Crystal Creek Cafe

I haven’t seen Swedish pancakes on a café menu for some time. Delicious. The Lingenberry jam was, of course, the perfect complement. Good atmosphere. The waitress checked on us 5 times. More than usual for a dinner setting.

I selfishly hesitate to review this place because it seems well known, is always crowded, and is a small chain (6 or 7 locations).
Boyfriend and I have eaten here roughly once a week for the last year. It is absolutely the go-​to breakfast spot! Boyfriend usually orders meatloaf, turkey sandwiches, or a burger (always with a soup). I like the Denver or hobo omelette as staples; I can vouch for the pancakes, blitzes, waffles, and gigantic cinnamon rolls. The coffee is awesome! Basically, everything here is good. Portions are gigantic! Don’t worry; they offer half options.
The wait staff remembers us from visit to visit. They are always just the right level of attentive, cheery, and happy to oblige.
The restaurant itself is always clean, cozy, and welcoming. (The fireplace seats are the best in the winter!!)
Parking here is limited. We often have to park at Qdoba and Bonefish so be prepared. They also won’t seat you until your entire party is present so plan ahead.
I love this place!

This place is definitely my favorite breakfast spot! Sunday mornings are super busy but don’t worry, you’ll be seated in no time. And the wait for your food isn’t too long either! The Swedish pancakes are my absolutely go to dish.

A delicious breakfast joint. Small town feel with great service and delicious, consistent meals every time.
My wife and I have been here on multiple occasions and have never been let down. Try the corned beef hash, you won’t regret it. They have a great biscuits and gravy.
For me Crystal Creek gets a 5 star.

This is always a great breakfast spot. Service can be a bit slow and a dissapointment but for me the food makes up for it. I love that they offer half orders for most of their breakfast items compared to other breakfast places. It is just the perfect amount for me with no leftovers. Overall this is a restaurant with good food for a decent price.

My husband and I stopped in for a drink and slice of pie for my birthday. We were greeted and sat quickly (2 stars) then promptly ignored. We made eye contact multiple times with multiple people and nothing. So we got up a left, not a word was said to us.

Brunch doesn’t get any better than this place in the area. I’m stuck in the omelette scrambler options which are all delicious so far. Side of pancakes with hot runny syrup (as opposed to the room temperature pine tar you get at other diners) and I’m ready for a brunch nap. Staff are wonderful and the ambience is fantastic.

The staff here are always smiling and willing to do whatever they can to make you smile back. I love to meet my friends here for brunch-it’s so cozy to sit near the fire place and catch up! The food is great comfort food: my favorite breakfast is the Hobo scramble.
Because it’s so busy, bring your patience as you wait for a table but it’s well worth it.

Very accommodating to our group of 6, sat quickly and with a smile. Food was excellent! Get the blood orange mimosa! Definitely prefer this location over the others and will return.

Food quality is that of any other diner. Their pies look delicious but I’ve yet to take the plunge.
I’ve had their eggs Benedict which was creamy and available in a ½ order; my favorite option at any diner.
The staff was all friendly and my girlfriend noted how everyone seemed to be in a good mood. We’ve been to breakfast joints where staff where at one another’s throats.
We live in the area so we will be back.

Busy place and I can see why. It’s a family friendly restaurant that serves pretty good breakfast and other diner style dishes. I love the French toast and Corned beef hash. The servers seem very busy but are always super courteous and friendly. I highly recommend sitting in Kim’s section. She’s the best!

My daughter and I ate breakfast at Crystal Creek Café. It was an awesome choice! Cute diner, friendly service and good food. I had chicken fried steak breakfast, which I thought was quite good. I did think it was a bit overkill to bring the CFS out on its own plate though since it was not a huge portion that actually needed it, but it was a nice presentation. My daughter couldn’t decide on what she wanted to order so she ordered a half order of bacon potato pancakes and a half order of the almond crunch French toast. Both were very good. Will definitely look forward to visiting again!

I go here to meet up with people for a good bite to eat that’s closeby.
This place qualifies as one of those rare gems that continually seems to get everything right. The décor is delightfully unique (old timey aviation) and the seating is comfortable. On the restaurant side there is a fireplace which is wonderful to sit by in the winter. The bar side definitely allows you to be a bit louder and has TVs for watching sporting events.
The menu is varied and diverse, including some old classics like the Monte Cristo and Eggs Benny and some unique favorites like bacon potato pancakes and almond crunch french toast. I find that whatever I get is reliably great: healthy portions, and very tasty. They are on the slightly expensive side for a diner style restaurant, but you get what you pay for, as the food is always great. I’ve gone twice in the last week for breakfast and dinner and got the Spanish Omelet (huge, modified just as I ordered, and delicious), and the Turkey Melt for dinner (carved turkey, cheddar, 1000 island, on great sourdough) with endless crinkle fries. Their sidewinder fries are like jo-​jo potatoes, but cut into a swirl (really good!).
I will admit, since its so good, it gets extremely busy during peak breakfast times, and service can take a bit, but every restaurant gets like that when they’re slammed. However, since I go there to spend time with friends and not to dine and dash, it never matters. It never gets ridiculous where we’re waiting for our check or for service forever, but again, it can be a bit slower than usual, but the rest of the experience more than makes up for it!
For a unique, delicious, comfortable dining experience, and great service that won’t break the bank, Crystal Café consistently impresses!

We just moved into the neighborhood three months ago and were looking for a good restaurant nearby. I was pleasantly surprised by Crystal Creek Café. We got the honey glazed fried chicken and the award winning pot roast. The honey glazed fried chicken came with mashed potatoes, cole slaw, and soup/​salad. I don’t like cole slaw so they let me sub it for a side salad. The fried chicken was the best I have had in a few years. The breading was nice, thin and crispy with a hint of sweetness. The pot roast was pretty good, but I think I make it better at home. It came with similar sides, they have a great variety of sides, some of which cost extra but they look worth it.
The portions were huge and I saved the rest of my leftovers for lunch the next day. I would say that the menu is fairly priced for the amount of food that you get. I’m a big guy so I hate spending over $ 10 and being hungry so I love being full with a lot of leftovers. That is how homestyle café food is supposed to be! As a side note, you can also get endless fries as a side. All the restaurants are doing this now since it is so successful with Red Robin, but I feel like I am going to have a heart attack every time I do endless fries.
We came back again and the server remembered us and my Manny’s drink order. We got the meatloaf and chicken-​fried chicken. Both were excellent, and again we got plenty of food with enough leftovers for another meal.
I know this is a chain, but it feels like a cozy neighborhood diner. There is even a replica plane hanging from the rafters! I’ll definitely be coming back whenever I am too tired to cook dinner after work. Also, breakfast is served all day so that is an added plus. The menu is huge, so I am weary of ordering less popular items since it is hard as a line cook to cook more than a dozen dishes well but I’ll try to eat as many things as possible until I find one that I don’t like.

Yes, you could do better, but you could also do a whole lot worse than Crystal Creek Café for brunch. Crystal Creek Café is part of a seven café group that dots the eastside of Lake Washington, and a diverse menu, reasonable pricing, and good service, make the local one in your area worth an occasional visit.
Food & Drink:
What you’ve got is typical diner food, with minimal variation, and decent execution. For breakfast you’re looking at a host of pancake types, varied omelettes/​scrambles, and then your traditional eggs/​bacon/​hashbrowns type of thing. For lunch it’s a lot of sandwiches and salads. For dinner you’re looking at basic chicken/​steak dishes like country fried steak, pot roast, stuffed meatballs, and sirloin. You can also get a burger.
From my point of view the only time to really come to Crystal Creek is for brunch. The menu, and how it’s geared up really lends itself well for it. The french toast and pancakes (strawberry/​triple fruit/​almond crunch) are all slightly above average even when accounting for the runny maple syrup. The scrambles/​omelletes offer some good options, and will certainly fill you up. Again, you’re looking at least average worst case. Both the migas and the corned beef has are good dishes with migas having good heat and seasoning on he beef (and good avocado portioning), and the corn beef hash being lean and made in-​house.
Venturing outside breakfast/​brunch you’re on your own a bit. I will say the roasted turkey items are generally a decent bet, and if you forced me to order of the lunch menu, I’d go with it and be relatively happy. The monte cristo is passable, but not great. The club rates at, or slightly below average. I have experience with the reuben or kentucky club. I’d personally rate the salads as average. Both the burgers and the fish and chips rate below average in my opinion, especially if you open up your options outside the Bothell area.
Insider Tip: Pie portions here are pretty good – not a bad stop after a night out for a quick dessert – chocolate cream (now gone) was one of the best.
Ambiance & Service:
Set in Canyon Park Bothell, the area screams suburban USA. Unless you’re looking for a FedEx Kinkos or for contacts/​glasses, there’s not much to walk to, so it’s kind of its own destination. In terms of the décor it’s a 40s diner look (off topic, but if you played Fallout, it’ll remind you of that), but it’s geared as the airplane hangar, with various aerospace (and military) memorabilia on the wall. You even have a decent sized plane model hanging from the ceiling. It actually works pretty well and has a good charm to it, as the suburban location/​staff/​menu kind of sell it as somewhat authentic. There actually is a bar inside that serves liquor – which I do not believe the sister restaurants in Mill Creek (Sawmill) or Woodinville (Woodinville Café) have. I cannot speak to the bartending/​drinks.
Wait times are non-​existent outside weekend mornings, where typically it’ll hover in the 15 – 20 minute range. Service is generally pretty good. Things get fast paced, especially on a Saturday/​Sunday morning, but servers seem generally happy, and care. If you have questions on specifics of the menu, you’ll get pretty well thought out answers. Special orders/​modifications can be made with confidence they’ll be carried out.
Final Thoughts:
If we were grading purely on terms of breakfast/​brunch, I might splurge and give the place four stars. There’s enough good choices of omelettes, south-​of-​the-​border dishes (migas/​huevos rancheros), and sweet stuff (swedish pancakes) to give you some great options. When you get outside that range for regular lunch/​dinner you lose a star or two making it an overall average/​solid experience.
P. S. Bring back the chocolate cream pie!
–AC

Great food, generally good service, and very enjoyable! We love eating here, mainly for breakfast but even the lunches and dinners are reliably good.
That said, please revise your policy of not providing a table until everyone has arrived. It’s annoying for groups and our family goes elsewhere if we know we’ll arrive apart. That is the only mark against an otherwise great place to eat.

Been sitting for over ten minutes without a drink, although the third server has just asked what we will have to drink… And we are just asking for water…
Kind of kills the mood for the rest of the meal.

MUSTS:
YOU MUST–
1. Sit at the counter (not bar, soda fountain counter) order a coke. Best coke you’ll ever have
2. Order Bfast (my fav) anytime any day
3. Order one of these-​potato pancakes, French toast, corned beef n hash, a joes scramble, Cali Benedict, Biscuit, or a piece of pie. Pies made daily and are fab.
4. For Lunch my fav is the Kentucky club
5. Expect a Guaranteed wait on weekends between early morning-​2 and some weekdays (refer to #1)
Something about the coke from the soda fountain is special and different then other places. Ryan the owner is great, makes a reg appearance and remembers us by name. The staff is attentive, timely, and efficient. There have been a couple bad service visits but everyone is allowed to have a bad day and I avoid that persons section. Not an issue though. It’s cost efficient enough that we go weekly. Out of town visitors look forward to bfast here and make a point of getting it.
Tammy is the manager and offers great support to her staff. Katie, sara (aka Deazy), Thomas, and Kat, are our regs and been there for a long time.
It’s the first and only bfast choice in our house. Weekday or weekend, you’ll see us there bellied up to the soda fountain counter. Best seat in the house. There’s never (seriously never) a wait to sit at the counter, you get fast service, and it’s entertaining. Watching the dynamic of the wait staff, teamwork, and the voice of the cook coming from the back when orders are ready, makes each visit unique. If you have never sat at a counter, do it and here especially. I have many options for bfast here… This is the fav.

Substantial portions and personable staff, would recommend!
Our server was Thomas… He was soooo sweet and funny, love him. Ask for him.

Had the corned beef has today and it was really really good. The corned beef looks like it was cut by hand and not processed or from a can. The peppers and onion crisp and overall the has was not a bit greasy. Well done! And again the service was fast friendly and top notch.