Perfect Summer Party

Smarty-pants economists recently proclaimed the End of Marketing: "The market is flooded! There's nothing left to invent! We have everything we need!" What are they thinking? Haven't they ever heard of boredom? In a celebration of marketing ingenuity, The Stranger lined up some of the most inventive summer party items available today:

1. Tequiza. This tequila-flavored beer (courtesy of Anheuser-Busch) is refreshing and light--at least until the backwash of sugary lime hits you. But be careful, too much Tequiza will make you "te-queasy"!
2. Tim's Cascade-Style "Coney Island Flavored" potato chips. A small graphic of a hot dog and mustard on the bag may lead you to think these chips are hot-dog flavored, but no! They actually taste like Coney Island's famous boardwalk!
3. Good Humor's Red Hot Racers. Strawberry-and-lemon-flavored ice pops in the shape of a car (well, approximately), with red hots for wheels!

With these essentials, your summer party will be a sure-fire hit. TRACI VOGEL

$ - under 7 dollars a dish
$$ - 8-14 dollars a dish
$$$ - 15 and up a dish

$$ Thirteen Coins
125 Boren Ave N, 682-2513. Open 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Nestled in the mysterious Denny Way trough, within nodding distance of the Seattle Times, this bottom feeder has been serving its mixed clientele 24/7 for 32 years. You can get breakfast, lunch or dinner any hour, the first two running between $8 and $15; the latter about $10-$18 à la carte. It was my early dining experience at the 13 Coins with my parents that brought me back to see if it still exuded the mystery, the shimmer, the drama of Adult Life. I was not disappointed. Adults swam everywhere around us accompanied by the subtle ice-cube clink of cocktails shared possibly on clandestine dates. We enjoyed an abundant antipasto plate, which comes automatically (and which was refreshed as we lingered). Remember this place when, famished from an arduous night of drinking, you long for substance before you retire. JAN WALLACE (3/4)

$ The Eating Factory
10630 NE Eighth St, Bellevue, 425-688-8202. Open daily: lunch 11:30 am-2:30 pm; dinner 5:30 pm-9 pm (Thurs-Sat until 9:30).
Bellevue's Eating Factory and its Japanese-style all-you-can-eat format offer many things most buffets don't. Initially there's the space itself, which is smartly designed and artfully adorned with pretty paint, comfortable booths and chairs, and a light, spacious feel. Choose your table, get in line, grab a plate... and it's goodbye hunger, hello freshness! The Eating Factory did tempura splendidly. A thin, crispy coating of batter hugged broccoli, carrots, and sweet potatoes, creating a firm and crunchy vegetable ingestion system. Juicy pieces of squid were mild and substantial without being tough. Succulent steamed clams sat smartly (if brieflamesy) on our tongues, washed back smoothly by Sapporo beer (a steal at $4.95 for a large bottle). Finally we made our way to the fragrant rose of The Eating Factory: sushi and sashimi. I had fretted about the freshness and quality of sushi and fish in a buffet setting, but all worries were cast aside as we dug in. ($9.95 for lunch, $16.95 for dinner; $1 extra on Sat & Sun.) JIM ANDERSON (2/25)

$$ Gordon Biersch
600 Pine St, 4th fl, 425-4205. Open daily 11 am-11 pm (Fri & Sat until midnight).
Gordon Biersch is not a German beer hall at all. It is, instead, one of those triumphs of the new world order, a global hodgepodge of meats and gooey sauces, balanced by a nibblers' paradise of salads, fish, and deep-fried hors d'oeuvres. We split the twin medallions of filet mignon and the garlic-rubbed hangar steak, along with a hideous Caesar salad and an intriguing plate of grilled prawns laid on a bed of wilted spinach. The prawns were sizable, thick as my thumb, but musty and dry as an old slipper. The hangar steak was unconscionably bad, and while the smaller of our filet mignon medallions was tender and fresh, its larger evil twin seemed to have come from some tired old slab of steer left languishing on the counter. An excellent strawberry sorbet (Dreyer's) brightened our mood. Matthew Stadler (2/18)

$ Nappy Griddle
3224 Rainier Ave S, 723-5459. Open Mon-Sat 8 am-10 pm (later in the summer); delivery available.
This is America and we demand choices. The Nappy understands these needs and offers a choice of two side items with each meal--including fried okra, greens, yams, red beans and rice, mac and cheese, and cornbread. One could get the frog legs with a side of yams and broccoli. Or the seafood combo, where you select any combo of oysters, shrimp, cod, clams or catfish with fries. I get the fried oysters, mac and cheese, and red beans and rice. The cornbread is heaven: dense and moist as cake, crumbling just a bit, salty with butter. Also on my plate rest 10 little oysters, golden from a dip in a cornmeal bath. The red beans and rice are stuck together like they are supposed to be, and little wisps of ham complete the filling but rather bland side item. The mac and cheese is the real thing: a coating of baked cheese guards the softer macaroni noodles, which have cheese sauce worked into all of their holes. The Nappy Griddle doesn't have much ambience--it is, after all, in a strip mall (the Rainier Golden Center)--but the owners treat you right. Novella Carpenter (1/21)

$$$ Rover's
2808 E Madison St, 325-7442. Open Tues-Sat from 5:30 pm.
Light classical music flamesoated through the room like a fine mist, the staff spoke in hushed tones ("Have you been here before? We are known for our tasting menus") and gave us our menus, which required that we choose from one of three options: the Five-Course Menu Degustation ($69.50), the Five-Course Vegetarian Menu Degustation ($59.50), or the Eight-Course Grand Menu Degustation($89.50). After a brief perusal, the AA chose the five-course hootenanny, and I chose the five-course vegetarian. We then proceeded through smoked salmon blini with caviar in a vermouth sauce, black sea bass in a lobster sauce with Moroccan olives, spice-infused pinot noir sorbet, etc. For $200, we expected to be blown away, and we were not. We've had much better food at a fraction of the price at places like Hattie's Hat and the soon-to-reopen Cyclops. JA (3/11)

$$$ Stars Bar and Dining
Pacific Place, 600 Pine St, 4th fl, 264-1112. Open daily 11:30 am-midnight. Reservations accepted, sometimes recommended.
The food is good. Close to excellent even. Fresh and well prepared. Imaginative but not gaudy, in a well-researched sort of way. We dipped into the oyster bar for a half dozen Quilcenes on the half shell. Although there is no appetizer menu, first course includes an ample fresh prawn cocktail and the fancier black bean cake with duck confit. Having grown up in the heart of cattle country, I venture for Stars' unusual riff on the classic steak tartare; at least a third pound of fresh ground steak dished up raw, missing the usual raw egg yolk, instead complemented with ancho chili mayonnaise, fire-roasted chilies, and capers. Stars is expensive. A proper lunch for two (propriety being the operative concept--here it means two solid hours of cocktails, appetizer, wine, main course, dessert) hit at $75 for two. If you've got the money and the time, and are hungry enough for a full-course lunch, the remaining requirement is attitude: the clientele is oddly reminiscent of All My Children's Pine Valley. Riz Rollins (1/28)

CHOW Classics:
$$$ ANDALUCA
407 Olive Way, 382-6999, breakfast, lunch, and dinner 7 days a week.

$ BALLARD DENNY'S
5501 15th NW, 782-8699, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

$$ CAFE LAGO
2305 24th Ave, 329-8005, 5 pm for dinner Wed-Sun.

$ DICK'S
everywhere on the Seattle horizon, all hours.

$$ KABUL
2301 N 45th St, 545-9000, 5 - 9pm Mon-Sat.

$$ KINGFISH
602 19th Ave E, 320-8757, lunch 11 am-2 pm M/W/Th/F, dinner 6-9 pm except Tues, Sunday brunch 11 am-2 pm.

$ MAYA'S
9447 Rainier Ave S, 725-5510, lunch & dinner every day.

$ THAN BROTHERS
7714 Aurora N, 527-5973, 10 AM-9 PM every day.

$ - under 7 dollars a dish
$$ - 8-14 dollars a dish
$$$ - 15 and up a dish