Who’d a thunk that you could have a world class dining experience in Arlington, Washington? Most of the restaurants around here run to the diner, bar or chain variety. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, there are some really good places around here. But there are very few that compare to the dining to be had further south in Seattle.
Until you discover the Bistro San Martin. I’ve been hearing about it for the past couple of years, but somehow when we lived in Everett we always headed south for special occasion meals, not north. But now? Now we’ve got a fabulous new go-to special night out restaurant.
We tried out the Bistro on Saturday night with my folks and Mike’s mom to celebrate Mike’s birthday. The dining room is beautiful with an impressive collection of Central American paintings and an open kitchen. The staff was professional yet friendly in that way that small town restaurants are.
Steve, one of the owners, was a hoot and a good sport. I’m sure we were one of the livelier tables they’ve had lately, but he answered all of our questions and comments with a smile.
And the food? Well the food is fantastic. We each had starters for the table and a wide range of salads and soups, plus main courses and desserts. Every dish was better than the dish before. And it included a lot of local and seasonal ingredients (not quite all though).
Definitely worth a drive up if you’re in the area.
