Best Open Kitchen Restaurants in Renton

Paolo's is always great. Service was prompt and professional, food was great. Early dinner special is a great deal!

From the moment I walked in the experience was welcoming, efficient and thoroughly enjoyable. A bartender greeted me warmly as I walked past the bar to my table. The staff were uniformly cheerful and helpful. A bottle of water was delivered to my table immediately together with drink menu. My server, Daniela, was solicitas and took great care of me. Care was taken to explain items place in Peruvian culture. My choice of classic Peruvian Sour cocktail was delicious and I was told is traditionally delivered for its sour taste before moving to wine, which I did with a selection from the very good wine list. I ordered the cebiche sampler of 3 cebiches and all were fresh and delicious. It was my introduction to the explosion of flavors on my palate, which was consistent the entire evening. I had the Criollo, a stunning small plate (the servings are all ample), of sushi grade hamachi in a amarillo (yellow) sauce served with plantain chips. Absolutely excellent. On another recommendation I tried the beef empanadas and found them lovely, also incredibly flavorful. The pastry was perfect. My main dish was Arroz con Pato (Rice with Duck) that was prepared to perfection as well. The duck was crispy on the outside skin and fall off the bone tender inside. The rice was risotto-like, and a joy to eat. As Daniela explained their Tres Leches i’d not like others, to which i thought “yeah,yeah”, but as was the case all evening she was correct in hr description and recommendation. The cake is processed into corn kernel sized bits and made into a little mountain topped with a meringue and accompanied by fruit sauces. The process ensures the cake is saturated by the milks. Different and fabulous as was my coffee with milk. A great dinner and experience—Genial! We’ll return.

The food, service and ambience were fine. Being a John Howie restaurant, we weren’t surprised by the high prices. Two cocktails, two starters, two steaks with no sides, and two glasses of wine were almost $300. We were surprised, however, at the 20% service charge on the bill that goes entirely to John Howie. Their explanation was that they pay their staff well and give them benefits. There was a typical place for a tip on the check. Had we added a typical 20% tip, we would have paid over $100 in add-ons plus $35 tax which included tax on the service charge. This certainly put a damper on our enthusiasm for this restaurant. $400+ for the above listed food is certainly not worth it.