My wife, son and I spent the Memorial Day weekend staying in her parents' condo in Belltown. We were looking for someplace to eat breakfast and stumbled across an ad for the Hurricane in one of those tourist magazines. It was within walking distance and we decided to give it a try. When we wandered inside we couldn't help but think it used to be someplace famous. I asked the waitress what it used to be called and she said the Doghouse. Of course! It was the Doghouse restaurant made semi-famous in J.A. Jance's J.P. Beaumont mystery novels. It closed in 1994 and reopened as the Hurricane Cafe. We felt like we had discovered a secret place. We were actually inside the restaurant that Beau spent so many evenings trying to figure out murder cases.
Now back to reality. The food was OK for the ususal breakfast fare of omelets, etc. but service was pretty slow for a Sunday. There were only a couple of other tables with customers yet the waitresses took forever to take orders, serve food, and bring the check. I am sure it was nearly intollerable to eat at this place for non-smokers before the Washington State smoking ban went into effect. I don't think we would go back but if you ever read one of J.A. Jance's books, I recommend you stop by for a cup of coffee.
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