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Take the family to these Seattle Restaurants

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 You'll love the variety of food at these Seattle restaurants.

Looking for some Seattle restaurants for a delicious meal? Look no further.

These two Seattle restaurants located in Seattle Southside which is conveniently located right in Seattle’s backyard couldn't be more different from each other. They both have menus with tons of choices and everything we tried was delicious. I warn you though you will have a hard time deciding what to order, so many tantalizing choices at both Famous Dave's BBQ and Moctezuma's Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar - at Southcenter restaurants. We left both of them completely stuffed and took home leftovers!

Seattle restaurants
Photo Courtesy of Moctezuma's

Both restaurants as mentioned had such amazing food that I still dream about it. We'll start with Moctezuma's Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar since it as the one of the very first Seattle restaurants that we visited in Seattle Southside. We went there for dinner, it's has great ambience, lovely decor and it could be both a casual night out for the family or the perfect place for date night. As it had dinner lighting there were some challenges getting the lighting just right in the photos but I think their food will still shine through.

moctezumas
Photo Courtesy of Moctezuma's

About Moctezuma's Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar

The hospitality and authentic flavors of Mexico are behind everything they do at Moctezuma’s earning accolades from South Sound Magazine every year since 2013, including “Best Mexican Restaurant.” Their menu features homemade, family traditions carefully crafted with both old recipes and new, where everything is made from scratch and is focused around authenticity and quality ingredients including a great selection of vegetarian and gluten-free options.

To give you an idea of the festive atmosphere I'm sharing this quick video I took when we sat down. It's dark, again dinner lighting but you can hear the music in the background. You'll hear all the happy people and even watch some food on fire, don't worry it's on purpose.

The Food

Their menu was extensive, we had a hard time deciding what to eat so we got some recommendations from our fabulous server. This yummy deep fried chicken enchilada (chimichangas) dish was supposed to be an appetizer. It was huge, it could have been a main meal.

Seattle restaurants

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My hubby has a thing for Caesar salads and here he was asking for one at a Mexican restaurant. I admit I mocked him a bit for asking for it but I ate my words. They brought out this delicious salad and instead of croutons it had strips of tortilla chips. OH MY GOODNESS one of the best Caesar salads I have ever tried. I no longer want to use croutons on Caesar salads I loved it with the tortilla chips and they weren't heavy on the dressing which is also my preference. Hubby the Caesar salad, self appointed expert thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mexican Caesar Salad

Moctezuma Ceasar Salada

Tequila Pairings

Naturally had to try one of their dishes that came out hot, you know flames and all and that's what we got. It's one of their tequila pairings (hence flames) with chicken, beef and prawns.

mexican fajitas

You got fresh tortillas and amazing toppings with it too. 

mexican fajitas toppings

Our table was by no means small but we were running out of room for all the food. This was fast becoming one of our new favourite Seattle restaurants, heck one of our favourites anywhere.

Dessert

Even though we were stuffed to the gills the Manager of the restaurant and our server said we couldn't leave without trying one of their desserts. So at our server's suggestion we went for the Plantain Flamead. Caramelized plantains in a sweet rum sauce over a blonde brownie topped with coconut ice cream and fired up at your table with rum.

moctezuma dessert collage 2

The end result? See for yourself, ice cream, yep still lots left, bananas, addicting sauce and flavours, check, check oh my goodness so amazing. The coconut ice cream alone was so delicious but then I'm a sucker for anything coconut. My tastebuds were in absolute heaven. We all sighed with contentment. I just can't compare this dessert to anything I've tried in any Seattle restaurants or any restaurants anywhere I should say.

moctezuma dessert resized

The menu as I mentioned has so many options and even though we stuck to tequila in the food, if you're not driving and like it you should check out their extensive tequila bar.

moctezumas85

Gluten Free Options

We didn't get to try this one but here's a gluten-free option I just had to share. 

Moctezumas_Amy_Johnson_9325

 

Last but not least it's Famous Dave's BBQ in Tukwila, Seattle Soutside

About Famous Dave's

Raised by Southern-born BBQ lovers in a world of street-corner barrel smokers, Famous Dave spent 25 years visiting thousands of BBQ joints. After decades pulling his own all-night cooking sessions, he felt he was ready to open his own BBQ place in 1994. They've consistently been chosen as America’s favorite BBQ restaurant. To date, they’ve won more than 700 awards!

Hubby heading into Famous Dave's in Tukwila (Seattle Southside) as he figured this was his kind of food. 

Famous Dave's entrance

I have to admit, not having heard of Famous Dave's BBQ before I wasn't sure if I would like the food. I'm not a big fan of slathering my food in BBQ sauce. I was worried that everything would be covered in it. Turns out I had no need to worry and I discovered there are some BBQ sauces that I love!

Famous Dave's inside

We arrived at 1:30pm and were a bit worried when it wasn't very full. However, I'll mention now that by the time we left the place was packed. Apparently late afternoons Famous Dave's is the place to be. It had some fun decor with hilarious sayings on the wall, vintage signs and more.

famous Dave's sign

All of the servers had hilarious phrases on their shirts. My favourite is the one below that our awesome server was wearing. They kind of have a point if you ask me.

Famous Dave's server

My father-in-law joined us for Famous Dave's as he lives in the Seattle area, we figured he would love the food here. The menu was extensive and since we had three adults and a teenager in our party we went for a feast. The All American Feast that is. Oh my goodness!

famous Dave's menu 2

They do not exaggerate when they call it a feast. When they bring out this feast your eyes may just pop out of your head!

famous dave's food tray

This is a lot of food! In case you didn't see it on the menu there's a full slab of St. Louis- Style Spareribs, whole country roasted chicken, ½ lb. of Georgia chopped pork, cream coleslaw, famous fries, Wilbur beans, six pieces of sweet corn an four corn bread muffins!

famous dave's food

There was something for everyone in this feast including my picky eater! She ate the roast chicken, corn and the corn muffins and fries of course. I actually liked the bbq sauce on the chopped pork. Low and behold I also tried some other bbq sauces they had at the table. With names like Devil's Spit and Rich & Sassy how could I not?

famous dave's sauces

I can't believe I'm going to say this but EVERYTHING on that gargantuan tray was tasty. I liked everything I sampled. My daughter gave her approval for the fries and roast chicken. Hubby and his dad liked it all so it was a win AND we had enough food leftover to snack on later, we didn't need dinner that night.

Famous Dave's menu

Okay Famous Dave's you won me over. When I told my various friends who live in different states in the US we went to Famous Dave's I heard a lot of proclamations of  oh "I love Famous Dave's". Now I know why! Hearty food with lots of flavour, if that's your cup of tea (it's mine now) or bowl of ahem pork you'll want to head to Famous Dave's! Check it out HERE for their locations all over the US.

I told you I wasn't kidding when I said you need to take the family to these two Seattle Restaurants. You won't regret going to either one!

If seafood is your thing you should check out these fabulous Seattle Seafood restaurants that we went to during this same visit. GO HERE to find out all about them!

Now I'm hungry so I'm off to settle for a boring sandwich.

By on March 30th, 2017

About Powered by Mom

I’m Michelle aka Powered by Mom. I’m married with one daughter, my hubby was my high school sweetheart, our two dogs Nyx and Cleo and our cat Oliver. As you can see we’re a family of animal lovers. We love to travel when we can, try different food and activities all over the world and enjoy being together. My passions are writing, travelling, creating new recipes, encouraging people to adopt not shop and just to enjoy life while we can.

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61 thoughts on “Take the family to these Seattle Restaurants”

  1. We've not been to Seattle. It would be so much fun, and there are so many sites to see, I hadn't given restaurants any thought. I'd love any of these, and would like to try any and all of them if we ever have an opportunity to visit there!

    Reply
  2. The food looks amazing!! and delicious! I enjoyed your short video, wish more bloggers would do this, it really helps us to get a better image on places to eat. Anyway' enjoyed and again definitely would love to come out and eat at this place. great looking dishes.
    @tisonlyme143

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  3. Have never been to seattle BUT I am wanting to go just for the food. OMG everything looked so good, I want to try it all

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  4. I have never been that far west and north. Hubby has an Aunt that lives outside of Seattle. The pictures from there are beautiful. I have heard they love their coffe, seeing all the coffee houses would be fun too

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  5. Yum! I have heard of Famous Daves before, but have never actually been there. Their food looks absolutely delicious and it looks like a great place to take the whole family! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!

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  6. I am from Seattle, & always love hearing restaurant recommendations! Thanks so much for sharing! Also, regarding your husband ordering a caesar salad at a Mexican restaurant - did you know that caesar salads were actually invented in 1924 in Tijuana, Mexico? I didn’t know until I went there last year! 🙂

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  7. Oh, I'm so jealous. One of my daughters and her boyfriend are in Seattle this weekend for Sakuracon (it's an anime convention). While they are mostly at the convention, they do go in one day early and have a good part of Monday for exploring. One of her best friends lives in Seattle and works the convention. She knows all the best places and treats them to meals. I fell in love with Seattle the one time I was there. I went with my best friend's family, back in 1974. If it says anything, we mostly ate at what was the food court from the World's Fair, which was there not long before. We did go out for one really nice seafood meal - couldn't tell you the name of the restaurant, but I remember when we came back to the hotel, the receptionist was freaking out. Nixon had just resigned. Yes, that long ago. I've wanted to go back ever since. Oh, and we ate in the revolving restaurant up in the Space Needle.

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  8. My sister lives in Seattle, so I've had the pleasure of visiting there. I didn't see or go to the
    Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar. The food and the ambience look incredible!! We do have a lot of great Mexican restaurants in Chicago! We have eaten at a Famous Dave's. Good down home cookin'! I am going to ask my sis about the Mexican restaurant and tell her I'd love to visit when I go back. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. I've never been to Seattle, I hope to go some day. Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant is gorgeous! The decor is just fabulous!!

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  10. WOW! The pictures of the food look AMAZING!! If I ever get to Seattle, the restaurants is something I'm looking forward to! Thank you for sharing.

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  11. I have never been to Seattle but it appears that the restaurants there come close to New Orleans and Manhattan...maybe someday I can get to go there...

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  12. Seattle has so many restaurants to enjoy some great food at as well as other sites to visit. I have not been there in 20 years but would love to go back someday soon. I lived there 37 years ago and loved going to a different restaurant every weekend.

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  13. Those are some really nice places to eat there. Went to the Space Needle and the Pike Mkt Place but for some odd reason my date never took us to fine dine or BBQ either.

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  14. I've been to a Famous Dave's BBQ in Wisconsin so I'd try the Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar. The food looks unique, original and tasty!

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  15. Ahh, another great place to try is right by Famous Dave's, The Cheesecake Factory. You'll love it! Put that on your to-die-for list!

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  16. We used to go to seattle all the time, but we never went out to eat. Maybe the next time we visit we can try some of these.

    Reply
  17. I love Seattle except for the traffic!! I do love trying new restaurants and they have some wonderful ones which you have just proved. Thanks for the ideas. I live in Oregon and go there sometime.

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    • Yes traffic can be terrible but for these places if you're staying in the Seattle Southside area it's not so bad, both easy to get to 🙂 and the weekends are usually better too.

      Reply
  18. It all looks so good but I think I would like to try Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar the most.

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  19. Man, you have got my mouth watering! I love, love, love Mexican food and could see myself eating at Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar at least once a week. Yum!

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  20. Both these restaurants sound so good. My Dad goes up to Seattle about every three months to visit his brother. He loves Mexican food and BBQ so I will tell him about these restaurants.

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  21. Oooh so many amazing places!! Seattle is on our must visit list!! And from these restaurants I feel like Im going to spend the entire time eating lol!!! Yummo11

    Reply
  22. I would love to visit Seattle. This food looks and sounds so good. I will keep this in mind if I get to visit there. Thank you so much for sharing

    Reply

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