wrong dish delivered to one of our party. The house salad was bland and over-dressed, the entrees unenlightened. Dessert, berry pie with lemon sorbet, was the best part of the meal. I may try one more time, but probably not, when other venues comparable in price deliver far more and never disappoint. The space is beautiful, however, and I hope the restaurant survives and thrives.
Posted by LB on September 6, 2007 at 2:10 PM · Report
9

I get better gnocchi at Trader Joe's

I found the new la Spiga to be an extreme disappointment. It started with the $5 for olive oil. Then, our waiter seemed very inexperienced for such a high-priced restaurant. My wife and I each ordered gnocchi- she with the tomato sauce, me with cream sauce. First of all, they brought me the wrong dish. By the time the correct dish arrived, my dining companions had already finished. My gnocchi came in a white cream sauce, in a white dish, with nothing in the way of garnish or color. It looked like they had ladled the creamy glop into the bowl cafeteria-style and plopped it on the table. To cap it all off, the cream sauce was heavy and bland. The gnocchi were tiny and unremarkable. I haven't been back. I eat next door at Cafe Stellina, where the food is good and the service is great, and the price is right too.
Posted by grumpypants on August 20, 2007 at 5:52 PM · Report
8

Too big for its britches?

One has to wonder if Osteria hasn't outgrown itself. Don't get me wrong, the new digs are absolutely gorgeous, and its nice to not have to plan so far in advance when looking for a good bit of Italian on the hill. That said however, the last time I was there the food was less than stellar even by their own standards. The sausage in my dish required three glasses of water to choke down half of it due to the excess salt. Its foibles like that that make or break a restaurant, and if I encounter the same thing again...it might be the end for me.
Posted by prmsrng3 on August 20, 2007 at 12:59 PM · Report
7

What about us fish-eating veggies?

How about a few vegetarian entrees, and some seafood options? I've heard the food is good, but there was little for us to try, and what we had was rather blah.
Posted by Pizza bagel on August 15, 2007 at 1:34 PM · Report
6

Had a fabulous meal

Wonderful flavors all around. A breathtaking space. Bravo!
Posted by Brecky Brown on August 2, 2007 at 12:52 AM · Report
5

Mom makes better...

It was nothing too special. The pasta was nice, but a good home cook with fresh ingredients could turn out the same. The panna cotta, however, was quite good so I will bump it up to three stars.
Posted by LB on July 26, 2007 at 11:06 AM · Report
4

Marcapone

Pasta made fresh on the premises? Yes it is, and boy can you tell. Whether you chose the Tortelli Verdi, Lasagne or the Tagliatelle, you will not be disappointed. The Bolognese sauce is as thick but the flavors are complex. The Porchini Cream sauce can make a fungiphobe drool. And don't get me thinking about the Truffle sauce. I can't wait until I am eating this again. Okay, skip dinner if you want, but do not skip dessert! Not just any dessert but the Marscopone. This is far and away the best tiramisu I have ever had the pleasure to plunge a spoon in to. It is so creamy and fluffy and delicious, that I have had dreams about it. I have brought many friends and business associates here just to have the marscapone and they all thank me. You will too.
Posted by heavymoe on July 11, 2007 at 8:58 AM · Report
3

Outstanding

The space is gorgeous, romantic, stylish, chic, sexy. The food is consistently good, with some items off the charts sublime, such as the steak drizzled with truffle oil. Great cocktails. Service was downright bad when they first moved to this new space, but it has improved. Still it can be spotty, especially if you are in the bar/lounge area. That said, there's a reason this place is packed night after night. It is really that good, and the food is worth the wait.
Posted by A Regular on June 29, 2007 at 1:22 PM · Report
2

So -So experience

The place is beautiful. The service is terrible. The food is quite good. The support staff and the food-runners were very charming and helpful. Our waiter was more interested in sitting at the bar than checking on us. By the time we finally got our wine the glass had lipstick and citris pulp on it. It made for a horrible date.
Posted by MarkG on June 29, 2007 at 5:17 AM · Report
1

Truffle Butter!

What else do you need to know? The tagliatelle with truffle butter is heartstoppingly good. If your arteries are up for it, finish with a sweet treat. The rubarb tart with brown sugar ice cream was sublime.
Posted by BC on May 25, 2007 at 4:43 PM · Report

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