King Ludwig’s Leavenworth, Washington

King Ludwig’s located in the Bavarian town of Leavenworth, Washington.
Following the themed town design, King Ludwig’s restaurant not only captures the appearance but also the “feel” of a true Bavarian restaurant. Offering authentic German Cuisine, music, dancing, and family dining, for a taste of Bavaria, King Ludwig’s is great.
I eat at King Ludwig's from time to time. I have always had good service, good food and a wonderful time. I usually go to King Ludwig’s during the week, avoiding the busy weekend crowds. I have had several different entrees but my favorite is the Gasthaus Platter of entrees and sides. The Leberkase (meatloaf) is tender and flavorful, as is the pork cutlets and veal cutlets. The tradition pork hock is a must; melt in your mouth wonderful. The Winekrut and Rotkrout add such smooth yet intense flavors to any of the entrées.  The food presentation is mouth-watering, yet not overdone and phony looking like they are trying to be something they are not.  It’s all about German food and their authentic cuisine is 5 stars. 
The staff have always been very polite, helpful and understand especially when my visit is one of those “everything sounds so good, I don’t know what to order”.  The restaurant itself is always clean, warm, and comfortable.  I always recommend King Ludwig’s to friends and to anyone who stops me on the street and asks where is the best place to eat.  King Ludwig’s is always at the top of my list.  One of the more family-friendly restaurants in Leavenworth, Washington.
Add a little polka music from a talented accordion player, a dance area; everything is there for an exquisite “trip” to Bavaria while you eat. I have never been disappointed; King Ludwig’s has always done right by me.

The Rickster

Applebee’s The Great Let Down

Applee’s Restaurant in Wenatchee, WA, 6:30pm, mid-week.  Right from the start, we were disappointed.  Due to a recent injury, my wife had to use a walker to get around.  The parking lot, although it had been plowed due to a recent snowstorm, some of the parking for “disability” was a snow berm.  I thought not a big deal they have to put the snow somewhere but of all places to put the snow, why put it in parking meant for people who have issues getting around.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the snow berm, covered the only walkway to the cement walk for wheelchair accessibility without having to go up over a curb.  Okay, fine, so whoever did the plowing didn’t know what they were doing, or didn’t realize what they were doing. Either way, if a person wheelchair or walker or crutches bound had no choice but to lift themselves over the curb to get to the walkway.   Thankfully, the walkway close to the restaurant front doors was plowed/shoved and de-iced. 
The hostess greeting us was nice, polite, warm, and friendly.  Seeing my wife was using a walker, the hostess did think to ask if the two stairs getting to the dining area was an issue and if so, she would lead us to the ramp allowing easy access to the dining area.  As we were being seated, it became evident the music was unusually loud and people in the restaurant were talking loud, having to talk over the music.  Loud enough, when the waitress was taking our order, she had to raise her voice to inform us of the specials and again when she repeated back confirming our order.  My wife and I had to raise our voices to tell the waitress what we wanted for drinks, appetizers, and entrees.
Onion ring appetizers, some of the best onion rings I’ve had at any restaurant.  Lightly breaded, not over breaded like most, cooked thoroughly, not hard or mushy but firm, however, the onion rings were lacking in flavor.  The number of onion rings was good, not enough to make a meal on but just enough to split between two people and not ruin our appetite for the main meal.
The entrees; barbequed riblets and shrimp.  The ribs were moist, tender, and flavorful. The barbeque sauce was good, offering a hint of several spices with no spice being predominate or leaving an overpowering after taste.  The shrimp were of decent size, 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches long, full of flavor and moist, not overcooked or dry like so many restaurants serve.  The shrimp actually tasted like shrimp with a hint of seasoning unlike so many dishes with shrimp, no flavor other than the seasoning.
The best time to try both out is when Applebee’s is running the all you can eat special for riblets, chicken tenders, and shrimp.  You are not restricted to just one or the other, you can have some of all three. 

The Rickster

Headwaters Bar and Restaurant Leavenworth, WA

Headwaters is an iconic “local” bar/pub/pool hall combined with a pizzeria; located close to Lake Wenatchee, Washington.  Small hometown feel, cheerful, and humorous conversations.  Headwaters is very popular with the locals and repeat tourists to the area.  The pizza never disappoints, although, in the pricey range for pizza (but not for bar food), the pizza always tastes great. If you like leftover pizza, be sure to order the large size, Headwaters' pizza is some of the best leftover pizza I've enjoyed.

Don't let the outside appearance fool you, ignore the peeling paint on the building, the inside is clean and well kept although it's obvious the building is old.

Great food, they serve alcoholic beverages, decent prices, and great customer interaction.  Nice place to shoot pool or watch a game. 

The Rickster

Toshi’s Teriyaki, Everett, Washington

Located in a little strip mall off Everett Mall Way, Toshi’s is easy to miss if you don’t look closely. The food had good flavor and was warm to hot, not piping hot in temperature, but we enjoyed the food. We had the teriyaki chicken and have to say it was some of the best we have had throughout the year. The restaurant was clean and the aroma of teriyaki was enticing. The staff was friendly and worked happily.
The Rickster

Wok ‘N Roll Asian Express Wenatchee, Washington

The Wok ‘N Roll is located in a strip mall at fifth and Mission in Wenatchee, Washington. 

The Wok 'N Roll serves up the best Chinese food in the Wenatchee Valley. The food is always hot, fresh, and full of flavor. Eat-in or take out. Fair warning, there is not a lot of seating in the restaurant but the tables have never been full when we have been to the Wok 'N Roll. We normally spend about $40 but we have enough leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.

We have noticed, at least it appears, most of the customers get take out. Whatever your favorite Chinese entrée is, I'm sure you will enjoy theirs the best. If you order the Honey Walnut Shrimp entrée (which is delicious) there is a small upcharge but well worth the couple bucks more.

The Wok ‘N Roll also has a small sushi bar. I’m not into sushi, but my son who is, likes their sushi, said it’s some of the best he’s had outside of Asia.

Everyone we have taken to the Wok 'N Roll has loved it and have returned many times as have we. Service is great, food tastes great and the place is very clean. Highly recommend the Wok 'N Roll.
The Rickster

Pierce's Pitt Bar-B-Que, VA

Customer service was top notch! A nice touch was reviewing our order as they bagged it up for us. Building was clean, well kept and smelled wonderful!

The food was great! We had the BBQ pork, BBQ chicken, potato salad and coleslaw. I tend to prefer BBQ sauce on the sweet side, but Pierce's is obviously vinegar based, which I thought was great. Great flavor, good meat (not filled with fat or grisly) and quantity is well worth the price. Next time we are in VA, we will stop by again.

The Rickster

Bob’s Burgers and Brews East Wenatchee, WA

Our first time to Bob's Burgers and Brews. It was awesome! None of this 1/4 lb. burgers, Bob's hamburger patties are 6 oz! Even the double patty burgers are 6 oz. per patty. Quantity of food, well, there is a reason for "to-go boxes". 

At first glance, the prices seemed a little high but once we got our food, we understood. No one in town has food that tastes as good or serves the large quantity Bob's does. It took a while to decide what to get, everything on the menu looked so good.

Another nice "feature" is you can choose your side that comes with your meal; fries, onion rings (small upcharge $1), dinner salad, potato salad. I had onion rings and they were great. Lightly battered compared to others and not full of grease.

The staff were very polite, checked on us regularly to make sure everything was good, or if there was something else we needed. Nice atmosphere, warm, friendly, and inviting. The quantity of food, flavor, options, and service, well worth the money. We were not disappointed at all.
The Rickster