good food, too loud, honorable proprietor. our first meal at flying squirrel was marred by abusively loud rush music played to a dining room full of older folks and families with children. see my review, posted earlier. following my complaint, the owner graciously compensated us for our meal and asked that i review the restaurant again after having eaten there. this is my end of the bargain.
again, the food is very good. for folks who like loud restaurants, this may be just the ticket. we haven't had better pizza in seattle. the service is attentive but not cloying, and no part of our meal disappointed. we will continue to take-out pizza from flying squirrel.
nevertheless, this is no place for conversation. acoustics are terrible, the music too loud. kids voices are drowned out, and adults need to shout to hear one another. it seems that the staff, habituated to the volume, raise it during the course of a meal.
i hope that bill coury will open another restaurant with better acoustics. he runs a tight ship, and he is a responsive and honorable captain. the local ingredients and careful preparation make for a fine meal.
-----20 apr, 2009-----
very good food, appalling acoustics, sad misconception that loud music aids slow food. let's start with the positive. the food is very, very good. the service is efficient, considerate and charming. and we may not go back. the problem is that the music is offensively loud. people who enjoy conversation cannot have one (especially not in a fairly large group). asked several times to turn the music down, our request initially met with gracious compliance. but the volume crept back up, and our almost $200 pizza dinner was intruded upon by the masturbatory guitar riffs of rush. a quick look around the dining room revealed that this was not appropriate music for the time (sunday evening) the average age of the diners (40?) or...conversation. so the much flaunted mixed tapes and musical interests of the owner have a negative effect on the ambiance of the otherwise very good restaurant.