Bistro Baffi

This place is a well kept secret. Wife & I went there for our 2^nd anniversary, we were impressed with the level of service, the food was absolutely incredible! Freshest seafood & vegetables, lobster ravioli to die for, authentic Caesar salad what a treat, greeted & served by the Chef! Place is very cozy & intimate, will return soon, highly recommended!

Great little place tucked away in Burien. I’m honestly not a big fan of Italian food but there were 4 of us and everyone had a great dinner. The chef came by the table and said hello and the service was great. Our waitress was training someone and she was very reserved and not personable but still provided great service. The little gal pouring water and assisting was great! We had quite a variety of dishes and all were great. I would highly recommend it.

I am addicted to their lobster ravioli. And the bruschetta. This place is a hidden gem. One of our favorite restaurants! And the owner and staff are the best, we always feel so welcome. Great atmosphere. We have never had a bad meal.

This incredible restaurant deserves much more than 5 stars! Don’t let the exterior fool you, go inside to experience excellent service, cozy décor and the best Italian food on the planet! Our group of 6 were in the banquet room. It felt like we were in a friends dining room with the family serving us. So relaxed and intimate. Thank you for a birthday dining experience I will never forget. We will be back for sure!

I don’t know why I can’t summon up much enthusiasm for Baffi. I’ve been there twice with co-​workers, once to celebrate some out of town folks and another for a girl’s night out. They are great when it comes to ambiance and showmanship. Dinner only and intimately lit. Plenty of parking but it’s a tiny corner mall that you’ll miss the first time you’re trying to find it.
My first visit they sold our table some unusual wine with a long cork that only a skilled chef from the back was able to open (after one failed try) but that I don’t have the palate to really review. Their menu is high end, predominantly seafood with an Italian flair and expensive. I had shrimp with pasta the first time and thought it was okay. The second time, for whatever reason, I did the same thing and again, thought it was okay (thinking of calling it the La Rustica Syndrome — aka my own stupid fault). I tried my first mussels ever here. Meh, but then I don’t think I’m a bivalve kind of girl without some batter and oil or cream based soup to back it up.
The co-​workers, on the other hand, had nothing but good to say about their meals. Sorry to say I can’t remember what everyone ordered the first time. The second visit, I remember my friend had Chilean sea bass, pronounced it very good and she’s a very picky eater so interpret that how you will. You’ll trip out to the cool seafood on ice they show you when they tell you the specials. Overall, worth trying it out if you can withstand a $ 100 meal for two. High class, well-​prepared seafood is a rare find in Burien after all.

Awesome place! Everything tastes so fresh. Waiter explained the house specials perfectly! It was the perfect atmosphere for a quiet dinner for two or four. We had the stuffed mushrooms, steak and the seafood spaghetti. Definitely going back!

One of the best restaurants we’ve been to in Seattle. Perhaps out of the way for some but well worth it.
Consistent service, outstanding quality. Always a good experience

We love this place. Every dish I’ve had has been taaaasty. Tonight was melt in your mouth filet. Which has been my husband’s go to. I’ve had the salmon. Scallops. Pork chops and lamb. It’s that good. You want to try everything. Never disappointed. I am editing after reading a very few negative reviews. So strange. We venture in here every few months for the last couple of years. Not locals by any means. My husband has had a couple work dinners here. We have never seen strange or unprofessional service. Though I have no doubt Chef is passionate about his food. Tonight I ordered a glass of Pinot Noir. It was not to my liking. And without batting an eye the waitress asked what I would like in its place and promptly returned with a glass of Cab.

What a gem this place is! We went here to celebrate my sister in laws bday and she couldn’t have picked a better place. The ambience was very intimate and comfortable. Chef greeted us warmly and the food was AMAZING! The food taste fresh, clean and homemade. It was flavorful and brings back so much memories of when I was in Italy. We enjoys the food and service and is definitely coming back here. Best Italian restaurant in town!

Fresh and very authentic Italian food/​experience. We visit as a couple and have gone with friends. The chef did shots with us on our birthday! I love that they bring the fresh seafood options to your table before you order. Awesome food and experience!

Stuffed mushrooms (4 pieces per order) were amazing, probably the best thing I ate last night. We also ordered the special, pappardelle pasta with fresh hedgehog mushrooms, truffles and Alfredo. I could not taste the truffle and the sauce was a little too thick/​rich making it difficult to eat too much of it. The rigatoni parsons had a hint of spice and was delicious, especially the sausage.
Caesar salad and tiramisu were both just okay. They were offering a special promotion of 30% off any bottle of wine. They didn’t have the one we had ordered, however, they were kind enough to substitute it for a bottle that was $ 10 more but still charged us the same price with the additional 30% off.
Service was great and the restaurant was intimate and charming. Would definitely go again and recommend others to check it out.

OK, full disclosure first — both my husband and I are total food snobs. We are from Portland and LA respectively and recently moved to Seattle. Natch, we’ve been making the rounds to all the «new and noteworthy» «10 best» etc, etc spots. But the best restaurant in Seattle is right here in our ‘hood. We’ve enjoyed dinner here a few times and have experienced a fairly wide sampling of perfectly and authentically prepared, amazingly fresh and amazingly delicious dishes. At the risk of not being able to get a reservation – I’m inviting all who read this review to make the drive and give this neighborhood gem a try.

I’m extremely disappointed in this restaurant. We recently moved to the neighborhood and checking out local restaurants we saw the great reviews here and were excited to try it. Unfortunately the night was filled with one bad thing after another. First of all, my wife asked about a $ 50 bottle of wine– the server came back with a $ 110 bottle. We’re all about good wine, but don’t appreciate being up sold like that. And then I was really excited about the salmon, and we asked the server what she recommended and I was excited when she raved about the salmon– only to tell us they didn’t have it because the owner didn’t like the way the salmon looked in the market. I can appreciate that, but don’t rave about your best menu item only to say it’s not available.
It took over 30 minutes to get awful wine; and over an hour to get terrible food. My wife’s ravioli was hard and chewy, and the promised ounce of lobster per ravioli was more like an ounce on the entire plate. I got the house fettuccine, which had no flavor and was more like soup. Service was terrible, food was mediocre, two stars is generous here. Very disappointing.

I am really confused on how this place has such great reviews. That was one of the most miserable dining experiences I’ve ever had. First of all, not only was our server not knowledgeable with her wine menu (and spent more time trying to increase the sale then listen to what we wanted), but when we did get a horrible wine, and expressed our displeasure with the wine, the server did nothing. This was the most unflavorful wine– we went as far to ask the server to have the owner taste it– based on previous reviews I thought he may care what an awful wine he was serving for $ 50 (and yes I know thats not terribly expensive, but I at least expect my wine to not taste like water). The server came back with a decanter– when she asked if decanting helped we honestly told her no. To which her response was to pour the rest of the wine in our glasses and walk away.
Now the food. I will say the bread and salads were good. But the pasta was terrible. My dad equated it to hotel food. I got the lobster lasagna– the sauce was good, but there was barely any lobster and the ravioli was chewy and awful. My mom got lobster risotto, and the measley amount of lobster was chewy and tough. And the risotto was hard and more like uncooked rice than any respectable Italian risotto. My dad got the sausage penne, which had a great sauce but was overall mediocre, and the pasta was inconsistently cooked (my dad felt the sausage wasn’t very good but I thought it was nice and mild). My husband got the house Alfredo, which tasted like box fettuccine in milk– it was runny and didn’t have any flavor.
And one of the most annoying things about this meal was that every aspect of our meal from wine to food was an upsale. Every wine and food recommendation was the most expensive. I don’t mind expensive recommendations, but this was a bit too blatant. It felt like we were at a car dealership not a nice family restaurant.
Overall, we were all terribly disappointed. I was excited to try this restaurant based on the reviews, and we live near by. But this was not an experience I would want to repeat. However I will say it’s a cute place and the bread is fantastic. Just don’t expect good, authentic food.

WOW! Let me say that again… WOW! What an awesome find!!! Normally, I would not considered going to an unknown, off the beaten path restaurant; especially during the 5 pm south bound traffic while dark and rainy. My friend, Nicole tagged me yesterday and said, «You MUST go to this Italian Restaurant». Meanwhile, my daughter calls and wants Chinese. We decided to try the Bistro instead after checking out the menu. One of the best decisions we made!!! The food, dessert, wine, service, chef and the restaurant were awesome! My three year old grandson had a great time with Chef Michael in the kitchen after the meal. Wayne, I call him the friendliness server is so helpful and assisted in answering all our questions about the food. Chef said goodnight to us with his homemade Limoncello liqueur. All the seafood ingredient are fresh and from Pike Place Market. I’m going back again. The lamb, risotto and pasta dishes are whispering… come back and bring your foodie buddies! Perfect place for a family gathering. I’ll be back…

I am truly speechless as to how wonderful my meal was here. The food was so flavorful. It was amazing. It reminded me of my favorite restaurant, Lucca’s in North Boston. I will definitely return very soon.
Chef Michael is a genius!

Great place for some amazing Italian food! We had the scallops and the lobster risotto for our entrées. Wow! We’re they amazing! ! We will definitely dine here atleast once a month since we live locally. Our server Wayne was great and had very good recommendations. The restaurant has their own brand of wine which is pretty tasty and good price per bottle. Oh I almost forgot about the dessert, we had the flour less chocolate walnut cake and the tiramisu. Both were delicious! I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone I know

After dining here on over 10 different occasions in the last 6 months I think its time to update my review. This is the single best restaurant south of Seattle. Most likely the best restaurant in Seattle. The food is on par with Canalis. There is not a dish here that isn’t simply amazing. The wait staff is better than any competitor hands down. Chef Michael is warm and friendly always providing an excellent experience for his diners.
Earlier I wrote that this place is a 5 star establishment. In actuality this should be the 5 star standard. Just for Bistro Baffi, Unilocal should adopt a 6^th star. A symbol to recognized restaurants like this that are so far above and beyond any other place they simply can’t be compared to your normal 5 star Unilocal reviews.
On your next date night take your special someone to Bistro Baffi. Then come home and tell your significant other you need to get on Unilocal to thank me for the best advice of your life. You’re Welcome.

The food was amazing, as well as the service. The stuffed mushrooms were delicious as was the brochette. I had the filet mignon wrapped in prosciutto which was one of the best steaks I have ever had, ordered it medium rare and it was cooked to perfection… and it was only $ 30. The 3 others I was with had nothing but positive things to say about their meals. So glad I finally went to Bistro Baffi, one of if not the best restaurant in Burien.

Excellent, wonderful Italian food! My husband had the venison cannelloni, and I — The pasta Bolognese. The pasta was cooked to perfection and they had no problem substituting the pasta of my choice with what was on the menu. We also had the stuffed mushrooms, but beware — the pink sauce is extremely rich but extremely excellently prepared and oh so wonderful!
The house wine — Chianti — was $ 40 a bottle, and I do believe that was the least expensive wine in this restaurant.
And yes, the tiramisu was «out of this world».