Marlins Cafe

This house in the York neighborhood was converted into a corner quickie market and snack bar. It’s known and frequented by locals who walk, bike or bus here to meet up with friends for conversation.
Pros
–Laid-​back, casual neighborhood diner/​market
–If you want something to drink, you can help yourself to items in the market, and your server will add it to your bill. (I loved being able to select a Coca Cola instead of Pepsi, but it’s nice to know that both choices exist.)
–Nice selection of brunch, lunch and dinner items on the menu. There are also daily specials on the board.
–Small private parking lot and lots of free street parking available.
–There is indoor and outdoor seating. Booths, tables and counter seating accomodates different group sizes.
–ATM on site. Cash and some credit cards accepted.
–Bus stop across the street.
Cons
–Customer service is slow and somewhat lacking. (Do you seat yourself? Do you pay at the table or go to the register? Is one server really enough to handle every full table on a holiday weekend?)
–Food is somewhat expensive based on comparitive value with other establishments. (Fries were too salty. Skimpy on the hollandaise sauce. Side potatoes with brunch were completely bland.)
–Doesn’t accept American Express.
I like how down to earth this place is, but I wouldn’t bring out of town guests here. It’s a good place for a quick, decent meal that won’t break the bank.

The worst service ever. I wish I could rate this place on their food, but we didn’t get a chance to even try a glass of water at this place because once seated, we didn’t ever (after about an hour) get even acknowledged.

Been here fo almost an hour and still waiting Just for water. Needs more wait staff. Terrible terrible terrible place. No one waited on us. It seemed like they purposely ignored us. We went there because o the reviews. Even one star is more than they deserve. Worst place I’ve ever been. I can’t emphasize how bad the service was at this place We had two little kids with us and they weren’t crying being loud but I feel they were hoping we would leave. This has got to be the WORST diner ever

The WORLD’S best Hollandaise sauce! Never had better.

Breakfast — Scientifically proven hangover cure.
Lunch — One of the few places that you can get a classic sandwich that lines your gut with grease and fills your tummy with love (and no room to spare).
End of day — A great place to sit at quite possibly the town’s tiniest bar and get a brew after a day of outdoorsing.
Overall, good food, good people, good atmosphere, good prices, huge portions, just OK location (but hey, there’s free parking). At the risk of being cliché, a «hidden gem.» Bully for you, Marlins.

Lovely diner in a wonderful neighborhood. Went there for breakfast — loved the food and the service was fantastic.

Came for breakfast but were a little late so settled on lunch and I was not disappointed! Small neighborhood business that is welcoming, friendly and a neighborhood delight !!!
«The Porchlights» were playing tonight and what a great traditional Irish Music band they were !!! Did I say, they were GREAT !!!

Pretty delicious breakfast food! The portions are huge, I only ate ¹⁄₃ and took the rest home. But the potatoes were delicious, the service is fast, the waiter is nice. Great little spot to hangout. They have an attached market place which is small and cute.

Found a new place for lunch to go, had the cheesesteak sandwich with fries and was impressed, working at a very busy organization in Bellingham it’s very convenient to call in lunch and by the time I show up its ready to go. Very friendly staff too

Husband and I went here on a date day midweek for a late lunch. We both had one of the specials of the day. Crispy Buffalo Chicken sandwich with bacon. It came with handcut fries. I upgraded mine to have the onion rings and ordered a cup of the Chicken Pazole soup.
The soup was hot, delicious and just the right spices. Very, very good, I would order it again.
The sandwich was huge. Bacon just the right crispness with a generous side of fries and onion rings. The onion rings were cooked perfectly and very large length wise in the cut.
Lunch was at 2:00 and we did not eat again until the next morning.
Staff was very friendly. We are looking forward to going back to try the breakfast menu.

There’s a great hometown /​nostalgia feel at this diner and it has pleasant service. The supreme Benedict was pretty good: however, the wait time associated with our food was quite long. It also was a bit pricy, but the portions are quite large. Feel free to stop in if you have plenty of time to kill.

Great little neighborhood joint for great homemade breakfast of biscuits and gravy. Delicious good and ample portions. Waffles were also good. Friendly servers. Easily accessible from downtown Bellingham.

GREAT FOOD!
I went there for breakfast and had a Deluxe eggs Benedict. The service was outstanding and the serving size really made you feel like you were getting more for your money!
Overall this was a 9.5÷10 the .5 for the cool golden retriever that sits on the bench by the main entrance!
Can’t wait to go back!

Reviewing based on location location location would be 5 stars. This quaint restaurant attached to a barebones mom and pop grocery is nestled in an old residential area of Bellingham but is a quick left from Ellis Street traffic. I waxed nostalgic for the 1960s small town diner I’ve only imagined… where everyone knows each other by their first name. This small diner with rusting signs advertizing soda pop and the wood screen doors with peeling paint is charming. Still, an outsider may miss it since the old signage advertizes the mom and pop convenience store we entered which is as attached as a head and a neck. Relaxed and friendly, efficiency, expeditousness and goumet cuisine are not qualities this quaint establishment possess. The inside matches the exterior with a half dozen booths and fewer tables. It is comfortable and a familiar throwback from someone’s chilhood. After a couple of minutes of confused lurking we seated ourselves. Aat a solid 5 minutes beorre grabbing 2 menus from a vacant table. S. l…o…w but nice peeps, making me feel a bit the heel for being in such a rush for no good reason in Mayberry. I ordered two poached eggs which sat in a cup with hot poaching water. I specifically asked the cook for soft runny yolks. Bathing in hot water did not help the fellers. We requested jam and few minutes later pleasant waitress rolled by with a ½ oz container for the 2 of us. Strawberry jam was very good. My friend enjoyed her 3 meat/​cheese omelet and my coffee was surprisingly good. The potatoes were seasoned with salt and mostly white baked chunks. Half had some flattop color on one side. No fancy herb or onion in sight. That being said, something (like other Unilocalers feedback) tells me to return to try lunch. After all my yammering and whining I admit it is a cool place and was mostly enjoyable. People can make or break a place just by setting a vibe.

Another place in Bellingham for a good breakfast! I’m beginning to think we love breakfast and beer too much up here, but I’m completely okay with that.
Pros?
One of the best eggs benedict in town (ham isn’t salty, hollandaise is flavorful but not overpowering)
Potatoes are perfectly done
With only one chef, everything comes out with the same dedication
Cons?
Inside could use a good spring cleaning

I am a regular here, have tried most everything on the menu and haven’t a single complaint. There are times when the place is busy and that is when it’s at its best, the atmosphere is something you won’t find anywhere else.

OK, I’ll come clean. I’m a life-​long Bellinghamster, and owned a house in the York neighborhood for over 20 years. Thus, I’ve been coming to Nelson’s market since the early 80’s.
The restaurant side of their business has been getting good reviews on Unilocal,so the wife and I thought we would give it a try.
My breakfast was all right, but not anything to rave about. It also seemed a bit pricy for what it was. It would be hard to justify the amount of money that it would have cost had I brought the whole family here for breakfast.
There were some bright spots, though. The décor is fun (kind of a throwback «history of Seattle baseball» theme), the service was fine, and the mimosas were excellent. Overall, I think they deserve another chance. I’ll come back for lunch, and hope to add them to my list of go-​back food establishments.

Its no wonder there are so many baseball pennants hanging up on the walls, because when it comes to lunch they knock it out of the park. The Onion-​Rings! Oh My the Onion-​Rings. These have to be the best Onion-​rings I have ever had. I can now understand what someone hooked on crack must go through, because I keep wondering when I can go back to get my Onion-​ring fix.
So at lunch I had the Ruben sandwich with onion rings (maybe you missed that). The wife had a burger and fries. The Fries are like the old fries with skins on and very good. Everything comes to the table hot and fresh off the grill.
Only bad thing is I am still trying to figure out the hours. Came in for lunch on a sat and didnt realize they only have breakfast until 2:00. So the following weekend went after 2:00 and the grill was closed (holloween). Man I am going through some Onion-​Ring withdrawals.

We decided to stop by here when we went to Bellingham.
Parking is very easy to find. People who were working here were very friendly.
Great eggs benedict and potatoes were very good too.
We will stop by again when we are in town:)

Best Eggs Benedict in town. Great service and … Grapefruit mimosas! Yes, please.
Nice having a market attached in the same space.
Local tap beers are also great.