Chestnut Cafe

Stopped here for a spot of breakfast one morning.
Didn’t think much of the interior, but once I took a moment to look over the rather large menu, and spent a few moments listening to the guy behind the counter, I was in.
Ordered French Toast, because it’s easy.
Well, he went above and beyond my expectations. He used two slices of «Texas toast» cinnamon and powdered sugar to finish it out. Additionally, I suspect that may have been a hint of vanilla in the batter he used.
Either way, nicely done.
So much so, that I went back with my spouse two days later, so she could enjoy this gem.
Sure the place may not look like much, but it’s amazing service, and very well done food more than makes up for what amounts to a minor ambiance thing.
We are planning on making this a regular thing.
Thanks very much.

There was a tingle I felt as the gentleman that took my order yelled across to the chef in Korean.
I know what he was saying because unlike most of the patrons there I too am Korean. «Mom triple decker hold the tomatoe» his mother agreeingly muttered «yes yes» with a smile on her face.
She doesn’t look like she speaks much English but you could tell she was so happy her son was there to greet the customers. The son started casual chit chat and sprinted across the Resteraunt taking care of the customers. You could tell he is really trying to win the customers. He genuinely was trying to help his mothers business. The smile on the mothers face showed she already won. Having her son there, working side by side as a team. His eagerness and patience with his mother and her hard work and guidance was the secret recipe.
If you are so lucky to go by this café you might get a glimpse of that, through all the local engineers that don’t even notice what’s going on here. And maybe, just maybe you might leave a better person than when you walked in.
The sandwich filled my stomach, but the tingle shook my heart and filled my soul.

Chestnut Café is a great affordable place to dine. It’s got good value — a combination of price, quantity, and quality.

Absolutely stunning food and service. Jee is a master sandwich maker. The ingredients are fresh and the bread is always toasted perfectly.

Maybe I’m one of the few, but I had the most unpleasant experience here. I was just looking for an americano and a place to read before going to the office. This wasn’t it!

After riding around for 15 minutes desperately looking for something good to eat a tiny sign caught our attention: «Gourmet Sandwiches and Soup». We were welcomed by the cashier, who had the most amazing customer service I’ve encountered in a long time! Cheerful, helpful but efficient. We ordered the French Dip and Teriyaki combo.
The French dip is perfect, starting from the bread. It was a soft yet sturdy texture, you pressed it and it was very thin, however it would sprung right back up! The meat (roast beef) and cheese (swiss) were in perfect proportion to the bread, not too much, not too little. The au jus was delicious, the bread absorbed the liquid like a sponge without falling apart.
My hubby had the teriyaki combo, came with rice and a small salad. The teriyaki was delicious, really hit the spot. The rice was regular white rice, always pairs nicely with teriyaki, the salad was meh, just plain old lettuce and ranch.
I love this place, you can truly tell they take great care in the ingredients they use in preparing their food, the only bad part is I am from out of town, so I will probably not be able to enjoy their food again for a long time.

Better than Subway or Jimmy John’s. If you are looking for a great tasting sandwich, this is the place. Meat, veggies, and the bread tasted good all together. A very nice customer service as well.

Really nice people here food looks and test good!!! I would come here again!!! Small place!!! :-)

The staff here is so nice! It’s really a pleasant place to have lunch and their teriyaki is delicious.

Friendly service, and a good grinder. Hole in the wall, and hard to find, but a gem.

Completely microwaved breakfast. Heard at least 10 dings waiting for my order. I felt like I was in a clock shop at noon.

Great little café with tasty food and super nice staff. Will definitely come for more.

Horrible service. Pricey sandwiches. My order was simple, a veggie sandwich with no onions, but it came loaded with onions. I understand that mistakes are made in restaurants, especially when there is a language barrier, but when I asked the owner/​cook to fix it she acted extremely put out and started to pick out the onions with dirty fingers after wiping down tables. Gross. I just walked out without eating and $ 9 poorer.

Used to come here for lunch when I worked in the south King County area. Definitely a hidden gem of a café. You usually don’t expect good food to come from a business park-​type location, but ka-​blam, it does!
Upon walking in, you are greeted by very friendly staff behind the counter and classical music (borderline too loud, though). The menu is pretty straight forward, filled with deli classics like salads, sandwiches, and fries and that what not. But then they totally change it up and go all Western Washington on you and throw some teriyaki up at you.
The fare I’ve had here has ranged from a-​okay to «omg, what’s in my mouth? I wanna marry it!»
The CCCR (cranberry, cream cheese, croissant) is phenom-​nom-​nom-​nom! Any place that does Thanksgiving-​style sandwiches year-round…if there is an Olympics for sandwiches, give them medals. All of them.
Salads are good. Crinkle cut fries come to you lava-​hot. Onion rings are gigantic, sometimes as big as your face. Absolutely excellent drink selection if fountain drinks aren’t your thing (tons of Nantucket Nectars, Tazo and Honest Teas, various juices, and Rockstar if you need to wake up at lunch).
The only drawback would be the teriyaki, honestly. While it was most definitely palatable, as I ate it like a zombie eating brains for the first time in weeks, it didn’t rock my world. The beef was cut too finely, and the sauce was almost too sweet.
Save for the one drawback of the teriyaki, definitely go here. It’s an oasis in an otherwise bleak part of Kent. A great place to get away and grab a bite (and WHAT a bite) to eat.

A diverse menu of terryaki and american grill food. Super friendly service. Recommend the beef terryaki and the chicken BBQ. best lunch spot if you work in south Renton or north Kent!

Absolutely a wonderful sandwich! I love the Turkey and how they roast it in the café always a treat!

This place was pretty good. Tucked away in an unsuspecting place. It provided a good meal before my meeting and the staff was super friendly. It’s kind of greasy diner food.

The Chestnut Café is an adorable little hole-​in-​the-​wall that I wish was open far more often than it is.
I love the sign outside that boasts «TeriyakiBreakfastGrinderSandwiches» smashed so close together you start to wonder what a Teriyaki Breakfast would taste like.
On one particularly hungover day on my way to work I got a horrendous craving for an egg salad sandwich, and given that that is not something I had eaten in about ten years I didn’t know where to get one nearby, but I figured the Chestnut was as good a place as any to look. They made me the most incredible creamy, yummy egg salad on sourdough sandwich that I have had in my entire life. They completely saved my day and before I knew it I was coming back 3 times a week.
I tried several different things (all good, never great), until settling on their BBQ chicken sandwich — plain, add cheese as my usual. OMG YUM. They toast their bread on a griddle so it gets JUST A LITTLE crispy but still soft inside and warm all over.
*sigh*