Restaurant news: Change ahead at West Seattle Bowl

Got a note from Kristina saying she’d heard that Terrace West Chinese Restaurant inside West Seattle Bowl will be closing; she wanted to “let the nice family who runs the current space know they will be greatly missed.” The restaurant is part of WS Bowl, whose boss Andrew Carl confirms to WSB that they are making a change, including remodeling, in the bowling center’s eating/drinking space. He says it’s too soon to say much else, except that the next restaurant will not be Chinese food, and that he hopes it will be open by September 1st (though he says a closing date for Terrace West isn’t yet finalized). “We should have a much clearer picture for everybody in early to mid-July,” he says. Right now, though, they’re “still in the development area.”

Bob Loblaw June 9, 2010 (1:01 pm)

Trader Joe’s!

Bret June 9, 2010 (1:07 pm)

Thank God!!!! It’s about time. Their staff is so rude up there.

Layne June 9, 2010 (1:07 pm)

:( That’s sad. Terrace West will be missed. It’ll be hard to bowl without the lane-side delivery of BBQ pork and fried prawns.

cjboffoli June 9, 2010 (1:14 pm)

My one dining experience there ranked among the lowest of a lifetime of Chinese food eating. The staying power of really mediocre restaurants is remarkable.

Lgl June 9, 2010 (1:15 pm)

My son will miss them. He has eaten there with grandma as a tradition since small child.

stb June 9, 2010 (1:16 pm)

My family will miss Terrace West very much. I hope the family that runs it can find another place to open locally. They are very gracious and the food is reliable.

Moon June 9, 2010 (1:36 pm)

Will definitely miss those fries. They always had a hint of fried porky goodness to them. Thought the staff was always very nice, but we’ve been bowling there for over 10 years.

Al June 9, 2010 (1:41 pm)

I agree cjboffoli! Worst Chinese food I have ever had. I could only take a few bites of my dish. I always wondered how they stayed in business so long. I thought they simply never had repeat customers.

beef June 9, 2010 (1:54 pm)

wheeee. good food to line the belly when drinking and bowling! plus they delivered. (to your lane.)

Lgl June 9, 2010 (1:54 pm)

Terrace west is one of the better chinese places to eat in WS others don’t come close.

Jay June 9, 2010 (2:38 pm)

That stinks. This (and Jade West) is where I’ve been getting my Chinese food since moving to West Seattle. Can anyone make other recommendations?

Chris June 9, 2010 (2:39 pm)

Sorry but the food wasn’t that good. There are SO many yummy restaurants in WS now! Needs to get with the times.

brian June 9, 2010 (3:15 pm)

The ONLY lunch “special” I had was some sort of whole “chicken breast” teriyaki. I had to ask the server if it was really chicken..no kidding. I didn’t order a hockey puck man!

JanS June 9, 2010 (3:45 pm)

the fries, the fries…tasted like they were cooked in the same oil as the egg rolls…a staple while watching my friends bowl on Thursday evenings.

shoemama June 9, 2010 (4:32 pm)

I have to say that I did not think their food was very good either, though the service was always kind and quick. Very excited to see a new restaurant in there. Be sure to have the new restaurateurs continue to offer delivery to your lane!

MLJ June 9, 2010 (4:35 pm)

The haters should wait to see what’s going in in it’s place before they start rejoicing. When you’re eating World Wrapps at lane-side, you may be wishing for Puckiyaki. Personally I thought the egg foo young was delicious. Pro-tip: don’t order Japanese food from a Chinese restaurant.

sw June 9, 2010 (4:51 pm)

Jay:

To satisfy our Chinese food jones, we head to King Wha in beautiful downtown Burien.

Bruce June 9, 2010 (5:16 pm)

I am sorry to hear that they are closing, we will miss the food when we have our largest fundraiser of the year in April The………….
(Seattle Seafair Commodores Bowl-a-Thon)
Just hope tha next tenant’s food is as good and friendly!!

Db June 9, 2010 (5:26 pm)

Anyone know what thier last day is going to be?

lenguamor June 9, 2010 (5:35 pm)

Jay: Ho-Win on Cal and Juneau is pretty good…not Jade West but OK enough.
Stay clear of Yen-Wor.

Homelessinthejunction June 9, 2010 (5:40 pm)

Seattle doesn’t have very many good chinese restaurants to begin with. The food tastes like it’s missing something or too bland. Vancouver and SanFrancicso has the best chinatowns/chinese food by far on the West Coast.

HelperMonkey June 9, 2010 (5:57 pm)

Zippy’s needs to open a location there!!!!

Stephen M June 9, 2010 (6:01 pm)

Oh man, what a loss. Seriously. I love this place’s perfectly acceptable family style Chinese food, especially either before or during a night at the lanes. In this day and age of increasingly fancy, expensive, specialized “cuisine”, nothing will ever replace this unpretentious Chinese comfort food. I will seriously miss Terrace West.

Eddie June 9, 2010 (6:39 pm)

I wondered what was going on there last Friday night (6/4) – no parked cars and a huge motor home/bus parked across many parking stalls. A few cones, and a group of people outside the bus.

ad June 9, 2010 (7:04 pm)

i agree helpermonkey!!

homesweethome June 9, 2010 (8:33 pm)

this was the best around for quick Chinese – why oh why can’t the grease pit Yen Wor close instead?

Darren June 9, 2010 (8:47 pm)

Going to miss it. It was a great price for good food.

Leroy June 9, 2010 (9:25 pm)

Perfectly acceptable and unpretentious – I agree.

newgardener June 9, 2010 (10:25 pm)

apparently, i am in the minority….i love the food at Yen Wor….but i only order from the vegetarian menu. maybe the meat dishes are bad?

d June 10, 2010 (12:13 am)

I’m in the crowd that thinks there might be room for another decent Chinese place in WS. Homey, affordable, but edible Chinese should be on the “What WS Needs” list.

But I’ll continue to drive down to the ID till then.

sun*e June 10, 2010 (12:25 am)

I can’t stand Yen Wor… we have NEVER had a good meal there and we’ll never go back. Ho-Win is my fav – hmmm, when you say that out loud it sounds kind of like… well… you know. ;)

sadie r. June 10, 2010 (12:33 am)

I think a lot of Americans have never really tasted Good authentic Chinese food, so it’s easy for all these restaurants to serve dumbed down slop for people who don’t know any better. Most of it amounts to “Chinese style fast food” which turns out to be pretty gross. Even some places in Chinatown that used to be good, over the years have gone downhill. I won’t be missing Terrace West.

Keith June 10, 2010 (1:10 am)

Fast, inexpensive, and unpretentious but *delicious* family-style Chinese food can be found just a few blocks west at Lee’s. Way better than the bowling alley stuff, in my opinion.

Auntie Kathy June 10, 2010 (8:35 am)

Our family will truly miss the Terrace West. So many wonderful memories!

tut June 10, 2010 (9:34 am)

How about In-N-Out burger ? Good stuff :)

wsgal June 10, 2010 (11:04 am)

Family that ran the place was always lovely to us; ambiance was just right for “neighborhood casual” dining; can’t argue with the location. I often ate there with friends who picked the place and loved it, even though none of us bowl. However — hate to say it — the food was really not very good and isn’t that one thing a restaurant has to get right? Hope the new restaurant keeps the family-and-friends neighborhood dining atmosphere and isn’t merely a pizza take-out franchise.

Christi T June 10, 2010 (12:32 pm)

There is no good Chinese food in WS. Drive to Wha-Ku in Burien on 1st ave. Great food since 1952

dawson st. June 10, 2010 (1:53 pm)

Sad day,very good lunch prices,and very friendly.I thought the food was respectable,but then again,I don’t dine on granola and sushi.

johnnyblegs June 10, 2010 (3:00 pm)

The Weekly confirms a rumor about a second Zippy’s in the Junction. Is it the bowling alley?
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/2010/06/openings_closings_ballard_gain.php

WSB June 10, 2010 (3:06 pm)

I wouldn’t call that “confirming a rumor.” Reporting a rumor. There are certainly more than a few spaces in The Junction. I’m calling Zippy’s. (edit – left a message!)
- WSB June 10, 2010 (3:18 pm)
  
  OK, update. Blaine called back fast. They do NOT have anything in the works right now but they would love to find the perfect place so they have someplace bigger and can stay in West Seattle. The bowling alley making a change was news to him. But he did have some news – Their root beer just arrived! – TR

westseattledood June 10, 2010 (6:46 pm)

Dear Zippy’s:

Please do not close down the HP place! Please. Just add another one somewhere – like Columbia City – and build yourself a big ole’ burger kingdom. But pretty please don’t leave HP. You’ll break our hearts if you do….. :(

not_a_zippys_fan June 11, 2010 (2:31 pm)

Dear Zippy’s:
Please improve your service and turnaround. I know you’re not a fast food place, but you also don’t have seating. If you’re going to take 20 minutes to turn around an order on a busy night, you should hire more people to turn the orders around faster.
.
Your veggie burgers are the bombadier, but I only stop in when I happen to be hungry on Saturdays between 2 and 5, because I don’t have time for your long wait.

RahelCook June 23, 2010 (11:04 am)

Hi not_a_zippys_fan,

I certainly wish we could speed things up a bit there at our itty bitty spot. Unfortunately, we can’t fit more than the 6 kitchen staff in our postage size kitchen, nor the 2 staff behind the tiny front counter.
Then there’s the whole part about us not cooking the burgers ahead of time like some other places do.

And of course, I do wish for a bigger space to seat more people – c’mon green genie make this space magically bigger!

However, you can always try calling in your order!
Sorry you’ve had such a poor experience. I sincerely hope that we can turn your opinion around at some point.

Anonymous June 25, 2010 (1:24 am)

Terrace West will officially close on July 15th.

WSB June 25, 2010 (1:28 am)

Thanks!

anontmous July 9, 2010 (9:53 pm)

The hard working family at Terrace West will be missed along with there yummy food. We went there tonight and they mentioned that they have been open for 17 years. They are a nice family with great food and great service. I hope that they will re open somewhere in the near future. I wish them luck in the future and wish them much happiness in whatever road life takes them down. For my own selfish reasons I hope they will reopen somewhere :) Best loyal customer