520 Bar and Grill

• Fan Tao★★★★★5 months ago

  We came here for lunch on a Friday. It's conveniently located for us and very reasonably priced for the neighborhood. The host gave us excellent friendly service. We got a club sandwich and the giant plate sized pretzel. I've had similar pretzels in Bavaria (Germany) and this one was very good, soft and chewy with a delicious dip. The sandwich was fine too. I would come again to try their other interesting offerings. Note they have happy hours when you get a big discount! It wasn't too crowded when we went but I can imagine it can be during busy times due to the intimate size.

• Kathy Richardson★★★★★6 months ago

  Once again, I am preparing for another surgery. This one is 13 months and 1 day after my rotator cuff surgery in December 2024. Lucky me. The procedure will be in Bellevue, rather than Tacoma, so I was up there for my labwork and pre-op appointments. Once finished Ray and I decided to eat before heading home. Not being familiar with the area, I did a search for restaurants. This place was close so we headed that way. There is street parking only and we were lucky to find an open spot which we took. The directions were confusing and pictures were unavailable so we began walking up the street, thinking we were heading in the correct direction. We were almost 2 blocks away when I asked for assistance and was told we were walking in the wrong direction. When we got back and were nearly to our car, I saw their name on an awning and realized we had parked almost in front of the entrance, which is not marked in front. We went inside and waited to be seated. We had arrived at approximately 3:15. We were asked if we had reservations and said no. We were informed we could be seated but there were reservations for 5:15 and we would need to be gone by then. Not knowing if service was slow, we almost left, but decided to stay. We were barely seated when our server arrived to take our order. We had not even had an opportunity to look at the menu. While not rude, she did act exasperated, and walked off before we could even order something to drink. In her defense she gave the same level of service to a regular who was seated at the next table and knew her by name. He was also informed he would need to be gone by 5:15. When our server came back, we placed our order. My husband ordered a cup of black coffee. I ordered a coffee nudge from the bar. Both were delivered and were cold. She never came back until our meals were served. She never offered more coffee. We each ordered the Cajun chicken sandwich and fries. Our meals arrived hot, unlike the coffee. They were good, but for the price, they were not outstanding. We were seated next to the hosting station. We had to ask the hostess, who had just arrived to work, for more coffee, and to go boxes. Only then did our server appear, after the hostess brought ONE box and coffee. This time the coffee was lukewarm. I asked to have some coffee added to my drink hoping to get it warmed. Our server told me, when she brought the bill, she did not charge me for asking for coffee in my drink. I came closer to making a snide remark, especially after telling her the coffee was cold, and getting no response. I have worked in restaurants and bars. I own a customer service business, so I am probably more critical than most. I am also very understanding when an establishment is busy, and the staff is running their tails off taking care of customers. This place was far from busy. She did not need to hover, but she certainly could have availed herself a bit more. She acted as though checking on us, and the table next to us, was an inconvenience to her. There has been a lot of discussion and controversy, on social media lately, regarding tipping. I have no problem leaving a good tip for good service. Conversely, I have a real problem leaving a tip when the service leaves a lot to be desired. It has nothing to do with affordability, and everything to do with rewarding for bad behavior. I left a larger tip than I felt she deserved, but it was still less than the recommended tip when it was time to pay. We paid, collected our receipt, and left. I doubt we will return. I hope other people have better experiences.

• Claudia Ruslan★★★★★a year ago

  The place was nice, especially on a sunny beautiful day in Bellevue area and you can sit outside. I'm guessing they might have live performances once in a while based on the stage look-a-like. But to me, the food was mediocre. Burger was not seasoned enough, bland. I did like the shrimp, but now that I think of the menu it's weird how there's rice and toasts in the plate it's as if the toasts are there to fill up the plate. For location to meetup, this place is great. For food, they need improvements. Service was attentive and friendly.

• Akshay Khatreja★★★★★a month ago

  1 star: Save yourself the time and frustration. We came to 520 Bar and Grill for a family lunch with the kids. Seated at 1:45 PM, told lunch service would start at 2:15 PM. Fine, we waited. We placed our full order (drinks, bruschetta, tacos, a burger, a quesadilla) within few minutes of sitting down. At 2:30 PM, I asked our server how much longer. Her answer: "I have no idea, the kitchen is backed up." At 3:00 PM, over an hour after ordering and 45 minutes after lunch supposedly began, exactly one item came out: the bruschetta. No timeline on anything else. By then our kids were beyond hungry and we were done. I asked for the manager and got a parade of excuses: "Brunch ends at 2 and the transition takes a while", "the kitchen is very small", "we only have one fryer." Our drinks were comped as a courtesy. None of that is the customer's problem. If your kitchen can only handle a fraction of your dining space, then seat a fraction of your dining space. And at minimum, "Be Transparent At The Door!" Had anyone told us at 1:45 PM "lunch is going to take 90+ minutes today and we can't promise an ETA on most items" we would have walked out, eaten somewhere else, and you would have kept our goodwill. Instead you sat us, took our order, made us wait 75 minutes for a single appetizer, and sent hungry kids home with nothing else to show for it. A round of free drinks doesn't fix this. Honesty at 1:45 PM would have. A massive dining space paired with a kitchen that admittedly can't keep up isn't an excuse, it's a business decision. Own it, or fix it. Until then, families looking for a reliable lunch should plan to eat somewhere else. Tons of better options in Bellevue downtown.

• Scotty★★★★★11 months ago

  First time at 520 Bar & Grill. I guess you need a reservation to sit down and the host was really snobby about it lol - all good. We asked if we could sit at the bar and if it was full service and it was, but she didn't even offer the bar seating which was empty (as a business owner I would tell my hosts the bar is open seating if you don't have a reservation.) Bartenders were busy, but attentive. The food was okay I got the fish and chips and my spouse got the lamb burger. Later my spouse had the runs from the burger but I was fine. The Bellevue lemon drop drink was delicious though. The atmosphere is okay from where we sat at the bar, but the outside seating looks nice. Might try again :)

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