Madame K's Pizza Bistro

Loved the burlesque theme of the place and the food was awesome. My fiance and I had a great time here and would go back again! Pros: good menu, fun environment Cons: parking more

Madame K's has been in the Ballard hood almost 10 years now and it is still one of my favorite places for pizza and a fun time. Tasty pizza, salads with homemade dressing, good cheap wine and fun sassy service. Her new place in Carnation is also great. Thanks Madame for brining fun and food to both Ballard and Carnation. more

Very sad to rate this one poorly, but Madame K herself is insane and deserves to be outed accordingly. Took a party of twelve to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday last week. The waitress spilled vinaigrette all over me, ruining a sweater and challenging a brand new and very expensive satin trenchcoat. All we received was an offer to pay for dry cleaning (which is standard, I get, but not wise for the material of this coat), a ""free"" dessert (one to be shared amongst twelve) and subsequently a call from the owner where she proceeded to _scream_ at me for caring about my clothes. Attempts to get a word in edgewise were worthless, so I was left to a week-long effort to remove the stains by myself. Luckily my efforts paid off ... but never will I return to her establishment. And often will I suggest that people enter at their own risk. You can get pizza of this quality anywhere and with customer service and business integrity that is worlds above what their cute vintage skirts have to offer. more

great food, even with my ulcer...and the deck...oy vey...what a relaxing experience. go to madam k's and stop complaining...they're busy! more

Nice atmosphere, good service but the pizza is just OK. I had the deep dish, it was decent, if i hadnt had feta on it, it would have sucked. Pros: Cool place to hang out Cons: Pizza not that great more

I have been to Madame K's Many times in the past and had great food. Last Saturday at the Art Walk we took out of town guests there. We waited the normal 30 minutes or so. Service was slow, our drinks arrived finally . We ordered the ceasar salad, and I can say no one took more than 3 bites. There was so much garlic our mouths were on fire. Next came the artichoke dip which was very good. The only problem was you could hardly taste anything after the few bites of salad. The pizza's , when they finally showed up were ok. Not the usual great pizza you would go back for. I know we won't go back, if ever. What a disappointment , let alone embarassing. Bamse more

I just don't understand the attitude of some people reviewing Madame K's, and that's the whole problem. We're speaking two completely different languages. Pros: Atmosphere, Sangria, Food Cons: People who can't appreciate Madame K's! more

Madame K's serves up some good pizza. The names of the pizzas are playful just like the whole experience. My favorite is the bad boy. The servers are dressed in lingerie which goes along with the boardello theme. The service is a little sassy but it's all in good fun. You can't miss the orgasm---a warm gooey chocolate chip cookie smothered in ice cream. Oh My! more

We met up with another couple on a Friday night around 7:00. No problem getting a table at all. We were all geared up for the rude wait-staff and mediocore food (because we'd read the comments)....but actually it was really good. And the staff was very friendly. To top it off, the pizza was pretty dern tasty. We had the BBQ Chicken something-or-other. To be honest tho, I was disappointed in the signature dessert....it wasn't anything more than a big hot cookie with a scoop of ice cream. But it tasted good....I was just expecting more due to the build up. Pros: Unique Cons: Parking sucks...but it is Ballard afterall! more

I've enjoyed the tomato-based pizzas in the past, but this past time we tried the artie parmie. Beware, the menu doesn't describe it accurately--if it had mentioned mayonnaise, I never would have ordered it. Its a standard mayonnaise-based artichoke parmesan dip, spread on pizza crust. Now, small amounts of artichoke dip with crackers or bread is very enjoyable! But you don't want to eat globs of the stuff on pizza! To Madame K's... PLEASE be upfront about the high quantity of mayonnaise on this pizza. Some people may love that but we sure didn't. Shoulda ordered the tomato sauce, sigh. more

I love the gals that WORK Madame K's - yes, they work it! All of them have been really sweet with a side of sass that makes us laugh and enjoy our meal more. There is no shame in the Madame's game. Though, even at home the food is INSANE. That ceasar salad makes my tongue tingle. The Bad Boy and Cheeseburger pies are guilty pleasures that make me want to grap my purse and rush over now. I am not a crust eater - but I make this an exception. Pros: Sassy Staff - great food - wearable decorations Cons: you have to give the clothes back - not a real brothel more

We have been to Madame K's a few times before. This visit in December was to celebrate my sister & housemates birthdays. We had so much fun!!! The food was great but most importantly our service was one of the best we have ever experienced. We had a group of 9 people and the resturant was almost full but our server was very attentive. My parents who are in their 80's had a great time and enjoyed the food very much. I crave the Ceaser salad....if you like garlic you will love this and the Artie pizza. We returned a few weeks later for more...... Pros: Service, pizza, salad, apps Cons: Parking more

On October 3rd, 2001 my husband and I had our first date. He told me he wanted to take me to Ballard to a place called Madame K's. Unfortunately, that night, Madame K's was closed, so we ate at a place up the street. It was our first date and I already loved this man with my whole heart. Even the parts that are less bold. So Friday, October 5, 2001, Madame K's was open and he took me on our second date. We sat in the back in the first booth on left as you're facing the back of the restaraunt. We ordered a caraffe of red wine and the Artie Parmie. I was born a foodie. I kid you not, it was THE BEST food I have ever had. I have yet to taste food so satisfying and naughty and sultry as the food at Madame K's. For desert, we had the most intense DESERT I had ever had.......if you don't get that.......I beg you to go to Madame K's. During the next four years, we went to Madame K's every chance we got. We were served by many a sweet and wonderful server. Not one....I mean not even ONE time was our server less than PERFECT. Honestly, you all who write this establishment bad reviews need to take a break from it all. Really, take a break. Realize there is more to life than granite counter tops, serious servers, and bistro atire. If you can't enjoy Madame K's then don't bother coming to Ballard, because most of the casual, classic charm will be lost on you. My husband and I now live in a small Colorad town where we both attend graduate school. Although the town is small, it has quite a few lovely restaraunts. None of them, not even one, holds a candle to our Madame K's. It is our dream someday to move back to Ballard, find a house, and spend ever single Friday night with the wonderful, hardworking, stunning women at Madame K's. If you live in Seattle and you haven't been there, GO. Thank you to all of the wonderful women who make Madame K's our very favorite place. Pros: ambience, service, food, music, decor, need I say more? more

First of all, I love, love, love the cheeseburger pizza at Madame K's. It keeps me coming back even though every time I've been the waitstaff is less than attentive, and boarding on rude. I think its because they are trying to project an image of ""sass"" but it comes off as irritable. For example, a group of friends and I were there on a late summer evening, and were seated outside. The breeze picked up, we all got cold, and asked if we could move inside. The waitress refused to seat us inside, saying there was no room, as we all gazed at the empty dining room. We actually thought she was kidding, but alas, she was not. On another visit, my friend and I met and were waiting for one more, so we thought we'd sit and order drinks and the before mentioned (to die for) cheeseburger pizza until our third arrived. The same waitress from the above incident refused to seat us until our third arrived, even though we knew what he wanted. I think the thing that gets me about the service at Madame K's is that they are completely unaccomodating. So go prepared for rude, dismissive waitstaff, but also be prepared to be blown away by the pizza. Yum! Pros: Yummy food Cons: Dismissive waitstaff more

I'm not sure if Citysearch will put this up, but I hope so. I am the owner of Madame K's and I am very proud of my staff, amazing customers and my own good fortune. I think Citysearch is great, but I also feel like it's a place where distorted truths become huge exagerations! My wish as a small business owner is that if a table has any type of complaint, that before they go and hide behind their screen name, they actually take the time and give their constructive criticism to a manager or owner before they head into cyperspace land. You see, had you talked to me, I would have immediately taken care of any situation. My server reported to me that never once did mattymatilda mention a hair in the food. I actually came to your table and asked how everything was and I remember hearing laughs and giggles and good comments. At any point, you could have mentioned a problem. I believe that, in actuality, you were upset that after over two and a half hours of sitting at a table on a busy Saturday night, you were asked to move up to the bar as I was trying to seat the guests that were still waiting on a table. I believe I was polite, but because we are such a small house, and sometimes guests have no idea how a restaurant makes it's living, some people get offended! I challenge each and every one of those people to go and take their life savings and open up a business. I apologize if you didn't have a great visit. Although I strive for excellence, sometimes fine tuning needs to be done. I just wish you would have had the maturity to talk with me instead of spreading your anger.... Pros: most unique and real restaurant in Seattle Cons: sassy madame more

We used to live in Ballard and would go to Madame K's frequently for the (at the time) awesome pizza and charming service, but sadly it appears that things have changed quite a bit. During a visit last weekend we were treated to rude, abrupt, unprofessional service and mediocre food. We ordered two pizzas - but our waitress got one of the orders wrong (which she did comp) and we found a hair in the other one! When we handed over the hairy plate and asked for a clean one we didn't get any response out of the waitress. Pros: nice menu, good portions Cons: rude service, hair in food, long wait more

My husband and I have been regulars at Madame K's for several years now. The place has great atmosphere. I love the old jazz music, the burgundy-colored walls decorated in pretty nighties and corsets, and the waitresses are always fun, sweet and sassy. Everything on the menu is homemade with quality ingredients. They have the best ceasar salads in the city. They also have an amazing rasberry vinagrette salad that is really good with gorgonzola added. We've tried all the pizzas and love them all but most especially their Go Go Chick pizza which has marinated chicken, gorgonzola, mozarella, red onion, black pepper and comes with balsamic vinegar on the side to compliment. The Spinnacoli pizza is also amazing which has brocolli, spinach, and garlic. Sounds too veggie, I know, but we ordered it one night to try something new and now it's one of our favorite pizzas if not the best veggie pizza I've ever had. Sometimes we add pepperoni to it if we feel like some meat which is also very, very good. The pastas are also wonderful and come with a side salad. The Mac and Cheese is made with several different cheeses which makes it rich and decadent. If I don't feel like pizza though I usually get the Artichoke Lasagna which is sooo good and made up of artichoke hearts, wheat lasagna, yummy marinara, and mozzarella cheese. And of course, no meal is complete there without having an Orgasmdessert to share. It's a deep dish chocolate chip cookie served hot, freshly baked, slightly underdone, and with a big scoop of delicious vanilla ice cream on top. It's out of this world. Overall, our dining experience there has always been wonderful. I'd recommend Madame K's to anyone seeking amazing food and a fun atmosphere. Pros: there is a great outdoor deck Cons: busy on weekends, weekdays are less crowded more

The gals are dressed in lingerie, but only like 3/4 of the way. Done properly, the place could be really, really classy and rad and respectful... but, instead, the waitresses have major 'tude, rush around like they're working the dinner shift at Mel's Truck Stop, and their outfits are half lingerie, half I don't care. Yay. We had a drink at the bar, and the waitress there gave us SUCH trouble for not being back at the table- i'm talking first rate passive aggressive rhetorical questioning that you can't do anything but GAPE in response to because you can't even believe someone in the service industry would so quickly and thoroughly THROW away their tip. They brought out my salad TWICE, they just about forgot a friend's drink, the appetizer came out after our dinner... and the best part: my friend stabs his lasagna, and the whole thing comes up on the fork, en masse... and then the bottom piece of pasta slowly, like as in eerily slowly, peels itself away from the cheese and falls in a puddle of oil on the plate. Now, it's whole wheat pasta, so it's brown. (Side note: if you're going to make lasagna with a pound of cheese anyway, just give up the ghost on the ""healthy"" whole wheat pasta. Save yourself the twenty cents and spare me your ""concern"" for my arteries and just use the semolina.) We all stare at the pasta, and for a second, all of us think the same thing: somehow, a piece of cardboard was left on the bottom of the pan and was accidentally baked with the food. It's not true, of course, but it was enough to make me lose my appetite. The only redeeming thing about the whole meal is that they gave me a CARAFE of soda (for the price of a glass) to wash down the metric ton of salt i consumed. At least at RedRobin the waitstaff are trained to bring you consistently mediocre food that doesn't resemble packing material. more

I will never forget our experience at Madame Ks! We went there for dinner for a bachelorette party and had a *blast*. Thankfully, the crowd was very relaxed, and everyone seemed amused rather than annoyed by our bachelorette fair. The waitress only encouraged us, allowing us to dress up in these brothell outfits they had on hand and even took pictures of us playfully posing in the front window. They stayed open over an hour late for us just so we didn't have to rush, and at the end of the evening even got the bachelorette to pose on the bar, to the amusement of pretty much everyone left in the restaurant...We even have a few of our waitress on there with her. It was hilarious. So basically this is a really low key, tongue-in-cheek, playful type restaurant. The only thing they take seriously is the excellent food and great service! I'll be back! Pros: fun atmosphere, excellent food more

My girlfriends and I went on Wed night after work, and were ""put on display"" in the front window table, very fun! Our waitress was super nice, even offering to bring 2 dressings for my salad on the side, the raspberry vinagrette is made fresh, in-house (yum!)! We shared the Artie Parmie Pie, which was delicious! We made sure not to over eat so we could experience the orgasm...And it was worth it! So good! If you like warm, fresh baked chocolate cookies, this is your dessert! They only serve wine or beer, so be prepared. They do have a sangria, complete with soaked fruit though! Pros: 21+, Great Pizza Cons: Limited Alcohol more