Fiddlehead Fine Foods & Café

Everything here is amazing! It gets very busy on the weekends so be ready to sign the waiting list and know your meal will be well worth the wait.
The biscuits and gravy is to die for, the pork hash is incredible, and the banana pancakes will knock your socks off.

Best breakfast I’ve had in recent memory. At first glance over the menu, I was disappointed, but the menu description doesn’t do the true dishes justice. Yes, the service and order/​pay when they call your table is awkward, but it’s worth it. Don’t be in a rush and build up the anticipation for the best pancakes (how do they make them so fluffy? And the sweet fresh strawberries and mango, wowza) and best biscuits and gravy (so rich and flavorful, I thought I may need a Lipitor) are worth repeated visits. Coffee was good too.

Cute little café in a great part of West Seattle and came for breakfast yesterday.
The food took a little bit longer to come out because of the pork hash, but it was well worth it since it was so tasty and flavorful. Next time I will definitely order a drink as I had already bought coffee elsewhere.

First time getting brunch here. Order at the counter type of place so don’t expect too much with the service. Food can take up to 30 minutes to arrive so be prepared to wait because it looks like only one lady is cooking in the back. I ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes and my boyfriend did the pork hash. We shared a side of cheesy grits. Pancakes were super fluffy and had a tangy flavor. Hash was flavorful and had a great cream on top. Grits were very oily… essentially sitting in a pool of oil. They tasted great but I would never reorder them because there was that much oil involved. I would definitely come back the next time I’m in West Seattle.

The ordering upfront and having to bus your own table is a little strange to me. I love the food! The food is amazing! I’ve never had biscuits and gravy as delicious as these. They even have to best eggs and I hate eggs! Those fruit pancakes are always my go to. We’ve been going almost every weekend for the past month.

I have been here before and I really liked the food. However, I came here today and it look over 45 mins for 1 plate of pancakes, and the drinks we ordered were cold when we got them. No way the food is worth the ridiculous wait

The absolute best meal I have ever had at a restaurant. This place is not fit for a café because the food in incredible. Couldn’t imagine getting such amazing food at a café. My boyfriend got the pork hash and I got the cheesy grits. We live in Los Angeles and seriously, I want to go to Seattle just to go try everything on their menu. The next time I go this is the only place I am going to eat at until I have gone through their whole menu.

I hate to modify my review but in this instance I feel that I must. The food still gets five stars. The service, though, gets one star. Not only are they consistently understaffed, but I get the distinct impression that the owner of this place is a train wreck when it comes to running a business. The service is so bad, and the atmosphere so chaotic, that it’s become stressful to eat here. Sorry to say but it’s true.

I’ve been going to Fiddlehead for the past three years, so it pains me to write this.
The service has gone to hell. The food remains good, but, meh, what is food served with a side of ire?
They have a penchant for hiring apathetic staff, who seemingly become more annoyed with customers over time. Yes, I could cite dozens of examples, but I’ll simply say the staff make you feel like you’re inconveniencing them.
Until ownership realizes they’re running a business — instead of a kitchen capable of baking mouthwatering biscuits — I’ll be coming a lot less frequently.

The pork hash is literally made by the hands of God*
If I had the choice I would only that for the rest of my time on Terra
*hyperbole

Rude staff… granted it was just one lady but it looked like she was the only waitress. We were 10 minutes late for breakfast (didn’t realize because we’re just in town for the weekend) and she was rude when we asked about it. Another couple ahead of us, during this same exchange, asked about an item on the menu, to which she rudely replied it was unavailable. She was also rude about the order process (order at the counter first and then sit — which is fine, but no need to be short about it… this is a customer service industry!)
We still would have stayed but we really wanted breakfast. We did end up stopping back in after breakfast for coffees, and they were the closest place that wasn’t Starbucks. The coffee was actually delicious which is why they got 2 stars!
Again, just one rotten employee, but not a great way to keep repeat customers (sort of ashamed we returned for coffees). Hope she’s not the owner or manager.

I went here with my friend and her boyfriend for breakfast. I had the pork hash, she had the scramble and he had the biscuits and gravy. Each of us very much enjoyed our respective dishes. We also had a kids pancake to split between the three of us (gotta make sure to get something for the sweet tooth!). Just a heads up — this is an order at counter and seat yourself establishment. We didn’t have to wait terribly long for a table on a Sunday at 10:30, but I think we may have been lucky. My friends said the biscuits were a delight. The pork was cooked perfectly and packed so much flavor. I loved the poached eggs on top. One recommendation would be to have the garlic cream sauce on the side (simply because it’s so rich and a little heavy). Overall it was a lovely experience and I would most certainly recommend it to others!

Put your smug goggles on prior to visiting Fiddlehead. You’ll need ‘em.
I visited Fiddlehead once prior to this review. My experience was not great. However, it was during the morning breakfast rush, so I decided to wait for a less crowded time before passing judgement. Later I would come to find out, my instincts were correct.
My 2^nd visit was during lunch on a Friday. It was quiet with no wait to order. The single employee behind the counter made no eye contact upon our entrance. Myself and my friend greeted her and she finally looked up, stone faced. We ordered two meatloaf sandwiches and the soup of the day. (Mexican Meatball) While signing the credit card slip, my friend politely asked to withhold the tomato from one of the sandwiches. The woman did not acknowledge her request, but then proceeded to hand us our number and turned away to grab food for the only other guest waiting. We sat down at a table and waited. The food came after 20 mins, as posted. It was sufficient. Nothing remarkable. But again, not courtesy from the employee. No «thank you,» no «enjoy,» nothing.
The whole experience was very cold and uninviting.
To sum it up: The server was a smug bitch, and the food was mediocre.
By the way, I downloaded the Unilocal app, just the leave a review for this this restaurant. –worth it!

The food was great! We had pork hash and loved it. There was a bit of a wait but it was totally worth it. Highly Recommend!

It seems the kitchen here has become «soup nazi”-ish. I wanted to merely upgrade the cup if fruit that comes with the scramble to a bowl. I made clear I was more than happy to pay even more than the price difference between them. I could tell the cashier wanted to do it for me but she’d have to ask the kitchen and she was, without exaggeration, actually scared to do so. So I was told no. Pretty crazy IMHO.

Coffee cup full of sludge. A glass of bubbles made me happy.

Bomb breakfast! Everything was amazing. I had the cheesy grits. You order at the front and they bring it to you. Self seating style. I was thinking it was going to be more restaurant feel but the food was so good it was not a deal breaker for me. I will be back for sure.

Let me first say that the food is incredible. I highly recommend the cheesy grits, the biscuits and gravy, and the pork hash! So yummy, flavorful, and probably the best I had in Seattle.
That being said, I’m giving Fiddlehead 3 stars because of the overall experience. First off, when you enter, the ordering process is confusing. You have to be called from a list before you can go to the register counter to order. Each time I go here, there’s a room full of hungry people confused when they approach the register, only to be told to put their name on the list. Second, the wait for food after you order is extremely long. I make sure to have fully-​charged phone so I can occupy the time by surfing the web during the 20 – 40 minute wait. Third, you have to bus and wait on yourself after you are seated. That means grabbing your own water, silverware, and bussing your dirty dishes after your are done eating. Not that I mind, but it is just unclear what to expect when you sit down.

I really dislike leaving a negative review for any restaurant as you can see from my history but in this instance I will take the time and will be as specific as possible.
My biscuits and gravy arrived 49 minutes after i ordered them. Now if they would have been great i would forgive the tardyness but the gravy was a hot greasy seperating mess and the bottom of the biscuit required breaking with tools.
While I was waiting for this unexceptional culinary experience I had the misfortune to see a couple with their two children get an extra side of cheesy grits that neither one of them were aware the other one didn’t order and watch the owner pitch a hissy fit to his servers through the serving window about how a customer could accept this without saying anything and then got to watch him walk through the dining room and make these customers feel bad about having eaten food that was served to them as if it was their responsibility.
This was my first time coming here but it will be my last and I will guarantee the couple with the two children will not be back or the two other tables of folks that found this as objectionable as i did.

An open letter to the owner.
My girlfriend and I have been coming since you opened. We love your food, your open, casual ambiance and have become friends with some of your staff. We were big fans.
I say «were» because I find myself coming here less and less and, as much as I love the food, I actually avoid it now.
I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why you decided to manage your wait process the way you have. A couple of things that we find make it tough to come, then some suggestions on how to fix:
1) I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen come in, look at the 20 people crammed into the waiting/​counter-​dining space and just go straight to the ordering process only to have everyone else have to tell them how it works. They always look embarrassed and confused — which is never a good first experience for people. You have signs but clearly they aren’t working. Make them bigger or post it on a giant hanging sign directly above the counter.
2) You seem to allow people to both eat and wait at the front window bar. I get there’s limited space but the reason there’s limited space is because people are waiting for seats. If you made it so only people that were eating could sit there, you could seat more people and reduce the wait.
3) probably the most frustrating — the front counter has 5 seats. They usually filed with people sitting around waiting for a table and sometimes a couple people eating. If someone comes in as a party of two and there are 2 parties ahead of them of four or more waiting for tables why wouldn’t you offer the leading parties the bar to eat and if they decline, move on down the list to someone who is willing to sit and eat there?
Right now, someone willing to sit at the bar has to wait for people who are sitting at the bar and waiting for a table to order and eat. That seems super inefficient and causes delays for everyone because it just makes for longer waits and makes us all wonder if this is worth the effort.
We’ve become close to some of your past staff and heard from them that this falls on deaf ears when they try to bring it up. So I’m hoping hearing it from customers helps.
I suggest:
— using better signage for wait lists.
— Offer to call or text people when the table is ready (This will clear up the front room.)
— use the app service called «No Wait» — it allows you to give people a spot in line and is really spectacular for places that have crazy waits.
I truly hope it gets better as we love your food and team. We can even handle the chaos but watching it get worse because you won’t address it is sad for everyone.

For this Atlanta transplant, the cheese grits were spot on. Everything our group ordered was delicious: eggs, biscuits and gravy, grits, bacon and toast. I’d take the trip over to West Seattle any wknd for this adorable little café. Beware of the long wait for a table and food. It’s a quasi self service joint which makes for a less than well oiled machine for service. However, the delightful food and sweet staff make up for any of the waiting. Just come with patience and you’ll be A-​ok! Enjoy, I’ll be dreaming of cheesy grits and biscuits with jam until next time!

The pork hash is to die for!!! However, I recommend skipping the garlic cream sauce it comes with, I ordered it on the side and tried it with one bite but didn’t feel like it added anything to the dish, in fact I felt it took away from the flavor. My mom ordered the eggs, bacon and biscuit breakfast that comes with jam, butter and a cup of fresh fruit. The eggs were scrambled perfectly (proper soft scramble — not over cooked), the thick cut bacon was perfectly cooked and the flavor was outstanding but my favorite part was the magnificent biscuit! The biscuit was light and fluffy on the inside and the outside had just the right amount of crispness that perfectly rounded out the texture. I can’t say enough good things about this beautiful café! I am eager to return and enjoy more of the menu items. Thank you for putting so much LOVE into your food!
Note: on the menu it said the pork hash would take 20min, our food was delivered to our table within 10 minutes of ordering. I noticed one Unilocaler raved about the food but complained about the wait. We had no wait and many tables to choose from. This is not a fast food joint, it is beautifully hand crafted food made by a small staff. I imagine there might be a wait on a weekend, but if you don’t like waiting go to a larger restaurant don’t give them two stars, shame on you! However, if you enjoy the dining experience and appreciate food that is made fresh for you not mass produced please order some coffee or a pastry to tide you over, maybe bring a book or newspaper with you. The wait WILL be worth it.

This is a hidden restaurant… I swear. I JUST found out about it even though brunch is my thaaang!
First, the food is SO delicious. I ordered the breakfast sandwich– bacon, fried egg, lettuce, avocado, aioli, etc. Your mouth will water when you look at it. The only down side? Price. This expensive, albeit delicious, sandwich cost $ 8! What?! Yes, no regrets though… Also cup of brewed coffee was nearly three dollars. Yikes!
Second, common Unilocaler complaint, the wait. I went on a Tuesday morning at 10:30a (very good planning) and ordered at the counter by 10:40a, but didn’t receive my food until 11:15ish. I was one of eight customers. It took a really long time, unfortunately since this has been a complaint for a while… So I’m not really holding my breath on that being fixed anytime soon.
This is definitely a place to enjoy during a weekday morning (they are open tues-​sun) when you have no time restraints on your schedule and are willing to wait for a very yummy meal.
I know how odd this must be, but if they were to reduce the prices with a faster food service this place would be unstoppable.

I had a really nice breakfast date with my wife here.
We ended up ordering the hash and the cheesy grits.
The food came quickly and the flavor where bomb. They really know how to make a great poached egg here. Combined with the veggies the hash had I was too the moon. It was a party in my mouth.
I think this place is one of my very favorite West Seattle establishments.
The menu is small and there aren’t too many options, but what they make they make really really well.

The food here is great! Biscuits are amazing and I love the new spin of country style gravy. Sun-​dried tomatoes and spinach! Pastries are amazing and they make a decent Latte. 2 stars is simple because of the terrible experience you have when trying to dine there. I cannot believe this restaurant stays in business with the amount of people that give up and walk away.
They have a strange combination of counter only service and hostess seated dining room. I’m not kidding! First you stand in line for 15 – 30 minutes just to put in your order. Then you wait another 10 – 15 minutes to be seated at a table. Then you wait another 20 – 30 minutes to get your food. I’ve never seen more then 3 people working the front of the house and these people are hustling. These 3 bus tables, make all the coffee drinks, take the orders and seat people. We were there for over an hour and my brother in-​law still hadn’t gotten his food so we had to tell them to cancel the order. During the time we were sitting there we saw many tables that were empty, but people were leaving without ordering because of what looked like a huge wait, but in reality the poor employees running around trying to take care of everyone didn’t have time to bus the empty tables.
Again, the food is good, it’s just not worth this maddening experience.

Fiddlehead is a fun café serving up some very nice breakfast and lunch food.
I’d say this is my kind of place: tables made from resalvaged doors, whitewashed walls, homebaked biscuits, giant cookies, a limited but beautiful selection. Good teas, Nice expresso. Both my sister and I agreed, this seemed like our type of café.
But there’s the one weak link, and the one weak link has been described by so many other Unilocalers now, that its unfortunate that it hasn’t been addressed.
Its the not too friendly service experience here. This is not a bad person per say taking your counter service only order, just maybe not one who enjoys making conversation, smiling, or anticipating customers needs. When I tried to order a soy chai, I was told this was impossible because the chai is pre-​brewed with milk. Silence. Leave it to my sister to eventually jump into the silence and to offer up feasible alternatives to the menu. The girl behind the counter just stopped after saying, «No.» Slightly uncomfortable.
On the positive side, everything I ate was pretty delicious. Maybe hiring for more hospitality in the front of house staff would up the anty at Fiddlehead, and better complement the nice, simple homestyle food and Scandinavian inspired décor at this adorable little café.

The food is very good. There is no question about that. Have been there twice and both times have been thrilled with the edible portion of the visit. (Cheesy grits are BOMB, and I’m not even a particular fan of grits.) The menu is pretty limited but what they do serve is well made.
That said, there are a lot of places to get delicious food in Seattle. That’s not enough. You should feel welcome, taken care of, cared about. The service here is inconvenient at best and downright rude and unwelcoming at worst. The main server was angry and short with my boyfriend and I, seemed completely put out that I had the temerity to come up to the counter to order another drink (yes, no table service, if you want 2 of something you’re better off just ordering 2 up front). You have to get your own silverware, water, salt & pepper, refills, everything. I understand trying to save on labor, but the food is priced comparatively to restaurants that actually bring you utensils and refills and ask you if everything is to your liking. If I’m paying the same as a full-​service restaurant, what’s the point of going here?
After 2 trips, the consensus is: will not be back.

«Why are you wearing elastic waist pants today?»
«Because I couldn’t stop shoving my face full of food at Fiddlehead Fine Foods & Café!»
This is one of the best brunches I have had– ever. I had the cheesy grits (these come served English muffins, mixed with bacon, and two poached eggs), and I loved each and every bite. Having lived in the South for a bit, I didn’t think the cheesy grits could possibly be as good as everyone says, but they were! The rave reviews on the cheese grits are deeply founded in reality. If you are dieting, avoid them, but if you plan on running about 17 miles afterwards, they will be calorie neutral!
The place was quaintly decorated, and I felt it to be very charming. I was a little nervous because previous reviews talked about a long wait, but I didn’t experience that.
The only thing that keeps it from 5 stars is because the flow is a bit confusing. Unilocal saved the day for me when people explained that you order at the counter and then go sit. Had it not been for that, I would have been a bit confuzzled. However, I did look like an «in the know» expert when I was able to direct my friend in the proper «receive food» procedures.
I look forward to introducing more of my friends to this place for an epic brunch.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere here. It was very chill and such a quite place. The menu was not over whelming and the lunch I got was delicious.
The only thing that I did not enjoy was you have to get everything yourself. Water, napkins, etc. had to grab. Had to wait till the waitress to come around to ask for to go box.

Came to West Seattle desperate for breakfast. Everything was either not open yet or long wait. We ended up coming here. I had the berry coffee cake and it was really disappointing. For a couple of hours afterwards, I felt like I was burping up a stick of butter. It wasn’t very good. My husband got the scramble, as it turns out it was just scrambled eggs and bacon with a biscuit. While the biscuit was huge, it was dry and not very flavorful. I saw some people around me with a couple things that looked yummy, so maybe we just didn’t order well.
As for service, it was pretty much self-​serve, so not much to comment there. It’s a pretty small place and the folks that came in behind us had to get on a wait list. Sadly, don’t think we’ll be back.

Fiddle me this. Find me a great local breakfast spot in West Seattle with fresh ingredients, good coffee, and somewhat under-​the-​radar Unilocal presence with less than 100 reviews?! Big sis and I sampled the biscuits and gravy and pork hash breakfasts today. Clean tasting, though plenty of cream and butter added, and nice takes on common breakfast orders. The biscuits were cooked perfectly and the gravy quite savory.
As others have noted, the order system is a bit confusing but didn’t hinder the overall experience. Definitely a place I will check out again.