It Shoots, It Scores!

Cactus doesn't get it right all the time, but when they do the food is really, really good. You wouldn't think that nachos would be difficult to do well but so many Mexican restaurants fail in their attempts (finish off the upper crust and you're left with naked chips). Cactus gets it spot on with layers of cheese, jalapenos, beans, and chicken stuck in between all the toasty chips. Then they top it off with crisscrossed stripes of sour cream and tomatillo salsa. Some of the dishes push the envelope of Mexican fare like the Chicken Fried Chicken served with chipotle mashed sweet potatoes and chorizo gravy. When you are searching for comfort food with a slight twist this is the dish that will satisfy. Other things like the Goat Cheese Grilled Asparagus Quesadilla fall short however. I loooove goat cheese but its intense flavor goes a long way. The happy hour here is hard to beat with five dollar Margaritas and Mojitos, plus great food specials (six dollar nachos). If you stick to the Mexican basics you won't be disappointed, but order the more unusual items at your own risk.   

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Restaurants • Alki / West Seattle

Coed Pick-Up

Perhaps you always dreamed of dating a sexy smart coed but you never went to college. Or perhaps you're having a midlife crisis, approaching 50, and looking for arm candy aged 18–22. Sure, you could go to Paris Hilton-esque club Venom and take your chances, but aren't those places really just cougar dens these days? You could hit up one of the UW libraries, but striking up a conversation with all that shushing may prove difficult. Solution? Head to the Burke Museum coffee shop and take your pick of studious, attractive (in the hot librarian sense) girls. Feel free to play the professor card and work the sensitive intellectual angle. Put on your best J. Crew corduroy jacket with suede elbow patches, muss your hair in a rakish fashion, and read The Odyssey or some Proust. Or go with the disheveled artist look and bring your sketch pad and some charcoal. Given the geographic proximity to the law school, you may just get lucky enough to score a law student and your ticket to financial freedom.

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Restaurants • U District

We're On Holiday Break

So please don't take offense at our encroaching lack of Radars. We'll be out of the office till January 5, doing the things we do best: poaching, loafing and loving. In tandem. We wish our loyal NFT fanatics a Merry Vacation and hope for the best in the new, mysterious year to come--a year in which Barack Obama will be knighted, Slovakia will adopt the Euro as its national currency and a new constitution will be instituted in the Falkland Islands. But before we light out, a friendly reminder that we are seriously poor and hungry. If you choose to stimulate the economy by buying our products from the NFT Shop, all we have to say to that is amen.

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Websites and Media • Not Applicable

It's Good For You!

I love this place. Even when I lived an hour outside of Seattle, I managed to get here at least one Sunday a month. Why Sunday? Dunno--maybe I've subconsciously associated the fries at this place with the sacred. Their fries are thin and crisp and tossed with Parmesan and savory, unidentifiable spices; they always come hot and the salty seasoning melts on your tongue. I could rave about everything else on the menu as well: the onion rings are lightly battered and crisp; the onions inside are cooked through but still firm enough that you don't feel like you're eating mush. The Caesar salad has huge, crunchy, spicy croutons and comes with whole anchovies on request. The cod in the fish and chips is battered in Panko, so it's crisp and light and cooked through but still firm. The sandwiches come on giant rolls and sometimes a wet nap (brilliant!). To top it off, they've got quality servers that anticipate your needs such as bringing a pitcher of Coke to a thirsty table of three or ensuring your beer glass never goes dry. This place must be heaven.

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Nightlife , Restaurants • Ballard

The Beauty of a Bean

Van Gogh is the Spiderman of coffee shops; it's friendly, neighborhoody and kicks the asses of other coffee shops. Starbucks employees have to go to boot camp to learn the customer service techniques that these ladies innately possess. They don't just know what your "yooj" is. They know your name, your kids and your dog and they genuinely how your day is going. You know that Tukwila coffee stand which draws business with bikini babes? To that I say "whatevs." You can put a bikini on a monkey but that doesn’t mean it can make a cappuccino. The Van Gogh girls are cute and talented. Your foam has never been so silky and your shot (or shots) will be perfect every time. You can get your drink to go, but you'll probably want to hang out for a while for the free wi-fi and yummy food. How do you like your sandwich? With eggs and bakey? Classic deli-style? Panini toasted? In pie form? Prefer a fresh cookie or pastry? You got it! You have to wait for the weekend for the quiche. But the personalized attention from your friendly neighborhood barista, you can have every day.

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Coffee • Laurelhurst / Wedgwood / Sand Point