Will R.
Yelp
The best diners are spiritual awakenings: life is made worthwhile, meaning is found, clarity is achieved through a revelationary Monte Cristo as the Sunday morning sun shines through the window. Queen Anne Cafe is not this sort of diner. It is, however, one of the better hangover cures in upper Queen Anne, one of only a handful of places around my house just off Boston Street I would consider going the morning after a night out instead of crankily making pancakes at home. I've been a few times since moving in this summer -- all around noon on a Sunday, all preceded by at least three strong cups of coffee at home -- and I have enjoyed the food I've gotten here.
As mentioned before, their menu isn't quite up to snuff with my mother's weekend-morning challah French toast, but their food is still quite good. Their Reubens are greasy and flavorful, their omelettes hearty and filling, their coffee cheap, strong, and surprisingly tasty. I cannot in good conscience give Queen Anne Cafe a five-star rating, as -- like any good Jew -- I fundamentally distrust any diner which does not serve matzo ball soup, but if they were to offer even a decent dish of this stripe, I would certainly consider bumping up my rating.
The environment of the restaurant is also a plus. The carpeted floors feel appropriately homey, the windows are large and let plenty of sunlight in, and the vinyl booth seating is just sticky enough to make me feel at home without being gross. The staff is pleasant, and I'm impressed by how patient they were with our groggy, hungover selves as we took far too long to pore over the menu on a busy weekend morning. It's a smidge expensive for diner food ($18ish including tax and tip for coffee and an omelette) but that's less the fault of the diner and more of its location. If you're looking for the best hangover cures in Seattle, there are better places if you're not already in the area, particularly Morsel in the U District and The Fat Hen in Ballard, but Queen Anne Cafe is the best I've found just west of Union Bay.