Nordstrom

I received a 20% discount for any of the Nordstrom's Mall food establishment so I thought, what the hell? I'm trying out this whole new, "I'm gonna try anything once" deal so I walked in Nordstrom Bar and Grill in Bellevue Square grabbed a seat at the bar and perused the menu. Menu: very short but very direct. fish and chips, grilled salmon, salads, sandwiches. Nothing out of the ordinary or too exciting but this is a mall's restaurant after all. Interiors: the place looks nice, it really does. I expected it to be cheesy but it's not. Polished wood furniture, proper cutlery and glasses, servers dressed in white chef's jacket. Just nice... Food: I ordered the grilled salmon with asparagus and gnocchi. Actually, I ordered a cup of clam chowder for my appetizer. I'm a clam chowder purist so I was very excited to try their chowder. My soup came with bread and butter and the bread loaf was actually delicious. I hate it when restaurants give you 3-day old crusty, nasty bread (if you can't give good bread, just don't!), but Nordstrom's earned brownie points just on their bread alone. My server gave me 4 huge pieces of soft, moist, just yummy bread that was perfectly matched with my succulent clam chowder. I was anxious to get out of there ASAP because I had to be somewhere in 30 minutes but as soon as I tasted the chowder all my anxieties about making it back to my meeting in time disappeared. This is one clam chowder that is worth being late in a meeting for. If you don't like salty don't order the chowder but I'm partial to salt so I enjoyed the chowder immensely. (it's salty but not like potato chips-salty but taste of the sea-salty). Salmon is definitely a make or break dish. It's so easy to perfect and it's so easy to mess up. My plate was picturesque. It's been a long time I've been able to describe a dish as picturesque and I'm glad I'm able to do so. The pink salmon, the evergreen asparagus, cute little yellow gnocchis. Almost too good to eat. It's a good thing everything was good to eat. Except the gnocchi, I think it was a little overcooked but it was yummy, nonetheless. Definitely a great place to stop by for a formal/informal lunch. Hell you can even go here for dinner. Just don't get too gung ho about going to a place called "Nordstrom Bar and Grill" it's great food for a nice price and you can't beat the atmosphere. more

I have been going to Nordstrom's since I was a little girl, and it has been there that I have received the best customer service by any retail store! The customer service I received recently motivated me enough to contact the store's manager to tell her about this particular employee. I am one of those shoppers who can walk the aisles and finger a few pieces, however I very rarely will step out of my conservative box and try on new styles and pieces but I recently met this personal shopper there that went beyond the call of duty servicing my every whim. Her name is Sam Bisram and she is a wonderful young lady. Not only did she bring me different clothes, she brought me coffee and water in the dressing room, took a piece to their alterations department, took my shoes downstairs to the shop department to exchange them for a new pair, not to mention bringing me over 50 separate pieces to my overflowing dressing room! Truly the best customer service ever - if you ever feel like trying on new styles and being pampered for the day - drop by the t.b.d. department at the Bellevue Nordstrom's and ask for Sam Bisram - I promise you will fall in love! more

Nordstrom is the best Customer Service retail store in the country. Although the store is generally expensive, it makes up for price with quality and customer service. The sales associates are super friendly and will go out of their way to find you what you're looking for. If they don't have any items in stock, they will even offer to find them and ship them to your door. Returns are never a problem at Nordstrom, even when you lose your receipt. They will look up your purchases for you just from your credit card. Plus there is no time limit for returns! This store rocks! more

I personally can't stand the hubbub of shopping. Mostly I can't stand shopping. Back in the Personal Shopper dressing rooms, though, it feels more like trying on clothes at a girlfriend's house - or at least how I imagine that would be. You'll especially appreciate the Personal Shopper at Nordy's if your process for clothing shopping looks anything like mine: Look at clothes on the rack, try to guess whether it would look good on & if it's the right size, schlep an armload back to the dressing room, deposit other purchases, purse, etc, so that you can undress, try on clothes, get disappointed at 8 out of 10 potential purchases right away and agonize over the other two that are almost good enough, repeat until sick. The dressing rooms in the Personal Shopper area are larger, usually enough to bring in a trusted friend for a third opinion, and there is pleasant background music, making the time between PS arrivals with new items to try on that much more pleasant. There's no braving the herds of others poring over the racks. There's no wandering from department to department till your eyes glaze over. There's only tell her what you want and see it (and a few other things you hadn't considered but really fit with everything else in some way and usually look great) arrive. This is what going shopping is supposed to be like. more

Some days are just awful. A line at Starbucks, no cell reception, and I'm running late all day. I go straight to Nordy's. I spend a few hours trying on shoes, maybe pick up a new dress, and I feel like me again. My SUV is (usually) big enough to fit all my purchases, but sometimes I wish I'd just given in and bought a Hummer. Oh well, no use crying over spilled oil. The service and selection at Nordstrom's makes every day perfect. more