Von’s Gustobistro

Went here looking for reasonably priced American for lunch, came out not disappointed at all! I had the blue cheese chicken sandwich and it was divine. The dates on it really set it off and it was so delicious! I was overall impressed with not only the food, but the theme of the bar, the rare bottles on the wall, the flags and the fact that they boasted 1000 spirits.
The service was also very good and we were well taken care of.
However I though that they would spin the wheel for drink specials every thirty minutes, but they didn’t do it at all? I was hoping they would do that because it looked like they have some great deals, $ 4 – 5 cocktails would be great.

Food here is delicious, especially their homemade pasta and bread, I’ve never ordered anything here that I didn’t like. Also, they have a giant wheel on the wall and they spin it each day to find out what the drink special of the day is. I love that!
So, my only issue with the place is that they have this thing where they say your food will be there in 15 minutes or less, or else it’s free! Which sounds awesome, but doesn’t work well in reality. Last time I went, it took about 40 mins for my food to arrive. I asked the waiter about the 15 minutes or less rule, and he said «You can complain if you want, but it comes out of my paycheck.» After that I didn’t bring it up again, because obviously I didn’t want him to lose out on a significant portion of the bill. But it made me feel sort of weird and I wish if they had that rule, that the cost would be swallowed by the restaurant rather than specific waiters. Sometimes they can’t help that the food comes out slow. Anyway, just my two cents.
All in all, though, this place is awesome. Strong drinks, good food, and a fun atmosphere!

Good variety on the Happy hour menu. We ordered a hand spun sugar drink that is bourbon based (I don’t remember the name of it because it’s not on the website’s menu!) which was pretty good! Get your camera ready because the server I’ll pour the drink over the cotton candy without warning!
We also ordered a watermelon-​Tini because it was the discounted drink on the wheel. ($ 5) It was too sweet and tasted like a jolly rancher but I squeezed the lime in which helped tame it down.
We also ordered the Mac and cheese which had their sour dough pasta. I liked the broiled melted cheese on top mmmm
We also ordered the pulled pork poutine. The cheese is more like nacho cheese than what we imagined poutine to be like. (Isn’t it usually with cheese curds?) but regardless it was yummy even if it was on the salty side.
Lastly we ordered the nuts which I would pass on.
Overall a nice place to order one novelty cotton candy drink and/​or happy hour/​wheel deals.

The ambiance was great. This past Wednesday the BF and I were able to have a romantic date at a corner table despite it being HH and moderately busy.
I tried the Skinny Bitch spun sugar cocktail more for the novelty than anything else, but I actually thought it was super delicious. We ordered the Asiago beignets, sourdough mac n’ cheese, meatballs, and pulled pork poutine to share. The small bites definitely felt on the small side, but everything was pretty delicious otherwise. Because we like hot sauce on everything (I can’t eat fries without it) they brought out some of their house-​made hot sauce that had a good kick to it.
All in all, the HH prices were reasonable although the HH menu itself wasn’t too extensive. I appreciate that ALL specialty cocktails are $ 2 off during HH. Service was attentive and friendly. I’d definitely recommend Von’s to friends if they wanted to meet downtown for HH.

Clearly I’ve been missing out on life because this place was a hit! Took my friend here for happy hour and we walked into cocktail lover’s dream… wheel of drink deals, bomb prices, but best of all…
THE JELLO %^#$^#%$&^#%& MARTINI!!! (cue creepy Bill Cosby shimmy)
The jello-​y goodness. The jello is infused with booze… I don’t think I need to say more as the name just speaks for itself! Vons, you win!
On another note, the place itself has a fun ambiance to it– definitely a spot to grab a quick bite after work, pre-​funk before a night on the town, or whatever. The food is exceptional, and offers a variety of dishes to choose from. Service was quick, helpful, and friendly, so no issues there.
The only drawback is parking… given that it’s located downtown parking can be a headache. I highly recommend utilizing the parking garages nearby, as street parking can be hit or miss.

I have to give Von’s 4 stars if anything just for the environment. We had dinner there and the food was very good. As usual more than we could really eat. The French fries (chips) were pretty basic, but the fish was perfect. They run constant drink specials by spinning a wheel every half hour or so. Only added to the fun.

Just got happy hour here with some girl friends and it was great! Definitely recommend the Manhattan, happy hour pizza, fries, and salmon cake. The fries are to die for, seriously. Awesome atmosphere with cool rare bottles on the walls. Industrial lighting has a cool vibe about it, and you can easily get there from most major busses.

Came here as part of a date night in the city with my other half. I wasn’t sure how busy the restaurant would be on a Tuesday night during happy hour, so I called ahead to make reservations. When we got there a few minutes early, the hostess greeted us (though she was quiet and not too friendly) and sat us near the front window. Our waitress, Kelsie (I believe), was super friendly. Bubbly, lively, lots of fun. There’s a lot of tasty options to choose from. My other half went with the happy hour sourdough pizza and the sausage mac and cheese. I opted for non HH fare because the curried chicken and ricotta dumplings sounded divine.
And it was. Oh, it was.
When we asked Kelsie how big the HH pizza was, she said about the size of the menu. She wasn’t kidding! Besides it being scaldingly hot (duh), my other half loved it. Loved it so much he didn’t share it. But he did share the pasta and I gotta say — sourdough pasta is my new favorite thing. My dish, however. I’m still dreaming about it. Everything was perfectly done. The sauce was phenomenal. The addition of crushed peanuts added so much. I burped curry the rest of the night, but it was worth it!
For dessert, he chose a glass of the chilled limoncello and we split the Washington apple crisp. Dinner ended up being about $ 50 and while that’s normally more than we prefer to spend, it was every bit worth it, especially for a date night.
We don’t have a lot of go-​to restaurants in Seattle since we’re there so rarely to eat, but Von’s is the newest addition. I can’t wait to go back and try more items on the menu, and if we’re lucky, we’ll get Kelsie again as our waitress. What a hoot!

Von’s is fun. (Disclaimer, I have only ever been during Happy Hour /​after work for drinks and apps) They make an excellent Manhattan ($ 3.50!!) and the wheel of drink deals is a blast! Every half an hour or so (maybe hourly) someone spins the wheel and a new happy hour drink deal is revealed.
Service was «meh» … I always feel a little neglected by servers. Mind you, I do come during their busiest time (presumably). I remember being underwhelmed by the food. I’ve had the poutine and well as something dumpling-​esque. I can’t find it on their current online HH menu, so maybe it has been removed. :)

Being a vegetarian, it is hard to find good comfort food. But Vons not only does it right, but does it in a way that you want to keep coming back.
We took friends here who were not vegetarian and they were thrilled with their orders. It is a great pub for hanging out, doing the drink specials, and eating too much food. Amazing Mac & Cheese! And the service is not only fabulous, but quick to suggest options.
Try the nuts!

During our anniversary trip, the SO and I went here a couple times since we were staying close by. BLOWN AWAY by the mac and cheese, their sourdough pizzas (super unique) and their happy hour cocktails. I got a few sparklers. I can’t wait to return upon visiting the city again. :)

Stopped by on New Years Eve for what eventually became our last stop, it was cool. Their bar wall is crazy. So much alcohol :) I ordered the double bourbon shake and it was great. Tasted like chocolate milk! It was definitely a sleeper creeper drink. Got another one before they did last call… ;)
There were other drinks around the group that I don’t really recall, but the lady did order a $ 15 drink…
$ 15!!! But it came with a mini champagne bottle that was poured over a flavorless cotton candy cloud. It was neat.
Will definitely come back! Their menu looked interesting and I’d definitely like to try some food next time around. (Besides some fries-​which were good)

Amazing! Great drinks and fun drink ware! Tried the sourdough pasta and it was to die for! The absolute right amount of sauce and cheese. We also had the buffalo wings which were fantastic and some of the roasted peanuts which were really really yummy! I was very impressed! I would tell anyone to try this place !!

This neighborhood bar/​restaurant was located mere steps from where we were staying, so we popped in two or three times. I loved their macaroni and cheese, made with their homemade sourdough pasta. Indeed, sourdough pasta sounds a little strange, but it’s ridiculously good. So good, in fact, that I took two pounds of the pasta home with me (they sell it in 1lb bags). We also tried their meatballs (moist and good flavor), and the pulled pork poutine. The poutine was heaven. During happy hour, the meatballs, mac&cheese, and other select menu items are a great bargain, so I would recommend taking full of advantage of that if you’re in the neighborhood.
If I was a local I could see myself dropping into Von’s for a drink or quick nosh semi-​regularly.

Zero stars for service and 3 stars for food. Let’s call this what it is, which is 2.5 stars. I’ve been here a few times for either just drinks at the bar, or dinner with a friend, which have been pleasant experiences, but a few days ago, I rolled in with a party of 8, and had a lot of ‘wtf moments’ over the course of a few hours.
wtf #1) They wouldn’t seat us until the majority of the party had arrived, which is fine, but they weren’t even busy, and there were TONS of empty tables where we were seated.
wtf #2) The hostess put us in the very back corner of the very back room, where we were promptly forgotten about for about 20mins. We ended up having to search for a server in the main dining room (not ours) so we could get a round of water, drinks, and food in.
wtf #3) Our actual server finally appears and is either (a) super scatterbrained (b) on drugs, or © drunk. Regardless, her behavior is erratic. She brings us another table’s drinks + food, not once, but TWICE. Then, she forgets to put in our last round of food/​drink orders, but appears with a pizza we didn’t order. WTF?! Again?! She apologizes profusely, and promises she will enter in our order ASAP.
wtf #4) Our receipt arrives and it is unsurprisingly completely jacked up. It’s just a mish-​mash of stuff we didn’t order, along with some of the stuff we did. AWESOME. So we had to sort out that nightmare just to get outta there.
This place really needs to get their service together, because the food and $ 3.50 manhattan’s are pretty legit.
TL;DR Server was most definitely drunk.

This is such a cute place – I can imagine coming here to watch the game, grab lunch or come for HH and get a cocktail from their full bar. It has a great ambiance and a hipster feel to it.
We came in for a quick snack and go the sourdough mac & cheese which was so unique and delicious! It is definitely worth trying. I did notice that the prices here were on the high side. Their pasta dishes are around 18 bucks and I think their pizzas were around 15 – 16 bucks.
They serve a variety of food and have multiple TVs. Their bar area is beautiful too and they have large windows which adds to overall experience.
Service was quick and polite – no complaints!

This place is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. I had family visiting from out of town so I decided this would be a great place to take them. We decided to order peanuts, sea stew, salmon chowder, and pizza with bacon & figs to share. It was all absolutely incredible. The stew had more of a kick and as a spice lover, it was my favorite dish. The chowder is always a safe go to and the pizza had the most amazing flavors. The perfect balance or salty and sweet. On top of the amazing food, the staff was friendly and attentive. Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle!

I remember the old Von’s being a pretty grungy bar, but the new location is nothing like that!
They have a great menu with an extensive selection of homemade pasta and pizzas. I tried a really tasty pasta with sausage and broccoli in a cream sauce — huge portion and very rich. Definitely needed leftovers; this would be a good one to share. The meatballs in spicy red sauce were also quite good. We ordered some of the house bread which was amazing! Came out warm with lots of garlic butter and parmesan on top. The cocktails were good and the service was great. My only complaint is that it was a little pricey for lunch, but the food was delicious and I’d definitely come back!

Von’s has more alcohol choices than you could possibly experience in a year. Unless, of course, you have an unlimited budget, amazing alcohol tolerance, unlimited time, and a lot of water to stay hydrated.
My favorite thing was probably the wheel they spin every half hour with various drink specials. There were some really good deals on there! I overheard someone say that heh change the wheel out as well so it’s not always the same drink specials. But like I said, I overheard it so it may not be true?
I had the four cheese Mac and cheese with the house made sourdough pasta. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to taste the sourdough in the lasts but it has the perfect subtle flavor of sourdough that complimented the creamy cheese sauce perfectly. The food portions were generous. I couldn’t finish but half of my pasta!
My husband had the feisty Italian meatballs with sourdough pasta. I took a bit of his and it was tastes but at first I didn’t think there was much spice to it. But then it kicked in! He was wiping his nose through lunch and said it had a healthy kick to it that he loved! He finished all of his but said he was stuffed and probably should have stopped earlier. So again, generous portions. It was definitely yummy!
Our waitress was busy as the place was packed. However she maintained a friendly and courteous demeanor and provided efficient and attentive service.
Definitely try this place if you haven’t yet!

Excellent lunch here! Seated quickly and friendly staff. They spin a cocktails wheel and the chosen drink is discounted; during our visit WA apple cocktails were $ 5. We started off with an order of fresh-​cut fries. For my meal, I ordered Mac n 4 cheeses (w/​the addition of broccoli). Tasty and creamy.

Came here on a Sunday for brunch… The pizza reviews sounded amazing though, so we launched into one. Ours had arugula, fig jam, and prosciutto… In a word: AMAZING! Thin crispy sourdough crust with awesome fresh ingredients. Check out the picture… You’ll want one.
If the pizza was amazing, the service was a little lackluster. I can handle not having attentive service urge place is pack, but that wasn’t the case here. What was annoying was the staff, and by that I mean managers, falling all over themselves around the table next to us that must have had a sibling of an employee. If we’d have gotten ¹⁄₁₀^th of the attention this would have been 5 stars. Whatever?!?
Here’s the rundown:
Satisfied? Yes
Return? Yes
Advocate? No (get your pizza to go!)

Came here looking for a spot for lunch with a few friends. One of our friends recommended this place so we decided to go in since it was right in the area.
Seated right away, it was lunch time on a Saturday. Their bar is huge and very stocked with everything possible, and the restaurant itself is big. I remember it took me like 10 minutes to walk across to the bathroom haha.
Our waiter recommended drinks, we went with Bloody Mary and Raspberry pressed.
For food we ordered Spiced chicken salad, original caesar and adobo chicken sandwich.
The food came fairly quick and looked delicious. Very big portions too. After tasting, my spiced chicken salad wasn’t the most amazing thing I’ve tried, I probably won’t order it again but it was good. Just not something I’d crave to eat again.
I had higher expectations for this place based in our friends recommendations, but it wasn’t bad. I think next time I need to try more off the menu!
Quick and easy place to stop by for lunch if you are in the area.

Cool space (includes outdoor seating near the Harbor Steps).
We went around 5:30pm to take advantage of their happy hour and the spinning wheel of drink deals. The place was not packed (on a Monday) and we had great service. A little spendy outside of happy hour but normal for the area.
We tried the poutine and the sourdough mac n cheese. Skip the poutine but DO try their sourdough pasta — it is DELICIOUS! The pizzas looked really good too.
We enjoyed the spinning wheel of drinks + the «super shaken» Gimlit was perfect.

Pains me to not give this place a five, but the service was such a pile that I can’t.
The food was some of the best I had on my trip though. The homemade sourdough noodles in the macaroni and cheese were insane. Even better was the 20 Ingredient Curry Pizza which was nothing short of ridiculous. I’d say it’s the best pizza I’ve ever had, but the toppings made for a bit of a soppy sloppy pizza — I had to use a fork. Unfortunately, I had to wait 5 – 10 minutes for the waiter to come anywhere near our table to tell him that we needed plates. I also had to wait 10 minutes for my drink to come even though others were getting food and drinks in the process: it’s not like they were very busy, either. It was about 2pm on a Monday.
On top of the delicious food, they also offer a pretty nice tap list with some exceptional beers (may I recommend RPM if it’s available?). Damn the food was delicious, they just need to work on their service.

Man, woman, child, pet squirrel or baby giraffe. I am in LOVE! I love Von’s– whomever or whatever he/​she/​it may be.
I stopped in for a meal not expecting much and the entire experience exceeded my expectations. This is not your average pub or trendy pub. It is in a class all by itself. From the drinks to the ground brisket made burgers, this place is the epitome of awesomeness.
As I enjoyed my raspberry balsamic, I heard a clicking noise which I later learned was a wheel spinning near me. The wheel is the special of the thirty minute window. From red wine to dirty Shirley or rum and coke. The spin is a savings for every patron for thirty minutes. If that is not enough, there are two happy hours, tons of specialty drinks and filtered vodka. The ceiling has flags of the world and the bar is WELL stocked. If it is isn’t up there, it probably doesn’t exist.
Loved my food (Apple fennel salad, petite classic and apple crisp), the music, the service and the prices. It’s definitely one of my favs.
Von– I heart you! … Until we see each other again, please show the other the helpers the many treasures you shared with me.