The Center has improved since my last review, and the changes are positive overall. I still hope to…read moresee expanded hours and a remodel of the main level to better match the upstairs rental hall. The main level feels disorganized, with folding chairs, folding tables, and mismatched furniture. I feel for the new restaurant operator, Lorenzo Rizzo, who has to work with a small, inconveniently located kitchen and an awkward dining layout. With better planning, the Center could become a strong café and community space. While most events still cater to a small segment of the community, the Seahawks viewing party was a positive outreach effort. The Honorary Consulate remains of limited help to the Italian community due to impractical hours and slow responses. Better integration with the Center, such as aligning consular hours with café days, would improve its usefulness. The retail space has improved, but I would prefer more unique Italian specialty items rather than products commonly found in supermarkets.

Stopped by again today to learn to play the Italian card game Scopa. An instructor named Paolo was…read moresuper friendly and helped us to learn this classic card game. We met new people and reacquainted with old friends and enjoyed some seriously delish cornettis and espresso and mochas! We had an apricot and chocolate cornetti each and really had a fun time here today. Great place to stop by whether you're Italian or not!

The Dragon Fest was once a day time summer event, focused on the Chinatown portion. Because of…read moreCOVID this year, it's instead evolved into a day and night C-ID Night Market, representing all of Chinatown-International District - an 8-hour event from 1pm to 9pm. I must say I am impressed with the turnout. While it has always been well attended, we arrived at 8:50pm, expecting to see a mostly closed street fair. Instead, all the booths are still hopping. Shoppers are shopping, and eaters are ordering food and drinks. There may have been such a HUGE turnout that the food lines were very long. When we arrived so late, the vendors were still merrily cooking while some food trucks had "sold out" stickers on selected items. How exciting for them to make up for the losses during COVID closures. As this is a C-ID market, the crowds gravitating towards the booths that sold cute Asian themed items, east Asian to be exact. Food choices were also predominately Asian, including SE Asian. I am not complaining. Hehe. The food truck that caught my attention is YS Street Food Group selling their Sizzling Squid at $12. I also bought a Thai Iced Tea at $4. It's been at least 2 years since I had their well marinating tongue numbing mala squid. It's also very tender. I love it! Folks were buying 3 or more of them! Their Thai iced tea is quite good too, not too sweet and flavorful. Even though we just had a big dinner, we managed to consume more. LOL!

For what could have become a hectic food festive the people who organized the event did a great…read morejob. There were performances every 30 minutes and the groups that performed clearly practiced and put on a show. There were a lot of places to eat and the food walk that offered $3 menu options were awesome. I was so happy to be able to try places like Tai tung and kau kau bbq which were places on my list. There were a lot of vendors and stalls and I was super impressed by the dragon dances! One thing I will say is I think they would do a lot better if they put their informational booth more prominently as a lot of people asked me where to get the maps and food walk pamphlets I was looking at in passing. Overall will be back next year!

FUN IN THE SUN! What a gorgeous day!!…read more The boat festival was a very cool way to while away in the heat. Highly recommend this for boat lovers, and non-boat lovers alike. You might just discover something new about yourself. It's a donation only event mostly run by volunteers, which is great, because you can feel extra good about whatever you decide to give knowing it goes to a good cause. The entire festival is very hand-on and interactive. My boys got to steer and help row a 2 century yr old boat out on Lake Union, as well as feed the birds out at sea. Apparently the volunteers host these free boat rides every Sunday. You might want to call ahead to be sure. All the kids get to build their own wooden boats and float them in the giant pool along-side professionally built boats. There is also an old museum showcasing some beautiful hand-crafted boats, where you can also buy vintage boat kits to take home and build yourself. There are also competitions, demonstrations, and opportunities to board old steamships and boats of yesteryear. Add to that live music and local venders and a lot of people with the same idea, it's fun in the sun for everyone! Ok, that was a little cheesy, but you get the idea.

This is so much fun. Boats and boats. Artists, beer garden,…read more food, hands-on crafts for kids, vendors, music. Lots of free boat rides. Sailing races. All by the water. You will need to solve parking, but it's Seattle.. we have buses and bikes and car pools.. You Can!

I've been to two UCU events this year: one at Magneson Park and the one downtown. Both have been…read moreoff the charts phenomenal. The quality of vendors is stellar, the staff friendly hand helpful, and the preview night was a great way to beat the crowds. This introvert appreciated a time not being jostled and overstimulated by too many folks. I got some holiday shopping done and enjoyed a lively night out with friends. The only suggestion I can offer is to bring your patience if you plan to eat at one of the food trucks. The wait is LENGTHY.

Really Fun Free Crafts Show. I found some humorous postcards of Animated Animals at Nat'l Parks by…read moreartist, Factory 43. www.factory43.com. He had Tshirts for sale and I bought a sticker. Mex. Tamales and expensive $19 Sushi rolls were selling there too. There were not much Food tasting. But I tasted tiny caramels, Hazelnut coconut Spread ($12) which you can buy at Whole Foods and Fred Meyers. The leather purses and goods were expensive but interesting. There were hand forged knives there and small cedar wooden cutting boards. At the door, they were asking for $1 donation for admission to Exhibition Hall.

Do they still have raves here. We used to party here in the 2000's at some of the best shows in…read moretown. Saw some huge names paul van dyk, dj icy and more. Recently came back for a defy wrestling show and it hasn't changed still a great venue !

Cute venue! I went to a Bandit Theater show upstairs here and it was a nice size for the event…read more Also went to Seattle Art Book Fair here and it was great! The building itself is pretty too.

I've been a member since 2012 and it's great. Lots of super friendly people and a whole lot of…read moreevents. Live music dancing and really good food. Come and see about joining to get in on the fun

This is a typical club where everyone knows everyone else, the drinks are inexpensive, and the…read morepours are strong. We visited the EFO on a Saturday evening as my sister-in-law knew the rock-n-roll band that was playing that evening. The 6 of us had a blast. The band had us rockin and the dance floor was a shakin. Suprise, there are dinner specials that are very inexpensive with very generous portions. Friendly folks, strong pours, and great entertainment equal a strong 4-star review.

This is a must stop if you goto discovery park. It was a rainy cold day and it was like following…read morethe map to find the X on the map! The map being my all trails app and the X being this place! What an amazing place full of art and history. You come in to the top floor and there is a staircase that takes you to the lower level which had a huge canoe. There are pamphlets with resources, great for locals. The public transportation will take straight to the stop closer to this center, or u can hike like I did, to it. There is a shop inside with wonderful bath bombs and lots of delicate gifts to take back home . I came from Austin to see this place and I was very happy, nothing short of my expectations.

Bathrooms are closed during normal business hours. Nothing to see here. (posting here b/c I need…read moremore characters) Significant flooding on the roads b/c they have not properly addressed drainage.

I really liked it. Wow if there was a wide variety of seasonal beer. Loved the creative Halloween…read morenames :D partying feeling was there. Great vibe. There were also brew employees that explained some of their beer variety. Super fun. Specially when the fireworks and the band came out :) Get your orange costume ready! Liked the way they organized it in different booths. It was also very fun the face painting and the slushies booths!! Very yummy! There was pumpkin spice and rosè besides the regular beer fro.different breweries :D I just wished there would be more food truck options and tables. I am super glad we got food and table early on :)

A Once-Great Beer Fest That Has Lost Its Luster…read more Let me start by saying that the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest has always been, and still is, my favorite beer festival to attend. It's more than just a beer fest; it's a full-blown Halloween party, complete with costumes, fall festivities, and an atmosphere that really kicks off the autumn season. For me, it has always been one of those events that gets you excited for fall and everything that comes with it. That being said, the last two years have been beyond disappointing, and it's frustrating to see an event I've always looked forward to lose so much of what made it special. First, the beer selection has noticeably dwindled. The festival has gone from offering 80-plus beers to 60-plus, and even within that smaller selection, there were quite a few repeats. What was especially disappointing was the fresh-hop selection. In previous years, there were 12 or more fresh-hop options, but this year there were only four. For a festival centered around beer, the variety and selection are a huge part of the experience. Seeing that variety shrink year after year takes away from the excitement of attending. Secondly, and most importantly, the location is a major problem. I'm going to be blunt: the current location in Capitol Hill is horrible for an event of this size. I simply don't understand the decision to move from Seattle Center, with all its open space and room to spread out, to just three confined blocks in Capitol Hill. Once the crowds arrive, there is barely enough room to walk around comfortably. It becomes difficult to tell where lines begin and end, where people are supposed to stand, and how to navigate through the crowd. Instead of being able to relax, explore, enjoy the beers, and take in the atmosphere, you spend too much time trying to maneuver through an overcrowded space. It feels cramped, disorganized, and uncomfortable. On top of that, the move has meant losing so many of the fun side attractions that helped make this festival unique. The arcade, tattoo stations, pumpkin carving, large gourd displays, and photo booth all added to the experience and made it feel like much more than a place to grab a beer. Those activities helped create the Halloween festival atmosphere that made the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest stand out from other beer festivals. That's what makes this so disappointing. The Great Pumpkin Beer Fest used to feel like a complete experience, not just a bunch of beer booths squeezed into a few blocks. The location has taken away much of the space, entertainment, and overall atmosphere that made the event so memorable. I genuinely want to see this festival succeed because it has been a favorite of mine for years. However, if the beer selection continues to shrink and the event remains in such a cramped location, I'm not sure I'll continue attending. That's not something I ever thought I would say about my favorite beer festival, but the experience has lost much of its appeal. I hope the organizers take this feedback seriously and reconsider the location, along with ways to bring back the variety and activities that made this event so special. The Great Pumpkin Beer Fest has the potential to be an incredible fall tradition, but right now, it feels like it's moving in the wrong direction. I would have a hard time recommending it to others in its current state, which is a shame considering how much I used to love this event.