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    Brief Encounter

    3.4 (263 reviews)
    Closed • 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

    Order Brief Encounter Takeout or Delivery

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    Business Info

    BRIEF ENCOUNTER ATMOSPHERE

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

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    Recommended Reviews - Brief Encounter

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    This is my sign
    Craig F.

    This is a rather small place hidden in North Bellevue. The restaurant is a smaller place that seems comfortable. It looks like they share a space with Graze Craze in regards ro the kitchen area. I picked up a BLT and Rueben sandwiches to go. The staff was very friendly and cordial. The sandwiches were not as good as I would have hoped. The BLT came on wheat bread and I was not asked on the bread choice and the sandwich itself was a bit dry. The Rueben sandwich was pretty good with lots of meat but the rye bread seemed like it might have been fried or over buttered, this made it feel and taste oily. I do intend to come back again later and give it another try.

    Joe's Special & Country Hash
    Carol C.

    Delicious breakfast on the Eastside. My go to here is the country hash and eggs with house made corned beef and a biscuit. Diner feel. Service is quick and friendly. Located in a strip mall with available parking.

    Kim T.

    This place is a very small restaurant in the Bellevue area. It's a good spot as a back up place. If all of the other Bellevue brunch spots are full prices are definitely a bit expensive for what you get. I've tried the eggs benedict, the two egg breakfast and the cinnamon roll. All of them are pretty standard. Their hashbrowns are my favorite part. It's super crispy. Service is pretty standard as well sometimes they forget about you but it's ok. It's very accommodating spot for parties six or more so that's super helpful and there's a parking lot so that's super convenient! Hygiene could be better :,) utensils were a bit dirty

    Sabrina N.

    nothing too crazy, just a casual breakfast diner in bellevue. our food took quite a while to come out but everything tasted pretty good. if you're looking for a typical american spot you should come here.

    Burrito with condiment container for size comparison.
    Ramon M.

    Ordered a breakfast burrito for lunch... $14 for this? Gave it the benefit of the doubt in case it was the best tasting burrito ever and it is a meh burrito.

    Online menu- $16 price

    Oh so disappointed. I had been craving biscuits and gravy for two weeks but didn't have time to make them myself. My mornings have been hectic, and I kept missing breakfast at my usual spots. So, I decided to give this place a try. I called ahead for a pickup order, and the gentleman on the phone was polite. He asked how I wanted my eggs, but I didn't want eggs or hash browns. I asked if there were any substitutions, like fruit--he said no. I asked if I could just leave them out--he said no, it "doesn't change anything." That was frustrating, but I went ahead with the order anyway. When I arrived, I noticed the menu offered a side order of biscuits and gravy, which would have been perfect. Not sure why he didn't mention that as an option. Now, the food: * The online menu listed the meal at $16, but I was charged $18. * It was supposed to come with two biscuits, but I received two cold, rock-hard halves--so really, just one full biscuit. * The gravy was advertised as sausage gravy, yet there wasn't a single piece of sausage in it. * It was completely bland and also cold. I was so disappointed by this experience and will not be back. Save your money and go next door to Subway.

    a restaurant with tables and chairs
    Jen P.

    $23 for a scrambled egg, sausage and 1 pancake with a small cup of caffe was a bit to much. The service was off and seemed very disconnected from the customer experience.

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    7 years ago

    OMG you need to try the Jake's burrito. I can't remember the last time I had such a satisfying breakfast

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    10 years ago

    Ok food, nothing too special that I tried. Even the potatoes were pretty bland. Had to add salt sour cream and salsa to give it flavor.

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    Page 3 of 7

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    Black Bottle - Prosciutto Flatbread

    Black Bottle

    3.8(828 reviews)
    1.2 mi
    •$$

    Black Bottle is surprisingly vegetarian-friendly, which was extremely helpful during my completely…read moreself-invented colon-cleaning regimen--a medical program designed by me, for me, with absolutely no professional supervision. The vegetable dishes were excellent: flavorful, well-prepared, and apparently packed with enough fiber to move several years of unresolved business through my digestive system. By the end of the evening, my bowels had entered what I can only describe as "Super Slide" mode. This was not ordinary diarrhea. This was an express-lane evacuation. Waste did not merely leave my body; it checked out early, skipped the front desk, and fled the premises without saying goodbye. The food was delicious, the staff was attentive, and my colon emerged feeling lighter, cleaner, and emotionally available. Highly recommended for vegetarians, food lovers, and anyone whose lower intestine needs a firm but flavorful motivational speech.

    Went here with a friend for a nice weeknight dinner, and it was great! She was on an elimination…read morediet and still wanted to go out, so Black Bottle was a great option for us. There's a menu section that filters all their items based on dietary restrictions, so it was pretty easy to find items that fit her dietary needs. The aguachile was fresh and bursting with flavor, the chilies were really well-seasoned, but the duck was the real standout. So well-seasoned, tender, and that cranberry sauce?! Did not expect to like it as much as I did. We also got some mocktails which were yummy and hit the spot! Docking off one star just because the price was pretty steep for the portion, but otherwise was a nice spot.

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    Central Bar + Restaurant - Gyoza - offsite catering event - summer 2024

    Central Bar + Restaurant

    4.0(376 reviews)
    1.4 mi
    •$$

    Free parking. Good service! Great options on menu. Nice ambiance for a Sport bar…read more Highly recommended.

    While the food here is decent, service is good, and the atmosphere feels calm and inviting, I had a…read morefew cons in my dining experience there last night: First, after seating ourselves, it took us at least 15-20 min just to even get 'seen' by the staff. This was while the place was practically empty, so I'm not sure what else could have been occupying their time. Second, I ordered the pork shoulder stir fry which wasn't bad but had several large pieces of pure fat & gristle in it that I felt a high quality restaurant would have taken out of the dish. It's indicative of lazy & careless food preparation skills. Also, the basmati rice was very under-cooked...some pieces were even crunchy. Lastly, after leaving the place, I realized that I accidentally left my sunglasses there. So I called later that evening to inquire if they had found them. I discovered they route all incoming calls to a bot that instantly made me feel unimportant and unappreciated. What's worse is it tried to connect me with someone in the restaurant, but kept looping back into its own messaging narrative. What an absolute PITA. This enables me to make a broader point: Restaurants have to get it through their heads that cutting costs has negative impact on customer experience, putting the lifeblood of their business into jeopardy. Take the widespread adoption of QR code-based menus during COVID...how many restaurants do you know actually switched back to real menus after COVID passed? The answer is very few. The reason why? They are too stingy to pony up the dough and ignore the benefit to the customer experience. They figure, 'people already know how to do that so why spend the money on printing up menus anymore?". They couldn't care less about what customers might actually enjoy more, and that's the real travesty. If restaurants are going to force their customers into a self-serve model (as so many have nowadays), then why bother tipping anyone? I am so fed up of a world where the idolatry of wealth has surpassed the appreciation and value of real, engaging human experiences. The Central Bar + Restaurant could help reverse this course if they ever decide to they put customer experience first instead of their own profits. UPDATE: Added one star because they actually had my shades...went ot go pick them up today.

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    Rascals Public House

    Rascals Public House

    4.3(46 reviews)
    1.5 mi

    Visited here for the first time today for Happy Hour. The vibe of the place looks fun, but it was…read morereally dark inside which seemed a bit weird for early afternoon. It did seem like it would be a fun place to watch a game with friends. I got the burger and fries off the Happy Hour menu for $14. Decent price, and the burger was thick but with a dry bun and not much for toppings. It wasn't great, Fries were cold and oily, and looked like they were cooked in old that should have been changed. Staff was nice and helpful.

    I really hadn't considered visiting Rascal's as I'm more of a foodie than a drinker. However,…read moredecided on a whim to stop in on a Saturday morning to check out the brunch scene. We were warmly greeted at the door and invited in. While walking us to our table, the owner who was seating us offered us a $4 mimosa. How could we say no, so she presented us with a few non-standard options like watermelon (and I can't remember the other types, my bad!). It turns out that it's their new brunch special, so if you accept the mimosa on the way in, it's $4, where the regular price is $10 -- definitely good to keep in mind if you're visiting during weekend brunch! When it came down to the food, I ordered the fried bologna sandwich while my husband had the tom tom benedict (green and red tomatoes). Both were quite good -- I loved the twist on the ol' bologna sandwich, though I the tom tom bene was prob our fave. Anyhow, I was suprised at how much we liked the food from this tavern, and I'll definitely include it as an option from now on, when we're coming up with places to visit. Highly recommend this place. It's relatively new, it's quite sizable, and the owners are just lovely. I do hope that more people find out about this gem and visit!

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    JOEY Bellevue - Birthday dessert

    JOEY Bellevue

    3.9(1.7k reviews)
    1.2 mi
    •$$$

    We had a wonderful family dinner at JOEY Bellevue celebrating my upcoming birthday, and this place…read morecompletely won our hearts! The service was top-notch--the staff was incredibly attentive and caring. It was so sweet and pleasant to receive a birthday congratulation along with a complimentary dessert from the team. The food was absolute perfection! Everything we ordered was prepared flawlessly, and the steak was a true masterpiece--it literally melted in my mouth. A huge respect and thank you to the chefs for their incredible talent! But the sweetest surprise was waiting for us at home. I placed a to-go order for a portion of two potato sticks, and when I opened the bag at home, I found they had given us 4 pieces instead, plus an amazingly delicious chocolate brownie! That level of generosity and attention to detail is simply wonderful. We will definitely be returning to JOEY Bellevue again and again. I highly recommend visiting this spot!

    We came here for dinner and enjoyed everything so much that we returned for lunch the next day and…read morebought our friends (who live locally) gift cards. Although it's really hard to pick a favorite dish, I'd have to say that you absolutely must save room for the Apple galette (but be warned-it takes a VERY long time). Seriously, plan your meal around it and expect them to take 45 minutes to an hour to bring it to you (at lunchtime on a weekday). We were on holiday, so we had flexibility. My second favorite thing to eat was the lobster pasta, followed by the tempura shrimp, and bang bang chicken. They did give us a welcome glass of "champagne," but it was completely un drinkable. The service was extraordinarily slow, but this was probably a function of them being understaffed and everyone was very nice. I say this more so that you can plan accordingly and adjust expectations than to be hypercritical. I should also note that we split plates, so you are seeing half portions.

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    JOEY Bellevue - Joey's Lounge

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    Mox Boarding House - Bellevue - Burger

    Mox Boarding House - Bellevue

    4.1(519 reviews)
    2.0 mi
    •$$

    A delightfully large gaming shop with an add-on restaurant and no customer service…read more Board games, card games, puzzles galore and as far as the eye could see my teenage self would have loved this place. I felt warm and fuzzy but the customer service others have written about I did not experience. I first felt like a ghost walking from room to room seemingly invisible to human eye as no one said anything to me. This feeling was further felt when we decided to get a drink at the bar and the hostess / waitress pointedly addressed my friend without so much as a glance, body language completely focused on him, as though I was not there. We then went to the bar where the bartender greeted us with, "IDs out!" and then left. No "hi" no "here's a menu, I will be back over". Just "IDs out!" Look, I get that the Liquor Board is out about as other restaurants have explained overly apologetic for asking for an ID from someone who couldn't pass for under 35 if I tried (and these days I suspect I couldn't even meet that young of age) but barking at me as the first employee who said anything to me only guarantees I will not be back. The only person who managed to be pleasant was a young woman with short black hair blue bangs and blue and burgundy tips. Everyone else? About as warm as the Arctic waters. I can get drinks and cards elsewhere and grateful to know my experience is singular and not the norm.

    Such a fun place to try out new board games! It's a great date night spot or even just a fun place…read moreto hang out with friends. All of the staff at Mox were amazing, from the bartenders to the employees helping with the board games. Everyone was super friendly and helpful, especially when it came to recommending a game based on what we liked. We were recommended Karmaka, and it ended up being such a fun and strategic two-player game! On top of that, the cocktails are fairly priced at around $14-$18, which honestly isn't too bad for Bellevue. Overall, such a fun experience and definitely a spot we'd come back to!

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    Mox Boarding House - Bellevue - Bar

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    Brief Encounter - breakfast_brunch - Updated October 2026

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