Toulouse Petit
601 Queen Anne Ave N, 206-432-9069
Toulouse Petit is warm and glowing on a windy Tuesday night at 10 p.m. The walls are covered in candles—they light about 250 votive candles each night—and the orange glow matches the woodwork. I had never been inside the place, but I was drawn to it because the menu hanging just outside the door promises “The Best Happy Hour and Late Night Dining in the Nation.” One page of the menu says in big letters across the top: “More Than Fifty Exquisite Preparations Priced Between $5 and $11″—soups, seafood, charcuterie, sliders, salads, and more. Easily the best thing I tried was “Barbecued” Shrimp New Orleans ($9). I pictured a few shrimp slathered with barbecue sauce. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What came out instead was a cast-iron pan with half a dozen shrimp in a spicy red sauce on one side, and a half moon of cheesy grits on the other side. The simple flavor of the grits balanced perfectly with the spiciness of the shrimp. It was filling enough I could have made a meal of that one dish alone, which I plan to do next time I’m on Lower Queen Anne late at night.
Happy hour: 4 to 6 pm and 10 pm to 1 am every night of the week, plus a breakfast happy hour 8 to 11 am Mon–Fri.
