Cask & Trotter

I’ve been wanting to dine here since it opened because I love BBQ. The reviews have been favorable as well. Dined here over the weekend for lunch and found the BBQ to be delicious. Their sauces were delicious as well. Not a fan of cilantro so the succotash wasn’t appealing to me. The potato salad could use a bit more seasoning. Still, it is worth coming here for the main dish… BBQ at its BEST!

Happy hour review only. Decent prices, decent food. Drinks were good. Brisket was dry (maybe it was pre-​sliced, classic brisket serving error), but the flavor and crust was good. Buffalo sauce was heavily salted and overpowering. Service was pretty good and the atmosphere was nice.

Visiting before our cruise out of Seattle and we wanted some delicious BBQ and we hit the BBQ jackpot. Loved the low key environment. Very casual. Excellent brisket, ribs, and the chicken was okay. The service was a 10.
Their sauces were really tasty and we loved the tangy taste. Overall was great.

Got here right at noon for lunch and there was barely anyone inside which gave us the chance to sit facing out and towards the lake. The view is unbeatable, and paired with a perfectly made cocktail we were in heaven. I had the portobello sandwich which was tasty but slightly disappointing because they used small, chopped mushrooms instead of a cap. We also had the bbq plate with brisket and ribs; nothing to complain about there! All in all, fantastic view, food and service. You shouldn’t be disappointed.

Okay, these are the best wings and fries in Seattle. I’ve searched long and hard for good buffalo wings. These are awesome. Makes me like Seattle a little more.
The fries have a great crisp and flavor as well.

More of a restaurant then bar. Or you could say it’s a quite bar. Not what I expected walking in on a Friday night. It too a long time to get service, ended up seating ourselves. We also starting doodling since the tabletops had plain paper on it and a cup of crayons. The wings & brisket poutine was good. Service wasn’t good. Didn’t stay long

This place has so much potential. I wish I could say I had an amazing experience here, but I didn’t. My overall experience with this place started with bad service and ended with underwhelming food. Disappointing at best for an over priced «Bbq joint» based on the quality I got.
Let’s start with what went well… The ambiance here is classy and clean with a small attempt at western vibes. We walked in and were seated promptly. After that we noticed crayons on the table and a white paper table cover so naturally we went in on the opportunity to indulge our inner children (awesome btw). We were practically done with a mosaic piece by the time we got our menus. It was dropped off, no recommendations: nada.
Service:
Maybe it was the fact that we were a table of six and our waitress full well knew she was getting an automatic 18% gratuity out of us no matter what. I’d prefer to think it was the end of a very long day for her and she just didn’t care any more. Either way she was very short the whole night and clearly having a bad day. I am sorry we annoyed you so much. We come from the service industry we understand those days happen.
FOOD:
I had the BBQ plate that included two meat choices and two sides. I chose the beef brisket (came out less than warm, juicy and delightful nonetheless) and the pork ribs (over cooked and dry to the bone) for my Main dishes. Thank goodness for the several in house Bbq sauces they had available, that spicy one was by far my favorite. My sides were the Succotash salad (essentially a corn bean salsa which is good, just could use some red onions imo) and Mac and cheese (well cooked just more cream than cheese or Mac for that matter).
It was a unanimous decision at the table that the BBQ was best described as somewhere between «meh and okay.» One friend at our table had chosen the sandwich and said that was delicious and adequately fulfilling with the fries so you might want to stick with one of those.

A more accurate rating for Cask and Trotter would be 3.5 stars.
Friendly and welcoming staff. They have no problem recommending what to try if it’s your first time. Of the few times I’ve visited, I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a table. All the tables are lined with white paper & they give you crayons to doodle on while you wait for food.
I’ve consistently ordered the brisket poutine and the beef brisket sandwich. Both are pretty solid options. Beware, the brisket poutine totally fills you up even though it’s an appetizer! It’s best to share it with a friend. For the brisket sandwich, they don’t add any sauce on top because they let you choose from 4 different types of BBQ sauces to use. The side dishes that come with the beef brisket sandwich were mediocre — nothing to rave about.
Good BBQ joint but I have had better.

I’ve had a Cask & Trotter bookmarked for awhile and was super excited to finally try it out.
Individual item rankings as follows: (1 – 5) Truffle Fries — 5
Wings — 4 ½
Pulled pork — 4 ½
Beans — 4
BBQ sauces — 3 ½
Ribs — 3 ½
Potato salad — 3
The service, cleanliness and atmosphere inside the restaurant was certainly 5 stars. Some of the best BBQ we’ve been able to find in the PNW.
Will be back for the smoked wings!

It was so good that we went twice. The first time was just to grab a quick drink before our free boat ride nearby, the second time for a full lunch. On the first visit, I got the biggest mimosa (ever) and my other two guests enjoyed their bloody mary’s.
Now, the second time around, we sat down for a proper lunch and I have never had smoked chicken wings before. Apparently I haven’t lived. They were AMAZING. You should order them. I also enjoyed the smoked chicken salad, along with their Moscow mule cocktail.
Smoked chicken, who knew I was missing it in my life?

Great location with an awesome feel. It’s across the street from the lake and a nice big window that opens out to it. Full bar with atmospheric lighting. Love the ambiance here. I can’t say that I was too impressed with the food. I had the chicken salad, which, granted, isn’t something I should expect to be great at a bbq joint, but my date had the brisket sandwich and validated our visit. It was ok. But what will make me want to come back to try their other options is definitely Mike, our server. Great service and attitude. He made it a good experience.

The Cask & Trotter is your classic big portion American restaurant with big screen TVs everywhere serving hit or miss food. I’ve been twice. My husband has been multiple times.
Visit one was a week after moving back to the USA after living in London for 4.5 years. I was happy to be at a restaurant in America with American service and American fare. I ordered the french dip sandwich since I’d not consumed one in probably six year and it sounded delectable. And it was delectable. With my sandwich I ordered mashed potatoes and coleslaw but was given fries and coleslaw and our server noted the mistake immediately and rushed back with a little pot of mashed potatoes. The coleslaw was great, the mashed potatoes were dry and the fries were just fries.
Visit two was this past Sunday after getting stuck in an endless loop of traffic in SLU due to the Seattle marathon. I gave up any hope of getting back to Capitol Hill and settled on lunch with my father at the Cask & Trotter having had an OK experience the first time around.
Visit two was a two-​star visit. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich which need a boat load of extra BBQ sauce. With my sandwich I ordered the mac-​and-​cheese and coleslaw. The coleslaw was, again, super. The mac-​and-​cheese was not edible. It had clearly been reheated from the night before but not reheated enough and was not made entirely of cheese, so it was like eating halfway cooled Bechamel sauce that had been colored yellow and tossed with some overcooked macaroni noodles. The mac-​and-​cheese looked questionable and I should have stopped there but instead I took a bite and it was as it looked — disgusting. I pushed the pot away from me. My father then made the same mistake and tasted it and also concluded that it was disgusting.
A few seconds later our server emerged and asked if everything was OK. I said «the macaroni and cheese is not good.» and he offerred to swap it out for something else, so I selected baked beans and those were way too BBQ saucy for me. Our server also asked if he could swap out my dad’s mac-​and-​cheese to which my dad said no, that he’s got plenty of other food to eat.
The bottom line is that the food at the Cask & Trotter is just too hit or miss. You can have a great food experience one visit and a terrible food experience the next. I’d recommend for beers and/​or happy hour but not for a sit-​down dinner.

Two words: BBQ sundae.
I made the mistake of having lunch here on a workday, and promptly wanted to take a nap after I got back to my desk. A few of my co-​workers had been here before and really talked up the BBQ sundae, so ⁷⁄₉ of us went with that, and the other two got the brisket sandwich with fries. My sundae was layered with brisket, mac & cheese, and garlic mashed potatoes, and every bite was heavenly. The accompanying cornbread was also delicious. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would order again.

Cask & Trotter is a barbecue restaurant across from Lake Union that has been open about a couple years. This part of Lake Union is separated from South Lake Union so this restaurant stands out since there are only a couple eateries on this block.
Came here with a group of six for a weekend lunch over the summer. The interior is dark and a bit tavernesque. The table was covered up with paper, which offers up a nice attraction for kids (and adults) dining here to doodle while they wait for their food.
Tried a selection of menu items including the truffle fries, grilled artichoke appetizer, smoked chicken salad and a BBQ plate of beef brisket and pork ribs.
I enjoyed all of the mentioned items. Though I would say the smoked chicken salad was perhaps my favorite since it had a nice mix of sweet and tanginess to it. As for the BBQ meats, I thought they were good albeit a little drier than expected. The beef brisket was my favorite of the two. You can see the dry rub on the pork ribs, but it could have use some sauce on top. The BBQ plate came also with cornbread and cole slaw which were both delicious.
I thought the food and service here was good. However the plates took up a lot of space, so I wish the table was a bit bigger. Some plates had to be placed near the edge of the table as there was simply no other room. Also they don’t seem to give serving utensils here. A serving tong would have been a nice thing to have for the salad and BBQ.
I would rate Cask & Trotter as 3.5 stars, but am rounding up based on the food and service here. If you are looking for a good eatery near Lake Union, I would recommend this spot.

Feels like an upscale BBQ joint. I love coming here just for drinks and desert. I recommend the el sancho drink the s’more brownie. so yummy. you can’t beat the location, walking distance in SLU and great view.
I love the portebellow bergur, but like most bbq joins not a ton of veggie optionds. But lots of great sausces to choose from.

I got the BBQ plate which comes with 2 meats and 2 sides. I got the pulled pork and beef brisket with potato salad and succotash.
Every table comes with 4 BBQ sauces, Carolina which is a vinegar based sauce, sweet and smokey, spicy and extra spicy. My favorite was the Carolina one. Overall, I was very satisfied with my food. The meats in general were slightly dry but the BBQ sauces fixed that problem. The pulled pork was OK, I wished it was less dry and more juicy. The brisket was smoked well. It had a nice bark and smoke ring on it. The potato salad was alright. The succotash was really good and fresh.
They ran out of ribs the day I went and I really wanted to try it so I’ll definitely be back to get it.

Cask and Trotter feels like a fancy BBQ joint– seems like an oxymoron, but it works for this South Lake Union joint.
I tried a variety of meats, which were all pretty good. The pulled pork was a tad on the dry side but the brisket and sausage link were pretty juicy. I also really enjoyed the sides.
As a Texas girl who has tried ALOT of BBQ, the food was pricey for the amount given. However, I have come to accept that I’m not in Texas anymore.

Outstanding! Five stars all the way. I love barbecue and this place is it. Cobb Salad is fresh, bleu cheese was a little overpowering for me but still a great salad. The Gorgonzola burger was great with the Carolina sauce.
Grilled artichoke was good but I wish I had tried the deviled eggs instead.
But what made this a 5 star was the dessert is what I will think about for years to come– the s’mores brownie. Get it– OMG it’s so amazing! And they give you a healthy size too (not really healthy, technically)
I will soooooo revisit if I can in the future.

I’m no barbecue expert, but good food is good food, and I had some good food at Cask & Trotter.
I came in one lazy Sunday afternoon and sat at the bar with my boyfriend. The bartender was amiable, attentive, and patient throughout the few times we changed our minds about what to order. He was knowledgeable about their food items, and I thank him for steering me towards their truffle herb fries! They were perfectly herbed, truffled, and parmesaned! I was already full by the time the fries got to us because we ordered them later, but I still ate every single fry that my boyfriend didn’t manage to grab.
My boyfriend got a brisket sandwich, which he thoroughly enjoyed and devoured in an instant. I got a pulled pork sandwich, and I thought it was okay flavor-​wise, though definitely not the most tender I’ve had. We ordered a half rack of ribs as well. They were dry-​rubbed and smoked in-​house. Again, not the most tender and melt-​in-​your-​mouth I’ve had, but deliciously seasoned nonetheless.
We were able to sample several sides: coleslaw (the vinegary one), potato salad, corn bread, mac and cheese. I don’t usually eat coleslaw, but I became a huge fan of their coleslaw here. I loved the lingering tartness! It went very well with all the meat that I semi-​doused in their Spicy sauce.
Speaking of sauces, I loved that they had 4 sauce variations, and each table gets a bottle of each. I tried each one of them, and they were all good. Spicy was my favorite — loved the awesome smoky-​sweet-​with a kick taste. I also enjoyed the tangy Carolina.
I will most definitely be back to C&T some time for more barbecue, spicy barbecue sauce, coleslaw, and drinks at the bar! Oh, and I keep hearing about their must-​try garlic fries. I will make sure to order those next time!

For some reason, the service seems to be the unfortunate part of this restaurant. I absolutely hate giving bad reviews. And this place was going to get 1 star, if the manager was not such a sweetheart.
Food was 4 – 5 stars. But we were greeted by a rude woman, who didn’t give a care if we looked over the menu or not. So we were seated and she didn’t bother giving us a brunch menu. Secondly, she was irritated that I didn’t order a drink but that my husband did. Third, when our food came she didn’t even give us cutlery. Last drop, and this was the worst part, she gave us our check as soon as our food came and before we could even have a bite of it.
Rude.
Will go back because of the very nice and professional manager. Until then, I’m still fuming from the past server.