Brimmer & Heeltap

“3 of us went to this restaurant to celebrate my birthday and it was lovely! We shared a ton of dishes - highlights definitely include the crispy potatoes, burrata with butternut squash and I loved the apple crumble. We also loved the staff! We met Jen, the owner, who was such a fun vibe. They also made great, deliciously boozy cocktails. Will definitely be back!”

“Justine was so wonderful. Not only was our service amazingly paced, her recommendations were fantastic and our gluten free diet was accommodated. Drinks were amazing - food was fantastic - but truly Justine made my night feel special (and it was my birthday!) thank you so much, all.”

“Creative, delicious dining experience! We celebrated our anniversary at Brimmer & Heeltap and had the most lovely evening. The waitstaff is warm and friendly, the mixed drinks are fun, and the food is delicious! The menu changes by season, so it’s fun to see what is new! Definitely one of our favorite restaurants in Seattle! The entire staff signed a card for our anniversary! I just love that!”

“To start, the food was quite good. Had we stopped after the small plates, this would have easily been a 12/10 review. However, several other issues impacted the overall experience, which led to the lower rating. Starting with the positives, the small plates were fantastic. We tried the carrots, crispy potatoes, and crostata. Each was unique, well balanced, and left us excited for the mains. Now the service, which seemed to come down to one issue: understaffing. Our waitress was wonderful—helpful, informative, and attentive when she was present. The problem was, she was rarely around. It seemed like she was serving everyone in the restaurant, leading to long delays. For example, when we requested another minute to decide, she never returned. Instead, another staff member (non-server) approached, asking if we were ready for dessert, and eventually took our main course order instead. The mains themselves took an extremely long time to arrive, leaving us waiting for around 40 minutes without any updates or explanations. When they finally came, we were disappointed. The lamb was undercooked to our liking, and the pasta was simple and somewhat overcooked. We did order tiramisu for dessert, which was delicious. Our waitress kindly comped it and apologized for the delay, explaining that such long waits weren’t typical. We spent two full hours at the restaurant, including a delay at the start when our table wasn’t ready on time. The total for two drinks (including a $13 sparkling wine that was billed as $16), three small plates, and two mains came to $190, including the $9 surcharge (5%). While I appreciate the surcharge being disclosed upfront on the menu, it feels excessive given the already high cost of the meal and what appears to be cuttings costs by reducing staff.”

“Do not come here for Valentine's Day! My girlfriend and I thought the menu at Brimmer & Heeltap seemed very interesting, so we made a reservation for Valentine's Day nearly a month in advance. About a week after I made the reservation, I received a call from the restaurant saying they would be serving a $100 per person "prix fixe" menu instead of their original menu. When I asked what this menu would be, they said it wasn't available yet but would be made available in the next week on their social media. We then waited for the menu to be posted over the next three weeks, but the restaurant's website and social media were never updated with the menu as promised. We additionally called the restaurant twice in the week leading up to Valentine's day during the restaurant's hours hoping to inquire about the menu and never got ahold of anyone. By the time we did get ahold of someone at the restaurant the day before, it was too late to change our Valentine's day plans as most other places had been booked. Between the two of us, our $100/person meal consisted of: - 6 Oysters total - 12 Pringles (from the can) and dip - Clams and homemade bread (which was actually very good, but did not make up for the rest of this meal) - 2 1.5 inch wide lava cakes Finally, a 5% surcharge (going entirely to the restaurant, not the waitstaff), was applied for a total of $210. Funnily enough, the surcharge notice mentions the "cost of goods" as a reason for the hike, but surely the price of Pringles has not gone up that much. Overall, while the food tasted good enough and the atmosphere was lovely, I couldn't ignore the astronomical price and relative low quality of the ingredients, especially the "Pringles course". Most of all, the lack of transparency about the menu as a way to lock in Valentine's Day reservations was truly insulting. I really wanted to like this restaurant, but I cannot in good conscience give a higher rating.”