Txori

My friends and I made our farewell visit to Txori tonight, one last hurrah before the adorable pinxto place closes its doors on April 19. True, it will be replaced by a similar establishment (the straightforward-​named «Pinxto»), but the original Basque of Belltown will be fondly remembered.
During Txori’s existence, I have adored the hongas de jerez… sauteed sherried mushrooms nothing short of divine. The braised oxtail tartlet was a little pastry cup of beefy goodness, and the iconic octopus-​topped potato a tasty gem. Sadly, none of these favorite treats are currently on the menu, but their memories remain vivid in my mind.
If you are able to make it to Txori before she shuts her doors – and really, you should try – enjoy the spicy garbanzo beans, roasted cauliflower, or the oxtail-​topped ptoatoes. The goat cheese of Cana de Cabra is superlative in a good way, and the bocadillos rarely disappoint. Txori is now slammed with folks saying their good byes, so expect the place to be steamy with packed tables and smoke from the grill. Grab a high-​top table and a kalimoxto (red wine & Coca Cola… really, it’s good) and raise a glass to Txori’s run.

Cute place! Very Europe-​esque, even though I have never been! I guess those scenes from movies can make my imagination run wild…
Came here for a small bday celebration for a friend. No reservations and only had a 10 minute wait. Cozy atmosphere, quaint little place for great conversations. Braised pork was my fav. thing, the other 8 dishes we ordered were also very enjoyable and delicious (but don’t recall the names). Also, try their selection of interesting drink mixes, yummy! Service was awesome and bday dessert was on the house!
Just read that Txori is closing on 4÷19… =(definitely try it out it’s too late!

While in Seattle I was introduced to Txori by a dear family friend who has tried it out.
This little location in Belltown, sadly, is going to be closing as Txori on April 19 but the food will remain available at Harvest Vine, which owns Txori.
Another buyer will come to the Belltown location. I wish I lived in Seattle so I could see what transpires.
Back to dinner. We were in a great narrow café with walls of wine bottles and well highlighted displays of fresh fruit, browning on the plate to indicate real life as in a small European locale.
The Basque foods were amazing.
The wine we enjoyed was Potros Robo. $ 40 but great.
We had the tuna, with egg, stuffed squid with ink, apple and feta salad, and salt cod — green sauce — potato. The olives were wonderful. (aceitunas =empeltre olives — garlic — red onions — páprika).
The server was very knowledgeable and attentive.
The décor and peaceful atmosphere, while busy with patrons, was welcome.
I highly recommend that if you can go to Belltown before April 19 you will not be disappointed.
I would definitely try Harvest Vine on my next trip to Seattle.

Frank and I go there probably once a week or at least 3 times a month since we first step in this little restaurant and it never fail us. I can’t believe my favorite restaurant is closing (or I should say hibernation?)!!!
Tonight we had the final Txoko dinner at Txori and it was as good as it gets! From ham wrapped potato/​egg, salad, muscles, to suckling pig, cheese, and Carolin’s oilve oil wine cake… Finger licking good. Sad. It’s just too sad to see this little gem close… I hope Carolin doesn’t take too long of a break and will re-​open Txori at another location soon.
If you haven’t been to this place, make sure you go try 3 things before it close on April 19. My 3 top choice: Braised Oxtail Tartlet, Salt cod & mashed potato with oyster mushroom and egg pintxo, and octopus with Potato. Txori’s space will be taken over by 2 fans and re-​open as Pintxos on April 21.

My uncle took the lady and I here while visiting this week. He loves tapas and also has a very discerning palate so I knew this was going to be good. We probably sampled half the menu and I think that everything was good. My favorite was the serrano bocadillo. The rabbit and albondigas were also good. The petit basque cheese was also our favorite. He mainly took us here for the wine though, also good.
The portions are kind of small, so don’t be afraid to order more than you think you should initially.

While I haven’t been to Spain, I imagine that the pintxos served here are rather authentic, with a slight American twist to them. The cool contemporary space sure makes you feel like you’re somewhere in Europe. There’s counter seating where you can watch the chefs prepare the food, a cozy dining area and an outdoor patio with lights strung overhead that seems like a great place to hang out on during warm nights.
I learned that the main difference between pintxos and tapas is that pintxos are to be eaten individually and are typically arranged on a crostini or slice of bread with a toothpick through them. It seemed that we had a combination of pintxos and tapas, as some were on crostinis and some were served on small plates.
We came in for lunch and ordered the manchego cheese, cauliflower, peas and ham, pork belly, braised oxtail and stuffed squid. Neither of us were fans of the squid, which many seemed to have raved about. I really enjoyed the pork belly and oxtail. Since we had snacked at Pike Place Market prior to coming here, we weren’t all that hungry, so these few dishes sufficed. If you’re hungry, you may want to consider ordering at least 6 – 8 pintxos or dine elsewhere.
Service and ambiance were great, and the place was pretty empty on a Saturday afternoon, which was nice for us since we got to really catch up. Word is that the place may be closing… hope it doesn’t happen, because it’s really a gem!

AWESOME! See my review for The Bazaar in Beverly HIlls and juxtapose that biatch.
For some reason I imagined this place to be dark, lush, and purple. Was it their website? We both commented on how it looks like someone’s tiny hipster apartment. It was half bar tables and half regular tables with Ikea-​like wood and metal chairs. Only a few tables filled when we got there for our reservation.
I forgot how much our bill was but we got eight plates, glass of rose cava, one of the beer cocktails, and a filthy martini with an anchovy.
The martini was so yum! It may look a little gross with the fish curled around the olive but just try a sip. Cava was very light.
Stuffed squid in its own ink was my favorite. What was it stuffed with again? Who cares. Get it. It was soft, umami, and just superb.
Anchovies with black olives came in second. Briny, salty, I can’t think of how to describe an olive to an alien. It hits the Spanish spot.
Let’s see, we also had the duck confit which came with a very green tasting green sauce. Couldn’t put my finger on it. Duck was falling apart fabulously but a bit salty. Veal meatballs were alright. I wouldn’t get it again. There was a potato, mushroom, and egg tapa. That was filling. Cod was also salty. I had to ask for lemon. Pork belly was small and came with egg. Hmm. Now I’m missing one.
Great place to chat, drink, and hang with friends. That’s what tapas were made for. Very inexpensive. Comes with the décor? Waiter only charged us for one drink. I kindly pointed it out.
I would fly back to Seattle just for this. Six stars!

Stopped in for some afternoon small bites and some sherry and my god was it worth it.
First bite was the anchovies & black olive spread on toasted baguette which was excellently paired with a glass of La Gitana Manzanila Sherry.
Second & Third bites were the duck confit salad and the octopus on a skewer drizzled with smoked paprika & olive oil, which was even better than it sounds.
We finished it off with the stuffed squid in ink and salt cod in potatoes overs mushrooms and a fried egg on top with was delicious.
Overall a great experience, but a bit slow on the service side, which is hopefuly a 1 time issue.

Txori is a great place for a casual dinner or even a late night snack with friends. I’ve never had problems getting seated here. Service is great, and the atmosphere is cozy.
I generally like to do a dish-​by-​dish review of things I’ve ordered, but I’ve been here so many times and tried so many different things that I can’t! Not to mention the menu changes from time to time, and the specials change even more often.
The last time I was here, we had clams in a buttery garlicky white bean sauce. I also remember that the oxtail, rabbit leg, and duck confit were delicious. The waiter kept bringing us more bread so we could soak up every last drop of the delicious sauces.
To be honest, not every dish here is great, but I find that on any visit, at least ½ — ¾ of the dishes will not disappoint! Plus, the beauty of small plates is that if you don’t enjoy a dish, you can just move on :)
I generally come with friends and order about 3 dishes + 1 – 2 drinks per person. Most items are big enough to share between 2 people, and we’ve even made things work 4 ways. I also recommend ordering dishes in rounds so you can enjoy the food while it is hot and so you can accurately assess how much food you want!

I had always been intimidated by the exterior for some reason. I thought it looked a bit out of my price range. Then one of the servers became a client of mine, and opened up my eyes to the wonders of Txori! If you go with a huge appetite, it could get spendy, but with dishes ranging from $ 4– $ 12 (if I remember right) it’s a great place for a snack. If you go with a friend you each can order several dishes and then share them all. I think my boyfriend and I tried 6 or 7 different dishes between the two of us, and we struggled to eat it all, but we stuffed it in because it was sooooo good!
I even got adventurous and tried the oxtail… and it’s my new favorite thing. I crave it daily. You must try it! We also tried some delicious chocolate mousse type thing for dessert, unfortunately I have no idea what it was called… but it was to die for. Neither my boyfriend or I are usually dessert people, but we definitely cleaned the dish on that one!
I love that the owners try to use local and sustainable ingredients, when they’re not using those that they import from Spain.

Ah Txori, sister to the Harvest Vine, how I love thee! Your amazing Basque tapas from northern Spain are simply delicious. Your ambiance is fun! Might I suggest these pintxos to any new patrons:
calamares en su tinta 4.25
stuffed squid — ink — fried bread
tartaleta de rabo de toro 3.00
braised oxtail tartlet (my favorite)
Along with this drink which I would order again:
lejilla 3.50
stella artois — lemon soda
Location: Is small. Almost directly across from Tula’s.
On parking: you want to walk. If walking is not an option, don’t even try to park in Belltown. It’s just miserable. Always is. Always will be. Instead, drive down one of the numbered streets starting with 5^th, 4^th, 3^rd etc. and find street parking. After 6pm, it’s free. Before 6pm, don’t forget to pay the meter maid.

Txori’s focus is admirably narrow, so these five stars are not for the breadth of its appeal. They’re for doing a fantastic job within the boundaries they set up for themselves.
Went here with my dad last night for dinner, as a prelude to seeing John Cleese up the street later in the evening. We picked it out of sheer curiosity. Txori more than paid off, that’s for sure.
It’s long, narrow, and utilitarian. They really need to maximize space to make the place work – the «kitchen» is also the bar, and the barback is a series of workmanlike bookshelves stacked up behind the grill with a library ladder attached. The side station for the servers is just a little bit of shelving facing out into the dining room. The tables are as small as can reasonably fit 2 or 4, and the stools have a tiny footprint as well. So don’t come in for the sumptuous ambiance, or you’ll just set yourself up for frustration.
The food is amazing. We had duck confit in scrambled eggs, chorizo on toast, serrano ham slices, crusty peasant bread, oxtails, salt cod, anchovies, octopus, and something else I have already forgotten. Somehow we neglected to order the squid, which seems silly now, given that it’s two of the top three most-​cited points in these reviews.
Our server was incredibly charming, with lots of great recommendations from the menu. Which in itself is kind of ironic, given that we ordered about 30% of the menu and probably would have gotten some good stuff just by blind luck – it’s tapas, so each person can easily handle 3 or 4 plates worth of food. Multiply the number in your party by 3.5 plates and you’re probably going to end up ordering about that much.
The Vega Escal 05 Priorat was really nice. My dad rarely jumps up and down about wine, much as he likes it, and he actually made a point of having us remember the name. It’s a bone dry, very acidic, very peppery spanish red, and well worth the $ 8 they want for a nice pour of it.
Overall, this is a really fun place to eat really fun food, and the prices are fair enough. For 7 or 8 plates, 3 glasses of wine, and a fat «we’ll be back» tip, it was $ 75 for two. We both immediately started thinking of who we might like to bring on return visits.

Strange – when we walked into this place there was NO ONE there and we almost turned away, but based on the great reviews on Unilocal we decided, the hell with it, we’d try it anyway (plus service would be better for just the two of us). Turns out, it was such a lovely evening that everyone was sitting on the beautiful patio out back! They hung beautiful dim lights on their small patio and it was a very romantic setting (or just a very relaxed setting between friends).
And holy moly, this place has FRIED FRENCH BREAD. AMAZING. I cannot get enough of how good the food was here – definitely a top of the list for me in the tapas category. Their portions are small so you end up ordering a lot, but pretty reasonably priced for tapas. Among the dishes I could remember (they change up their menu periodically) we tried:
— tortilla espanola
— button mushrooms
— salted cod with oyster mushroom and medium-​over egg
— stuffed squid covered in ink on fried bread
— thinly sliced cured ham on bread
— a tuna/​egg salad thing?
— chorizo or some kind of sausage
— braised pork dish
— flan
(possibly more… but almost everything was served with FRIED BREAD!)
Split between two plus a cubra libre, the total came out to about $ 53. Not to shabby for the amount of variety we shared. The two dishes that stood out to me most were the squid/​ink (I don’t even like squid ink much but this was done very well!) and the cured ham. It was a very satisfying meal and a definite low-​key restaurant gem in downtown!

I was honored to have Txori be my first Spanish tapas experience, not only in Seattle, but ever!
A long narrow rectangular space with little tables and a small bar to the left… we waited patiently for a table as the place was packed packed packed. We both ordered a few cocktails while we waited. I had the la abeja which is a dark rum thyme honey and lemon. She had the azafran — vodka saffron and orange.
I think we tried almost everything on the menu including the baby eel, which was pretty adventurous for us… Bite sizes of very savory treats. Everything was divine minus the baby eel. I have to say we couldn’t eat anymore than a tiny bite. Our waitress was kind enough to remove it from our bill (and we didn’t even ask her to). She was also very helpful in describing each item before we ordered.

My boyfriend and I had an absolute blast eating here and trying out all the exciting flavors of Txori!
The flavors were one crazy delicious combination after another. We went here starving and ordered 5+ plates with tons of help from our waitress, Kathleen. (Loved her!) She was super helpful and had a great personality. A lot of these dishes aren’t for the faint of heart, so come willing to try something out of the ordinary. We are usually adventurous diners and went with such plates as the blood sausage, ink covered squid and their competition platter. Txori may be a small place, but they sure know how to pack on the charm and fun!
In other words, I highly recommend Txori.
P. S. Not the kind of place to have more than 6 in your dining party.

As far as I know, this is the only place in Seattle that offers true Spanish tapas. Great cozy atmosphere with an open kitchen so you can see/​hear/​smell what’s cooking.
I’ve been here several times, and have tried a majority of the plates on the menu. Highlights for me are the duck confit and octopus. The baby eel is one to avoid, due to the texture, taste, and presentation.
This is a great restaurant to take a date… just know that your clothes and her hair will smell like the restaurant, so keep that in mind when making your post-​dinner plans for the evening. It’s a bit pricey, considering the portions, although well worth it for the unique dishes and the experience.

I’ve been here twice now, both times it was suggested by friends who had heard great reviews. The first time I went, I hadn’t had dinner yet, and was really hungry. I learned my lesson quickly, as you can’t fill up at this restaurant without spending at least $ 30 a person!
I’ve been to other Tapas restaurants, and you got bigger portions than this… Txori’s portion sizes are about the size of a 2 piece sushi plate. I ordered some soup, and it came in a shot glass…
Key Points:
Service: Lots of waiters, not as great of attention as you would expect
Food: Small Small Small!!!, Expensive, but tasty none the less
Drinks: Tasty, especially the coffees!
Atmosphere: Not very warm or inviting, many tables with tall chairs that might be uncomfortable for some.
Good for: A light snack, one drink before going to a movie with friends. I would not take a date here.

I was indescribably ecstatic to find out about this place — after a trip this past summer to San Sebastien, we couldn’t help but repeat to ourselves «Why, oh why can’t we have real tapas bars like this in Vancouver?!»
So kudo’s to the people at Txori — they try hard to replicate the authentic experience with a few forgivable differences between the tapas bars of spain — the food is not laid out on a bar (they’ve got a few samples on display), people sit at tables instead of standing around with their food and drinks, and there’s no thrown napkins on the floor. The menu is in Spanish (I think?), not Basque — but the name is Basque (translated as bird, according to the waitress).
Yes, it is pricey for what you get — but think of it this way, it’s a helluva lot cheaper than flying to Spain! And the nostalgic memories evoked is (almost) priceless. We had a total of 9 pinchos (the small 2-​bite tapas), one racione (a bigger plate) and 2 glasses of the red wine + Orangina («like Sangria», but it isn’t really — thankfully, it wasn’t Orange Crush as I originally feared) The total tab came to $ 47 without tip.
The standout items that I sampled were the stuffed squid with ink (easily my favourite, so tender), the serrano ham bocadillo with tomato and the Chorizo bocadillo with garlic purée. The racione special, a shrimp and bechamel crêpe was also quite tasty.
I just had so much fun here, but I’m openly going to admit to being biased. For anyone aching to re-​live the tapas experience, this is as close as you’re going to get without hopping on a plane.

I developed my love for tapas from years of eating at Tapeo in Boston and have generally been a bit disappointed ever since.
Txori is really quite an interesting study in contrasts. The décor is modest reminding me more of Tealuxe or one of those commercial hip tea houses more than a restaurant. Our server was actually from Spain and quite nice in making recommendations for a first-​timer like myself.
I found the food on the subtle (or as some put it complex I guess) which is definitely not the way I like my tapas. I expect bold flavors in my tapas. They are nicely presented in very small portions. I think dinner will run 30+ for most people which seems a lot to me.

This is a sweet little Belltown spot with a great patio (unfortunately for me, full the night I went), friendly service, and a comfortable feel. I dine alone quite a bit, so I like to find places that don’t make a single person feel out of place; at Txori, I instantly felt at home, and I’d go back just for that reason alone.
The selection of wines by the glass is a bit limited, but the one I did have (suggested by my server) was very good. I first ordered the manchego and the chorizo cocido. The manchego was good, but was simply a slice of the cheese on a piece of slightly toasted bread. The chorizo was the same. These are small plates, as other reviewers noted, but the prices are (I think) pretty cheap, so I wasn’t expecting too much. However, maybe some more interesting presentation would be nice, or perhaps serving a little something else alongside the cheese or the sausage.
I wanted to try something else, so I asked my server what she recommended. She picked one of the specials, garbanzos with garlic and spinach. Now that’s what I’m talking about! Three of my favorite foods, with lovely presentation… The garbanzos had that nice touch of seared crust that they get when fried in oil, the amount of garlic was perfect, and the spinach was silky smooth and beautifully woven with the garbanzos into a little tower of goodness. Perfectly done! I could have eaten several plates of it, so fortunately I didn’t have to share with anyone else.
Maybe the key at Txori is to stay away from anything simple (like cheese or sausage) and go for the specials or the more complicated pinxtos. I’ll definitely go back and taste more. All in all, this is a nice little spot that’s simple and welcoming, and I think the tapas will wow me more next time now that I know what to order (or not).