Citrus

It’s been declared a «Chronic Public Nuisance»… from the one time I’ve been, I can completely understand this. They better get it together or they won’t be around much longer.

I loved Citrus for their nice atmosphere, good view, and delicious food selection. So I recommended this place to my best friend for her birthday venue, because on top of those good things I loved about the place. they have live DJ on Saturday night and I heard the crowds are pretty good too. So what could possibly go wrong, right? Well, almost everything.
We had reservation for 9pm on the back section by the fire place but when we got there, the area wasn’t ready at all!!! Our server asked us to move to the other area while they moved some sofas around, trash bins, and other stuffs. OK. so we were like being cool about it and said to ourselves «Oh well, whatever» and laughed it off …
When we made the reservation, we told them it’ll be for group of 20 to 25, possibly more. They said we were going to have our own server at our section, which we did for the first one hour or so, but as the place got busier, our server was pretty much out of sight. I mean, what’s the point of making reservation and supposedly have our own server for the night, if the birthday girl and her guests ended up have to line up with the rest of the crowds in the bar?
They also have poor management at the entrance door because when we go out for smoke, the line was pretty long outside then, and when we tried to go back in, the bouncer seemed confuse. How can he not? Some people were lining up to get in, some were already from inside just trying to get back in, some had either reservation or guests of other parties. Only he (one bouncer) appeared to be in charge at the entrance, it was so not organized that it took our group almost 30 minutes just to go back in because some of our guests ended up have to stay in line with others who just got there!
Then, the flooding incident happened, that pretty much flooded our section. There was water everywhere came from the bar right next to our section. One of our friend helped them and was the one who actually stopped the leaking. As if the flooding isn’t bad enough, no one came to the birthday girl to say sorry or anything at all … when our server came and saw what happened, she was just so casually telling me, «there’s nothing we can do … sorry»
What really pissed me the most, I requested our server early in the night for a cake with candle at midnight, for my best friend’s birthday, and I even reminded her before 12 … but then 12:05, she was nowhere to be found … so I had to go around again to find her, found her serving another table, and I reminded her about the cake … at that point she was probably overwhelmed too and said «I have other tables to serve, not just yours or something like that …» Whoa!
So OK, she’s just a server there and she was doing her job, but the management suppose to be ready for things like that. how can only one server serving 2 or 3 or possibly more different sections?
The suckiest part … when the bill came … they charged 18% gratuity, which is normal for big party, but on top of that they also added fixed tip and there’s also additional tax for the gratuity and tip? No wonder their server didn’t seem to care much about «the service» because they’re getting their big tip regardless of the service given??? I don’t get it … When we booked the place they did say there’s $ 250 minimum for booking a section but they didn’t mention about additional fixed tip + tax, on top of already added 18% gratuity.
The DJ sucks too! Mostly played BET music. To be fair though, maybe we just have different taste in music. We were expecting more mix of club hits and; or EDM type of music.
I DO NOT recommend this place at all as party venue. Citrus is good for their food and happy hour but they don’t have good management to run the place as a club …

Neat atmosphere with the bubbly, colorful lights. It’s huge, and I thought all the tv’s were placed perfectly. We walked in and stood at the host stand. We couldn’t quite figure out if we wanted to sit in the dining room or bar, but no one ever approached us so we stood there… We looked around and saw there was a party of about 10 – 15 having a photo taken, so we opted for the bar. This party was obnoxiously loud. Mind you they were the ONLY people in the dining room. There were 2 other people in the bar besides us, so we thought it would be quieter. This large party kept CACKLING loudly and it was unbearable. They were loud and totally ruined our experience, and we couldn’t wait to eat and get the hell out of there because of them. Clearly they were friends with the 2 sitting in the bar, because they would come in and talk *loudly* to them and were just so trashy.
The bartender was quiet and seemed like he didn’t really care about anything. They were out of things on their menu, and I thought it was CRAZY that their online menu was DRASTICALLY different than the menu they presented to us. We got buffalo wings, and they were alright… nothing special.
We also ordered Kobe Sliders and Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders. The Kobe Sliders were said to have pesto aioli… it was simply mayo. I also ordered them medium rare… they came out medium well. The fries were crispy and AMAZING. Their ranch is nasty.
So we tried something new, and have absolutely no desire to return ever again. It’s a clubby type place, and they offer lots of «pub style» food — at finer dining prices… bummer. If you’re in that area just go to Chandler’s, Duke’s, or Joey on Lake Union.

This place is unapologetically Top 40 and it works it just right. Happy, spiky haired bartenders and happy, cocktail dress-​clad waitresses keep you from going thirsty. Happy, sharply dressed peeps flirting. Girls looking good; boys letting them know.
Haven’t tried the food, but the split happy hour prices (3 – 7 & 10-​close) make me want to order 6 plates of calamari for my next meal. In fact, I will be back tomorrow to order 6 plates of calamari.
I’ve got a 5^th star when they start pouring beer from a tap. Bottles only, but that shouldn’t stop you.

I went here on a Saturday night to meet with some friends who had reservations and this place was packed. It’s definitely cute, loungy and darkly lit. Although the place is cute, I wasn’t so much into the atmosphere, and my friend and I left early — we had to pay for parking and didn’t want to pay for another hour just to stay longer, wasn’t worth it!
Something to note: If you’re a girl and not wearing a super short dress/​skirt, you’ll definitely look out of place here. It’s a mix between a club and a bar and people definitely dress like it’s a club… there was DJ in the center of the place (in between the purple neon walls) but nobody was dancing even though it was a really busy night.
I can say that the food was really good though, especially the bruschetta — although, it could do without the random cheese stick on top. The drinks were suuuper sweet, I got a stomach ache from just one of them!
Eh, probably won’t be back.

Wow — prescient Jan 25 review from Kimberly G. about it getting very «ghetto» late at night. Only two nights later a brawl broke out resulting in a gun battle in which three people were shot. Yikes.

Pros:
Food is REALLY good
Great prices on food and drinks during Happy Hour (and they have a pretty good time frame established for happy hour)
Atmosphere
Nearby Parking
Location
Cons:
Once it starts getting lat it starts getting REALLY ghetto (be weary)
Paid parking and hard to find later at night
Servers think they can get by on their pretty looks and mini skirts
BArtenders can be a bit dishonest with prices and service

I have been here twice now. It’s a great spot as a lounge and just to chill with friends. The space of this place was good, I just wish it had a bigger dance area. There are two bars and TVs. The bouncers and bar tenders are friendly. The drinks were good and well mixed. I can’t speak for the food. The music was decent. Some of the mixes were, um, not good.
Overall, the atmosphere is good here especially if you’re just trying to have a good time with your friends.

I hosted a PINK Party event for breast cancer awareness at Citrus at the end of October. After weeks of planning I was excited to see that Citrus was fully backing the event and had all the lights in the restaurant changed to pink! Unfortunately, that was all the support I got.
Three days before the event I was contacted by someone else that was told by management that they could also host an event there the same night. As a conflict of interest to my party and that of the other gentlemen he did not go through with his event. I was furious to learn the venue had been ‘double booked’. I was told by management that it was in my events best interest to draw as much attention to the charity.
The day of the event… I arrived 3 hours early to set up with a few volunteers. I was greeted by the manager at the time and was told ‘Drink Specials for the night are $ 5 cosmos and $ 3 pink lemonades. All proceeds are going to go to your event.’ I was surprised but very grateful as this had not been discussed prior. The bartenders and waitresses also advised guests as they came in of the specials. Before long there were pink drinks all over the place! Fantastic! More donation money for the cause.
As the night continued and started to get crowded I noticed a lot of patrons standing and hovering at smaller tables. The back area was filled with smoke from something burning in the kitchen and no one wanted to sit back there anymore. As people looked for seats towards the front of the restaurant… I was shocked to find it ‘reserved’. It turns out there was ANOTHER event booked taking up the larger booth and table areas — Speed Dating. They were NOT aware of my Pink Event and in fact, they were very upset too. Upon talking with their coordinator they were told they would have a quiet non-​intrusive dining experience for their event and were just as surprised as I was to hear about the TRIPLE booking for the night.
On to my actual experience…
I ordered sliders and fries before the event… they were tough and burnt and my fries had so much salt on them that I had 3 before leaving my plate to finish setting up. I asked 7 times for water and never got any after 5 hours. There was one waitress in our entire area and after I went to the front desk to ask for someone to take help the other tables, I found 4 hostesses and the manager chatting. I was told that she was the only one available. Really? During the baseball game — most of the staff was standing at the bar watching the last 3 innings. After waiting 25 minutes — I closed out my tab with a bartender in 2 minutes flat. The rest of my drinks for the night were ordered at the bar and closed out right away. I myself ordered 4 rounds of drinks totaling well over $ 100 for the night.
TWO WEEKS LATER… I just received the donation check of $ 127 from Citrus. Turns out that they were only donating $ 1 per drink served. I’m appalled that I have to literally email, call the manager, call the restaurant, facebook, and text to get a response only to find that I was lied to.
If I could give Citrus negative stars I would. The best I can do is tell you that their service sucks, their food is cheap because its horrible, their business practice is shady, they would rather build quantity over quality (TRIPLE BOOKED!!!) and their bartenders are the only ones that hustle. OH and they have good DJs.
PS If you were lied to about ‘ALL PROCEEDS’ — go get your $ back!

Interior design, 4.5 star
cleanness, 4.5 star
waiter attitude, 5 star
waiter availability, 1.5 star
waiter availability, 1.5 star
food quality, 1 star
food quality, 1 star
food quality, 1 star
food quantity, 3 star
non HH price, 1 star
HH price, 3.5 star
restaurant outside view, 4.9 star
TOTAL average: 2.7
Obviously I look more into its food quality and waiter availability.
Well, where shall i begin?
Came here for a friend’s party. looked into Unilocal review but it doesnt seem to be too impressive. but was very intrigued by its interior design once walked in. there were only a few people at the bar and maybe two tables (out of 20 –30) were occupied. It seemed empty.
Once sat down, was very happy to see its cheap happy hour menu and decided to give it a try. friends and I ordered chicken sliders, Kobe sliders, calamari, Caesar salad, etc.
The waiter was super friendly and nice. However, when she poured water for us, not sure if she was absent minded or just too concentrated on talking to us, she kept pouring the water even though the glass was already full. we reminded her and she apologized and tried to clean it up immediately.
After she took drinks order from us, it took her another 10 to 15 minutes to come back and ask for food order. We were already super hungry.
Finally the food came! We were happy. I tried the Caesar salad, which really has no flavor. It looked good, but not tasty at all. I was pretty disappointed. Then I tried the chicken sliders. SOOOOO SPICY!!! WHY DIDNT SHE TELL ME/​US ITS SPICY!!! EVERYONE WAS LIKE WHY IS THIS SO SPICY??? Then I tried the calamari, not too crispy. also because the super spicy chicken sliders, I didnt really enjoy the calamari, either.
The waiter was never really available even though there were only two tables of customers. we always have to make extra effort to get her attention to refill our water/​soda/​drinks. For multiple times, I had to go into the back area to find her, either to ask for a check or return the check, only to find out she was on her iPhone/​smartphone.
I really want to give this place a higher rating because of its great view of the city and great interior design, but i cant.
Ohhh… and also,
There were several typos on the menu, one typo was that, they misprinted «menu» where they said «memu.» LOL.
Music was great, though!

Went here for my BD dinner & thank goodness it was just for dinner & not for the night! It was pretty whack, not going to lie. Although, I will say the ambiance of this place with pink lighting, bubble filled tubes. were something that would match a girl’s night out sorta thing.
I read the reviews before coming here & I will say I have to agree with most Unilocalers when they say that this place is AWKWARD & suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a club, lounge, restaurant, café… bar? Hmm, They have a DJ so you might think it’s a club but the dance floor is soooo small! When you come in you want to think it’s a lounge but the table settings & what-​not is set as a restaurant. There is a bar there, I guess.
Okay, besides that… the food wasn’t that good.
I had the Citrus Fries, which are apparently fries with parmesan cheese sprinkled on it. Not good.
Also had Calamari, I think Olive Garden is better & it kills me to say that. Olive Garden is eh to me.
The last thing I had was the Blackened Chicken Sliders, It was super spicy & just pretty much burned your tongue.
One of my friends bought me a Washington Apple shot & it was so warm that I had to force it down =[ No bueno, dude.
My friend had made a resevation for 15 people 2 weeks prior to my dinner. You’d think that they would think about how many chairs & tables could fit that many people… NO, not at Citrus. They sat us at a table for 8 & seperated the rest of us at a different table. That was the party-​foul of the night thanks to Citrus. I wanted to have dinner with ALL of my friends. Not just some of them & then have to be seperated from the rest of them. So LAME! &&&& there is no excuse because I looked around the empty «lounge» on a Friday night & it was not crackin’. They could’ve seated us at 3 different places that I could see where I could’ve fit my party of 15. NO EXCUSES! The waitresses are also very air-​headish.
The only good thing about is that the food came out fast so that we can eat & bounce out of there & head over to somewhere BETTER on a Friday night. Just Sayin’.

Cool little place, great view, decent music.
The dance floor area is a little tight and there was an ample amount of douche-​bag-​ness; but most Seattleites are cordial & welcoming to us East coasters. It’s cool to see that they also serve food until almost about closing.
The drink prices were very good, but the parking situation was a little confusing; the attendant watches over the spots to see if people paid the meter/​machine, but only until 10 or so which seems weird. So you should probably on need to in enough credit for 10, but beware.

I was here late on Friday night so will definitely be willing to give it another try at a different time. The décor has a very clean and stylish look and so does most of the clientele. We were greeted promptly by a couple ladies at a front desk in the lobby area and then a server helped us right away after we joined our party at a corner table.
The drinks were solid and the food I tried was ok, but nothing real exciting. This is where I want to give them another shot so I can try their food when its not such a late hour. The music playing was really good and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Our group was able to enjoy the atmosphere and still talk to each other without shouting.

Okay — change of heart. It took me awhile to get going here, and for awhile, I was coming here quite often cuz my friends kept on having events, parties, and get togethers there. Ting, the bar manager, very nice guy. Kyle, bartender, very nice guy. Drinks, pretty good. I like the frozen drinks — very good. Food is actually decent. If you sit at a table, service can be a little slow — so opt to just grab your drinks at the bar.
Karaōke Mondays are pretty damn fun. Haven’t been in a while, but I’d go back now to hang out. In general, it seems like it’s an older crowd that goes here (late 20s, 30s, etc…) — so a bit more tame (at least when I’ve gone out there more recently).

Their food is hands down, BOMB!
Their Calamari is delish! and I ordered their ceviche (mosdef not as good as Mexico, but it is still good with their homemade chips!)
We had some shots, which were about $ 8. Their «Hello Kitty» drink was okay, not my favorite, but it was tasty.
I think my friend had their strawberry lemondrop or something… & I tasted it and it was pretty good.
Definitely good for big groups, and definitely good service. Love the food. I will go back for HH probably.

You know… I’m having a hard time reviewing this place. It’s clean, it’s funky, there is plenty of seating so it’s great for small or large groups, prices are competitive, so that’s all great. Even the appetizers I had were decent. The thing is… it’s like a club or a sports bar. I don’t like sports much and I’m not big into the Seattle club scene. It’s definitely a nice spot and the food is decent (think Joey’s or Boom Noodle). It’d make a great venue for private events and the water views are lovely.

I came here for the first time last week to celebrate my birthday. It wasn’t my first choice of establishment, but I’m glad we ended up here.
First of all, the customer service on the phone was IMPECCABLE. We had a large party (of about 25 people) and everywhere else we called charged us for having too large of a group (totally understandable). However, Citrus made us reservations without any hesitation and even offered that we could bring our own balloons and cake if we wanted, with no extra charge. They were super patient even when we called a few times to clarify things, make changes to the reservation, etc. 5 stars, just for service.
The establishment was fun — cool lighting, lots of windows, a «bubble wall» behind the hostess table, and a little dance floor in the middle of the place. We had dinner at 8:30 and waited around for the music to start… so we could have our dancing fun. :-D There was also a live DJ which I thought was a nice touch. They seemed to have quite a bit of security, but that didn’t bother us — «better safe than sorry», right? Plus, they were all super friendly. And the service remained great throughout the night — even though there were multiple birthday parties going on and the place got really busy.
Food was okay — the kobe beef sliders were delicious, but no one else seemed to enjoy their food very much.
Next time, I’ll skip the dinner portion and come here for the party!

Well, well, I would have to say that this place beat my expectations but I didn’t set them too high as I read the reviews prior to attending my cousins birthday party…
We got to the party a little late and were starving and needed some food before we started drinking so we ordered food immediately and the service was GREAT!!! My husband ordered the lamb (told you we were hungry) and I ordered the crab cakes sliders:) The drink concoctions they offered were so tempting I had to try a few! and YES they were DEE-​licious!
There was a little confusion on the seating as we were going to move towards the «lounge» area but ended up staying at the tables, I think this was due to the large party and them not having quite enough space? They told us that we were closer to the bar and the dance floor… dance floor, really? the space could fit about 20 people tops, I would have to say this is a nice lounge venue, definately not a place to get your groove on but other than that I was pleasantly surprised. Cute décor, great food, yummy drinks and then some (no cover)… the crowd wasn’t half bad either.

Ok so I lied… I came here for the «club scene» since I had a friend visiting for the month who wanted to go. To be honest with you all, it wasn’t as bad as what I’ve read on here. Sure there were some people that were dressed up but many were dressed casually. Drinks were great and the music was alright. I thought the «dance floor» was too small and was awkward to be in that area.
Its not as bad as what I’ve been hearing from other experiences but this is a place I wouldn’t hit up regularly on a weekend night.

I wanted to like this place. I really, honestly did but it’s not for me.
I left CITRUS asking myself so many questions. Why have a bar/​restaurant on Lake Union with a deck that holds 6 people? Why do you need seven 60″ TV’s broadcasting Sports Center in a Asian Fusion restaurant at 11 pm in a place the size of my living room? I get it plasma’s are awesome but they can also be used to play photo’s and art and classier stuff that belongs in a higher end establishment — looking at Stuart Scott’s creepy half-​blind albino eye doesn’t sit well with me while I’m digesting. And why were the male patrons of this establishment wearing more jewelry than the women? Why was there a DJ but no dance floor? Why did you even hire a DJ if he is only going to play top-​40, maybe save yourself $ 200 and turn on the radio or maybe just hire a DJ that can actually play records?
To me, CITRUS was a combination of all the worst parts of SeeSound, Amber and Twist.
And to the guys who own this place (yes I’m 100% sure a couple old dudes who thought owning an «ultra lounge» would get them some 20-​something strange went Dutch on this spot) the name CITRUS sounds like a gay bar. Hope that’s what you were going for.
I wish I could give this place 1.5 stars because the manager did greet us and stopped to ask how our meal when we received the check — well played. And our waitress was super crazy omg lets make babies hot, also a nice touch.
So here’s the deal CITRUS. You just opened, I get it so for now you’re getting a 1 star. I’ll be back in 3 – 4 weeks and if things have improved we can talk about a rescore. Seriously, lock it up I want to like you.