Northwest Guitars
I've known the Fallons for over 25 years now, and was thrilled when I found out that Kevin Fallon was opening a guitar shop! He is one of the most knowledgable musicians that is in the area and one the best players as well. His son Vinnie can really shred on the guitar and bass but is very humble about it. He is one of the kindest, nicest people that you would meet on this planet. With their background, it's no wonder that they excel in recommending the best guitars and basses for people. My 8 year old daughter has 2 guitars that she bought from Vinnie. She loved getting her picture taken on their "stage" and is now in their photo book!
Flower World
This place is HUGE! You NEED to get the map that they have to navigate your way through the complex. Before you start shopping for plants check out the water fountain outside with the ducks and geese. The kids love playing there! Once you get inside, grab your map and prepare to spend half of your day there if you don't already know EXACTLY what you want. We ended up spending hundreds of dollars more than we intended, but we came home with some great plants! You'll have a hard time tracking down help if you go during a weekend since they are so busy -- I had to dock 1 star due to this. If you want to spend a leisurely time looking for some of the best plants in the area, you'll enjoy this place!
Pump It Up
As far as kid's birthday party locations go, there are only a few on the Eastside -- one less now that Illusionz is gone now in Issaquah. The kids have a great time jumping around on the huge inflatables, and unlike 321 bounce in Bellevue, they have the entire room to their party alone. (321 Bounce shares the room with 2 parties). I wish there was more comfortable seating for the adults, but several of us end up jumping around with the kids anyways! After the kids are sweaty and tired (wound up as well!), they go upstairs to their private party room for food and presents. I wish that they would allow for outside food other than cake and ice cream or have more variety other than pizza. The birthday child loves sitting in the inflatable throne for presents. The staff helps setup, serve, and cleanup the room as well. It sure beats having a messy house to clean after a big party! I think we had 24 kids at our last party at this place!
Panera Bread
I used to eat several times a week at Panera Bread in the Chicago area, and when I heard that they were coming out here, I couldn't wait! They finally opened in Redmond, and it's the same good quality, fresh food that I remembered. The breads are baked fresh, and the hot sandwiches are VERY good indeed -- Frontega Chicken being one of my favs! Needless to say I've had every single once of food that they serve there and I can't say a negative thing about a single item. The soups in their fresh sourdough bread bowls are awesome, with the soups rotating in variey. Try the peanut butter and jelly on sourdough -- a grownup version of a kid's fav! don't forget to try their bagels, pastries and the frozen green tea drinks!
Marinepolis Sushi Land
The newest Sushi Land is in Redmond, near the Bella Botega Theater. I started going to the one in Bellevue after one of my friends made the top 3 list of sushi eaters (he ate over 30 plates!). The sushi is good for a kaiten sushi place (conveyor belt sushi), and if you ask the sushi chefs there, they may even have toro or some other sushi that may not usually end up on the belt, so be sure to ask! Even after stuffing myself full of sushi, fried calamari, tako-yaki, cream puffs (the tako-yaki looks like it, so beware!), etc. the bill always ends up being reasonable compared to going to a standard Japanese sushi restaurant.
Claim Jumper
This place has some of the largest portions that I have seen! It is a given that you will walk out with bags of food that you did not finish. The zuchinni spears are a must, and after you leave room for dessert (VERY difficult to do!), go for the biggest piece of choclate cake that you have seen! A slice can be split by a few people easily! If you go during dinner hours be prepared to wait -- it's a very popular place for good reason!
Matts Famous Chili Dogs
I was thrilled by to find this place one day when I was just driving around Bellevue. Having lived in Chicago for 3 years, I miss the food very much. The Chicago dogs are very authentic there, but they also have Italian Beef!!! While it's not Portillo's from Chicago, it's still very good. There's one that opened up in Kirkland that I need to check out next!
Honda of Kirkland
I've been taking my Honda vehicles to this dealership since the late 1980's. The service has always been excellent, and the people there are very courteous. I recently bought a Honda Odyssey there due to the great service. I am docking 1 star because one of the salespeople gave me some problems when I tried to bring them 2 customers -- he didn't believe me, or was getting greedy and didn't want to lower the price on a new Odyssey to below MSRP (I never pay more than MSRP!). Anyways, he told me that he can't go below, so my friends got their 2 Odysseys from a different dealership that was willing -- it's business, and if a dealership can sell inventory at a higher price, I respect that and have no problem with that. The salesperson later chewed me out after I told him what happened -- HE was the one that told me that he couldn't go below MSRP! I came back a few months later to buy my Odyssey from another salesperson that was VERY attentive and I ended up buying my vehicle there. I don't know if that other salesperson is still there, but if you can get the close to the price that you want, get your vehicle there. The service department makes up for the deficiencies caused by a bad salesperson or two there.
