Sidewalk Cafe

I rarely write five star reviews for any restaurants. But the Sidewalk Café has earned this one consistently for the last four years for its catering of our Thanksgiving extravaganza.
At my house I normally serve two meals, one for my Korean family and one traditional American style turkey dinner. But a turkey dinner with all the trimmings for 14 people plus a full second Korean meal? No. I can’t do that much all by myself. So I have come to rely on the wonderful talents of Sharen and her fantastic crew for our amazing meal.
Every year the feast seems to get refined. You get menu items like stuffing with andouille sausage. (A delightful treat with apples for a tasty crunch!) The turkey is always moist and fantastic, perfectly seasoned. It never requires any fussing.
Do you have any special need eaters at home? Lactose intolerant folk? They’re happy to accommodate that as well! And the mashed potatoes still taste super creamy.
So. When you get tired of cooking for 4, 14, 40 people for your holiday gatherings, give the folks at Sidewalk Café a call. They can cater the pants off that soirée of yours, all you need to worry about is spiking the punch and doing the dishes! Who can argue with that?
Bön appétit!

Love this place and the owner, Sharen and all the staff are so friendly and do everything they can to make it a good experience. I have gone a lot and the food has always been fresh and tasty. Good desserts, although if u go towards closing don’t expect those fantastic choc. chip, coconut, macadamia nut cookies but they carry Olympic mountain ice cream, lots of flavors, great pies, m mm Marion berry for one. I don’t care who wins the Chowder Challenge, I love theirs.

I walk here from my office which is right across from the Olympia farmers market. The SSS is too much good stuff! Soup salad sandwich! They have local ice cream too. Small cute spot and perfect for lunch. The staff is friendly and quick.

I am not from here but am visiting. I tried two places with my gps-​one I couldn’t find the other one is only open in the evening. So I asked and this place was recommended. I ordered the Alaskan Salmon sandwich with a side salad and diet snapper. They have outdoor seating and since it is about 75 degrees I am sitting outside. The sandwich is very good. Salmon moist and seasoned very lightly, lettuce and tomato and light amount of mayonnaise, the bread was a chibata roll and was fresh. Salad served with a apple vinegarette. You could get kettle chips if you prefer. I definitely recommend this place.

Sidewalk Café was a place Steve and I went to the other day in Olympia. We were casually walking around downtown and decided that this was a good place to go as any. We had it bookmarked on Unilocal so it was worth giving a try!
I got a Tuna Melt kind of panini which was delicious! It had some mighty tasty bread and an lemon kind of oil to the tuna which made the sandwich wonderful! I am usually not too into tuna either but I figured I would give it a try. I was feeling experimental!
I also had some greens for my side which was refreshing!
We also got a slice of apple pie which hit the spot on our day in downtown Olympia!
This lunch place was tasty and fun! We would go back for more of those yummy paninis!

very nice staff, delicious and quick food, really good ice cream and pie!
had the ham and cheese panini. it comes with thin slices of apple inside. really delicious! and a decent size too:
the clam chowder was creamy, but not very thick. i usually like a thicker chowder. the flavor was still good though!:
the marion berry pie was amazing, and we were fortunate enough to get the last slice! with peaches and cream ice cream, this was a perfect dessert:
this was a really nice café. it is a little small, so maybe go during an odd hour to make sure you get a table. great lunch spot in Olympia!

This place is small, limited seating, menu, lunch hours. New England clam chowder was watery, Budd Bay Café nearby offers a superior clam chowder. This place shines when it comes to their sandwiches for lunch, we tasted their meatloaf, and ham & cheese on rye, both very tasty and good. Their bread here is much more enjoyable to eat here than at the Bread Peddler. Marionberry pie was decent. Counter service, order, pay, grab an open seat, wait for your order. Overall, friendly, recommendable.

Wonderful local restaurant! Quiet and relaxing atmosphere with a non-​invasive staff. Clearly a mom and pop place. Absolutely fantastic food! Their daily specials are always amazing and all of their food is fresh and natural. They also serve local ice cream that is out of this world!

BLTs were delicious. Chips and salad too. Great for a light lunch. You can really taste the care with which the ingredients are handled.

Olympic Mountain
In my sixth grade english class, we learned about greek/​roman mythology. The gods would live high above mt. olympus and toy with us mortals for their amusement. But we, limited in our power, would succumb to their omnipotency. Once in a while we would outwit them and fate will be in our hands.
Sidewalk Café is like the golden fleece, as it really is a way to feel like you have fate in your grasp. Their sandwiches and ice cream will empower you to fight throughout the day of meetings, notes, briefs and excel spread sheets. They’re fantastic and my boyfriend even uttered that they’re *gasp* better than paseo.
«Better than Paseo?» I asked.
«well… maybe?» He answered.
Though i can’t agree that it’s better, i will say that it’s comparable and the bread for this place is spectacular. (They get their bread from sf bread, which is right up the street).
Their clam chowder is fantastic and my boyfriend was craving it for the past few days after.
and their ice cream…
they have olympic mountain ice cream, which means you can get their butter macademium nut with coconut almond ice cream in a waffle cone.
and it’s so good.
so go and let your mind be mt. vesuviused (explode) and perhaps if you have enough will power, the gods will allow you to become a demigod.

For classic club sandwiches, Sidewalk is one of my favorite spots. It edges out 5^th Avenue, which can taste generic at times.
They have excellent bread, some of which has a nice nutty flavor. Ours always come hot off the grill and beautifully crisped. There are more unique offerings, like the grilled salmon club with lemon caper aioli. They’re a small operation that uses fresh meats and veggies, so there’s always a danger of the good stuff running out fast. Go bright and early.

I really liked this place! Super cute, with quality fresh food items and Olympic Mountain Ice Cream. There is limited outdoor and indoor seating, but the restaurant is bigger than it looks on the outside– I promise. Saw a lot of locals, which was a good sign. The counter person appeared to be the owner, and greeted regulars by name.
On my visit, I ordered the chicken pesto panini and my friend went with the turkey– apple chutney sandwich. They were already out of greens, so both our orders were accompanied by chips, which seemed homemade. Had an Amazon local deal (worth $ 15), so total for both was less than $ 5! Both my friend and I were impressed with our meals, and can’t wait to return to try some new options.

I like their food, but the service can be very spotty. I always call in my order to take back to my office, otherwise it is a l-​o-​n-​g wait. Today I called in a BLT and asked how long it would take. I was told it would be ready in 15 minutes. I gave them an extra five minutes, just in case it took a little longer. When I got there I still had to wait an additional 20 minutes for my BLT. I think that one of the problems is that they cycle college kids through as cashiers, and about the time they start getting the hang of it they’re gone, and some new kid is there. Same with the cooks. Today, I sat there and watched two to-​go boxes get put on the counter. It was obviously for the two women waiting behind me. But, the cashier wandered off to go behind the ice cream counter to help someone and the food just sat there going cold. The owner is super nice and works very hard. Just know that some days you may need the patience of Job. A caveat: I have the patience of a gnat.

Had a great experience here and will definitely return! Came here on a warm sunny afternoon and ordered the California BLT panini and a salmon sandwich, both of which came with side salads. The sandwiches were absolutely delicious. Amazing bread, very flavorful bacon/​salmon, and fresh veggies. They also have (free) tap water that is flavored with fresh fruit/​veggies — very good. For dessert, I got a slice of marionberry pie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream while my wife got a slice of banana/​coconut pie. Both pies were incredible and VERY filling. This is one of the best meals we’ve had in Olympia, and the cost was under $ 30 for all of it. Awesome. And the ambiance was nice, getting to sit at a table outside just steps from the Farmer’s Market. Can’t wait to go back.

I walk past the sidewalk café all the time and have never given it a chance. But, when you are babysitting five kids in 90 degree weather and the sign reads «ice cream” — that all changes.
The SC has Olympic Mountain Ice Cream in a dish or cone. The price was reasonable since ice cream for five kids and myself cost about $ 15.00. The staff was very freindly and helpful, especially with their looks of pity, since I was trying to round up all these kids. I had Northwest Berry and it was great.
SC also has deli sandwiches and food. I haven’t tried any food there so far, but I anticipate more visits to SC. based on what I saw and tasted the other day.

My husband and I bought a few Amazon Local Vouchers for this place just to try it out. I am so glad we did!!! The roasted turkey with apple chutney on sourdough was one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten. The tuna was also delicious. We split the sandwiches, a piece of apple pie AND a huge peanut butter cookie! We will definitely be back because we want to try the meatloaf sandwich.

Good place to get lunch if you are in the area. I had the sandwich with roasted turkey and bacon, but they forgot to put bacon on it. What was actually on the sandwich was really good though. I got the feeling that the regulars were much more important than first-​time customers, but I guess that’s normal for a small place.
They have a small ice cream shop in the same building, and it looked pretty good. Overall, I would come back to this place if I wanted a good sandwich.

This is a small café located in walking distance to the Olympia Farmers’ Market and the waterfront.
The café’s mushroom soup was seasoned well. Say yes to their buttery grilled bread to accompany the soup. Complimentary water is infused with cucumber and is so refreshing. My boyfriend said his BLT was the best he’s had.

Stopped in for lunch today. Friendly service and good food.
I had a grilled ham and havarti cheese sandwich and their soup of the day, which was a delicous Italian sausage with potatoes. Prices are average ($ 6 – 9), but it’s tough to beat the location and the free parking available a block away at the farmer’s market. I’ll definitely be back.

When you drive by a sandwich spot and see a meat slicer in the window, it’s a very good indication that something real tasty is going to be served inside. When you walk in to find out they roast their own Turkey, things are looking even better. Glance to your side and see an ice cream freezer with Olympic Mountain Ice Cream and wow… get me my lunch.
Upon the server’s recommendation I went for the club sandwich as it was looking especially «scrumptious» that day and a cup of their someone’s original recipe (Sharon maybe?) clam chowder. I waited a couple minutes and drove it back to my office to dive in.
The clam chowder was light and fresh, but lacked the umph that I usually look for. I like it real thick, savory, and loaded with herbs, bacon, clams, and whatever else someone feels like throwing in. I can write this one off to personal taste though.
The sandwich was good, but not great. The toasted marble rye was very good, the home roasted turkey and double smoked applewood bacon both contributed some excellent flavor, but in the end there simply wasn’t enough meat to pull it off. The sandwich ended up totally dominated by the bread. Not a terrible tragedy as it was really good bread, but not ideal either.
I’m excited to give a different sandwich a shot and see if it can wow me. They’ve got the ingredients to make it fantastic, just needs a little tweaking to perfect it.