Oh Beth’s Cafe. OH, dear Beth’s Cafe. Open since 1954, home of the 12-egg omelet, a place where nothing changes — including the oil on the grill. Even after all these years of coming and going from Seattle, I have never lost my love of Beth’s Cafe. It’s an institution of summertime in Seattle that is synonymous with things like a trip to The Seattle Zoo, the Seafair Parade, and, in the words of one observer I talked to, “eating a lot of wild mushrooms, seeing giant wildebeasts, and going skinny-dipping in Greenlake hoping they will leave you alone”. While the cool kids were rocking out at the Capitol Hill Block Party, I dissed the shenanigans in favor of a much lighter, more adolescent adventure back to the place where I whiled away considerable hours of my life.
I can’t really explain Beth’s simply. Here’s the setup: 24 hour grill that serves “bottomless hashbrowns” (one plate is usually enough, but you can ask for seconds if you’re really hungry at no extra charge), a world-famous heart-clogging 12 Egg Omelet in four varieties (6 egg omelet is available for the lite eater), a jukebox that never stops crossing five generations of music, and paper & crayons you can draw with for the asking. Mind you, this ain’t Chili’s, it ain’t CK’s, and it damn sure ain’t Waffle House. The service is always friendly, the experience is always completely wacky, and people are often heard to say “I think I was at Beth’s last night but I don’t really remember.”
Where else can you mop up the alcohol you ingested for the evening and have a close encounter with friendly and courteous waitstaff like this while exploring the fun side of Seattle’s night owls so disreputably? The sign looking for a dishwasher which hangs on the marquee says it all — “Join The Insanity Now”. I love you, Beth’s Cafe, and you’ll always be the place I know I can go in Seattle to chase away anything even slightly monotonous. It’s never the same experience twice, and for that I’ll keep coming back so long as your doors stay open.
Click Here To See Some More Pictures Of Beth’s Cafe Madness From My Seattle Visit
“Ain’t Nuttin But Tutti Frutti, Get On The Floor If You Got That Booty”
“Shake Whatcha Mama Gave Ya…Shake Whatcha Mama Gave Ya”
“Shake It, A-Don’t Break It, It Took Ya Mama Nine Months Ta Make it”
“Now Scruuuuuuub Da Ground. Scruuuuuuuuub Da Ground.”
