Heaven on earth. Our first time dining here was a treat. The service was impeccable, ambience was intimate, and the food and wine pairings were excellent. I have no complaints and feel the pricing was justified. Can't wait to dine here again for our next special occasion. For now, I will be dreaming of our time at Cafe Juanita.

We went there for our anniversary. We chose the omnivore menu with the wine pairing. I liked pretty much the whole menu. The best dish was definitely the venison, yum! The service was really good and attentive. Overall it was wonderful experience.

Celebrated a big milestone birthday dinner here with 3 couples. We all had an amazing experience, wonderful meal and exceptional service. I would absolutely recommend the A5 add on, it was amazing. Initially my wife and I were a bit intimidated by the menus but once you go over everything with your server and understand the menu it becomes much less intimidating. They do offer corkage fee of $35 which I would recommend doing because their wines are a bit on the pricey side (but who's counting).

Everything was exceptional. Serving sizes were substantial for the number of courses. The timing between courses was good. Could have been faster for our group, but we are fast eaters and it wasn't slow by any means. The atmosphere was upscale, and not overly noisy. It's definitely expensive, but for the outstanding service, food, drinks, and attention to detail it's worth splurging on.

Amazing food and service. They keep track of prior preferences and make sure everything is perfect when you arrive. Best in the northwest.

Being a long time loyalty customer for cafe Juanita since year 2005, we stopped going after pandemic hit. This is our first time going back after they switched away from à la carte menu to 4 sets of tasting menus ( omnivore, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan). We brought our own wine, an amazing burgundy that I love and it is at its prime time, definitely the highlight of the night. The wine pairing is quite expensive here, if one wants good wine without breaking the bank, it is likely a better idea to bring your own or order a reasonably priced bottle from the wine menu. Their corkage fee is extremely affordable at $35. Of course the wine brought in needs to be one that they don't have on their menu. We both picked the omnivore menu, but subsituted two dishes with the items on the supplement menu for variety. That way we get to have two different pasta courses, and instead of two veggie plates we get one veggie and one foie gras. Also ordered a grilled octopus from the supplement menu as extra, but ended up being too full at the end. Bread service, the wagyu croccante, and venison are impeccable. Some dishes are on the salty side ( especially the little gem salad) as Chef Holly Smith is usually slightly heavy handed on salt. That is her preference, not a mistake. I would say the dishes here go very well when there is wine/ alcohol involved. At the end the manager brought us two glasses of Malabaila Birbet Brachetto dessert wine to try. It is very refreshing and just the right amount of sweetness, I have to say I like it better than the dessert itself. A very lovely restaurant with perfectly executed tasting menu, and top notch service. Unfortunately not the type we can take the kids with us like before when they had full à la carte menu, but still a top choice for any special occasions.

Fine dining at its best... and most expensive. We are CJ fans, and this is the first time we've been to the restaurant since they switched from a la carte to tasing menus. First, the ambience. Quiet, reserved, elegant. Tables nicely spaced, noise level is low so conversation is easy, and the tables and chairs are sleek and comfortable. Service was top notch. We were greeted warmly, and our server was attentive and helpful without hovering too much. The sommelier was delightful and gave colorful explanations of all the wine we tried. Now for the food. Wonderful from start to finish. Each course was beautifully plated and lovingly prepared. My daughter had the pescatarian menu, and I had the omnivore. We augmented our dinner with the Tajarin with butter and sage, a Cafe Juanita classic. The two menus are the same except for the entree and the appetizer. We both agreed the omnivore menu was the standout. The carpaccio was out of this world: creamy waygu carpaccio with tangy jalapeno butter and the crunch of a homemade rye crisp. My daughter's frutti de mare was fresh and bright, but the cuttlefish ink was a bit strong for her liking. The tagliatelle with morels was some of the best pasta we've ever eaten, even better than our beloved butter and sage. For entrees, we gave the nod to the melt-in-your mouth venison loin. The halibut was perfectly cooked but just a tad on the bland side. Desserts were sublime. We had the wine parings with our meal. Each wine was exquisite and paired perfectly with the food. The price seemed steep for the amount of wine in each pour. We are glad we tried it, but would just order wine off the menu next time.

This is a fairly nice fine dining restaurant located around the Kirkland area. We booked a reservation for a Wednesday dinner for 4 people, and it was not too hard to get a reservation for opening time. However, do plan ahead if you go for Friday or Saturday. They're currently open Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday and Saturday. Parking is street parking which is not too hard early in the day, or you can valet for $10. My friend and I got one omnivore and one pescatarian and did some substitutions to try as much as we can without paying an insane amount on supplements. Some courses can be subbed like the tagliatelle for the tajarin and the vegetable and desserts courses can be swapped. You can also swap between omnivore and pescatarian options too to have a best of both worlds approach. We started with house made focaccia which absolutely stands out - crispy bread with soft interior, and each bite soaks with delicious yet not overpowering amounts of olive oil. Then there's amuse bouche that has a cannoli with caviar, crostini, and baby carrot with chickpea crema which you can eat the entire thing. It's a nice plate to start, but nothing too memorable. Bread service - 2 breads (cumin and roasted garlic potato) and 2 crackers (rosemary and sea salt, and 36 month Parmesan reggiano) variants. They are good but we were still thinking of the focaccia Frutti di mare - love the scallops and oysters but the uni is just decent. Squid ink sauce A5 Miyazaki wagyu croccante - I love this one - very tender meat (raw) with toasted bread. A light toast Tagliatelle - good, has mushrooms, cooked al dente Tajarin with creme fraiche and white sturgeon caviar - substitution, also a great pasta. The caviar blends well with the tajarin flavors Little gems - has anchovy and the Parmesan reggiano, sharp and fresh Asparagus with black garlic - substitution, you also have one piece of that if you go with the omnivore course. I really love this along with the presentation. The shallots are pickled so it provides a slightly sweet and sour contrast Palate cleanser - kinda like a raspberry sorbet. Don't be fooled by the plating as I thought the white center was also food Alaskan halibut - spot prawn bisque - cooked well, blends well with the broth Venison - I prefer this main. Venison is so tender and juicy you can even eat it by just biting or a dull knife (since I was sharing, my friend had the sharper knife for the venison course). The spring onion agrodolce bombolino is a bread with the onion inside and is so flavorful and enhances the very savory black garlic asparagus and venison. Probably my favorite dish in the whole tasting menu, aside from the focaccia at the beginning Pavlova with strawberry and lemon curd - one bite, fairly solid Le Bombe - a nice finish to the meal. Very hearty, love the sweet contrast with yuzu Sichuan peppercorn gelato for a play on hot and cold Vanilla bean panna cotta - substitution, also very good and standard Service is excellent as they make sure you always have wine and water with the food. Food cadence is good in timing but the progression feels a little bit random as we start off with a heavy amuse bouche followed by a lighter A5 croccante / frutti di mare The sommelier recommended nice wines, both white and red, to pair with our courses. We started with a Sauvignon blanc then proceeded with a red wine after to pair with the later courses. Overall, the food is good and price range is fair - after tax and tip, it was about $325 a person for tasting menu ($205 base) plus 2 bottles of wine. If you go solo, wine pairing is good for variety but if you don't mind variety, going with a group to split a bottle or two will be a fraction of the price.

Overall, this is a special place and each course is beautiful and thoughtful. For me personally, I don't think it was a great fit because of the menu the night I went. Perhaps another time with a different menu, it would be a better experience but with the cost, I'm not sure if I'd take the chance again. If you're an adventurous eater without any restrictions, you'll have an incredible experience. Pros - Service is exceptional and polished - They are accommodating with allergy issues and I felt confident that the chef was careful which is significant for those with allergies - The chocolate bomb dessert was amazing but very small even for a tasting menu - Loved the pastas- the risotto with ramps was my favorite thing we ate Cons - The anchovy salad was inedible, extremely salty and the anchovies were pungent. With such an expensive meal, I was bummed that I couldn't eat an entire course - I couldn't eat either protein on the menu and needed to swap from the supplement menu . I appreciate the ability to swap but it's primarily only pastas - with exception of the A5 which understandably is an additional price - so I had two pastas instead. Again, with the price, it's a bummer to not get a protein

What a beautiful meal and a beautiful experience. Cafe Juanita is kinda nestled in the residential area of Kirkland. There's valet parking and some street parking provided. The inside kinda gives "The Menu" vibes especially at night, with the big windows that see nothing but darkness and the open kitchen... minus all the other stuff lol We came in a few minutes early for our reservation and was greeted and seated pretty quickly. They only provide different prix fixe menus, so not a whole lot to choose from, but don't think you can go wrong. We went with the omnivore menu. Amuse bouche: so cute, so good. They were such perfect bites. I especially loved the scallop that was served with passion fruit and some pistachio maybe? Herb focaccia: super fluffy and airy. The outside was perfectly crunchy as well. Pea ravioli in broth: I'm not a fan of peas, so I wasn't a huge fan of this dish. But I enjoyed the pasta itself, the texture was good and the shape is the cutest thing. The soup was also full of umami flavor. Bread board: the assortment! Loved the variety here. I especially loved the gourmet cheez-its haha Wagyu croccante: delightfully buttery. The decorations on top are cute, but the flavor doesn't really come through when eaten together with the meat and sauce on the bread. Endive salad: yummier than I expected! It's served with a pine nut sauce with more pine nuts together. With the celery on top, it kinda tastes like an elevated celery and peanut butter snack which I was super on board for. The flavors can take a little getting used to, but every bite just continuously got better. Venison loin: omg so tender, and not gamey at all. Cooked to absolute perfection. The sauce was a great pairing with the meat and cabbage as well. Palate cleanser and desserts: palate cleanser was a beautiful dollop of fruity tart goodness. The little dessert before dessert was also amazing. I could've had about 10 of those, but sadly only got one. The actual dessert was a super interesting combo of porcini gelato and chocolate hazelnut bottom. Together, it's such an interesting flavor combination: umami porcini and salty nutty chocolate. Overall, a wonderful experience and delicious menu. We were both stuffed by the end of the meal. The service was divine, everyone was super attentive and kind. Would definitely recommend this for anyone wanting a special dining experience.