Cafe Septieme

The most interesting man in the world sez: «I don’t always have breakfast on Broadway, but when I do, I eat at Café Septieme.»
Shame it’s closed. It was a great breakfast spot, one of the few places on Broadway to offer an early breakfast with table service.

Went there for dinner one summer evening and had a burger. There was nothing too remarkable about it, although their «homemade ketchup» was a novel idea. I couldn’t honestly tell the difference in taste from Heinz. One thing to note: although smoking is prohibited in Seattle restaurants, idiots standing on the sidewalk can still smoke all they want. We had to move to a different table because Joe Camel was chatting away with some future lung cancer patients and puffing away. The breeze was taking the pollutants from his sophisticated lifestyle into the dining area and drowning out any possibility of enjoying our meal.

This is the best place to people watch in Capitol Hill, which is quite a fun thing to do when you’re relaxing on a Saturday afternoon.
The homemade cakes and desserts are by far some of the best. Not only do they have an excellent variety of flavors (I always vouch for anything German and chocolate), they are generous on the portions and make it easy and fun to share.
I wouldn’t say the service is super attentive, but the servers are always kind, non-​intrusive and helpful. You can easily tuck yourself away here with a good book or a conversation and not be bothered.

Some people get Septieme; some people don’t.
I have whiled away many days at Septieme; it always makes me feel safe and cozy (or maybe that was the wine? or the nice waiters?).
In summary; this is what makes Septieme one of my favorite places in the 206:
1. homemade mayonaise and ketchup
2. Rodney
3. it is a place that a gal can go and drink some wine and read her book and not feel like sleazy dudes are going to bother her.
4. perfect bacon
5. blood red walls
6. not hipstery, not yuppie, not fancy, not divey
7. they’ll let you sit around and read for hours
I love you, Septieme. Thanks for being perfect.
p. s. someone commented on the retro table tops. They are tragic. Septieme used to have white linens with paper over each table. very classy looking. but, to cut costs they just had to abandon their linen service. so, go eat there a lot so that they don’t go out of business.

Café Septieme is in a great location and sits across from, next to, and nearby a TON of other restaurants. It’s a great spot in the summer because of outdoor seating. In the winter it’s also nice because it’s cozy inside and there are lot s of tables. But because of it’s location to other competition — I’d expect it to stand out a little more than it does.
I don’t dislike the place by any means but it’s not amazing. I’ve had their wine (yum) and their appetizers and dinners. Nothing was impressive but everything was tasty and reasonably priced. As the 3-​star review dictates, it’s «A-​OK.»

Went here on a date that had gone sour, but I’m not gonna fault the café for it. That just means I have to go back to
.
Anyway, we just hit up the place for dessert and a cocktail. I had the tres leches cake which was very different from the tres leches cakes I had growing up in SoCal. Not that it was bad. I actually liked this one better. It wasn’t wet and syrupy like the other tres leches cakes I have had, and I liked the whipped frosting on top as opposed to the overly sweet dulce de leche that sometimes covers it.
The guy I was with had marionberry cheesecake which was also very good. I generally prefer plain cheesecakes as opposed to those with fruit toppings or candy swirls, but this one was extremely smooth and creamy, so I have to give it props.
There were so many other desserts in the case that looked absolutely fantastic, but unfortunately I only had room to try one. It was also completely filled with many cakes that had yet to be cut into, which seems kind of weird now that I think about it – we were there at almost midnight and I would have expected that there would be very little at that hour. Maybe that was the shipment for the next day? Who knows.
Definitely a cute place and I’d consider going there again if I could be assured that the guy I was with wouldn’t be there at the same time. Then again, the tres leches cake and my adventurous spirit might just get me out there again regardless of who turns up.

Sit at the bar with Rodney, he is Super nice!
The food is a bit pricey and the desserts are a bit dry but the place is cute and we like to support local businesses. I have been there when their has been a long wait for food and when it has been super fast. I think it is hit or miss a bit with the items on the menu. I’ll keep going there because of the nice bartender and the food. Breakfast is nice and rustic and the items like flank steak sandwich or burgers are seasoned nice but you have to have an open mind when you go here. Don’t be scared to try a new place once or twice you never know you may find a nice little place that is fun to go to and people watch.

The boy and I were starving and couldn’t decide where we should eat. We’d seen some so-​so reviews of Café Septieme but we decided to give it a go and see what we thought… and my thoughts? Meh.
It was okay. I ordered a veggie burger, which comes on a kaiser roll with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and onions on the side, as well as a few condiments (tarragon mayo, «spicy relish,» and something resembling marinara). It all tasted fine, but it was just a little boring. I get more excited about my frozen Amy’s veggie burgers & mustard in my own kitchen. (Granted, the blandness may have also been the result of a lack of cheese — cheese was an option, but I’m watching calories so I passed it up.)
The boy had the flank steak sandwich, which, because I don’t like steak, I didn’t try. I asked how it was and he said it was «okay.» I know he was still sort of hungry after finishing it.
The service was a little iffy. The server was very nice, but sort of slow. It took awhile for our food to arrive, and then it took forever to actually pay — first it took awhile to get the check, then for them to take our money, and then for them to bring it back. We certainly weren’t in a hurry, but it was still a little frustrating.
Pluses? We got to sit outside and it was CHEAP — only about $ 16 for both of us. I won’t be in any great hurry to come back, but I’m not opposed to it, either.

It’s really only 2 stars, but I’m giving them an extra star because I can’t blame them entirely. I’m going to have to take some of the responsibility for ignoring the «DO NOT COME IN AND EAT HERE» warnings:
1. When we looked through the windows, the place was practically deserted on a Saturday during lunchtime.
2. In addition, the rooms were really poorly lit. Relying on sunlight was definitely not enough to brighten the room.
3. The «NOW WITH LOWER PRICES» signs outside.
Still with these signs, we said, «What the heck. We should be a little more adventurous.» So we proceeded inside. With the same mentality, we ordered the specials of the day — I ordered the Chef’s Frittata, which is a slightly burnt omelette consisting of 90% potatoes + 10% everything else (some sort of processed meat product and mushrooms). And my sister ordered the pasta special — the pasta with chipotle sauce, which was an incredibly bland pasta and to top it off — the portion size was teeny tiny!
At first when we went inside, we saw their cake stands and refrigerators full of desserts that really tempted us. However our entrees were enough of a let down that we decided to go across the street to get pastries from a coffee shop instead.
Overall, the food was edible, but definitely below average. This place definitely reinforces the old adage, «you pay for what you get» and a personal adage, «stay boring, don’t be adventurous.»

So a group of us do brunch about once a month. There typically are 10 of us. This always seems to present some issue because finding seating for 10 on a Sunday morning for brunch isn’t exactly easy. After waiting for over an hour across the street at Table 219 (despite their estimate of only 30 minutes) and being treated rudely while waiting, our tummies were a grumbling. Standing outside we were discussing whether to all just go get bagels and call it a day, but that would ruin the standing tradition. Instead we sent a scout across the street to Café Septieme to see how long the wait would be? Oh 10 people at 11:45 on a Sunday? Right away!
So there was a migration across Broadway. By the time we managed to cross the street the fabulous servers here had pushed together 3 tables and had place settings and water waiting for us.
The staff here was great and willing to work with us. They split our bill — into 6 different checks — with no complaints! They managed to serve us all drinks and food correctly even with all the little special orders. And they brought us lots of free, yummy, bread!
The food was decent. I personally thought my breakfast burrito was pretty yummy, even if there was only egg inside. The sauce was delicious. Everybody else at the table seemed to find their food acceptable, despite some saying it was a bit greasy. The bloody marys were decent but a bit lacking in spice for my taste. Chances are we will be back here again sometime soon.

Completely, thoroughly mediocre. Went on a Friday night and there were many empty tables. My friend lives nearby and has never eaten there, she’s heard the desserts are good but hasn’t heard much about the food. It’s really dark in the restaurant. We ordered soups. My friend was disappointed with the french onion, she said the broth wasn’t rich, there was no melty cheese, and it was like chicken soup with onions. I had the tomato chevre bisque which had a strange consistency and earthy taste.
She got the special, pork medallions, which were rated, «Eh, ok.» I had the Septieme salad, which was supposed to be candied walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, with an orange balsamic vinaigrette. The walnuts were definitely not candied, the cheese tasted like chevre (perhaps they had left overs from the soup) not gorgonzola, and the lettuce was limp and kinda gross. I didn’t taste any orange in the vinaigrette.
We split a macaroon for dessert and it was decent, but would have been much better had it not been chilled from the dessert case. Macaroons, like fine wine, need to breathe a bit and warm so the coconut is a bit gooey.
We both agreed for the price the food isn’t worth it. I would pay something like 8 bucks for a mediocre salad and soup, but not twice that price, and it really isn’t worth going back there again.

Maybe it makes me a snob, but I actually expected more. My chicken sandwich was low on chicken and high on giant bread roll. It came alone with no side dish. Boo. Poor lonely chicken sandwich.
The décor was confusing. Some had sort of dark wood European bar feel. Nice and cozy. And then, the tables were straight up pink with little turquoise boomerangs as though a 1950s diner had once occupied this spot and the tables missed the memo to move out. My husband said they usually have tablecloths. That would help.
Also, I docked a star because, though there’s no smoking allowed in the restaurant or at the small strip of tables outside in front, there’s nothing stopping a frat guy who wants to stand just outside the barrier for the narrow strip of tables talking to his buddies while chain smoking through your entire meal. Cough. Choke. And we were INside.
These things, except the lonely chicken, seem possibly situational, and I’d give it another try if I were in the area again.