Cafe on the Ave

Nice little spot for late night eats. I was looking for a late dinner after a long gym session, and this was one of the only spots which was open. It was highly recommended to me by some friends who attended UW and for good reason! They had a pretty extensive menu including various sandwiches, burgers, pastas, and other entrees, but I opted to get the chicken katsu curry. It came with the katsu, rice, and a salad for which you could choose your own dressing (I think I opted for sesame something, and it was really good). I was super hungry so maybe this isn't the most accurate measure of taste, but I thought the curry was REALLY good. Portion size was also great, they load up on the food without the price being outrageous. I definitely left here feeling super satisfied. Service was minimal but friendly, as utensils, water, etc is self service, and you also need to bus your own dishes at the end IIRC. Ordering is done at the counter and then they bring your food out to you. Pretty decent amount of seating here as well, would definitely recommend trying it out!

I've been to Cafe on the Ave twice now! This review will be for my second time, but my first experience was equally as good (or even better!).To start, I ordered the curry rice with pork katsu, as recommended by my friend. It was so good! Crispy katsu and flavorful curry. The portion size? HUGE. I was extremely hungry and worried that the crispness wouldn't last overnight so I managed to eat it all but honestly this could last me days. One thing I will mention is that if you're stuck between ordering the karaage and the pork katsu, definitely go for the pork katsu. My friend originally recommended the karaage, but the piece I tried was odd. Since I didn't order it, I won't talk more about it but pork katsu definitely on top! The one thing about it that I will mention is that it was SLIGHTLY and I mean slightly, dry. That's it! Nothing to mark a star down for. The service was great, the server was kind and patient, and the food came out to our table within minutes, despite being extremely busy. I love the style of this restaurant. It's both equally a quick, cafe-esque place, but also a sit down restaurant if you order a meal! It's always filled with UW students, so it almost feels like a part of campus. Last time I came here, it was in the morning, which was super quiet and peaceful (ordered kimchi fried rice and a strawberry lemonade, 4.9/5, 0.1 down for the flies in the restaurant, nothing to do with the taste of the food). I had a study session without disturbance. When I went for dinner this time, there was music pumping and it was filled with people chatting. Both vibes were great and I'm looking forward to trying other things here!

Went to eat here after the Cherry Blossom Festival at UW Square last weekend. This was my second time eating at this café since last year's festival where I had enjoyed Kimichi Fried Rice that was on point. However, I decided to try something new this time and got a combination of an appetizer Tteok-bokki and their Spicy Pork Bibimbap. The Spicy Pork Bibimbap was plated nicely but tasted pretty average and as for the Tteok-bokki they had completely forgotten about it and served it to another table. Luckily, they remedied this with a new order when confronted about it. However, that evening I fell violently ill and ended up in the ER the following day which I found out was food poisoning. My partner whom also ate at this restaurant also had food poisoning since I shared my Bibimbap with them. It has been a week and I am only now finally better and able to eat food again. I have never gotten so violently ill to the point where I couldn't hold down water and I 100% know it was whatever we ate here because I this was the only meal I had that day since I am very conscious of my caloric intake. This is definitely a first for me! Although the food was descent and pretty...its just not worth nearly dying. I hope to make people aware of this place being a public health safety issue and I will most likely not return to eat at this establishment.

Cafe on the Ave is a solid place to get food or a drink and study/work! I came on a Saturday morning with some friends and stayed for a few hours to work and the space is perfect for it. When you walk in you first order and pay at the counter, then find any open table and they bring your food. It was pretty busy when I went, so they were a little slow with bringing out the food and drinks. I got a vanilla latte and it was solid, but they forgot to make my friend's order so we had to go check in on her food.

Cafe on the Ave is one of those places where it's a rite of passage to stop by for a quick bite in between classes. Though I have since long graduated, I've been back twice over the past few months and it was just as mediocre as I remembered it lol. Both times I got a sandwich combo (you could choose between fries or a side salad) - which comes out to about $18 - $20 and that is quite expensive for a quick lunch. but I was craving a sandwich and surprisingly there's not a ton of those available around the Ave. During my most recent visit, I asked for no onion, but when I finally took a bite into my sandwich after I left the cafe, I took the biggest bite of red onions of my life and that permeated through my entire sandwich and immediately ruined it. Honestly, unless I was craving a sandwich I can't get elsewhere, I would probably not come back.

Have gone in for breakfast, both dine in and takeout, a couple times, and have yet to be impressed - it's not terrible, but not great. Cool to see such an eclectic range of dishes coming out of a little breakfast café like this, but despite their nice in-house presentation, I have yet to get anything that really made me want to come back. From what I've had, flavors are just a little on the basic and greasy side and while it's not crazy expensive, their prices aren't all that great either. There are definitely no shortage of places on the Ave where you can get a little more bang for your buck, if you're looking to eat out. YMMV.

I've been to Cafe on the Ave a few times before and have always gotten the kimchi fried rice. I ordered the kimchi fried rice with chicken to-go today for brunch. Maybe it's because I didn't actually eat the food until about half an hour after I had gotten it, but it was not as tasty as I had remembered. The eggs were a little rubbery (probably because I didn't eat it fresh). I wanted the chicken to be a little more crispy and have more texture to it; it felt pretty soft and wasn't super flavorful. The kimchi was in small bite sized pieces, which was nice. As for the fried rice, I personally don't mind that it is soft, but if you like crispy fried rice, this might not be the best option for you. The portion size is pretty large though. For a Friday morning, it was decently busy but not packed. Service was quick, and the overall atmosphere was warm but also very relaxing. They played good music, which was nice.

This place SLAPS. 11/10 food & smoothies. Get the green matcha one, you won't regret it.

I visited here last Saturday afternoon at 1:30 after my friend and I was strolling around the area. Immediately after entering I fell in love with the atmosphere! I loved the place, during the day it gave off super the stereotypical Seattle Hippie cafe vibe. To which I adore hahahaa. I'd love to see this place at night even more, I enjoy the all black interior design. Enough about the interior craze, I got a strawberry Italian soda drink which imo was pretty mediocre. I'd rate it about a 6.5/10. Nothing special about it, and probably wouldn't order again. I loved the staff and service here though! The guy I talked to at the front was super friendly and sweet. For most, it seemed like they actually enjoyed being there lol. Something odd that I did like about this place was it had a suggestion box for drinks. Found that pretty neat. All in all, would most def visit again. Pretty empty though as shown in the picture, but not too shocking as there are so many competing cafes in the U-District area. Probably will come back to try other drinks as I wasn't the most satisfied with mine, but no worries. :)

Avocado toast is half an avocado sliced and served on a 6 inch baguette, it is drier than sand. Grilled cheese sandwich with sourdough was served with store bought white bread with kraft singles. College dorm kids could make a better grilled cheese than this on a steam iron. Fries were good. Order took forever to arrive. Cafe is loud and messy.