Duke’s Chowder House

It had been a while since I have been to Duke’s and now I remember why. Yes, the food is great and the service is top notch, but I had some serious sticker shock when I looked up and down the menu.
When I arrived, I was seated quickly enough and every staff member I interacted with was really on the ball whether it was taking my order or just refilling water glasses. I ordered a combination deal that came with two pieces of cod, potato wedges, a side Caesar salad, and a small clam chowder. As I mentioned, the food was great although I feel like it wasn’t anything better than what you could get at other places for half the price. I guess they really value the atmosphere and service by adding it into the cost of dining there.
The prime example of this was the clam chowder. Yes, it was good, but not outstanding and the small sized portion that I ordered came on what looked more like a saucer than a cup or a bowl. It was so shallow, you could lay a cracker flat and it probably wouldn’t sink all the way underneath. Throw in the $ 8+ price tag for this item and I was seriously unimpressed.
I hear the Happy Hour is good so I may come back to try that.

Waterways Cruises company party tonight! Thank you, Duke’s for a wonderful time, excellent service and of course the most delicious food ever.

$ 14.00 for a bowl of chowder? Really?
$ 19.00 for a chicken cobb salad…
Come on people, your food is pretty good, but there IS a limit.

I’ve been there twice recently for lunch. Once the food (fish & chips) was OK, the other salad was only so-​so. But the prices for lunch! For such a casual spot, I don’t expect to spend $ 25 and up for a lunch salad with 3 SMALL scallops and 3 SMALL prawns (shrimp really). I’ve always thought Duke’s was overpriced for the type of restaurant it is, and I could understand the high prices if they’d been raised recently to disallow tipping and pay the wait staff a living wage. Nothing indicates this is the case. I will say the wait staff are all friendly and professional but I won’t be back.

Great location, service, and food. Highly recommend this place! I always get the tacos. They give you two but one will fill you up.

Yum yum yum! Dukes always makes me happy. Great service and waaaaarm bread while you wait for your delicious food.
Just a little pricey.

I’ve been here 3 times as of mid-​December. Been happy every time, as have my table mates.
The lobster chowder/​bisque is fantastic. I ordered the Caesar and tho shrimp isn’t listed as one of the add on items, I asked for blackened shrimp. They were done well and there was a lot of shrimp too. There cocktails are good. Got the Bloody Mary and a grey hound.
One warning, some of their prices might be a little higher than you expect. Check the menu online first. The quality has been worth it.

My sister-in-law’s chowder craving was satisfied but I was less than thrilled with my cup of North by Northwest Chowder. It needed more spices and, perhaps, a pinch of salt. However, I was peeved that ¹⁄₃ of my to go cup was empty. At almost $ 9 for the small size, I want my cupful darn it!

Mom and I stopped in yesterday, after braving the wilds of Seattle Second Use (also fabulous), and were so pleased with both our meal and the service. As my mother is older, and in rather fragile health, I cannot tell you how much I appreciated how kind both the hostess and the server were! I especially liked the fact that they actually acknowledged her, as well as myself! This may sound like a silly comment to make, but believe me, it is not. Especially the server… what was his name? Very nice, young man… I cannot believe I forgot his name… forgive me… Anyway, it is frightening how many servers literally ignore the elderly if there is anyone else at the table! But this one didn’t. Hurray! Thank you. We will happily come back! Oh, and the food was terrific!
Oh! John! That’s it! I know because mom and I are back tonight, same fabulous server, how cool is that?

The first time I ate at Dukes was about 4 years ago, and it was impressive.
The quality of the food has fallen quite a bit, but their prices haven’t. Dry calamari, and only their Lobster Bisque is worthy of the hype. It’s decent food and service is friendly, but the food either needs to get better or the prices should drop for me to recommend them again.

My boyfriend used to live right behind Duke’s so we came here all the time! Haven’t been in a while (over a year) and were super disappointed in our meal so aren’t likely to return any time soon.
I ordered the Thai ginger halibut — the flavor a for the sauce were good but the amour they give eventually makes it taste over powering. The worst part was that my fish was completely over cooked! For being a seafood house I would expect the chef to know how to properly cook halibut so it’s moist and flaky. This was cooked solid and I actually had to use my knife to cut off pieces. I had maybe 2 – 3 bites before I pushed back, it was inedible.
My boyfriend got his favorite crab stuffed salmon and his salmon was cooked the exact same way — over done. The stuffing he said tasted fine but the salmon was bad.
Such a bummer because Duke’s was always a fan favorite of ours!

Solid place to get some seafood. Nothing special in terms of décor but the place had friendly servers who were knowledgeable about the ingredients.
I ordered the crab cakes and they were very good. They also have a solid happy hour from 3 – 6 and then 9−12am or something. Drinks here were pretty cheap. Great atmosphere for a casual dinner.

I think this place is exceedingly solid.
With any menu this large, I expect to see a ton of generic offerings, but by and large, there are some great things here.
Chowders are stellar, obviously. I had the Fleet of Samplers, and I liked almost loved each. Solid enough for a return visit.
My GF had appetizers, crab un-​cake, halibut quesadilla and clam strips… And largely she liked them, the only draw back was every 4 clam strips was super Sandy, like grossly.
I also had the Mussels, and they were delicious until I found almost a third of them still had their beards on. I am a chef, so maybe it’s my own sense of whatdafaq, but come on guys??? Great dish ruined by inattentive details.
We had dessert and it was all good, but the «I want you now» berry tart felt like it had been microwaved… no real texture, no crisp, it feels like a warm sandwich in your mouth.
But it’s good, just strangely prepared, like it didn’t feel like it was put in an oven, but I don’t know how their kitchen is laid out, maybe it was and sat in the window too long.
Anyways, I will be back, I really dig the service… I am completely blanking on our waitress’s name, like Rachel or something, she was blonde and full of great energy and focus… It appeared like the world was falling around her as tons of tables were asking for her services and she kicked FOH ass.
Decent food, with a few misses on the details.
Awesome service with tons of respect and cheer.

Well, I’ve found my go-​to seafood in Seattle. Duke’s was terrific. Great and fast service, delicious fish and chips. The fish were battered perfectly and were cuttable with my fork. Best part is the breading didn’t fall off like it so easily can. Homemade fries were seasoned and had a little kick but not overpowering. Then there was the bread. Perfect sourdough bread. I could’ve eaten a loaf of it. And almost did. Great job Dukes!

Happy Hour is the time to visit. You can score an amazing hamburger with fresh local toppings, a small side of fries for under $ 10.00. The junior burger size is plenty big enough and if you sit outside you can enjoy a view of the local life. The service if friendly and personable. There is a small parking lot for the location which can help with Greenlake Parking. All in all a great local business I am happy to return to.

The staff’s were very friendly despite of the fact they are super busy. I was fortunate to have a kind, patience, and friendly server, who appreciate constructive criticism. Even the manager, stayed on the floor. Within minutes, after I sat down, my water, sour dough bread arrived. I was surprised by the excellent level of services throughout the entire meal. This is my second times at Duke in a week. This time I ordered calamari steak, Cajun cod quesadilla, crab cake, and mussels. The highlight is the 80% crab’s meat-​crab-​cake. The quesadilla was fresh, spicy, and the fresh chopped tomatoes definitely excite my taste buds.

I love finding restaurants that get an average rating here on Unilocal but that have improved so much I can comfortably give them five stars. Unfortunately, my two experiences at Duke’s Greenlake location left us seriously wondering why I even got my hopes up after the first visit. Nice large patio up front, plenty of indoor seating and a friendly staff make Duke’s an easy choice for us. We used to go to their Alki beach location a lot but got tired of being smoked out by bikers running their engines right in front of the restaurant. The quality of food here at Greenlake seems a bit better too than at Alki so that was a good start.
Yes, Duke’s at Greenlake would have gotten a five star review because I would have overlooked the fact that I ordered a cup of their famous chowder with my delicious dungeness crab cake main dish and was served (and got charged for) a bowl instead. We all make mistakes. The rest of our experience of appetizers, one non-​alcoholic drink and one beer plus entrees was certainly worth the $ 90+ for two including tip.
It was at our second visit that my future expectations appeared to go downhill fast. We were seated promptly outdoors but didn’t get menus. My wife got her drink but they forgot mine .My wife ordered the crab cake main course but she received the appetizer version: a pale, limpy looking crab cake instead of the well prepared large ones you get with the main course. The MD came over and claimed that we had ordered the «mixed grill» and that there was a skewer with grilled shrimp on our plate. Sadly, he couldn’t show us where that skewer might have been. Besides, we had never even heard of the dish. Not to worry, he continued «I’ve got everything under control.»
My dish was perfectly prepared except that I could count the number of chips that came with the halibut & chips entrée on the fingers of just over one hand. I don’t like skimpy when I’m paying more than $ 20. Other patrons seemed to be getting much bigger portions.
Just before checkout we asked one of hostesses about the mixup with the «mixed grill.» She explained that it was happy hour and asked if we had not ordered from the happy hour menu? No we didn’t and were never shown or told about the happy hour menu. Bummer.
At check out we were duly charged for that mysterious mixed grill entrée, which I had to ask the waiter to correct. It was (of course) more expensive than the crab cake entrée that my wife had ordered. All in all, it could have been close but definitely no cigar.

Decided to have lunch at Duke’s Chowder House by Green Lake today 3÷18÷15.
My last visit last summer was good, but this particular visit truly hit the spot! Bumped up one more star to five total!
Again, pleasant host and wait staff. (Thanks Katie for anticipating just about every move and keeping me well hydrated!)
Dining room was full with various patrons to enjoy good food and socialize or conduct business. One table near us was having a networking/​business lunch. The other one looked like the corporate staff holding court with a handful of members including the founding owner, Duke Moscrip, and his Executive Chef.
The usual complimentary basket of warm sourdough bread and butter — yum!
Husband had a Mac and Jack’s (14 ounces, $ 5.60) and the large bowl of the Duke’s Award Winning Champion Clam Chowder ($ 12.90). Other sizes include small bowl $ 7.90 or tureen $ 16.90. This ‘herby and creamy’ New England version is truly rich ‘chowdah’. There are other rich chowders and bisques, but this is the one he always gravitates to.
Me — I had the Blackened Bering Sea Cod Taco Combo ($ 15.90) which includes one generous fish taco (tender cod bits with feta, tequila lime aioli, avocado, cucumber pico de gallo and chopped cabbage in a soft tortilla), chips and salsa, and a cup of that ‘chowdah’ mentioned above. Love how all flavors meld together nicely with the tequila lime aioli as the exclamation point. It was so delicious and a copious amount of food that it was shared with the husband. He was like a happy seagull who gets bonus French fries while flying along a ferry. He said he will order that next time. Yes, it was that outstanding during this visit.
Next time, I should walk around Green Lake before or after my next visit though to truly earn such a wonderful and delicious lunch (as I pat my Buddha tummy)!

This is a great restaurant. I’ve only eaten here a few times but the everything about this place is great. I love the staff, the seating indoors and outdoors is beautiful and this place has the BEST sourdough bread that I’ve had.
I love sitting outdoors (granted I only do this in the summer). I brought my shiba inu with me as well and she was totally allowed to hang out with us which is a huge plus! They even served my dog water on the side! If you come here in the afternoon they turn on their heat lamps so you can stay warm. Overall, this place is really all about the experience and they do a pretty damn good job making sure you have a good time eating here.
The food overall, was good. I recommend the lobster and crab bisque and the halibut fish and chips. I recommend coming here for happy hour! They have great deals on finger foods and beers.

It’s drizzling and grey outside as I duck into Duke’s Chowder House for a quick lunch. I order some hot tea to battle the chill in my bones (which they serve with wedges of lemon and gladly refill) and go with the first item on the menu to catch my eye, the Salmon Ravioli which turned out to be the ultimate comfort food.
Good food, cozy, dimly lit, and casual.
I recommend hiding out here from the elements for a meal by yourself when you just need some peace and quiet!