Longhorn - El's birthday dinner

Longhorn was an excellent restaurant for Bar-B-Que lovers. I had a german sausage sandwich. It was very good, but I thought there was a little too much meat on it. For a side, I had mashed potatoes and gravy, and some baked beans. Since we went there for my birthday, I got a free ice cream sundae. It was good, with caramel and chocolate sauce, whipped cream, with vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed it. Em had a kids meal with a shredded beef sandwich. She would have rather had mac and cheese (big surprise!). We both had sodas, Em had a coke, and I had a root beer. My dad had an IPA and a Bar-B-Que pork sandwich. The meal was better than he thought it was going to be. My mom had a root beer and sausage sandwich. She didn't appreciate the sticky plastic table cloth.

Longhorn is kid friendly. The decor was western and we got to enjoy western music while we ate our meal.

Over all, I give Longhorn 3 stars.

Fins Bistro 301 Front Street North Issaquah WA 98027 425.392.0109

At Fins Bistro, Em and I each got a bowl of clam chowder. The chowder was creamy and warm. We topped it off with a bunch of saltine crackers. We were really excited because the server was able to get us the chowder, even though it wasn't lunch time, but brunch time. My dad got the Bistro Benedict. It was made with their famous crab cakes, topped with poached eggs and hollandaise. He liked it. It was average to him. My mom had the Salmon Benedict. It had grilled salmon, and poached eggs, topped with hollandaise. She liked the salmon, but didn't care for the hollandaise sauce. She said it was sort of blah tasting. Both benedict delicacies were accompanied by a scoop of fresh fruit.

Fins Bistro has many photos of hollyhocks on the walls. On another wall it was completely covered with cartoon drawings of the employes, as well as a boy and a dog. Where there wasn't any pictures, the walls were splashed with colors that created the sun, moon, and stars. Each table had one or two purple flowers, and there were small plates that were used for dinner, but they would set out for all meals as a force of habit.

I give it 4 stars.

It was a quieter restaurant. We would recommend taking kids that didn't need to be loud.

The Onion 302 W. Riverside Spokane, WA 509.747.3852

The Onion has delicious food! Em ordered Mighty Mac & Cheese with
cheesey cheese sauce. She said it was very creamy, nice and warm, and cheesy. For a drink everyone got ice cold water, it was really refreshing considering that it was at least 90 degrees outside. El and mom had an OB&G Burger. It had crisp fresh lettuce, sliced tomatoes, lean smoked bacon, and rich mayo. We also had a bottomless basket of shoestring potatoes they were very crunchy. I think I would have preferred the steak fries. My mom and Em thought that the service was terrible.

Ginger Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar ‎1228 S. Grand Boulevard Spokane, WA 99202 by: Em

Ginger was an okay restaurant. We sat in one of the back tables. For an appetizer, we had Cheese Wontons. There is cheese & crab deep fried in a wonton wrap. They were very creamy and crunchy. I liked how they were shaped like stars. They also came with a very delicious sweet and sour sauce. They were mine and El's favorite thing we got. We all shared the sushi rolls and main dish. We ordered red dragon roll. It had shrimp tempera, avocado, fish on top and a sauce. The red dragon is my moms favorite roll there. My cousin Kara and my Dad liked it as well. El had a very small bite she said it was interesting. She wasn't crazy about it (but she's not crazy about sushi either). We also got a roll called The Rainbow Roll. It has assorted fish, avocado on a California roll. I ordered this one, it was delicious. My dad, mom and Kara liked it.

My dad ordered the Bruce Lee. It has tuna, cucumber and chili sauce on it. No one ate it but my dad . It was a spicy one. The Bruce Lee is my dad's favorite roll there. Shang Hi Fish was the other dish we all shared. It was crispy sliced red snapper glazed with a sweet Chinese balsamic vinegar with rice on the side. It was funny because El doesn't like fish and so my mom and dad told her it was orange chicken but she still didn't like it. I thought it was fine. My mom and my dad really liked it. For drinks we all got a tall, refreshing, glass of ice water and my mom and dad got Sake. When we got our bill it came with fortune cookies. This is another great restaurant for families if the children like Asian food.

I give it 3 stars in all.

South Perry Pizza, 1011 S Perry Street Spokane, WA 99202 By: Em & El

At South Perry Pizza, we had two different pizzas, the Sausage Pizza & the Peach Pizza. Their Sausage Pizza has a tomato sauce base, mascarpone cheese, sausage, mozzarella cheese, and caramelized onions. Em thought the sausage pizza was awesome, and she thought that it was the best pizza in the world. It is my favorite pizza at South Perry as well. We also had the Summer special, Peach Pizza which had thinly sliced peaches, basil, a tomato base, and prosciutto. The peach pizza had a very nice hint of peaches, not overly strong. It kind of reminded me of hawaiian pizza with a peach taste. The sausage pizza is one that Em and I regularly enjoy. Em had a nice cold Coke, my mom and I had frothy Root beers and my dad had a Total Domination IPA. He thought it was a pleasing ale. We sat on the patio with the sun just beyond the building across the street which made for a very pleasant dinner outside. We also enjoyed the company of our two lovely neighbors. When you eat inside you can enjoy watching one of the cooks toss dough. We really enjoyed watching that. This is another great restaurant for families.

In all Em gives it 41/2 stars and El gives it 4 stars.

TOULOUSE PETITE, 601 QUEEN ANNE AVE. NORTH, SEATTLE, WA 98119 By: Em

The Toulouse Petit was a very good restaurant. We sat next to a very tall window that opened on a very beautiful Seattle morning and we were excited to see what the menu had to offer us. I got the butter milk pancakes and orange juice. The pancakes were really good I got whipped butter with them and real maple syrup, they were some of the best pancakes I have ever had. I would give them four stars. The orange juice was freshly squeezed. So the orange juice gets four stars also. We also got beignets when we got them they were piping hot, they were so delicious! They came with chicory anglaise dipping sauce. My mom had their dungeness crab with fine herb eggs Benedict and breakfast potatoes. She also had fresh squeezed orange juice. She said that her food was amazing. My dad had cured pork cheek confit hash. He wasn't expecting all the arugula that came on it, but was presently surprised he said it had a fresh taste to it. For his beverages he ordered coffee that came in a french press, he also got milk punch. He enjoyed the milk punch so much that he ordered another one. He really enjoyed his meal. They also had very nice bathrooms. My mom and I liked the faucets.

So in all the restaurant gets four stars

This restaurant is great for all ages.