I've read the other reviews and I am convinced that several of the superlative ones are definitely fake. Sounds like the writing voice of their manager or maybe our waiter.
There's no way a real reviewer would actually name the chef and extoll her resume. I sat through the breathless soliloquy our waiter gave extolling the resumes of Carolynn Spence and the award-winning mixologist (very similar schpiel as written in some of the 5 star ratings). We oohed and ahhed and got excited. But he never stopped to ask where we're from, what's the occasion for our six person, multi-generational party. My husband noted "Birthday" under special occasion in his Open Table reservation. My family and I traveled from San Francisco for a getaway and to celebrate my birthday. Our waiter never acknowledged it or engaged with us, other than to lecture us on their food and cocktail offerings. It was definitely "all about them".
Having dined there for my birthday, I can tell you that the reality at Stella is:
1) from the hostess to the waiter to the manager, there's an air of "You're lucky to be here" and a weird frenetic energy.
2) service is slow
3) while the outdoor dining area is charming and one of the reasons we chose Stella, the downside is that it is across from the Swedish hospital so we heard ambulance sirens blaring all night long
4) the menu is super basic and unadventurous
5) most items we ordered were undercooked and under-seasoned,
6) a basic drink such as the Aperol Spritz was not executed properly by the renowned mixologist, i.e., they forgot to add Prosecco (!).
I asked for the flavorless, flat Aperol Spritz to be redone and when the waiter returned with the new one, he told me in a voice that seemed to scold me an and how dare I question the mixologist, that now my drink "has ONLY Aperol and Prosecco, and he ran out of room to pour the sparkling water." What??? I didn't want to bother the waiter anymore as he was definitely exuding a lot of passive aggressive vibes, so I accepted the drink which was syrupy (ick!) , had flat Prosecco or maybe a white wine or who knows what, and no club soda finish. I make this drink often and order it frequently as it's one of my favorite hot weather drinks (it was a 95 degrees in Seattle last Friday). At Stella, there is no *spritz* in their Aperol Spritz!
The manager came around twice. Once to gaze upon us and the second time, after we had made it halfway through our meal, to ask us if we were "enjoying the flavors from the kitchen". It was awkward and dead silent at our table. After about 10 seconds, my sister finally said, "My dish was bland." For her Linguine and Clams was completely devoid of flavor. The asparagus several of us had, might have been blanched but not in salted water and they were too unpleasantly undercooked. My daughter's vegetarian radiatore was dry. The Chickpea Fried Artichokes were ok. My mother's Steel Head was so - so (FYI, she ALWAYS orders the salmon. She is the Queen of Salmon and an expert on salmon). My 83 mother said "It's acceptable."
Since the manager showed some interest in us, I thought he would redeem the evening by engaging further. But upon hearing the second and last response from our table which was my mother's "It's acceptable." the manager actually laughed and replied, "Acceptable? We'll take it!" And took off in a flash. As my husband's review says on Open Table, "the staff didn't care".
In fairness, the Slow Cooked Octopus was tender and delicious. My Prawn Cocktail was fresh, juicy and the sauce was balanced. My husband's Pappardelle was decent. My nephew's burger and the truffle fries were good. The music was great. Those were the hits. The rest were misses.
To cut our losses, we opted out of dessert and took a chance on finding better desserts elsewhere. We've never done that before but it was the right call.
Stella's staff, service, vibe and the food were the opposite of the thoughtful, professional, timely, engaging service and spot on preparations we enjoyed at Westward, The Pink Door, and if you're on Bainbridge Island, Agate Restaurant. read more