PAX Prime 2011
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The eighth annual Penny Arcade Expo took place from August 26-28, 2011 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington.
Bad Food Tips for your PAX trip
Beth's Cafe is a 24 hour diner conveniently located next to a great shitty bar, named The Duck. Beth's was briefly featured by the Travel Channel for its Dozen Egg Omlette. The food is of a varying quality. How well the food is prepared is directly linked to the sobriety of the cook, however more sober does not always mean more better. The waitresses are just as likely to sweet talk you as they are to kick your ass. Cries of "Bitch" and "Motherfucker" by the staff color the place quite nicely. Beth's has been here as long as anyone can remember, and will continue to be here long after anyone is left to remember. No matter how bad the food or shitty the service, Beth's will continue to be packed each and every day. The wait to get in for breakfast can be as long as an hour on a busy day, and people happily wait it. Just whatever you do, don't drink the coffee. Nothing good can come from it.
Gorditos - 213 North 85th Street
Their slogan is something along the lines of "healthy Mexican food", and their most popular menu item is a burrito the size of a baby. Literally! If you were to put a baby right next to it, you'd say something like, "Holy shit, that burrito is the size of fucking baby." And it is awesome. Most places that offer you a lot of food for cheap give a lot of crappy food and hope that the size of meal makes up for the poor quality, and it rarely does. This burrito however, is absolutely delicious. Having grown up in Southern California I love good mexican food and I am very picky about it. This burrito meets all of my needs in spades. Gorditos is one of the few Mexican places I have been to outside of Southern California, that I thought could survive in Southern California. Do yourself a favor, order yourself a Grande, and get it fajita style. I make sure to do it as often as I can, and only wish I could go more often.
Shorty's - 2222 2nd Avenue
In short, this is the best bar in Seattle. It is located next to downtown, and stumbling distance from the convention center. Albeit a long stumbling distance. Shorty's is a pinball dive bar. The walls are covered in creepy ass clown paintings. All of the booth tables are made out old pinball tables. The back room packed with about 15 pinball machines including the Adam's Family one and the Star Trek Next Generation one. The bar is really small. If they had more room, they would have more machines. The front of the bar has small number of old arcade machines including Baby Pac Man, Galaga, Joust, Donkey Kong, and few others. You can see a full list of their machines at www.shortydog.com As their URL implies, they serve durgers. Cooked right there on the countertop, these durgers are of questionable safety when sober. They don't get any better as the night goes on, but the more drunk you get the more appealing they become. When you do finally break down and order one, they do not let you down. They are delicious, as long as you are drunk. This would be an awesome bar to go and hang out at after PAX on Saturday.
Dick's Drive In - they have many locations here is a link to google listing them http://tinyurl.com/29bdk96
I have a feeling you already know about Dick's. Seattle loves Dick's and likes to encourage others to come and check out how awesome Dick's is. Dick's is a cheap face value, no bullshit burger joint. They are cash only. They don't do any special orders. Everything comes as it is on the menu. This is because they just crank those fuckers out. When you place your order the chick at the register just grabs it and gives it to you. No waiting involved. They remain so busy that they never have a burger just hang around and get old. I have never gotten an old burger there. I have however gotten so many burgers that it made me sick. It was a call back for me back to when McDonalds was running their 69¢ cheese burger specials. We would just walk up to the counter, throw down a 10 and ask for as many as we could get. Dick's isn't that cheap, but it is still that easy to do something similar. It is recommended that you stop at 5 - 7 burgers. Dick's is the next best thing to In-n-Out in Seattle.
"Some Fucking Bakery in the Market" - It is too the right of the fish throwing dudes in the Pike Place Market
I don't know the name, but it is probably something along the lines of Pike Place blah blah fucketty doo. However their name isn't the point. The point is that they sell a Doughnut the size of your head. Eating one of these is like eating a dozen doughnuts. That is like multitasking. No messing around with a big ass box of doughnuts. Just this one. Here take it, that is all you need. There isn't much else to say other than doughnuts are pretty awesome, so go get one
Good Luck Have Batman
@Chubbaluphigous said:
Beth's Cafe - 7311 Aurora Avenue North
Beth's Cafe is a 24 hour diner conveniently located next to a great shitty bar, named The Duck. Beth's was briefly featured by the Travel Channel for its Dozen Egg Omlette. The food is of a varying quality. How well the food is prepared is directly linked to the sobriety of the cook, however more sober does not always mean more better. The waitresses are just as likely to sweet talk you as they are to kick your ass. Cries of "Bitch" and "Motherfucker" by the staff color the place quite nicely. Beth's has been here as long as anyone can remember, and will continue to be here long after anyone is left to remember. No matter how bad the food or shitty the service, Beth's will continue to be packed each and every day. The wait to get in for breakfast can be as long as an hour on a busy day, and people happily wait it. Just whatever you do, don't drink the coffee. Nothing good can come from it.
I approve of Beth's, and it's ability to feed me at hours no normal human being should find appropriate.
For God's sakes, if you go to PAX, don't hit the Subway in the convention center! There are at least two or three other Subways within walking distance that I guarantee won't have an hour-long line. But yes, LOTS of good stuff to eat.
There's a good foodery thread on the PAX official forums with all sorts of food listings.
Going to PAX last year was probably the funnest weekend I've ever had. Wish I could go again this year.
DO NOT GO TO THE MCDONALDS CLOSEST TO THE CONVENTION CENTER. Almost got mugged. Shady people everywhere.
One of the things that I enjoy most about pax is meeting up with groups of people from different online communities I'm in. Unfortunately, if I want to go eat good food while at pax, I can't do it with them because they all want to hit the nearest corporate chain.... There is a Falafle place on Pine between 1st and 2nd that is fucking amazing, and a block away is the entire market. However, they would rather go to the Hard Rock cafe, subway, mcdonalds, etc....
Oh and that McDonalds isn't scary. Seattle is not a place you have to worry about getting mugged. Downtown is actually really safe. There a fair amount of homeless and shouty bumbs, but nothing is going to happen to you.
@big_jon said:
What do you mean by "Bad food"?
Most of those options are some significant distance from the convention center, much less downtown. I live down the street from Gordito's. Actually, I ate there last night. Great food, and seriously, that burrito is the size of a baby. But if you're downtown, there are far more convenient places to go. Not necessarily better. Just more convenient.
@Hailinel said:
@big_jon said:
What do you mean by "Bad food"?
Most of those options are some significant distance from the convention center, much less downtown. I live down the street from Gordito's. Actually, I ate there last night. Great food, and seriously, that burrito is the size of a baby. But if you're downtown, there are far more convenient places to go. Not necessarily better. Just more convenient.
Unfortunately with the resent possibility of me having Colitis, I have to watch what I eat, meaning that a baby sized Burrito is off my menu.
I know the exact bread place you are talking about in the Market and sure enough, you do it justice. That place is amazing.
Over the freeway on Pine and a 5 minute walk from PAX is a place called the Honey Hole that has awesome sandwiches.
Other then that nothing is really close, Seattle loves its shitty chains and subways.
I know that not all the places are very close to Downtown. Great food in the downtown area is either going to be in the market, come out of a truck, or cost a lot. But I maintain that these places are very much so worth checking out. Shorty's is close, you don't need a cab or a car to get there from downtown. Dicks, Gortito's, and Beth's, will need a car though. I mention them because they are worth the effort if you have the access.
I mean, just look at this Burrito
Sad to not see the NIght Kitchen on here, after a night of drinking, stopping by and grabbing a burger or mac and cheese here is a must. Plus its just a stone's throw from Kells Irish Pub, one of the best bars in downtown.
Love both places and if you are here this weekend visiting both is a must.
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