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    Bistro San Martin

    4.8 (291 reviews)
    Closed 5:00 pm - 9:00 PM
    Updated 1 month ago

    Bistro San Martin Photos

    Business Info

    BISTRO SAN MARTIN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Bistro San Martin

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    Seating
    Andy A.

    We absolutely loved this restaurant. I can't say enough great things about the food. We loved everything that we ordered and can't wait to try more from their changing menu. We started off with the bread and olive oil and ordered drinks. The shrimp appetizer was great! We ordered halibut and crab cakes. Followed by crème brûlée. The service was exceptional and very attentive. The chef cooked everything right there in the open kitchen and it was wonderfully prepared. The ambiance was very warm and inviting.

    Kate B.

    ​I went here for a rehersal dinner and the food and service was amazing! I have no idea how they cooked for so many all at once and made everything impeccable. Who could ever imagine that little old Arlington had such a gem of a place. Highly recommend!

    The Crab Cakes Entree was delicious. Good sized with plenty of crab with very little filler & the sauce was soooo good.
    Rick C.

    Went on an amazing double date 7/11/25 & experienced this wonderful gem. Perfect ambiance for a little bistro. Quaint seating area in the front with a larger seating area in a 2nd room & a private Zen Garden in the back perfect for the private intimate moments. Vibrate cultural art from Mexico & local artists & just the right level of background noise with the ability to carry on conversations comfortably. The kitchen was exposed to the front allowing interaction with the chef & his crew while the air was filled with the delicious smells of the kitchen. Another perfect touch was one of the owners greeting & seating guests & walking around checking on tables & chatting it up with the guests to provide a caring experience. The staff was friendly, courteous & on top of things. Waters constantly filled, tables cleared & food arrived fast, hot & delicious. Everything we ordered was prepared to perfection & there is not 1 thing I think could have been better. I can honestly say this was one of my top dining experiences of all time. Thank you for an AMAZING experience.

    Slices of heaven
    Robert I.

    I simply love this place! The Food, The Service and the Atmosphere! I live in Bellevue and this place is worth my travel and time. I haven't been there since covid, but this recent visit, Steve recognized be from my previous visit. The owners are always upfront amongst the patrons and making sure everything is consistently pleasurable, delicious and delightful. Jason, our server and expert in everything wonderful, was most awesome. BTW, If you're missing an arm, the chef will cut your meat.

    Jacob P.

    Excellent service. Fine cocktails. Great appetizers and main course. Seafood abd steaks are consistently amazing. Worth the drive and phone only reservations.

    Vanilla mousse cake
    Marshall T.

    I don't like sweets usually but the vanilla mousse cake at the bistro is just perfect. The service is great. The flowers and vase made from silverware adds to the perfect ambiance.

    Creme Brulee
    Mark M.

    Date day I was treated to The Bistro San Martin. What an amazing experience and meal! Our waitress was outstanding! We asked for our meal to be spaced out over the evening after we placed our orders and she was spot on! Friendly and very familiar with the menu and gave great suggestions. We started out with the Poke'. It was delicious. Very flavorful and tasty. The caprese salad was next, very refreshing and crisp. Sweet onion soup followed, it was so savory and succulent. Main course was scallops that were seared to perfection served with an amazing risotto. This is a great dinner spot. The food and service are right on point!

    Halibut

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    3 months ago

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    1 year ago

    Wonderful bistro with great selection of entrees and wines. The service was excellent and ambiance very nice. Great place for date night!

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    5 months ago

    So delicious! Go there for sure -excellent food excellent service. A surprising spot for such well made food.

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    2 years ago

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    11 months ago

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    7 months ago

    Beautiful presentations of delicious food. Our favorite restaurant . Every thing and every person there is suburb

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    1 year ago

    Food is amazing, one of the best dinners I have ever had. Food is worth the price, service was awsome also, very friendly.

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    2 years ago

    Big city cuisine in cute tony town. Amazingly known. I came from Miami ftom NYC friends' reccomendations and Seattle citizen's confirmation.

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    Page 1 of 8

    Ask the Community - Bistro San Martin

    Are you open to dine in?

    Yes, as of June 2024 anyway. 😎

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    The Oyster & Thistle Restaurant and Pub - O&T Clams ... Wow!

    The Oyster & Thistle Restaurant and Pub

    4.1(351 reviews)
    21.7 mi
    $$$

    Amazing place with amazing food. My wife and I dined here for our anniversary and were served food…read morethat showcased a talent that elevated elevated our dining to a place of wonder.

    Came here with my husband on a rare date night. I was REALLY excited about this place. The menu had…read morea lot of our favorite dishes. For starters, we ordered the artisan bread, a dozen oysters, and the beet salad. As someone who bakes and sells my own artisan sourdough, I was underwhelmed by the bread. I liked the touch of truffle they add to it but it needed salt. And it also needed to be on the table well before the 35 minutes we waited for it. The oysters were also not very memorable. I can't remember what one of the varieties was, but they were brinier than I care for but that's just a personal preference. The kumamotos were the TINIEST oysters I've ever seen. I've eaten my share of kumamotos and I know Japanese oysters are generally smaller and sweeter than other varieties (which is why they're my favorite) , but I'm not exaggerating when I say they were the size of quarter. I also didn't like the frozen mignonette they served as an accoutrement. It didn't seem frozen--it spread like jam. It didn't really taste like vinegar or shallot like mignonette should. It was just not very good. The beet salad was EXCELLENT. The chèvre was generous, the bitter micro greens tasted great with the beets and chèvre. It was well seasoned. We devoured it. For entrees, I had the dayboat scallops and my husband had the duck leg. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the leek risotto was very tasty. I'm not really sure what I was supposed to do with the pickled lemon on my plate. I tried to eat a small piece with the other elements and it was so overpowering that I left the rest on my plate. Now let's talk about the protein--my $52 scallop dish came with THREE scallops. Not even whole scallops as I'm pretty sure they were cut in half to cook more evenly. Three small 1/2 scallops and two cubes of pork belly. For Fifty-two dollars. My husband enjoyed the duck, but again, the portions were disappointing. $230 later, we ended up going through a drive through because we were still hungry. Unlikely we'd return after such an expensive meal left us so unsatisfied.

    Photos
    The Oyster & Thistle Restaurant and Pub - New remodel!

    New remodel!

    The Oyster & Thistle Restaurant and Pub
    The Oyster & Thistle Restaurant and Pub

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    Brasserie L'ecole - The steak

    Brasserie L'ecole

    4.4(169 reviews)
    59.3 mi
    $$$

    Food - 5/5 we ordered the Beef Bourguignon, truffle Frites, and Gnocchi…read more The rich sauce of the Beef Bourguignon balanced well with the freshness of the carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes. The Frites might have been the best Parmesan garlic trout for fried I have ever had! The Gnocchi was light and fluffy with another wonderful rich creamy garlic sauce. DESSERT- Crème Brûlée had the perfect layer of caramelized sugar and wonderful cream to share to wrap up an amazing experience. Service- 5/5 the team does a perfect job managing the pace of the meal and keeping everything flowing well. Our waitress was especially kind and we could not have asked for anyone more perfect for our honeymoon! 5/5 or 10/10. We are from San Diego but it it so good, WE WILL BE BACK!

    There's a certain romance people expect when they step into a French brasserie--the low hum of…read moreconversation, the clink of glasses, a dimly lit room that whispers rather than shouts. Brasserie L'Ecole leans hard into that mood. Maybe a little too hard. Look, I get it. Lighting can be seductive. It can soften edges, blur imperfections, make everyone feel like they're in on something intimate and vaguely cinematic. But there's a fine line between ambiance and obscurity, and this place crosses it with confidence. When the room is dark enough that you're squinting to make out what's on your plate--when you can't even appreciate the color of the food you're about to eat--you start to wonder who this is really for. Diners? Or vampires? And then the food arrives. Let's talk about the French onion soup gratinée--the kind of dish that should feel like a warm, savory embrace. Deep, rich broth. Sweet, slow-cooked onions. That molten cap of cheese pulling apart in long, indulgent strands. Instead, what lands in front of you is a salt delivery system disguised as comfort food. A few spoonfuls in and your palate is already waving the white flag. It's not nuanced, not layered--just aggressively, relentlessly salty. A blunt instrument where a scalpel should be. You start thinking about wine. You *want* wine. But then reality kicks in: what's the point? Pairing anything with this level of salinity feels like pouring a decent bottle straight into the ocean. Whatever subtlety, whatever character the wine might have had--it doesn't stand a chance. Then comes the brasserie burger. In theory, a reliable fallback. In practice? More of the same. Heavy-handed seasoning that bulldozes everything else on the plate. After the soup, it's not just overkill--it's a slog. Each bite feels like work. Finishing it becomes less about enjoyment and more about stubbornness. By the end of the meal, you're not lingering over dessert or debating another glass. You're reaching for water. Lots of it. The kind of deep, desperate hydration that feels less like refreshment and more like recovery. Like you've just spent an afternoon face down on the shores of the Dead Sea. There's a good restaurant hiding in here somewhere; since the service is spot on, buried beneath the darkness, buried beneath the salt. But as it stands, the experience feels less like a Parisian escape and more like a test of endurance. Cheers or Jeers.. .up to you.

    Photos
    Brasserie L'ecole - Inside

    Inside

    Brasserie L'ecole - Charcuterie board

    Charcuterie board

    Brasserie L'ecole - Front of restaurant

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    Front of restaurant

    Prima Bistro - Fried oysters, Penn Cove mussels, clams & chorizo

    Prima Bistro

    4.1(535 reviews)
    16.8 mi
    $$

    We spent our Valentine's Day lunch here and it was a great choice with our favorite foods!…read moreThe upper floor dining area is elegant and spaced out enough not to feel cramped. Service was attentive and friendly as usual. We were quickly seated for our reservations. The tartare and mussels are our go-tos for appetizers. The tartare may be a challenge for some folks but the freshness of the meat with the richness of the egg yolk, on toasted bread, is beyond delightful. I might just have that as my main entree one day! The mussels were perfect and the broth it was boiled in was so tasty we had to bring the remainder home with us! My bride had the hanger steak (rare) which came out gorgeously seared and juicy on the inside. The shoestring fries are addictive! I could not resist having my lamb burger (med-rare). What more can I say? The arugula on some mayonnaise, the bit of salsa, the moist and generously sized burger with a touch of lime(?) and perhaps some ginger(?), on a bun that tasted freshly baked. No sauce needed. We had a pitcher of rose which was delightfully light and fruity, which went well with our meal. A wonderful way to celebrate Love!

    We wanted to go to wander shops and get a nice Saturday night dinner out and we chose to drive down…read moreto Langley. We made reservations for two that morning. We enjoy Langley and the lights and shops were great to visit. We showed up just before our 5 PM reservation and the hostess was standing at her computer. My wife asked about sitting on the heated outdoor area because it smelled odd in the dining room. She said it was full (it wasn't) but then still looking at her screen said if we could wait a bit they can make a table available. We gladly waited for a few minutes. There were three to four open tables both inside and outside and she sat us at a two top in the corner next to the door. My wife asked if we could get out of the corner but no go. Then she asked if we could just fit inside then? Now the hostess didn't want to accommodate that and when asked what happened to the table inside she intended to give us originally the hostess, in a rather snotty tone, said to my wife "you only made your reservation today!". That isn't the way to address my wife! She told her that we would just go somewhere else. Crickets from this hostess....no effort to please us so gone we were! We haven't been here for a year since the food was not that great last time and cannot compare at all to other better French restaurants on the east coast and our trips to France. We just thought we'd they it again for a nice holiday weekend meal. We went right across the street to a truly packed Village pizzeria, they kindly fit us in at a great bar seating and we got to watch the LA bowl and Huskies and enjoy our usual Village Pizza, caesar, and a couple of rounds of drinks. Excellent and friendly service! We won't be returning now recommending Prima Bistro again. We often tell guests and friends that it's likely a better choice than Saltwater next door. We are getting tired of the "finer" dining on Whidbey that is often overpriced, unreliable, and un accommodating compared to similar dining elsewhere. This was a good example. And at 7 PB appeared almost empty from our view from the street!

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    Prima Bistro - Hall to the restaurant

    Hall to the restaurant

    Prima Bistro - Mussels in a bucket

    Mussels in a bucket

    Prima Bistro

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    The Chalet Deep Cove - Warm chocolate cake.

    The Chalet Deep Cove

    3.9(42 reviews)
    70.5 mi
    $$$

    On our first visit we found the food inconsistent. The coq au vin and the lamb were tough and…read moresalty. The salads and appetizers were quite good. The service was attentive. It was a decent experience but not very satisfying. While we weren't thrilled with our first visit, the atmosphere is lovely so we decided to try again when we had visitors from out of town. It didn't go well. We had horrible service on our second visit, though the food was much better the second time. First they got upset because I wanted an appetizer as my entree and had to get permission from the owner. We were a table of five and were ordering many drinks and appetizers for the whole table, plus a soup for myself in addition to my desired appetizer and the other four at the table all got entrees, so it wasn't like we weren't spending but I still needed to seek permission, like I wasn't an adult with agency. Our server was MIA for most of our meal after that. He rarely checked back. Apparently, the good service is saved for his regulars. This was specifically told to me by our server who made us wait for almost an hour after our meal before tending to us again as "he had been busy with his regulars". All five of us had wanted dessert and after dinner drinks, but we had waited so long we just went home. I guess they have enough "regulars" and don't need more as we won't be returning in the foreseeable future.

    The old owner has forgotten basic manners. Too rude now. I wouldn't consider spending the money at…read morea restaurant where common courtesy isn't a priority.

    Photos
    The Chalet Deep Cove - Views from the patio during dinner.

    Views from the patio during dinner.

    The Chalet Deep Cove
    The Chalet Deep Cove - The old restaurant building.

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    The old restaurant building.

    Restaurant Marché - Excellent service tasty food and tea

    Restaurant Marché

    3.7(256 reviews)
    43.3 mi
    $$

    My wife and I were very disappointed in multiple aspects of this restaurant. I haven't written a…read morereview in a long time since I typically only write reviews when it's positive, but I would've liked to know this beforehand. The restaurant smells of smoke when you walk in. I smelled the salmon that the table had as we walked by as well, which typically isn't a good sign for cooked fresh salmon. I got a special, cassoulet and a side, wood fired kabocha squash. The cassoulet didn't taste of anything really. My wife described the food as "gray". It was also $48 which was conveniently left out of the description the server gave me. The kabocha squash wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about. The server was fine, quickly there to get drink and food orders and the check. The woman who I presume is the owner went around to every table to greet the diners but left ours out. She also brought the food out to every table but ours. The total was nearly $200 due to a 20% dine in service fee where "66% goes to staff who cooked and served" where does the other third go then? The 20% should be the tip, and should go to staff. I felt obligated to add a tip on top for the server, as it felt she was being treated unfairly by the restaurant. Will not be back, and advise others to stay away unless they make changes.

    If you want a fine dining experience that feels like you're on the set of "punk'd," this place is…read morefor you. The outside hasn't changed since it opened and was actually refined, so it still looks upscale. Once inside, it gives very strong Cracker Barrel vibes: the framed posters of herbs provided the perfect atmospheric compliment for the basic menu: meatloaf, chicken pot pie, and other Cracker Barrel specialties. The pasta of the day was overpriced Mac and cheese. We ordered the shrimp starter, I had the Five Vegetable plate, and my husband got the meatloaf. I also had a glass of the brut rosé. The service was so slow that we had to order bread to tide us over before the app arrived. I immediately recognized the $5 roll as the frozen mini baguettes from Trader Joe's. I thought maybe they would taste better than that, but nope. If they are not from Trader Joe's, I would be shocked. The shrimp was grilled on top of wilted greens. You really needed the greens to help the monumental salt from the shrimp. My tongue was burnt from so much salt. Half an hour later, the entrees arrived. The 5 vegetable Plate was a miracle of epic failure. The cauliflower could hardly be cut without a steak knife. It was almost raw with no seasoning. The beets were boiled. The bok choy was soaked in some salty sauce until it was brown, then cooked till wilted beyond recognition. The acorn squash had the consistency of glue paste. But the crown achievement was the "flan" in the middle. I am still not quite sure what it was trying to be, but it was not a flan. It was more like scrambled eggs with the consistency of sand. I took one bite of each veg and did something I have never done in my life - I sent it back to the kitchen. I had a bite of my husband's meatloaf, which had the consistency of wet dog food. The entire meal was so awful, it's baffling to me how they get four stars. Go elsewhere.

    Photos
    Restaurant Marché
    Restaurant Marché
    Restaurant Marché - Country Pate

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    Country Pate

    Bistro San Martin - newamerican - Updated May 2026

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