Marketplace Café

This is my go-​to spot for lunch with my Grams. Great food, decent prices, and excellent service. The lemon ricotta cookie is absolutely amazing :)

It’s kind of like you have a super unhelpful waiter where it’s better/​faster if you can just help yourself to silverware etc. One time I literally was going thru the cabinet to find myself some silverware. After I was brought my food today I still didn’t have silverware. So I just sat there looking at my food until I got up and got some. After I finished I put everything on the plate and pushed it away then waited and counted waiters walking by 25 times and still no one cleared my plate. Finally I left with out even getting my mint candy thing. Then exited past 3 employees just chit chatting with each other.

Eating here as we speak and had to write this due to terrible service. Do NOT come here. For how much Nordstrom prides itself on customers being first, they should be embarrassed by the staffing at this location. 10 min wait to order even though I was second in line because the cashier was taking a phone order. Asked my server who was bussing a table for a high chair as I’m holding my heavy toddler and he takes his sweet time to get one… Ended up having to ask another girl who ran off to get me one. He then comes over and says «sorry I was being pulled in two directions.» He offers my son grapes but 30 min in he never brings them… He stopped and remembered at one point stating «sorry I’m easily distracted” — walked off to get it but never brought them. He then proceeds to walk up to our table and smiles. Nothing else. Walked out of there and never coming back.

Close to work and lots of variety!!! Today I had the special salad — Roasted Vegetable Salad. OMG. I LOVED IT!!! Roasted red beets, potatoes and cauliflower along with couscous, pepitas, goat cheese and frisée and champagne-​tomato dressing. It was AWESOME! Didn’t have to wait for it… they prepared it right at the salad bar and I took it to go.
I love pretty much all the other salads here but you have to wait for the kitchen to prepare the salads with grilled salmon and shrimp and Parmesan crusted chicken. Great place for work lunches or to get your energy up for more shopping!
Pretty busy at lunch especially on Fridays and weekends so get there before the crowd!

Nordstrom has some of the best food around Bellevue and by far my favorite lunch spot. And don’t skip their desserts! They make some amazing treats and cupcakes that put all of those trendy cupcake shops to shame. My only critique would be there salad prices are a bit pricey now which means I eat here less and the accuracy of to-​go orders. I have just learned to double check my order before I leave.

What a strange place, seriously I don’t think they thought it through. You walk in and the sign says «grab a tray» ok cafeteria style, that’s fine. Then you walk over to look at the foods, the have already made dishes, everything on the menu out for inspection.
So I gave my order to the guy and he says «you don’t need the tray» ok.. . Remove your sign then. Get to the cashier and pay, take my number and sit down.
At this point a different guy comes over and says
«Hi my name is Jessie, and I’ll be your waiter». .
Why? WHY?! TELL ME WHY!
What the hell could you possibly do? I have my drink, my order is in, every condiment is five steps away from me on a counter. What would you say you do here?
Food is average, but the people were friendly and the place is clean so 2 stars.

The Nordstrom Café is our favorite place to eat when we are shopping. We always stop by for their scrumptious chicken scesar salad and their addicting tomato basil soup with crunchy cristinies. This is something we never get tired of eating! Also, we like to try other food on the menu and delicious chef’s specials.
Yesterday’s chef’s special blew my mind! It was seared yellow fin tuna. It was simply AMAZING! The meal was fancy decorated, had amazing flavors, and was cooked to perfection! I wish they always had this on their menu:)
And like always, the service is always great!

This place is always wonderful! One of our favorite places to go and has been a favorite for years and years!

I have eaten at this place multiple times and most of the times service is great. I tend to order a sandwich or pasta and the food tastes great. This time, I ordered the turkey cranberry sandwich with a side salad. My plate got out a bit late and the sandwich was cold so I asked the waiter if I could have the sandwich pressed. It took them about 25 minutes to bring out the sandwich and when they did, they didn’t give me a salad. They gave me chips. I was a but disappointed with the lack of attention but as we were finishing with our plate, the waitress said that dessert was on the house for all the waiting. I ordered the strawberry shortcake and it is by far the best I have ever tasted. It was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. It was garnished with fresh strawberries and mint. Perfect amount of everything and perfect to share. They are very busy during dinner time but the wait is worth it. Great food and great prices.

The reason I am giving this 5 stars is for my server Jesse, who was absolutely perfect. He was attentive in every way! I give it 1 star for the «NO TIP LINE on the receipt. It is inconvenient for the customer and forces you to leave cash, if you have it and if you don’t you are forced to stiff your wait staff. Who’s bright idea was this? You are doing a disservice to your excellent wait staff by more than likely not getting a tip for their excellent service. Please rethink this.

I went here with my friend and his grandmother on a trip to Bellevue to walk the mall. It was a busy day so it took a while to get the food, but nothing out of the ordinary for the amount of people. Overall, the wait was just fine.
The food was very tasty. I found it slightly greasy, but it tasted great! It was pretty expensive, food for the three of us was $ 45, but given the location not unexpected.
Buying the food was a horrible experience and has ensured that I will never return. Although the café was busy we were the only people at the register when it was time to pay. There were three employees working the registers and we got the bad one. She could not seem to understand that the three of us were together and gave the total for one meal plus one drink. When we asked if all three meals had been rung up together she said, «No, just the one.» When we explained that we WANTED all three meals rung up together she said, «No, I didn’t ring up other people’s food. Just yours.» This went on for a while, eventually we paid.
After paying, Grandma asked if we had paid for three drinks or just one. The girl pointed to the glass on the tray and said, «Your drink is right there.» Grandma asked again if we had paid for three drinks or one. The girl kept explaining that her drink was on the tray, the soda machine was behind her, and that she needed to go over and fill her own drink. Grandma tried to clarify that we needed to pay for three drinks not one. Finally, the cashier got frustrated, walked around the register, took the glass off the tray, and filled it at the soda machine. Then she put the full glass on the tray and said, «See? That’s how you are supposed to do it.»
It was very clear during the whole exchange that the cashier was not listening to the question. She had already determined both question and answer in her own mind and she was not going to hear anything we were saying. After five minutes of this nonsense (I was staring at my watch) another cashier came over. Grandma asked him the same question. He checked the receipt, determined that we had paid for one drink, and rang up two more.
The experience would have been fine, but the frustration in dealing with the disrespectful cashier ruined the experience and soured me on Marketplace Café. I can pack a lunch. When I eat out I want a pleasant and enjoyable experience. This wasn’t.
The food was good, though.

This place drives me absolutely nuts. I can not believe that Nordstrom decided to put it in one of it’s top stores.
There is almost always a line which I can’t help but assume is largely due to the lack of efficiency of the cafeteria style ordering. There is always confusion with first timers about where the line is going and why some people are told to move to the front of the line to pay, and if you order a hot meal it comes to the table long after anything that anyone got in the line such as a salad. As far as the salads go for a $ 15 cafeteria salad I would rather go downstairs to the pub and get service, bread, and an $ 11 amazing grilled vegetable salad.
Lastly if you order something from the line and have kids with you the kids meal will come to your table last. Nothing like being halway done with lunch before your hungry antsy kids get their Mac n cheese.
Drives me nuts!!!

I’m currently eating my salad with a spoon. Nobody’s coming to greet me nor ask me for the rest of my meal. Thanks guys you rock. Honestly step your game up Nordstrom Café Bellevue jus Seattle’s café is 10x better and even smaller. GOOD JOB

Come here for lunch with coworkers often, so given the time of day long lines are expected. Seats are always available which is surprising. If you’re in a hurry get their salads.
Fav: shrimp angel hair pasta and pear blue cheese salad

Yummy food and lots of options! Great for families and friends. Server Pete Sevilla was great!

I’m sitting in their café as I am writing this! Service has gone to the dogs, of late! Waited behind another party at the section where you order pizza and hot dishes. THREE employees stood there helping the first party of 3! After ordering and paying, no one came to my table to take my receipt so I could have my sandwich. I did ask the bus boy but he said he’d get someone. After waiting another five min I went to ask for myself. Finally, someone came to retrieve my receipt. My friend was finished with her salad before I got my dish. ARGGH!!! You suck Nordy Café!

A decent place to grab lunch– although it was still pretty busy when we went in after 1 PM. It was my first time and I will admit, it was a little confusing to me. It first looked like a cafeteria-​style of service, but I also saw numbers on tables and servers with food. My sister explained to me that we ordered in line but that people brought the food out. Cue the «…Ohhhh…»
We ordered the spicy shrimp & angel hair pasta, grilled chicken pesto panini, and the grilled Santa Fe chicken panini. I got the chicken pesto and somehow completely overlooked that it included sun-​dried tomatoes, which I don’t like. Luckily, it was easy to pick out. My mother enjoyed her pasta; she shared her shrimp with us (there were 5) and it was bouncy and cooked well. My sister also said that she enjoyed the Santa Fe panini. Both sandwiches came with chips.
What was a little weird was the service. We ordered at the back of the line and was told that we could go to the front to pay, and that our food would be brought out to us. Okay, so we cut in front of this really long line and found puzzled looks on the cashiers, who helped us but explained that we should’ve really waited through that long line like everyone else. In the line, it looked like people got their salads and soups. The rest of the food was served.
So we paid and looked around for a table, which was harder than it sounds because the place was packed. We found one table right by the spot where people ordered, so it was noisy and had lots of foot traffic. Our server introduced himself, took our order receipt, and left. While he was gone, my sister spied a couple of quieter tables being vacated and went to investigate. We chose a table about five feet away on the other side of a divider. I worried our server wouldn’t find us, but he saw us while we finished moving over. He kinda made a fuss, saying that we would need a different server because it was in a difference section and left again. It seemed odd– especially since he ended up being our server anyway without any explanation about what his deal was earlier. And he wasn’t that attentive to us; I had to flag someone else down for a box. Maybe he felt bad about the confusion or his behavior but he gave us extra chocolate mints in the end.
It was an alright experience. The food was fine. The service was a little weird. But its a nice little place to people watch and have a bite during holiday shopping. Maybe it won’t be so randomly crowded next time?

Chris the Manager is awesome! After ordering a Chicken Club Sandwich with Maple Glazed Bacon, a Blue Cheese & Pear Salad and a Caramel Apple Cookie, he carried my tray over to the seating area. He even sat us at a table by the window!
This was a fun place to come eat before heading out to do some more shopping.

Plenty of seating, fast service, pretty good food. Popular during lunch! 2 great items: salmon Niçoise salad and their tomato soup. Good sweets variety for a small café. After an afternoon of shopping, it’s always nice to stop in here for a quick bite.

If I could give 0 stars I would do that. I was here just an hour ago — I told my bf I wanted crème brûlée. We left the house specifically for this reason. Looking over the desserts in the case I noticed there was none, so I asked the cashier and she told me they were fresh out of crème brûlée.
There was the pot de chocolat which I asked about because it looked like it came in a similar ramekin/​dish. She offered to have her manager explain the difference and talk about the taste of the «chocolate pot pie»… she was not so bad.
This manager on duty, on the other hand, was very condescending. I asked the difference and he curtly said that crème brûlée is french vanilla, and pot de chocolat is dark chocolate. I would expect at Nordstrom that a manager would know the menu and be able to describe each item without attitude.
He went on to describe the crème brûlée quite unromantically — «we take a torch and burn the sugar on top.» Charming.
No thank you.

Let me start by saying, I’ve always loved the Nordstrom Café at their various locations. Today we ordered the steak sandwich and pizza along with assorted drinks. The pizzas are always delicious, here and at other Nordstrom cafés.
The steak sandwich is a totally different experience which brought my taste buds to a screeching halt. The steak sandwich, served ice cold, by far is the worst menu item from a restaurant in recent memory .
Additionally this location is due for a much-​needed facelift after noticing several chairs in need of reupholstery or seating that’s a bit wobbly.

FOOD: Got the salmon salad and cranberry turkey sandwich. Salmon salad came with lettuce, green beans, boiled eggs, capers, olives and cherry tomatoes. Salmon was most and cooked perfectly. I’m not sure what kind of salmon it was though… (Atlantic is farmed everyone-​no one wants that)! It was an alright salad… Pricy. I believe it was $ 14 – 15. Yikes. I almost got the cranberry turkey sandwich. Asked for it to be pressed like a panini. Bread was healthy looking and tasted pretty good. It came with turkey, cranberries and sprouts. It was alright… It was $ 9-​$ 10. Average tasting sandwich. Bill came to $ 25-​$ 26. Ehhh not worthy of my money.
SERVICE: These cafés you get a tray and walk down like a lunch line and order your food then pay at the cashier. Then we got a couple servers who delivered our food. They were nice and prompt.
PRESENTATION: Other reviews said this is suppose be fancy and it disappointed them. I don’t think it is meant to be fancy just because it is «Nordstrom.» It’s just another café with a little upscale dining experience. In the back room it’s a bit dark and there’s a little section up front where you can view the shopping area.
LOCATION: 3^rd floor of Nordstrom.
Would I come back? Maybe once and twice a year but I’ll rather spend my money on better tasting food.

Nordstrom Marketplace Café is a straight up café in a department store. They don’t boast to be «upscale» as a few reviews have mentioned. It’s a mostly serve yourself café. And for a serve yourself café, they do one hell of a job. The food is ALWAYS fresh and delicious. The service, being Nordstroms, is for the most part spectacular.
The set up is kind of odd. You go to the top floor of Nordstroms. Walk to the café and grab a menu. You then go up and grab a tray and go through a cafeteria style line and you order. If you’re getting a salad or soup, they will give you the food there. If you’re not, you continue to pay. Grab your own silverware and drink then walk to an open table with your number. Then a server will come and take your number and order. After a few short minutes, the server will deliver your food. Strange, right? But it works.
The menu consists of soups, paninis/​sandwiches, salads, pastas, and 3 «specialties.» I’ve tried almost everything on their menu and they are all good. They also have a rotating daily specials menu. They have all their food «dried» so that you can see what you’re actually ordering.
I tend to lean towards a cup of their tomato soup which comes with a delicious parmesan crostini. Then I go for the spicy shrimp angel hair pasta or the chicken pesto panini which comes with the perfect amount of chips. A soup and main comes to about $ 15. The panini, which I find utterly delicious, super melty and grilled to perfection, comes with a side of chips.
They also have a wide array of desserts and I love their lemon ricotta cookie. They sometimes have chocolate coconut cookie/​macaroon and I find those delectable as well. They have both fountain soda, bottled drinks, and fresh lemonade/​strawberry lemonades. The lemonades are pricey but accompany any panini well. For those with kids, they also have a kids menu.
Their food gets 4 stars but their service gets 5. I came in here solo after a long day of running around pulling errands inside the mall that I just wanted to eat and relax. As I was paying, the manager overheard that I wanted a quiet spot with an outlet so the manager grabbed my food and walked me to the only table in the house with an outlet. The seating area is huge so I would have never found it myself.
At the end of the meal, the serve will come around and bring you these awesome chocolate mints that are just the perfect note to the end the meal. Nordstrom has Wi-​Fi so you could even come here and work if you wanted to. The only bummer is that this café closes earlier than the mall does. If you’re in the mall and you want to get a quick, delicious, affordable bite to eat with awesome service, this is the place for you.

My mom and I often eat here just out of pure convenience since we are loyal Nordstrom customers.
The set-​up in the café is cafeteria style, but that doesn’t really bother me. I’ve always felt like the staff behind the counter is attentive and they move along the line pretty well. Selection is eh, okay. I would like there to be more than one soup option as I often crave soup and a salad (they’re missing out on a sale here).
I actually really like the salad bar. There is a good diversity from those with cheese and meat to those without. I always get the Chinese Chicken Salad because I can’t seem to branch out from my favorites.
One time I ordered their special hot dish which was a fish (it was something like a halibut except cheaper) with grilled vegetables. It took FOREVER for it to arrive, which was mostly what irritated me. However, it was also extremely oily and not very flavorful for $ 14. Boo.
Overall though, I’ll keep coming back because I’ve had good experiences with the waiters. They will bring you lemon for your water and free crustinis (bread with cheese and butter on top) if you ask!

I only have to review this place because during lunch I saw a lady eat it on their tile. It was pretty bad.
The servers are nice, but the service behind the counter is nothing to write home about and they play themselves off as all fancy schmancy but its no better than TGIFridays in quality.