UPDATE: This place is closed. Sorry!

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Bleu Bistro (Capitol Hill)

202 Broadway E
Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 329-3087

Categories: Bar, Restaurant

Restaurant Details

  • The original Bleu Bistro on Broadway—now departed—was best known for its intimate dining cubbies featuring antique furnishings, funky garage-sale collectibles, faux plants woven through low-hanging chandeliers, occasional plywood backdrops, and—to enable impromptu make-out sessions and world-class eavesdropping—booths draped with curtains. If you wanted you and your companion to be closer than in utero conjoined twins, this was your place. The replacement Bleu Bistro Grotto, kittycorner and down Olive (just 44 steps away, according to the owner, Ross), is the larger, windowed version, with lots of stone and wood and (never fear) plenty of cozy spots, too. The menu remains famously long and strange, and the food can be a little peculiar too, though some rave about the veggie BLT.

  • Features: Bar/Happy Hour, Cheap Eats, Late-Night Dining, Outdoor Seating and Romantic
  • Cuisine: Cafe, Pub Grub and Vegetarian
  • Serving Hours: Mon-Tue 5 pm-2 am, Wed-Sun noon-2 am
  • Price Range: $$

Bar Details

  • Hours: Mon-Tue 5 pm-2 am, Wed-Sun noon-2 am.
  • Happy Hour: Daily 4-7 pm ($4 wells, $4 beers [except Guinness] and $4 nibbles); Mon-Thu, Sun noon-4 pm ($3.75 wells); Wed-Sun noon-4 pm ($3.75 wells and $2 Olympias).
  • Features: Full Menu, Gay-Friendly, Happy Hour, Romantic and Outdoor Seating

The Stranger's Reviews of Bleu Bistro

Other Locations

Bleu Bistro Grotto

Capitol Hill 1801 E Olive Way    phone (206) 322-3087
Mon—Tues 5 pm—2 am, Wed—Sun 12 pm—2 am
  • 1.00000/5 Stars.
 (based on 1 reader review)
 
 

Average Rating:
  • 4.06000/5 Stars.
Reviews/Comments (16) RSS

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16

Tasty Tiny Treat

Love the food, we had great service, and the seating experience is definitely unique! My husband got the andouille sausage pasta and I couldn't stop eating off his plate! Probably the best tasting pasta dish I've ever had. My portabello sandwich was delicious and huge. And I loved the starter salads (we weren't expecting them...the hummus was tasty!) Will definitely come back with (1-2) out of town friends because I don't think there's any place like this anywhere else!Can't wait to sample from the long list of cocktails...
Posted by jen on April 4, 2008 at 8:53 AM · Report
15

Get the cheese plate!

If you don't get the cheese plate or the cheese platter, you're CRAZY. (Or you don't eat cheese. Which also qualifies you as CRAZY.) The cheese platter comes with beautiful olives, roasted vegetables/garlic, pickles of different varieties (last time there were pickled red onions!), and pepperoncinis... not to mention the several kinds of cheese and some rolls. (The rolls aren't awesome but it doesn't matter because the cheese is so good.) Get some wine or one of their hundred cocktails on the list and call it good! Don't go with someone you don't feel comfortable with already, it's cramped quarters and they WILL be able to smell your breath.
Posted by Katelyn on March 11, 2008 at 2:29 PM · Report
14

I fly across the country annually for the fake bacon sammich

My best girl friend from elementary school moved to Seattle six years ago and settled a few blocks from Bleu Bistro. Newly vegetarian, I tried the fake bacon sammich and was instantly hooked. I think there's crack in it. She's moved around the hill many, many, many times and once into the CD in the past few years and every time I visit hitting this restaurant is a serious priority. Now, she lives above it. When we were there a few weeks ago, we drunkenly (mmm... gin fizz) tried to figure out a way to sneak into the kitchen through the vents in the building and eat all the fake bacon we could stomach. I also recommend the badass nachos and the wasabi grilled cheese, which I have sampled. Never once in the dozen or so times I've been there have I ordered anything but the blessed faux bacon sandwich. On the honesty tip, the atmosphere is great, but it's a little too close for my comfort level if it's busy. Be prepared to have your personal space invaded. But it's worth it.
Posted by courtlyn in pennsyltucky on December 17, 2007 at 8:11 PM · Report
13

I can't get past the clutter and the dyslexic menu.

O.K., it's mainly an atmosphere problem for me, true, but c'mon--the food is as heavy-handed as the rest of it. And what are (I'm asssuming) supposed to be cozy dining nooks feel to me like being at crazy aunt Debbie's place. So partitioned by gaudy furniture and jammed with tchotchkes you immediately feel like you have to take a crap. Aha! But can you? Or will the just-this-side-of-whimsical piles of swapmeet gee gaws cause your sphincter to tighten reflexively so you can't go for days? They might, rabbit, they might.
Posted by Miz James on November 5, 2007 at 9:57 PM · Report
12

A Bull In Bleu

I’m tall, and built like a bear. So for me, Bleu is an experience similar to that of a bull in a china shop. Except that the china in this case is tables of hipsters hidden away at tiny tables separated by curtains. Fortunately, I’m not a claustrophobic bull, otherwise the smashing would begin. So while Bleu is for the tiny and unafraid of dark places, it’s also for the people with a tin ear – the clashing of the acoustics are not helped by the bargain-basement speakers that are lashed to the ceiling. For all the cameras in the booths preventing amorous makeout sessions, you’d think a quad of speakers that didn’t suck could have been purchased as well. The drinks are inventive but expensive, and the food, while inspired, often arrives more than a little oily. Extra napkins are recommended; but this is a comfort food menu – you’d use them anyway Even so, after an hour of dining, I have to stretch, just like if I was on a long, long road trip – the tables are that cramped.
Posted by zymyrgy on October 5, 2007 at 11:05 AM · Report
11

no wonder people wait

This place is fun, and you will leave smiling, regardless of the mood you enter in. It may feel cramped at first, but you will soon appreciate the extreme privacy each table has. Funky lamps, strings of lights, and the plush curtains hanging throughout make it feel like the old days when you and your friends built forts in mom's living room. Even without the amazing atmosphere, the menu of food caters to everyone, and the drink menu takes time to get through because there is SO much to choose from! An hour feels like a minute at Bleu, and one could easily spend a delightful evening hidden away from reality,
Posted by 1015saturdaynight on August 16, 2007 at 8:31 PM · Report
10

Faux Bacon Extraordinaire

Every time I come here, I mean to get something other than the veggie BLT. The closest I've ever come to succeeding was the time I ordered a lemon drop alongside my veggie BLT. It was the best lemon drop I've had-- not too sweet, and very, very lemony, and I'll use that (and some appetizer-sampling) as proof that Bleu Bistro does a good job of whatever it does. The tables are eccentric, which is fun, but the seating can get absolutely insane some days.
Posted by jabberwockgirl on August 14, 2007 at 10:43 PM · Report
9

new bleu?

i hadn't been to bleu for a couple years the last time i was there involved several london martinis and getting kicked off of metro. since then, i've cleaned up my act somewhat, so i thought it might be worth returning to the scene of the crime. anyway, i've always really loved the ever-evolving interior layout, and the food usually has been pretty good too. it seems, though, that the food menu is a lot thinner than it used to be, and the overall funkiness and off-beat nature of bleu has diminished some. if you do stumble into bleu, be sure not to be in a rush - time works differently at bleu, and it's part of the experience. the drinks tend to be good and generally quite strong, but i'd argue that this place doesn't really deserve being categorized as cheap eats - the entrees and appetizers both seemed to run in the >$8 range, which is a bit more than i would prefer to spend. on the whole, though, definitely worth checking out for the atmosphere alone.
Posted by kinkos on July 30, 2007 at 4:26 PM · Report
8

"cool"

this place is so seattle. purposeful uncomfortable features makes you feel you're at the right spot. dim lighting, 400 page menu, ackward seating. however, i found that the friendly staff, easy going patrons, and good food make it worthwhile. P.S. it's a favorite place among cigerette smokers. if you like to smoke cigerettes, you probably already knew that.
Posted by broadway dweller on July 26, 2007 at 3:43 PM · Report
7

sex church

succeeds so many times over. waitstaff lovely. food exceptional. drinks mescalinelike. watch out for the one table at which it's hard to be romantic because you can't face or sit next to each other. reservation recommended so you don't end up at jai thai. not that there's anything wrong with that.
Posted by josh on July 19, 2007 at 11:05 AM · Report
6

date spot

it's dark & intimate, i say it's best as a second or third date. great food & drinks...gotta get the black velvet.
Posted by stilldottie on July 19, 2007 at 7:53 AM · Report
5

Funky Funky Yum Yum

I love this place. The veggie BLT is fab, and the atmosphere is so, so . . .um. . . cuddly. It's like the place gives you a hug when you sit down. And the drinks that I've ordered have been CHEEP.
Posted by violet_dagrinder on July 16, 2007 at 9:21 PM · Report
4

Intimate doesn't even begin to describe this place.

You really can't describe this place with words -- you just have to experience it for yourself. Don't go with too many people, though, you won't all fit. (I miss the lofts.)
Posted by Ryan on July 16, 2007 at 6:56 PM · Report
3

Funky, intimate

I thought this place was great, food and drinks. Didn't notice the cameras but I can't see myself getting (overly) freaky behind the curtain, so it doesn't bother me that they want to keep an eye on things. I can dig the voyeur shit. I'd call it a place everyone should try at least once- it feels like an experience to me. Is that weird?
Posted by jfljoe on July 7, 2007 at 10:08 PM · Report
2

Big Brother is watching you...

At first thought the place was really cute, then noticed a camera above our table!!! I have worked in places that have cameras on the front door and the cash register, but where people are eating...NO! Creepy. The food was just okay. Ordered the infamous Veggie BLT, the bread was rock hard, the tomato, lettuce and facon were perfect though. Good drinks. Decent service. Ditch the cameras and you've got a nice place.
Posted by Eve on May 24, 2007 at 5:34 PM · Report
1

Sexy, intimate

Great date spot, as every table is curtained for privacy and the lighting is flattering (if you're into that sort of thing). Along with the veggie BLT, I HIGHLY recommend the wasabi grilled cheese. The only downside is your drink will be more expensive than the sandwich you order.
Posted by Beth on May 16, 2007 at 12:20 PM · Report

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