Born and raised in Seattle I always took pride in our legendary local restaurateurs. I once considered any Mick McHugh or Tim Firnstahl restaurant a must for enjoying an evening in Seattle. Long gone is my favorite all-time restaurant "Leshi Lake Cafe". I then turned to F.X. McRory's for my favorite clam chowder (topped with dill) but just not the same. I use to frequent TS McHugh's regularly in the early to mid-1990s and ended up meeting an Irish girl (27 years later still married to her). So TS McHugh's has always had a sentimental spot in our hearts.
Having not been to the Lower Queen Anne area in years and tickets to our first Kraken game in hand, we both knew TS McHugh's was our Dinner Destination.
We arrived at 4:00 pm and the place was pretty empty except for around the bar and some Crazy Blackhawk fan that kept yelling GO BLACKHAWKS every time someone walked in the door. Got our vaccination cards and ID checked at the door (no hand sanitizer any place to be found). Seated at a booth across from the bar with menus and there we sat... I kept looking around after 15 minutes for a server - finally went to the bar to get us a couple of beers. The waitress finally comes to our table at 4:25 (25 minutes after arriving) and said sorry I thought this table was in another waiter's section... She took our order and brought us another round of beers.
I had the French Dip - Bun was good, Meat was cold, Swiss cheese not melted, Au jus dip was watery cold and had no flavor... French fries were outstanding.
Wife ordered Bangers and mash (Imagine that an Irish girl ordering Bangers and Mash) On a scale of 1 - 10 (1 being bad), she gave them a 3. she didn't care for the fried cabbage or whatever it was as the side vegetable. I tried it, and I had to try a second bite because it had no flavor at all, and I thought that is weird how can it have no flavor.
I asked our server (Aria??) for some horseradish and 15 minutes later (after I had consumed 80% of my french dip) she emerges with some brown goop that looks like it had been in the refrigerator since before the pandemic. It tasted bitter and had a non-recognizable after taste.
After we finished I asked for a menu so I could see the dessert choices. Rather than bring me a menu she said "oh it's simple we only have 2 things a Double Brownie Sundae with Ice Cream or a Triple Berry Tart with Blueberries, blackberries, & raspberries topped with whip cream, and Ice Cream. We said that sounds great, we would take the triple berry tart.
Dessert shows up pretty quickly and the bar is now packed and the time is 5:15 pm (Climate Pledge opens at 5:30). We looked at it and call her back... I said we ordered the triple berry tart. She said, "Oh they must have changed the menu on me and not told me". She did not say sorry, did not say, I'll take it back, did not say, I'll take it off your check... She said, "Oh they must have changed the menu and not told me".
Whatever... We ate it (some sort of apple tart) and it was ok, but not what we ordered and especially not like the dessert she so vividly described to us.
Waiting for the check... waiting for the check... put our credit card on the table - she grabs it at 5:40 pm and comes back with only the credit card receipt no itemized bill of what we bought.
Never (NOT ONCE) did anyone ask us how our meal was... Had they done so I would have told them on the spot of our issues...
Not having been to Seattle restaurant for a while, we could not remember if restaurants in Seattle add the tip, service fee, etc into the check or not... Well, we will never know because we never got the itemized bill and at this point, we just wanted to get to Climate Pledge for the Hockey game.
Overall I once held Mick McHugh, Victor Rosellini, Ivar Haglund, Tim Firnstahl & Dick Spady in a class of Seattle restaurateurs whose food I would consume without a thought (like a pig to a trough). This experience has tarnished the legacy and I will always think twice before eating at another Mick McHugh restaurant.
This is NOT our T.S. McHugh's - Go for the drinks and stay away from the food (unless you like mediocre bar food). Our service was horrible, but the drinks are still OUTSTANDING...
The next game we attend, we will go to T.S. McHugh's for Drinks and Ricardo's on Queen Anne Ave, for Dinner (Have to be loyal to my Seattle legends) read more