Tidbit Bistro & Restaurant

Came here with a Groupon. With it the prices were ok otherwise it is way overpriced. Food was good (better than average) Had the Pom pom mop mop, peach sangri tini, zuppa de mare, apple salad, sweet potato fries, apancini & carpaccio. Cute little restaurant, service was ok. Would come back but only for a deal…

I’m genuinely surprised by all the recent negative reviews of Tidbit. Our group of seven descended upon the eatery yesterday for happy hour – which was running all evening due to the Capitol Hill Block Party – and we had just a fantastic time.
Not all the food was excellent, but much of it was very good. My friends ordered extra of the arancini and the meatballs, which smelled divine. The mushroom toast was delicious, though the Formaggio di Capra was a bit lackluster. I will note that Tidbit’s bread is outstanding, soft and dense and particularly good when toasted or grilled. Word at the table was that the tortilla (Spanish egg dish, not a flat round of wheat or corn flour) was bland, but the warmed «Caprese» salad (more like a plate of melted cheese, tomatoes, and herbs) though odd, was quite tasty. The happy hour salad offered was a most generous heap o’greens.
The best part of the experience, though? Wine for $ 1. Seriously. And even though our server fully informed us that the vino is di il box, in all honesty it was quite drinkable.
While a bit reserved at first, our server warmed up to us and throughout the evening was quite attentive despite the dining room being fairly busy.
Kudos to Tidbit for giving us the food, beverage and setting for a fantastic evening with friends!

«Madrid meets Napoli.» Yep. That sounds about right.
Vocab lesson: TAPAS is a wide variety of appetizers or snacks in the Spanish cuisine. Tidbits is a place for tapas.
I know you’ve experienced this: you go to a restaurant, and nothing on the entrée section of the menu jumps out at you. You just stick to the appetizers, order a few of those, and call it a meal. That’s the normal course of action for those to frequent here. This is, by any means, not to say that their entrée selection is nonexistent. However, their specialty is tapas and the entrée section is significantly smaller in choice than a typical entrée-​serving restaurant.
This is a great place for those who are not super-​duper hungry. If you can eat to your 75% stomach capacity and be content with it — and you want a lot of variety in flavors in your meals with a good selection of wines, Tidbit is the perfect place.
The best part of the tapas dining experience was the caesar salad for me. The salad that arrives is a ¼ wedge of Romaine lettuce, generously doused in caesar salad dressinrg, sprinkled with plenty of freshly shaven Parmesan cheese, crumbled croutons, and freshly ground pepper. They also give you a small knife so you can cut the romaine lettuce into bite-​sized pieces. The romaine lettuce most definitely did not come from a bag. I was excited to eat it and it was absolutely orgasmic. Best caesar salad I’ve ever had. Hands down.
Visiting? Prepare to open your wallet. My wife and I had salads, a glass of wine, and three tapas to share and the bill came out to about $ 67.00.
Worth every penny? Kind of. Tapas dining is an experience you must do while in Seattle Capitol Hill, but I feel like the price was a bit on the unjustifiably high side. Except for the Caesar salad, that is.
If money is not a problem, do give Tidbits a try. Great flavors, friendly staff, and delicious wines.

Brunch Review:
From all the good things I’ve heard from other Unilocaler’s about how great the food and atmosphere is Tidbit really is quite the let down for brunching. We settled in on a rather empty morning (we were the only people there). The waiter service was great, they were very accomodating to my order of the tofu scramble. However, they really need to revamp the breakfast menu. I had ordered some grapefruit juice expecting something fresh — instead I got an overly sugary drink that I saw the waiter attempting to add the remnants by diluting my drink with water. Eck, I muster it down and had it taken back.
I have a few more suggestions
— Have music playing in the background Its a little awkward sitting there in the quiet, while the waiter is on his laptop nearby.
— Open the doors and windows; it was pretty warm in there and on such a nice sunny day you might want yummy food smells wafting out.
— Fresh juice please! Not bottled OceanSpray. It really makes a world of difference.
The tofu scramble was delicious and the free tiramisu (thanks to a Unilocal offer) was okay. I was a little disappointed when I found out it came frozen from a box — via the waiter. I will say the best thing was having the free parking next door to the QFC.

I have to start by saying my heart breaks just a little to see my Tidbit only have 4 stars. I love it here so much. A girls night out, a quality date night, an intro to Seattle when out-​of-​towners visit, this hidden gem has it all. One of my favorite places in Seattle to eat, converse and create memories.
I love the food, I love the drinks PLUS you get to draw with crayons on the table cloth? It certainly has made for some amazing dinner moments.
The sweet potato fries are delish, the $ 1.00/glass house wine during happy hour cant be beat, the 30 layer lasagna is out of this world.
Come for tapas, come for a delicious main dish, come for out of this world drinks. You will not be disappointed.

Went here for dinner recently, armed with my Groupon and a date on a pleasantly hot Seattle day. Fantastic experience.
The waiters were quippish and prompt, our drinks (the restaurant signature «Peach Sangria-​tini») lively and perfect for the weather, and food pretty good.
We shared some addicting sweet potato fries to start, accompanied with a great mustard aoili. I had the gnocchi with prosciutto — largest gnocchi dumplings I’ve ever had! Quite rich, but not too much so for the portioning. My date had their special meaty lasagne with lamb and spicy italian sausage (I think?), which he didn’t finish as the cheese was too herby and put off the rest of the flavors. We finished off with lemon sorbet served in a hollowed-​out frozen lemon rind! Way cool.
They have paper table cloths and crayons to make for great hangman and box competitions. Also, I got a free Groupon to use if we go back in the next two months! Awesome business model. I will definitely take them up on that.
Oh, and keep in mind it’s technically on Union, despite the address.

I met up with Chris T and Vicki L for happy hour during Unilocal Drinks week (apparently the day right after the UYE here), and I, at least, was mostly impressed. I ordered a negroni sbagliato and patatas bravas, Chris T got a pom pom mop mop and tortilla española, and Vicki L had her usual glass of wine after some deliberation.
I probably lucked out, as I enjoyed my orders a bit more than Chris did. My negroni was an awesome drink — the first time I’ve had one, and certainly the first time I’ve really enjoyed a drink made with vermouth. The patatas bravas were tasty as well, basically a hefty serving of fried breakfast potatoes served in a slightly spicy red sauce topped with garlic aioli. And while Chris T’s pom pom wasn’t bad, the tortilla (a wedge of omelet, really), was a dry, bland, and disappointing dish.
So, keep an eye out for what you order, as some things are far better than others. Service was friendly (our waiter cracked a few funnies), and happy hour prices aren’t bad at all — it’s neat that they have a different HH menu every day.

I came here last Sunday, to celebrate my birthday with some friends. The atmosphere itself is awesome, the service is great, drinks strong, but the food is where it falls short. We ordered 3 tapas (1 which never came) and the paella (I’ve a soft spot in my heart for paella and will always order it if its on the menu). The sweet potato fries were good, the cheesy dippy thing was okay, the paella… I’ve had much better (I think that I’m just spoiled because after going to Spain and having it, nothing here is good). But seriously, this paella didn’t even have the crunchy/​toasty rice layer.
For a place that’s known as «the best tapas in Washington» I was expecting a lot more, especially since I know someone who raved about this place.

****MODERN EUROPEAN FOOD — SPANISH AND ITALIAN****
TidBit /​Noun/​
1. A small piece of tasty food.
2. A small and particularly interesting item of gossip or information.
Tidbit Bistro serves an amazing selection of tapas, small plates, Italian and Spanish food. They also have a full bar specializing in grappa, wine and house made cocktails. Tidbit was voted Best of Western WA in 09 in Evening Magazine.
Tapas is the name of a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. This is so great in tasting more of the menu with groups so you get to try more things and not hurt the pocket book.
Now for my Tidbits… I came here several times and have been please with the quality of food, mix cocktail drinks and superb service. My first time I came with a group of friends celebrating Kate S birthday. It was still Happy Hour notice the menu for drinks:
Wells $ 1, Vodka — Gin — Rum
white by the glass
BIANCO DELLA CASA 1.
VERDEJO — 3.
PECORINO — 3.
red by the glass
ROSSO DELLA CASA 1.
CHIANTI — 4.
SYRAH — 4.
Port Fizz
beer — birra — cerveza
Estrella 3.
First off, the bread is amazingly delicious and great to dip in the mussels broth or soup. I got the soap of the day and Chorizo Y Machego which is spanish pork sausage with cheese. I was also able to taste my friend’s Caprese Calda (warm caprese, with tomatoes, mozzarella, shaved parmesan, basil, olive oil with prosciutto. To wash everything down, I got the Pom Pom Mop Mop.
The soup was rich, tasty and excellent with the bread. And the Chorizo Y Machego can never go wrong with sausages & cheese.
The second time, I join Katy’s dinner with her boss and fellow Unilocalers for the start of Unilocal Drinks. I got the soup of the day with a Pom Pom Mop Mop cocktail drink in a manly glass. I was able to taste the Seafood Paella, and it was so freaking delicious.
The Seafood Paella was soooo good, that I brought my wife, my two other friends to join me to grub the third time that same week. We also got the Zuppa Di Cozze & Vongole… Penn Clams steeped in garlic, white wine and tomato.
The seafood Paella is made with Calasparra rice and Spanish saffron in the traditional paellera, MIXTA shellfish, chorizo, red pepper, artichokes, peas and it is only $ 25 a person.
The Penn clams was so tender and juicy from the broth. The bread with the broth could been a meal alone… was that good!
This is just a great spot to celebrate someone’s birthday or graduation, date night, out with friends, and Happy Hour to get your drink on! You will know I will be back!
Pro Tips:
Sunday –4 pm to 6 pm, Tuesday through Friday –4 pm to 6 pm & 9 pm to close. Free Parking if you make a reservation online or first half hour free if you park in the lot above QFC. If you check in, you get a free made in house tiramisù with ladyfingers. They also have a kid’s menu that is also pretty good that adults would enjoy. One cool tidbit, the sign on the door reads tidbit front and back.

So both times I have been here have been for Unilocal events and both times I have made the mistake of eating before I got here. My next trip here will definitely be with the sole purpose of trying some of the amazing dishes I have seen my friends devour with reckless abandon. Yeah, I’m lookin’ at you Gorman!
The drinks I have had have been very flavorful and I imagine just as imaginative as the food selection. My favorite drink was one of the Unilocal Drinks half off specials and is called the Pom Pom Mop Mop which is not only a great tasting drink, but fun to order as well. The staff here is very friendly and you can tell they care about your experience while under their care which really does make a big difference with so many places out there that have good food but subpar service.
So far, this place has the total package and I am definitely looking forward to visiting here as often as possible.

Let me start out with what I liked about this place. It’s cute. Service is friendly. And the 90 minutes free parking in the nearby garage (with validation) is convenient.
The food that we had last night however… did not meet my expectations.
We had a group of 4 people with us. Perfect for their famous 30 layer lasagna. It was $ 54 but that only works out to $ 13.50 a person so it’s not too bad. The dish was brought out… and honestly, it looks as though it was covered with 1000 Island Sauce. It’s suppose to be Bechamel sauce right? As in… white sauce?
The pasta, I have to admit — was really fresh and delicious. What was between the 30 layers of pasta however… wasn’t all that great. Eggplants. Sundried tomatoes. And loads of ricotta. We should have gone for the Bolognese sauce (extra $ 4).
From the tapas menu, we tried the meatballs (decent) and the sweet potato fries with mustard aioli (good). Nothing that spectacular.

The fact that I’ve updated my Tidbit reviews more than any others I’ve written says something about the staying power of this restaurant in a town full of amazing ones. But I believe I’ve found the secret…
Tomato sorcerers.
There is simply no other way to explain how this relatively small kitchen manages to churn out entrée after tapas after soup after special with ungodly phenomenal perfection. The tomato sauce, fresh, has the perfect just-​sweet acidity to complement, say, the arancini (fried balls of saffron rice and mozzarella). The tomato sauce, cooked, has the perfect glistening veil of oil and depth to stand up to and even surpass the decadence of plump, juicy albondigas. And there’s a reason they mention the soup special, whatever it is, as having a tomato base. When it does, just say yes.
(A mention of the excellent staff as well: visiting with my brother and sister-​in-​law and their almost-​two-​year-​old in tow, we were well-​cared for and enjoyed the crayons, drawing paper, kids’ menu with $ 2 pizza bread — tomatoes! — and big benches perfect for twisting around upon!)
Simplicity, I find, is always the best test of a kitchen. You can obscure the flaws of almost any creation with enough salt, rosemary, pepper, cilantro, pimeñton, basil… or wine. (I should know, as they’re my saviors.) So when a kitchen reliably serves the perfect red swirl of fresh tomato sauce, you know they’re nothing but purists, serving up excellence without any tricks.
Hmm…Or are they?

I give it 3 stars for the quantity and the quality of the food, both were pretty lame. I ordered off the happy hour menu, so I can only imagine how much these tapas were at regular price. I ordered the chorizo and cheese, which was so miniature I almost had to take a magnafying glass out to see it. It tasted o.k. Next the crostini con funghi. Again nothing spectacular, and miniature portion. Since they have a wonderful Unilocal special, where you get a free tirimasu when you check in, I got this as well! Tasted blah and only ate half of it, but at least the price was right ;)
I had to go somewhere else to actually eat dinner, since I was starving after eating here because the portions were so small.
Parking is free here in the parking garage below the building. Yay for free parking on Capital Hill! This is definitely a huge pro for this restaurant/​bar. It’s a 90-​minute time limit on the parking, and since service is super slow, make sure to keep an eye on the time.
Oh and Tidbit closes at 10:30p.m. Important to know since most places on Capital Hill are open much later and I once came here after they had closed and was very disappointed.
Servers were nice (although slow), and the restaurant itself is super cute with nice decorations and great ambiance.
Happy Hour I believe was from 4−6p.m. and also from 9 – 10:30p.m.

My husband and I got a Groupon for this place so we decided to make a dinner date out of it. Cool little spot, nice staff, great tapas menu!
We decided to order a bunch of tapas and would highly recommend the chorizo y manchego, papas dulces, and albondigas! tasty and great for sharing. Prices are a bit on the higher end, especially for the entrees, but everything is very tasty!
They have a fun little menu, good drinks, and decent desserts. We tried their tiramisu and it was good, but not the best. The Papas Dulces (sweet potato fries with this awesome dijon mustard like sauce) was amazing, I would highly recommend an order, or two! If you want some tasty tapas, check this place out!
ps– for a nice place like this, I found it funny that each table had crayons on it for you to draw on the paper table cloth with, lol.

Disclaimer: Restaurant Week review.
I liked my entrée but thought my appetizer and dessert were pretty average.
* Warm Caprese — Layer of melted mozzarella with cherry tomato halves, chopped basil, and olives embedded in it. I didn’t like the effect of the melted cheese. I prefer my Caprese cold and mozzarella unmelted.
* Pappardelle with tomato-​based sauce, arugula, and mushrooms — Simple but satisfying. The wide strips of pappardelle tasted great.
* Flourless chocolate almond torte — Good chocolatey desserts are a dime a dozen these days, and I am still a sucker for them. However, this torte was not particularly good. A bit on the dry side.
I plan to come back and sample more of the menu since the Spanish side of the menu was underrepresented on the Restaurant Week selection.
I really like the clean, cozy, wooden interior of Tidbit. Some tables have a view into the kitchen, which is nice. Cute logo and menu. Good service.
P. S. Half off bottles of wine on Tuesdays!
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-​free options available.

I went for restaurant week because this was one of the two restaurants in Capitol Hill that offered $ 15 lunch deal. Between me and two of my friends, we got everything on the special menu and shared.
Everything was really awesome and fresh. I liked the bruschetta which had tomatoes that tasted like they were freshly chopped. The Italian burger was also delicious. Who would have thought that just by switching the boring burger bun out for Italian bread (whatever kind that they use) would make all the difference in the world.
The desserts were also decent. Having three different desserts for lunch was pure heaven. The service was really friendly also. The owners/​managers were very kind and got us extra plates so that we can fulfill our foodie inclination to try everything. Definitely a good restaurant to visit!

I want to love Tidbit, I really do.
But I don’t.
While I liked their former space on 10^th, I’m not sure how I feel about the space they currently occupy. It’s too… umm…I’m not sure. But it certainly doesn’t scream «I’m a great Italian restaurant» me. Which sucks b/​c I’m sure Tidbit has the potential to be.
In any case, the gnocchi the first time we went there was to. die. for. Rich with flavour and melty in the mouthy. The gnocchi I had at their new location did not melty in my mouthy. It was cheesy indeedy, but didn’t taste the same — almost like it had been sitting out for a day waiting to be warmed up. My cocktail (the pom something or other) tasted a bit what might be considered rubbing alcohol, so I was a wee sad about that. Could’ve been a great cocktail, but it sat forlornly by my plate instead.
I walked out wondering where else I could go eat, which is a bad thing for me b/​c I NEVER EVER LIKE TO LEAVE HUNGRY AND DISSATISFIED AFTER A MEAL.
Oh Tidbit, should I give you another chance?
What, dear readers, do you think I should do?

Tidbit is like a little slice of foreign fusion heaven right in our little town.
The owners are a throwback, walking the room, checking on your experience to make sure that every need is being met by their charming and attentive waitstaff.
The food is always so good, I end up eating more than I should and never regret a thing, I recommend going hungry and planning to stay awhile as this, like love, takes time if it’s to be grand.
The drinks– try the grappa flight for the full experience– are outstanding and brought to your table promptly, while the food comes out like a taste tempting parade, one amazing dish after the other.
This is hands-​down my favorite restaurant in Seattle.

Silly me for not coming here sooner! I’d been following Tidbit’s twitter feed (along with the rest of Seattle) and was so excited a few months back when they announced their move to a bigger, more central location.
Today I finally made it in and it was even better than I’d expected. Service was perfect and the food??? Is there a BETTER word for impeccable?
I joined forces with fellow Unilocaler Leonardo R and we were wined and dined here. They’ve got a great little cocktail list so of course I had to indulge. For apps we chose the bruschetta which is always a favorite of mine. I don’t know what kind of deal these guys worked out with the man above but I’ve never seen tomatoes so red!
We were also treated to a little plate of fried potatoes, which I think they give to everyone who dines there. They were such a treat! While we snacked on apps we waited eagerly for the other food to come out of the kitchen. Literally everything was perfect. We nibbled on some mushroom crostinis (prob my fave thing all night!) and we had melon and prosciutto and a lovely salad.
It’s evident that the folks at Tidbit pay attention to detail. Every veggie and piece of fruit was carefully selected. Everything was ripe and fresh and flavors popped. I’m so glad they’re closer to my apartment because I certainly plan to visit a lot more.
Apart from the mushroom crostinis (and everything else that was impressive) I also tried the lemon gelatto. I really can’t say enough good things about this place… it was superb! Just the right amount of zing mixed with sweetness. I left feeling full but even thinking about how good the meal was makes me want to go right back.
Best of all. the prices are super affordable. It’s been a while since I’ve had food this good for this cheap!

Thank you, oh Tidbit, THANK YOU!
I was thrilled and somewhat scared when I realized that 20 Unilocalers (a couple were +1s) actually made it to my little Tidbit Happy Hour event! My biggest worry was probably that most of us were paying separately and the second half of the table arrived when the first half had already ordered wine/​food. (Most people bringing cash really helped make this easy.)
Thankfully, the staff at Tidbit handled us all perfectly and there were, as far as I could tell, absolutely NO issues. Our waiter was great at keeping us satisfied with wine, water, and bites. The big smile on the face of the Italian (?) man (with the accent) at the entrance made me happy.
I tried almost all of the happy hour bites. I think my favorites were probably the arancini (golden fried risotto cakes with tomato, saffron and mozzarella, with tomato salsa sciué sciué) and the funghi crostini.
This was a lovely experience of delicious wine and food shared with a group of both familiar and new faces. PERFECT!
I will DEFINITELY be coming back to Tidbit for more.