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With Formica tabletops, Norman Rockwell prints, and jukeboxes blaring all the Frankies, some restaurants scream "1950s diner"; with only an old-fashioned menu and the motto "A meal in your...
With Formica tabletops, Norman Rockwell prints, and jukeboxes blaring all the Frankies, some restaurants scream "1950s diner"; with only an old-fashioned menu and the motto "A meal in your neighbor’s kitchen," the Penny Café merely whispers it—so convincingly that you’ll think you’ve gone back in time. They may not even consider themselves a ’50s-style diner—their meatloaf sandwiches and tuna casseroles also recall the 1930s and ’40s—but, whatever they are, they’re not of this era. Breakfast is served all day, including oatmeal and pancakes with real maple syrup, with espresso perhaps the only thing to remind you what time it is.
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It’s thrilling to me that this restaurant has hardly changed since my fourth birthday, 35 years ago, when the waiters sang "Happy birthday, Princess Aurora" (so seriously that I thought I’d...
It’s thrilling to me that this restaurant has hardly changed since my fourth birthday, 35 years ago, when the waiters sang "Happy birthday, Princess Aurora" (so seriously that I thought I’d convinced them it was my real name); the velvet armchairs and silk-fringed lamps that were here in 1971 are here now.
Because they take no reservations (leading to one- and two-hour waits that once excited me almost as much as waiting for Christmas—something newcomers don’t appreciate), it wasn't until I was fourteen that I was seated in the trolley car right inside the huge brick factory building. Much later, I got to sit in one of the "beds"—the booths made out of brass and wrought-iron bedsteads—and only then, after twenty years, did I feel like I’d had the full experience. But I was far from finished, and I don’t think I’ll ever be—unless the remodeling Chloe has seen turns them into something entirely different. [Added after Chloe's comment.]
As to the food and service, it seems that everyone I know who has not been coming here since age four is unimpressed by both. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I love it. Try the Manager’s Favorite with mizithra and marinara.
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Just a few blocks north of Krispy Kreme, these doughnuts may not be as up-to-the second fresh (and the only thing fresher than Krispy Kreme would be baked in your mouth), but they’re hardly...
Just a few blocks north of Krispy Kreme, these doughnuts may not be as up-to-the second fresh (and the only thing fresher than Krispy Kreme would be baked in your mouth), but they’re hardly paperweights. If you don’t mind a doughnut that won’t burn your tongue, then these are well worth the better price. Service is friendly and genuine, coffee delicious.
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I was thrilled to discover City People’s several years ago as a non-chain resource for garden tools and other hardware. When, only a few years later, "True Value" appeared on their sign, I was...
I was thrilled to discover City People’s several years ago as a non-chain resource for garden tools and other hardware. When, only a few years later, "True Value" appeared on their sign, I was devastated. However, there’s more to avoiding chains than keeping large corporations from running independent stores out of business; there’s also the personal aspect. If you simply can’t stand the soul-draining experience of shopping at Eagle and Home Depot, City People’s is a wonderful alternative.
[Added after reading Latife’s review:]
Clearly this store is not the answer for everyone! Admittedly, I haven’t shopped here in several months, but I know exactly what Latife means about the kind of staff that frowns on your every move. I’m sorry to hear about this and only hope these employees will be replaced by others who make the customers feel more welcome—or else by a management that provides an atmosphere in which employees and customers are all much happier.
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Those of us who, twenty or thirty years ago, paid for our membership in monthly installments couldn’t help being miffed when our investment was reduced to month-long sales on selected items; now PCC...
Those of us who, twenty or thirty years ago, paid for our membership in monthly installments couldn’t help being miffed when our investment was reduced to month-long sales on selected items; now PCC was no more a coop than Safeway or QFC, whose own discount cards offered much greater values. When, almost ten years ago, PCC stopped having month-long sales for members on even selected items but offered these values only on two days per month, I doubt that I was alone in wanting my money back. Now I’ve had to stop thinking of PCC as my store; it’s an overpriced specialty shop where good health is for the affluent; others are better off going to Safeway or Grocery Outlet. My rating is for the middle and upper classes; this store is undeniably beautiful and an exciting place to shop.
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This place is a dream come true for those who simply love office supplies: stationery, notebooks, pens, tape, scissors, ink, correction tape and fluid, poster board, party goods (they fill a whole...
This place is a dream come true for those who simply love office supplies: stationery, notebooks, pens, tape, scissors, ink, correction tape and fluid, poster board, party goods (they fill a whole separate room), and larger items such as lamps and filing cabinets—brand-new, with perhaps just a few little crinkles in the packaging. The selection is just too wide and deep to keep everything stacked neatly on the shelves, but a little disorder is a small price considering you’re almost guaranteed to find what you’re after—or something close to it—and at a third of the price you’d pay at Staples or Office Depot.
The staff is extremely helpful; when one of the clerks found out I was in the second weekend of my yard sale, he recommended Day-Glo signboard, for the same price as the plain white kind I’d selected. That weekend, though I had only about a fourth as much to sell as what I’d started with, I drew many times more customers and made a great deal more money. These people are wonderful.
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Goodwill
Category:
Men's Clothing
1400 Rainier S & S Dearborn
Seattle, Washington 98102
(206) 329-1000
Because shoes are always on my thrift store shopping list, I prefer a store that saves me time in this department, and because Value Village, like Volume Shoe Source and other discount stores,...
Because shoes are always on my thrift store shopping list, I prefer a store that saves me time in this department, and because Value Village, like Volume Shoe Source and other discount stores, organizes by size, I’m able to go straight to the shoes most likely to fit me and glance around for the four to six pairs in the style I want. Good Will, for some reason, organizes by style and color. This means that I often have to try several sections (though I’m usually open to different colors and styles, I have no say in my shoe size), and, once there, try on everything I like that seems to approximate my size. So when I’m shopping for shoes, which is usually, this one waste of time is reason enough that I prefer nearly all other thrift stores to Good Will.
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The last time I went to St. Vincent de Paul on Aurora, I found an adorable mug so crusted over with hot chocolate that I couldn’t buy it, even though I knew I was being squeamish. But I’ve seen...
The last time I went to St. Vincent de Paul on Aurora, I found an adorable mug so crusted over with hot chocolate that I couldn’t buy it, even though I knew I was being squeamish. But I’ve seen similar things and worse at Value Village, and haven’t stopped shopping there altogether. St. Vincent de Paul has a good selection of clothing and a whole roomful of books and videos, unlike the two or three small shelves at Value Village, and, even with the crusted-over cocoa, I highly recommend them.
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Though I prefer to shop at independent stores rather than chains, in a pinch I would much sooner go to Value Village than Nordstrom or J.C. Penney. I can’t imagine I’ll ever spend money on brand-new...
Though I prefer to shop at independent stores rather than chains, in a pinch I would much sooner go to Value Village than Nordstrom or J.C. Penney. I can’t imagine I’ll ever spend money on brand-new clothes again when thrift stores like Value Village carry, along with some garbage, many items of clothing that have never been worn, or show no wear. Sure, Value Village is known to carry a few things so odd they seem like jokes, such as record sleeves containing only fractions of records, but most of their merchandise is usable. The tape deck on the $10 portable CD player may be broken, but if the CD player works, I’d rather spend that $10 than the $200 it originally cost.
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If you still have your concert T-shirts from Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, bring them here; my husband got $5 for one and $7 for another. This store buys, sells, and trades vintage clothes and...
If you still have your concert T-shirts from Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers, bring them here; my husband got $5 for one and $7 for another. This store buys, sells, and trades vintage clothes and accessories from the last eighty years—as well as jewelry, hair dye, and action figures of notorious politicians—conveniently organized by decade. And if you think the good prices they pay their sellers equate with high prices for their customers, of course you are right.
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