russell's restaurant

final straw. i have been a somewhat loyal follower of russell's since his partnership with (jonathon) hunt. good tasting, well executed food. the problem is that no matter how good of a chef he may be, he does not have a strong front of the house staff. my last 5 visits have been an absolute disappointment in the service end, it has finally overshadowed the fact that my food was okay.
i visited the bothell hideaway two nights ago with my husband, and left feeling though my long relationship with this place was finally over. forgotten bread, calling us "you guys" , never delivering my husbands entree (i had to find another server to ask if they could help us find his dinner) to name a few errors. when our server was alerted that hisdinnerhad not arrived, she came to the table, and without a word to me, pulled my plate and walked away. we sat confused. is she making a new one? won't my duck get overcooked in the heat lamp? what happened to his scallops? explanation please? anyone can be forgiving when someone takes responsibility, but this was done without apology.
our food was then served. his scallops were tasty, and my duck was rubber. our server brought a glass of wine and said, "sorry guys...this glass of red is on me". who asked for that? how about...."sorry for the confusion. how is your dinner?"
i would have asked for the manager, but there did not appear to be one. not even our dear chef could be found. to me, a conversation would not heal this. it was just time to pay the bill, leave and never go back.

great finish to wine tasting. we went to russell's fordinnerfollowing an afternoon of woodinville wine tasting. it's very conveniently located and discount coupons for a meal are available at many tasting rooms.

we had heard great things and our experience didn't disappoint. the ambience is casual yet upscale, the wine selection very solid, and the meal amazing. i ordered duck and it was absolutely fabulous. the service was superior as well. we highly recommend russell's!

anniversary dinner.dinnerwas good, the service was good. my complaint was that "special" tables got better service and different menu options.. it was so odd. 3 plates of salmon was served and salmon was not on the menu.. how does that work.. we paid over $100 fordinnerfor 2 only one glass of wine, my husband does not drink.. should we get the same options as other patrons? also a side note, a friend purchased us a bottle of wine for our anniversary , we did not get the gift until after dessert was served....we took the bottle home....

unbelievable experience.dinnerat russell's surpassed all expectations from my invitation to "the barn." the setting is exquisite, the barn, actually a beautifully appointed restaurant , is an oasis in the middle of the business district. mydinnerincluded grilled scallops and a delicate stuffed sole to die for! the upper level of the barn is a spiritual experience with beautiful open beams and gleeming wood floors. the service, setting, and cuisine all make for an incrediblly delightful experience, soon to be repeated!

"disappointed". "russell's" in bothell, has the makings of a very nice establishment, but at this stage, i think you could say they are most assuredly a work in progress.
recently, we had our bothell high school reunion in the loft at "russell's" (located in the barn just off the beardslee exit in bothell.) while visiting the guests was incredibly fun, the bill left us a bit surprised.
we had a small crowd of 60. our goal was to keep it simple and elegant, while trying to keep the price affordable for our guests. we had decided to offset some of the costs.
• we brought our own table linens, napkins, and buffet skirting,
• we brought and placed our own table decorations and candles
• provided cd music
• we even brought our own happy hour snacks.
the ticket price still ended up being $93.00 per person. the food provided fordinnerwas good but not nearly that good.
fyi - russell's said they could accommodate up to 300 guests. if there had been 150 people we would have been cozy and left no extra room even for a small band.
when we arrived to set-up, we were seeking direction for our slide show presentation and locating a couple of bowls for our cocktail hour snacks. right away we noticed the head waitress had a bit of an attitude. in addition they were ill equipped to help us with any sort of space planning.
all in all i think "russell's" is trying hard to be something they are not. that would be more tolerable if they were just a bit more humble about their shortcomings or maybe if they charged more appropriately considering they are still, in our opinion, a work in progress.
next time, i would seek out another option, not because the venue itself wasn't nice, but in this case it just wasn't worth the price for admission.
bhs class of 1978 reunion committee