We found this place totally by happenstance, and so glad we did…read more So it's the 4th of July 2023 on our way to Fort Casey. With a little time on our hands we drive into Anacortes since we've never really been there, only passing through to catch the ferry. Realizing it's the 4th, we happen to catch the tail end of the Anacortes 4th of July Parade. At this point it's around if not after lunch time. Well with crowds and traffic we go on a walk-about in search of food and not more than a klick from our position we find this nice little lot by the marina with some food trailers. Choices, choices, choices, those being Chinese food, BBQ and Gourmet Hot Dogs. First choice was the dogs, but the line was a little long for us. So we went with BBQ...again glad we did. It was a bit of wait, since it had just opened not to long ago, some folks already waiting and one person doing food prep, cooking, taking orders and running the till, he mentioned waiting for someone else so help was on the way, but he did great, and the wait wasn't that bad. So for lunch we had one beef brisket sammy, two pulled pork sammys, one topped with coleslaw and with other with mac-n-cheese and beans on the side. First the sides, both probably one of the best I've had, no seriously. I'm not a real big mac-n-cheese guy, but this one was damn tasty. I love that I could tasted the cheese and it was not weak in flavor. I thought it was as good as if not better than that one Pike Place Mac-n-Cheese place. Then there was the beans, OMG, those baked beans were no joke...awesome! I so wished I'd gotten more of that. Then the sammys: The brisket was so tender, so juicy with some excellent flavor. Not smothered in BBQ sauce, it was just the perfect amount and tasted so good! The pulled pork sammys were excellent, lotsa pork with the perfect amount of sauce so they complimented each other flavor-wise so it's not all BBQ sauce you taste. Bottom line, some DAMN GOOD BBQ! Some restaurant's idea of BBQ is to take meat and cover/drown it in sauce-ugh. i.e. Applebee's bottomless riblets (only thing going for it is that it is bottomless-but it's nothing more than BBQ sauce with meat texture....I digress). Anyhow, the next time we are passing through, this definitely will be a stop. Surprised not to find it on YELP so I had to add it myself. It was that good! Now hopefully you can support a local small business and get some excellent BBQ too!

Great food, great people. Thanks me back to the hood of my youth…read more If you're looking for southern soul, this is da place. I'll be back.

Bastion in Anacortes was a special treat. We visited during daffodils festival last Saturday we…read moretried the BBQ Ribs and burgers was delicious. Also visited in Brewery and had cider and beer music was greatThank you!

I really try not to let a few bad reviews sway me from trying an establishment, but I have to echo…read morewhat a few of them before me have said: the service/personality is severely lacking here. For what feels like no apparent reason. The bartender slinging beers--truly seemed annoyed and miserable with his life. And then the woman taking food orders? Also acted very inconvenienced. It was just kind of unsettling and unwelcoming. And then there's the part about the unexplained wait time for our food order. My sister ordered after us and received her brisket nachos in what felt like a timely manner. 10-15-20 minutes went by before we finally inquired about the wait of our brisket poutine. The same lady who took our order just matter-of-factly told us, "it's still being worked on," before another employee came to offer more of an explanation, stating that their ticket system had failed and missed some orders. At that point, we just wanted to cancel the order altogether and get on our way, but we were assured that it was being prepared. So then we opted to take it to go. Overall, what a wildly disappointing dining experience. Our to-go poutine had 3 whole cheese curds (had to pay for extra) and brisket that looked like dog kibble. I hate to dog on establishments, but this is one I really cannot recommend.

I don't know whether to rave about the phenomenal food or the exceptional service first. We drive…read moreover an hour just to eat here. We're originally from NY but let me tell you, Nonna Luisa Ristorante beats "the best," most well known Italian restaurants in and around NYC. Hands down. There's no way anyone could possibly leave this place feeling anything other than full, happy, and excited to come back. Like a true Italian family, Nonna's won't let anyone go hungry. We were planning on having dinner here one night but the ferry was late. By the time we pulled up it was already 30 minutes after they closed so we sat in our car parked across the street looking up what other places might still be open. The owner happened to be outside and shouts "Are you hungry?!" They had already cleared out for the night, there weren't people still sitting down eating. But he invited us in anyway. I would've expected our server Carmen to be annoyed because I'm sure she wanted to go home but instead she welcomed us in just like the owner did. We thanked her and apologized but she said "that's what we do here, we take care of people." They even gave us a free desert since we were celebrating a birthday. Come here because you're hungry, come here to celebrate, come here because you don't feel like cooking, come here because it's a random Wednesday... just come here.

This restaurant has a charming rustic atmosphere that gives it a warm and cozy feel. It opens at…read more4:30 PM, and I was amazed by how busy it already was. We arrived around 4:35 PM, and by 4:45 PM the restaurant was packed. Thankfully, we had a reservation, so we were seated almost immediately. I came here to celebrate my birthday, and the service was exceptional. Our server took the time to walk us through the specials, which took about 10 minutes, and she was incredibly patient and attentive throughout the entire meal. Since it was my birthday, they also graciously treated me to dessert with a song, which was a thoughtful touch I ordered the Pesto Pasta and added chicken for an extra $5. I didn't mind paying the additional charge, but I was disappointed by how little chicken was included there were only one or two small pieces. The pesto sauce itself was flavorful, but it was quite rich and heavy because of the amount of cheese, making the dish a bit overwhelming by the end. The real star of the meal, however, was the tiramisu. It was honestly one of the best tiramisus I've ever had. The balance between the coffee flavor and sweetness was absolutely perfect, and the texture was light and creamy. I would happily come back just for the tiramisu. The portion was also very generous and could easily be shared between two people. The pasta portions were equally impressive. I couldn't finish mine, so I was happy to take the leftovers home for lunch the next day. Overall, I had a wonderful birthday dinner. Between the excellent service, generous portions, and outstanding tiramisu, this is a restaurant I would definitely return to.

This place was very busy so we took the first available 2 seats at the bar and let me tell you that…read morewe both loved watching the open kitchen! It's like a beautiful dance they all do to prepare all the food, mesmerizing to watch! I got a delicious dirty gin martini and we started with the crab cakes which were delicious and filled with crab! I got the steamer clams and hubby got the burger and fries. Everything was delicious and the service was great!

Very good food, but not good enough to be 5 stars. Slightly spotty service, but we were sitting…read moreoutside, so I feel like that's just how it is when you decide to sit outside - out of sight, out of mind. Ordered a side of sautéed mushrooms, which was really really good, but they literally gave me about a spoonful. It came in a soup cup and it barely covered the bottom of it, which is ridiculous for the $5 upcharge. As with everyone else, I do highly recommend the crab cakes. It's excellent.

Line to the right serves salt water boiled shrimp. Yum. There are so good. You gotta peel them, but…read morethey're so sweet and soft. Line to the left serves other cooked food. The oyster burger was very good. Colossal shrimp very good as well.

We were originally planning to eat somewhere else, but after driving by The Shrimp Shack in the…read moremorning on the way to Rosario Beach, we decided to change our plans. Fresh local shrimp and crab? That sounds right up our alley. It wasn't open yet during our first pass, so we decided to get lunch here after doing a bit of exploring and hiking. When we made it back at noon, there was a huge line waiting to order. We found the main parking lot right in front to be far too cramped and hectic - the parking spaces are angled but there's not enough room to turn around, so to leave, we had to reverse out the entire way. There's plenty of parking elsewhere on the property that seems much easier to access. It took us about 20 minutes in line before we got to the front and at that point, they had a sign up stating that it would take 20-30 min to prepare the food. I wish they had that sign up where the line starts instead of the endpoint! The clam chowder we ordered came out immediately while the fried food ended up taking over 40 minutes. Their estimates were definitely off. In terms of seating, there's a large covered patio that was extremely crowded and full the entire time we were there. On an almost 90 degree day, we ended up sitting at one of the tables right outside the covered area that had a sliver of shade to keep us cool Clam Chowder Cup ($7.25 w/ Meal) - The Shrimp Shack serves an exceptionally thick clam chowder with a heavy roux base contributing to a certain goopy quality in the chowder. It's so dense that we stuck a spoon right in the center and it stood upright without any inclination to tip over. Inside, there's a mix of carrot, celery, and potato, all with some texture still, tender but not falling apart. There's a ton of herbs, then cleanly cut and cleaned clam. They are not skimpy with the clams, but I wouldn't call them generous either. The broth displays a good clam-forward flavor mixed with plenty of herbs. It's not too salty and has a good seasoning level, giving a rich and peppery flavor. Now unfortunately, there's a major issue with the clam chowder - throughout the soup, there were clumps of flour marring the otherwise creamy texture. They definitely have some technique driven issues in their kitchen. At least there wasn't any taste of raw flour. (3/5) Dungeness Crab Cake Burger (Market Price, $24) - Since I'm not a huge fan of shrimp, I went with the crab cake, which based on the market price charged, I assume is made in house with fresh crab. The burger overall is larger than typical, as they use a bun bigger than the average commercial bun. It's toasted unevenly - my top slice was almost blackened, buttery and very crunchy. The bottom was rather wan. They slather a bunch of tarter sauce on both sides. It's creamy and slightly tangy from the pickle relish. There's a single lettuce leaf, a slice of tomato, and some grilled onions adding some slight sweetness. In the center is a large and tender fried crab cake. It isn't dense and instead is soft and almost falls apart since the crab meat is pulled apart and loose. There's a surprising amount of crab meat - there's some filler, but not a ton as with commercial crab cakes. The crab cake by itself is actually pretty good (although, I did find a couple of pieces of crab shell mixed in). The problem is when it's with the rest of the ingredients in the sandwich. The predominant flavor is the tarter sauce and the predominant texture is the crunch from the top burger bun. It all makes for a sandwich where I could not get a single hint of crab flavor. The burger comes with fries which are pretty normal commercial battered fries. They are fried just a tad less than required to get them perfectly fluffy, so they are on the harder side of tender. They aren't salted too much. (3/5) By the time we left, the wait time had increased to one hour plus. This place is not worth the wait in my opinion. Another major issue they have is with their point of sale system. Per a sign on their door: "Credit and Debit card transactions have a 3.75% fee". I paid with cash and the receipt was really weird. On top of not paying the 3.75% fee, I also got an additional 2.4% cash discount. At least, I think. The receipt is confusing enough that I honestly have no idea what they did. They charged $24.90 for the crab cake instead of $24 and $6.73 for the chowder instead of $7.25. Then they gave a cash discount of $1.14. See picture. There are multiple other reviews also complaining about their receipt practices. Bathrooms - Three porta-potties

Stopped by while visiting Anacortes, the service was friendly and really impressed. I had the fish…read moreand chips, the fish tasted good and we were happy with our experience when in Anacortes.

This is a cozy restaurant in the beautiful town of Anacortes with a really nice atmosphere. They…read morehave a good beer selection, which I enjoyed, and the overall vibe feels relaxed and welcoming. We received friendly service throughout our visit and the food was delicious as well, especially the onion rings. We especially enjoyed the fish and chips along with a few other dishes we ordered. Everything tasted fresh and well prepared. They also have outdoor patio seating, which is perfect during the summer and makes the experience even better on a nice day. The only downside for me was that I found it a little pricey for the portion sizes. Still, overall it was a good dining experience and definitely a nice place to visit while in Anacortes.

The sandwiches and pizza are top notch. Well worth stopping by. Every bit of the menu has a…read moretropical inspiration to it. Even have a custom pineapple soda available at the fountain only. The staff are always friendly and hospitable when I stop in. They're good at their job too. There is never a long wait for your order either. The space is well decorated and accommodating. Plenty of sitting for any size group.

Casual and relaxed atmosphere and the sandwiches are outstanding! The buns are giant Hawaiian…read morerolls, super soft but not overly sweet, perfect for the sandwiches we had. Will continue to eat here again and again!

Consistency matters. Consistency in the quality of food. Consistency in service. The restaurant…read morebusiness runs on small margins and every customer gets earned with difficulty and lost with ease. Consistency also matters when it comes to my red curry. Red curry is a simple dish and that nice texture of coconut milk adds a rich comfort to a simple a delicious dish. When the coconut milk separates and achieves that watery consistency, it loses everything. The good news is that it's easy to detect, because a flavorless red curry with a texture barely up to the consistency of water, it's absolutely disgusting. Yes, I called and let the business know. Yes, they offered to remake it. No, I didn't accept, that's not good enough. Takeout means the need to monitor the food at the moment it goes out. It's impossible to dish up a watery red curry and not know. Not doing so simply means someone didn't care. I also don't care now. I don't care to support a business that doesn't support me. I'm not going to drive back to the store to fix two mistakes, one not cooking the dish right and two, going ahead and dishing it up so my dinner is ruined. You didn't just ruin a dish, you ruined a relationship, lost a customer. Gone. Because somebody made a choice and now I have also. Disappointing.

The food here is okay and the prices are pretty low. I was not overly impressed by several of their…read moredishes, but the bbq chicken was quite good. I view this as Thai fast food. It's good if you want something quick and convenient; but is nothing gourmet