Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe

6412 Phinney Avenue North

When I need a haircut, it's Mae's time.  She's just across the street from my hair cut place so it's natural pairing. 


Plus Mae's is always heaven.  Home.  Wonderful.  

Today was a bright, sunny, Summer day - one of the first we've had on a Saturday this year and, yet, or maybe because, the crowd was sparse.  Some Saturday's there's a wait.  Today there were empty tables the whole time I was there.  Weird.


Food:  Mae's menu is extensive.  But I usually get the same thing or close to it.  Today, I did not  

Today was trout day - smoked trout, eggs, hashbrowns, coffee and a biscuit.


It may be my new favorite Mae's thing.  It was just delicious.  And a great combo - trout and eggs.  Who knew??


The trout was full of flavor.  Dodging the few bones was a little not fun but worth it.  Seriously, this was outstanding.


Service:  Perfect as always.  I think the only time you ever see the bottom of a coffee cup here is that one second between the time the new cup is placed on the table and it's first filled up.


Everything else:  Besides the great food and the welcoming feeling you get here, this is a great great place for eavesdropping.  It is hard to concentrate on your book or anything else because the conversations around you are so interesting.

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Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe
6412 Phinney Avenue North

Today was haircut day (thank you, Rudy's) and, so, Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe day.

Mae's is about the nicest, friendliest, funkiest, fun place you can go - especially on a Saturday morning.

I read just this week that on one Tuesday a month, after they close to the public (about 2 pm) they turn into Mae's Alzheimers Cafe and invite Alzheimers suffers and their friends and families in for a fun afternoon out.  They have the restaurant to themselves and it is, apparently, quite the major event for them.  I love Mae and what she does for the community.

But I also love what she does for breakfast!   The menu is extensive and today I tried one of her Bodacious Bennies.  I went for the Mae's Fav with corned beef hash.

The good news and the bad news about Mae's is that every single breakfast plate has enough food for a tribe.  It's always way too much to each in one sitting, or even in one week!

But, she's got the bennies nailed.  The hollandaise was creamy and delicious with just the right amount of everything.  The eggs per poached perfectly.

I think next time, I might give the California a try.  Avocado...  yum!

Service:  As always the service is great.  Today's waitress was busy as busy could be but made me and every table she was serving feel like we were all she had to do.  It was fun.

Everything else:   The acoustics are also a good news bad news at Mae's.  There are several different dining rooms but in each, you can hear every conversation...  it is not quiet - at all.  But, that's the good news... there's some fabulous eavesdropping to be had for free.

And the walls are full of fun to look at.  These dudes watched over my breakfast this morning.

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Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe 
6412 Phinney Avenue North 

Mae's is the funkiest of funky and such a treat.  If you were walking down the street and looked in these windows you'd see 8 tables and a counter and probably a line of people waiting.  Once you get inside you find out there are three back rooms with lots of tables and even so most are always filled.


It's warm and homey and comfortable and delightful.  And almost every time I've ever eaten there, Mae is there working away - today she brought me coffee and then came back to see if I wanted to take home the left overs.

Food: I usually have the regular 2 egg special but today, I thought I'd branch out. And I go the Barnyard Country Scrambler.

It was good but not my favorite and I probably won't get it again. It wasn't quite crunchy enough but mainly it was just too damn much!!!  It was a ridiculous amount of food.  I would have been happy and full with 1/3rd of it.  Oh and I got toast instead of biscuits because, honestly, I'm not that wild about her biscuits.

Service:  The service is always good.  Any staff person who goes by your table considers you their responsibility.  So getting more coffee or iced water or anything else is easy peasy and I never get ignored.

Everything else:  They always have the latest edition of the Seattle Gay News which is rare for the places I hang.  So it's a treat to catch up on what happenin' in homo land.  When I first moved to Seattle the Seattle Gay News was all about obituaries.  It's heaven now to pick one up, like I did today, and read about governmental successes, corporate sponsorships and fun happenings and one obituary of a guy who died in his 80's.  

And, plus, how can you not love a place that has the dogs playing poker in a tapestry???!!!

And flipflops plastered into the wallpaper in the bathroom?