Gambino's

Atmosphere: Pretty open and noisy
Food Quality: Quite good.
Food Taste: Usually quite good, mild for Italian
Service: Been there twice, no complaints.
Kid Friendliness: they'll give you a high chair but no crayons.
Overall: We like Tucci's a little better.
Cost: $12 per plate, $5 for kids.
Favorite: Spaghetti/Meatballs

I have a somewhat limited experience with their menu as both times I went there I got the Spaghetti and meatballs. It's pretty hard to mess that up, so I was happy! The last time we went there someone was having a kids' birthday party and it was LOUD! But if you like the tall red-plastic cups full of coke and a boisterous, noisy, music-filled atmosphere, this is your place.

Cafe Lopez

Atmosphere: Fun cultural. Lots of plants and a big fountain
Food Quality: Very good.
Food Taste: Delish! Never had a complaint
Service: So-so, hit or miss on quality, but always very friendly and helpful.
Kid Friendliness: high chairs and crayons! Good kid menu.
Overall: One of our fav places. And I met Felix, the owner when I worked at MBS and he was great!
Cost: $9-$12 per plate, $3.50 for kids
Favorite: Enchiladas, chimis, pollo con crema.... it's all good!

This is definitely a family favorite! We LOVE the bean dip you get with the chips at dinner. I've been there many times with everything from kids to wedding parties and never had any complaints.

Super China Buffet

Atmosphere: Buffet... upgraded cafeteria
Food Quality: Acceptable
Food Taste: Usually quite good
Service: Usually really good
Kid Friendliness: soft-serve ice cream.
Overall: We're somewhat regulars, especially with take-out.
Cost: $9 per plate, $4 for kids if I remember right.
Favorite: California Rolls

We went there on Seafood Night (Saturday?) and they had a bunch of really good dishes. I'm not crazy about some of their offerings but I can usually find enough different things to satisfy. The nice thing about buffet is that everyone in my family can find at least two things they like!

Sangria Grille

Atmosphere: Trendy, popular and noisy!
Food Quality: Outstanding
Food Taste: Amazing! The reason we go there
Service: Good
Kid Friendliness: not very. The waiters don't like to walk around high chairs and they have no kids menu
Overall: We love it!
Cost: around $14-$20 per plate
Favorite: Carne Asada (Drunk Steak). Wow. Drool.

We haven't been here for a few months because we haven't had a special occasion to use as an excuse and nobody gave us $50 just to go. But I needed to put this one on my blog because it is truly one of our very favorite places to eat. The food is always wonderful and the menu is really unique. This is one of the higher-end chain places that you usually only find in cities and I am so glad we have one!

Tips from a Restaurant Junkie

I LOVE, love love to eat out. It's a chronic thing. When I eat out I don't have to cook, which I hate, I don't have to do dishes and no one whines about their meal because they can choose. Trouble? It can be expensive.

Our family has circumvented this little problem in a number of ways so that we can actually eat out for less $$ than it costs to buy the groceries for a similar meal for the family.

For example: Hubby bought groceries to cook Tilapia (not an expensive fish) in curry sauce with rice we already had and a little dessert. The cost: $15. For other meals with lots of fresh veggies, the grocery bill can come to $30 for one meal, not counting things we can reuse in the pantry.

Here are some Out-to-eat options that actually rival this amount!

Qdoba Mexican Grill:
With a coupon we can get one of their giant burritos for $5 and split it. With ice water to drink it is a dinner for two (we get full) for $5.

Gambino's Pizza or Tucci's Italian
We split an entree of Spaghetti and meatballs for $9.95 and got the kids a single children's kids pizza. Entree included rolls. At Tucci's it also includes salad. Water to drink. Total bill including tip: $17.00. (The entree was huge! We were stuffed and took some home.)

Super China Buffet
If you get buffet to go you pay by the weight. You can get enough food to satisfy everyone for about $10. Since ours is in the mall, we get it to go and sit out in the mall to eat.

Denny's/Shari's/Applebee's
If we split an entree there and have water to drink and the kids split a kid's meal we can eat for about $20 including a good tip.

Papa Murphy's Take-and-bake Pizza
Large pizza. $7

Fast food dollar burgers (if you like that sort of thing)

Chinese take out
Split a large combination entree family style. $12. Still have to do dishes but it's yummy and I didn't have to cook it!

Wheatberries Bakery
For lunch you can get a half-sandwich, soup and cookie for about $4. We get two and share around the whole family.



As you can see, we share a lot, eat light (good for my waistline) and drink water. Both of us hate pop, but we make up for it in loving coffee! Also the kids are still little and don't eat too much yet. As they get older it will cost more, obviously. But it's amazing what you can save with a few good tricks! And as far as coming to a consensus on what to share, we pretty much take turns choosing. It's fun to try old favorites or something new!

I used to worry that we were shortchanging the restaurants by doing this. Since then I have decided that if we did not do it, we wouldn't get to eat out at all because we wouldn't use that much money on one meal. So the fact that we are giving them business is a plus and I don't worry about it. I do think it is a bad practice to be stingy on the tip, especially if you're splitting entrees and you have a large party or lots of kids, all of which makes extra work for the waiters.

I'm not usually a coupon clipper but sometimes a coupon or a full punchcard can be just the thing too :)

Coeur d'Alene Brewing Company

Atmosphere: Fun
Food Quality: Acceptable
Food Taste: Once good, once really greasy
Service: We had two bad experiences in a row.
Kid Friendliness: Don't remember
Overall: We decided it wasn't worth returning
Cost: $10-$15 per plate
Favorite: don't have one.

We ate there a few times about a year ago. We had such a terrible experience we decided it wasn't worth going back. The place is always so packed with college students from the fraternities and sororities that there is no room, stressed-out waiters and it is loud! One time I had some version of taco salad that was tasty but another time whatever I ordered was really greasy and I did not like it.

Tucci's Italian

Atmosphere: Relaxed Sophisticated
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: Depends what you order
Service: Usually really good
Kid Friendliness: high chairs and crayons. Waiters like the kids
Overall: One of our favorites
Cost: Plates are huge. We split the Spaghettini for $12 for our whole family.
Favorite: Davinci Chianti red wine

Someone once called this "Olive Garden Light". For our family this is a dining standby because Matt LOVES Italian. It's a nice mix of family and formal. They serve a scrumptious family-style salad with every meal as well as fresh bread with dipping oil. The menu also has a nice mix of low-cost soup/salads or higher end gourmet entrees.

Smoky Mountain Pizzeria

Atmosphere: Trendy
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: Depends what you order
Service: Was not impressed
Kid Friendliness: high chairs provided. Coloring books, crayons.
Overall: Might try it again sometime
Cost: $35 - $40 for a family of four. A little on the high end of family dining.
Favorite: Not sure yet

Since this is a new restaurant, we wanted to try it out but like all new restaurants in this area, there was a line out the door for several weeks. We finally got to try it out on a Tuesday night and it was okay for a new place. I felt like the wait staff were pretty green since the dish we ordered, the Curry Chicken Pizza had never been done by the chefs before (so the waitress explained when we had waited 20 minutes for our meal) but when we finally got it, it was absolutely mouthwatering.

The kids got their cheese pizza served in frisbees and they also got a balloon at the end of the meal.

Nectar

Atmosphere: Intimate and Sophisticated
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: Excellent
Service: Waiter was friendly but very professional
Kid Friendliness: No kids
Overall: Very cool.
Cost: $50 per person
Favorite: Creme Brulee!

Nectar's Wine Bar is a trendy little place right in downtown Moscow. It's designed to attract the high-end crowd with limited menu and a nice wine selection. I happened to go with a group of friends and only had a small salad. I'm sure if I had the cash I'd be a frequent patron; as it is I think it will be a special occasion favorite.

New Garden - Pullman

Atmosphere: plain. feels like a dining room or cafeteria.
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: Excellent
Service: always very good. Food arrives quickly.
Kid Friendliness: They welcome kids. No crayons.
Overall: This is one of our favorite places to eat in Pullman.
Cost: $25 for the family if the kids share
Favorite: Beef and Broccoli. I love it!


This unpretentious little place on Grand Avenue is one of the most popular places in Pullman. The food always comes quickly, the service is terrific and the taste is the best Chinese food I have had on the Palouse.

We had our rehearsal dinner here for our wedding and the family-style feast suited us just right.

Moscow Food Co-Op

Atmosphere: Coffee corner of a grocery store
Food Quality: Very Good
Food Taste: Love what I had!
Service: Self Serve
Kid Friendliness: Everyone welcome
Overall: Fun lunch location
Cost: a la carte
Favorite: Kale Slaw. Yum!

We ate here the other night when the Potato Heads (Celtic Band) were playing. They have a lot of unusual and vegetarian foods and everything I have had is really good!

San Miguel's Family Mexican

Atmosphere: converted bar
Food Quality: good
Food Taste: so-so
Service: Not outstanding
Kid-friendliness: yes highchairs, no crayons
Overall: not impressed
Cost: $20 for lunch of two entrees

We went to try out this place for Matt's birthday lunch. We'd heard really good things from his co-workers but alas, we found the food bland instead of "authentic" as we'd heard. It was basically a similar Americanized Mexican menu with a few additions. The waitress was friendly but lacked finesse--typical Moscow fare.

I doubt we'll go back; we like Casa (atmosphere) or Patty's (food) much better.

Shari's Family Restaurant

Atmosphere: Your typical family breakfast-for-dinner joint
Food Quality: Good
Food Taste: Acceptable
Service: So far has always been bad
Kid Friendliness: Good. They provide crayons but cannot seem to get a high chair until we have stood awkwardly for several minutes waiting.
Overall: We eat there fairly often just for the pie
Cost: $30 for the four of us to eat dinner if we split
Favorite: Marionberry pie

We go to Shari's from time to time although we always cringe at the terrible service. The waiters and waitresses usually forget something or stand around asking us if we need anything (one of my pet peeves). But the food is usually edible and the kids love the coloring place mats. Also their marionberry pie makes up for a lot.

West of Paris

Atmosphere: Sophisticated and Intimate
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: To die for
Service: Our waiter really knew his stuff. Big city quality.
Kid Friendliness: Not appropriate for kids. Get a sitter.
Overall: We LOVE it here. If we were millionaires we'd eat here all the time.
Cost: $150 for two full-course dinners and wine
Favorite: The cognac quail. Wow.

Matt took me here a few weeks ago to celebrate his new job. We engaged a sitter and had an evening out. The waiters take their time; even the menu likens the meal to a multi-movement symphony. The amazing food and atmosphere make you want to spend not only the evening but the rest of your life there.

Of course it is spendy, but our friends mentioned that they will go there for an appetizer or a dessert and it doesn't break the bank. We just go there on extra special occasions.