Budd Bay Cafe

On Sunday my husband and I went to Budd Bay Cafe in Olympia for lunch. They were easy to find and in downtown Olympia on the water. We arrived at 2:30 and were seated immediately. The restaurant was clean with a beautiful view of the water. Our waitress was named Kim and incredibly friendly.

She suggested the strawberry lemonade and I agreed that sounded wonderful. My husband ordered water. We ordered the steamed clams for an appetizer and while we were waiting she brought us warm homemade sourdough rolls.

When the clams came out they were steamed in a garlic white wine chardonnay sauce with carrots and celery. Then, surprisingly, they also had almonds sprinkled them and they gave a very satisfying texture. The clams were also well cooked and not chewy or undercooked. The portion size was also quite large, especially for a lunch appetizer.

I ordered seafood Alfredo for my main course and it came with clams, shrimp, and scallops. I was thrilled to find there was a lot of seafood in the pasta and they did not skimp because it was lunch time. My husband ordered blackened salmon with roasted asparagus and bell peppers and a side of Yukon gold mashed potatoes. He said his salmon was moist and delicious. (after letting me taste it I agreed!)

The price was really acceptable also.

Strawberry Lemonade = $2.95

Steamed Clams= $13.00

Blackened Salmon= $13.00

Seafood Alfredo= $13.00

Total= $ 45.53 (before tip)

When reading the menu I was surprised to read that all of their burgers as 1/2 pound of all natural beef with no antibiotics, steroids, growth hormones, or bi-products. Their oysters are local when they are in season. The salmon is all farm-raised in British Columbia.

Mariachi's

Instead of going to Olympia I went to Mariachi's Mexican Restaurant in Yelm. I went with my mom on Saturday. I decided to branch off and order something I have never ordered before so I choose a seafood enchilada. The price was $14.95 and the portion size was HUGE! However, there was too much food to finish in one sitting. The quality of the food was very tasty and the service was very good as well, we ordered and they brought our food out to us about 5-10 minutes later. Questions which could be explored concerning this restaurant are; how fresh the fish is since Yelm is not very close to an ocean, as well as is the vegetables used were organic or not. Another question would be to evaluate how so many fast food restaurants in Yelm affect the small family owned restaurants. Mariachis didn’t have a whole lot of people inside, but when I drive through Yelm the fast food restaurants are always packed. It would be interesting to evaluate the “why” factor to this question.