Spitfire

I haven’t been a fan of Spitfires, but I went here last week for a team lunch, got their philly cheesesteak, and I’ve been thinking about it several times since then. They do it cheese whiz-​y style and it was really good. I’ll be back for it, that’s for sure.

Love going here for lunch and can’t wait to see the new dinner menu that they are coming out with. The staff is all very friendly and the menu offers standards I can count on with a few rotating items so I don’t get bored.

Before getting out to Seattle, my friend that I was going out to visit mentioned wanting to visit this restaurant on The Commons on the Microsoft Campus. I looked it up beforehand, seeing it only had 2.5÷5 stars, but figured it’d be interesting enough to try.
So my friend and I went to Spitfire a couple days ago and, to echo the sentiment of another reviewer, I’m not really sure what everyone is hating on when it comes to this place — we went for lunch and it was a great experience. We were seated quickly and our server came right over (props to her for being so quick, happy, and awesome throughout our entire experience — especially because she’s pregnant, and I can’t imagine long days of waiting tables while pregnant).
Anyway, my friend and I ordered calamari, a burger (for him), and the soup of the day, a spicy tomato bisque, in a bowl (for me). The calamari came out quickly and was deliciously crispy (though I missed the little tentacles, as the calamari was just the fried rings… still super good though!). The burger and bisque followed not that long after the calamari. My friend mentioned how much he enjoyed his burger, and the bisque was very tasty.
All in all, with tax and tip, the lunch came to $ 30. A nice little treat while visiting The Commons at Microsoft, certainly, and I’d definitely visit again. Also? I noticed they have beignets as a dessert option. I’ll have to be sure to try those if/​when I ever make it back to Spitfire. :)
TL; DR Delicious calamari, spicy bisque, and burger. 8/​10, would totally visit again.

One star isn’t even a rating I would give this place. I’ve worked on campus for years thinking that the next time I ate here it might be redeeming. Sadly that’s never been the case and today was the last straw– I will never eat here again.
I’m not someone who is going to whine over petty issues– I legitimately will complain when the food or service is not meeting a reasonable level of quality.
I see people working on grills in the back, hear the sizzle, smell the fresh cooked food but somehow, magically, whatever I’ve ordered comes out like it was cooked 4 hours previously then heated up under a lamp or broiler. How is that acceptable?
Example: I have ordered the lamb skewers and the shrimp quinoa on multiple separate occasions. Every time the meat has been luke warm and dry and not even remotely cooked to order. Unacceptable for a 15 $+ dish.
Last visit sealed the deal on 86’ing this place– Ordered the shrimp and quinoa like usual as it is decent. There’s a balsamic reduction they add to the plate very sparingly which is a shame because it gives the dish such a better flavor– the acidity really matches well with the shrimp. I requested extra and received a little metal container of it. I dipped a piece of shrimp into it and ate it. Stopped. Thought slowly about what that odd flavor was. Proceeded to pick up the container and smell it and immediately was overwhelmed with the odor of what could only be best described as socks worn by someone who hiked the largest mountain in the world, let them sit in a sauna filled with a team of wrestlers, then wrung them out in the sauce. If that wasn’t bad enough, I stuck my fork into the sauce and lifted it up in horror to find a glob of gelatinous black goo– it was almost like they were remaking the movie «The Blob» in my food (pretty sure it even gurgled at me)… Let’s be real here– how long, and where, had that sauce been sitting fermenting and spoiling before hitting my table.
The staff were great in handling it with apologizing and removing the meal off our tab but I cannot bring myself to ever eat there again after that experience. Poor food handling of the sauce begs the question what else is being ill managed there.

I have been to Spitfire a few times since my last write-​up. I thought I had found a go-​to dish here in the taco salad. The portion size was good and the taco shell sort of reminds me of wonton chips back in Hawaii with its crispy texture.
I say «thought» because the recipe for the taco salad has taken a turn for the worse. The carne asada taco salad ($ 9.75) that I had on my visit yesterday was incredibly bland like there were no flavorings added. It needed some salt and spice. A few of the folks that I were dining with also said something similar regarding the flavor of their dishes being on the bland side.
Honestly, I wish there was a second sit down restaurant option on the Microsoft campus as this is the only one. The ambiance here is decent, but the food here is embarrassing. I would skip Spitfire and simply go to one of the food court options at The Commons. The taste will be better at just about any of them at a lower cost.

«Fancy», boring food on Microsoft campus. Overall this place is like Chili’s, Applebees or TGIFridays, and the prices are about the same. Not that Redmond/​Bellevue is a bastion of amazing culinary experiences, but something about going to a chain style restaurant on a corporate campus just makes it much more depressing than the Red Robin on 148^th. Unless your team is paying for it/​hosting a moral even there I’d just as soon go to the food trucks or a local place off campus.

Its campus food served table side so if you need that then Spitfire is convenient. I could not see myself coming here outside of Microsoft business if that helps. Clean, fast, nice staff.

I had the best meal of our table with the ahi tostados. The ahi pieces were huge and fresh. Went well with their corn tortilla and vegetables. The make it yourself chicken tacos looked healthy and the fixins looked good. The meat nachos appetizer was huge and I could have made that my meal. You would only come here if you were doing business with Microsoft as it is in the middle of this campus,

It’s nice to have Spitfire as an option at the Commons, it’s the only sit-​down place with waiter service but the food is pretty crappy.
For example, I got the blackened chicken tacos today, the chicken was probably microwaved, there was nothing «blackened» about it. The only thing black on the tacos was the avocado that had been exposed to air for too long. There was no salsa on it and it was VERY boring. The beans and rice were unforgivably bland, the three of us that ordered dishes that came with beans/​rice ended up ordering fries because the beans/​rice were intolerable.
Pro tip: Do not stray from the burgers/​sandwiches, you’ll be disappointed if you do. Get the fries as well. Basically anything that is not a burger or fries will be terrible.

Love Spitfire — not sure what the hate is about. I find the food to be extremely solid. When I worked for MS I went here A LOT. It’s the default for team lunches and after-​hour parties. Always friendly service, great food, and pricing that is OK. Definitely preferred for expense accounts. :)
I think people are sticking to price: quality. For a corporate lunch joint — spending $ 15 — $ 20 with tip is a lot to swallow. But — it’s the only true sit-​down on campus or within walking distance of the commons. This alone is worth 2 stars!

New Menu, tastier items, I think it’s worth a second try.
Okay, I haven’t ever been one to really push the idea of trying a restaurant that perhaps hasn’t had the best reputation, and in this case, it’s the only restaurant in the commons, so maybe people just expect better from it. In this case, with all the poor reviews at hand, one might decide to just avoid it all together, but alas, they did something about it, and you might think twice about skipping Spitfire.
The lowdown is that the menu is been «refreshed», and the three of us tried the new menu items. Mine was the Diablo Chicken Pasta. Here we go, so it’s nicely cooked pasta, and of course it comes down to the sauce and what goes good with the pasta. The sauce was spicy, not overly, just a little kick, and the flavor was enough that it made the meal tasty. It came with two bread pieces, buttered, and a nice portion of grilled chicken. So I finished the plate with ease.
My manager had the Special Chicken Sandwich, which was simple; but he said one of the best meals he’s has at Spitfire in a long time, and he’s demanding with his food. My PM had the Pork Sandwich, and while he doesn’t eat out as much as he used to, he was happy with the food also.
So there you have it, the food is better, and tasty. The service is about the same, but that’s not a bad thing. If you haven’t been a while, I think you should take a new look, at this new and encouraging menu.

Although the staff is consistently nice and the atmosphere and location (MS campus) are fine, the food is uninspired and bland. Burgers and tacos are always dry. Shoestring fries were good. Virgin Mojitos were tasty. Doesn’t fulfill the southwest cuisine promise of the menu items.

I eat at Spitfire about once a month; I have found service to be exceptional and food to always be outstanding. I have tried their special burgers several times and they are not your ordinary burger but always outstanding! The entire staff here is always friendly and most accommodating, I highly recommend this establishment!

Awful rude service. Food is decently good though.

Look out. Bit into a chunk of glass in my Santa Fe chicken sandwich. The sandwich BTW was pretty bland and the bread (although tasty on its own) was very chewy and too small for the sandwich making practical eating impossible. Despite being comped my meal, i still don’t have a good feeling about this place. One and done for me!

Gave it two tries – hoped each time for the best, but it just doesn’t deliver on anything.
Shwanky setting and makes you feel better than cafeteria food, but does not deliver on anything.
Food is bland, off kilter, and under seasoned.

So the big deal on Microsoft campus lately is to mozy on over to «The Commons,» where they have really cool spaces, and a fancy location of Spitfire. Some of my coworkers and I decided to give Spitfire a try as we were exploring the new area.
I ended up getting the quesadilla, which excited me because there were a bunch of cheeses that I hadn’t heard of stuffed into it. I added chicken (cuz protein is good), but despite that, it still felt understuffed. I guess I’m spoiled by Qdoba, and even there I ask for EXTRA chicken to really make it more fillings than tortilla. Everyone (including Spitfire) else seems to think the focus is on the tortilla, but not me!
The service, however, was terrific: Very prompt, and the waitress was great about splitting up a ticket after the fact (I’m guessing, given the environment, that they must do this all the time). The service bumped a 3 star review up to a 4!