First off, thank you Alexa and Supo for this wonderful opportunity!…read more This was my first time at Chili Basil. I've passed by it a couple times, but it was my first time trying and I was so pleasantly surprised. Supo was absolutely such a warm-hearted person. He was so kind in explaining everything and took the time to tell us about his family and the background of each dish that he and his family served. We started off with a choice of tea with a local vendor that they're working with. Their jasmine tea was delightful and you can really tell the quality of the tea based off of the mesh that was used. Our favorite by far was their eggplant dish with rice. It was the perfect mix of savory and sweet and paired so well with rice and we wished we had another bowl. They had a new experimental one that was quite delicious as well, but it was on the spicy side and can be quite overpowering. We ended the night with mango sticky rice and loved the crispy mung beans that was served on the side so customers can add it in based on their preference. I will definitely come back for thai food next time, now that I know that there is this location in the area!

The Chili Basil Tasting Menu event was quite a treat. Yelpers, I hope you don't miss your shot…read more (I.e. don't be a no show) Supo, son of the restaurant owners and manager of the restaurant, explained everything to us throughout the meal, from their journey as immigrants, their 15 years at this restaurant, and their unknown future - at the crossroads of deciding what to do with the restaurant. Parents want to retire, and mom is the cook, who by the way, is a PhD in agricultural sciences before giving up all that to create opportunities for their children. The sacrifices of an immigrant family! Supo specifically asked for feedback on some of their dishes, so my review is written with that in mind. A couple of other notes. The restaurant currently operates primarily for take-outs; they have four tables for dine-in, which are predominately reserved on a typical weekend. Given their small dining space, they don't have the staff to handle dishes. As such, all plates, serving dishes, etc., are made from compressed wood layers. At the end of each restaurant day, mom takes the used dishes home, put them through a woodchipper and spreads them on her garden. Nifty! The Food and Tea: Tea Heaven Teas Supo offered each of us amongst a selection of one tea from The Tea Heaven company. He is exploring rather to procure from them moving forward. I chose the Instant Chai Mix while my husband chose the Blueberry Hibiscus. His is rooibos based with notes of blueberry and hibiscus; he liked his enough but not a big rooibos fan, a detail he missed when choosing the tea. Mine requires hot milk and water. Needing to have milk complicated the process. If Supo is to proceed with the tea company, offer only the non-milk tea options. Appetizers - 3 Fried options All are exploratory dishes, not on menu 1. Skinny sticks are made with shrimp inside I'm calling these shrimp chopsticks. The outside is the same wrapper as spring rolls. The inside has a touch of chew with the shrimp. I like them - a good balance of the crisp with the chew. Hubby wasn't as big of a fan, but he's a "big filling" type of person; everything needs to be well-stuffed. 2. Middle pieces - chicken and shrimp wontons These were hubby's favorites - crispy on the outside and a well-filled bite for a good chew on the inside. 3. Curry Chicken wonton (pieces with green onion) I like the flavor of these. The chicken seems to be more finely chopped so the texture is mushier vs. meaty. I suggest a coarser chop. I also suggest dusting the wrap with the curry paste or powder for a stronger curry flavor. Crispy Pork Belly Bites (mini appetizer) Menu: Marinated Pork Belly, topped with Green Onion, Chili, Garlic, and Lime We were specifically told to eat these with garlic and a chili piece, which gave a nice spicy kick. The pork belly is incredibly flavorful with the marinate. A definite thumbs up. Spicy Flower Noodle Menu: Cotton Tree Flower, Pork Spare Rib, Minced Chicken, Bean Sprouts, Herbs, Spicy Savory Sauce, and Rice Vermicelli This dish is northern style, meant to be extra saucy, but not to the point of being soupy. After stirring the ingredients together, the sauce coated every ingredient superbly well. I've never had red cotton tree flowers before. It has a pleasant texture with a bite of chew, which complimented well with the softer rice vermicelli, which doesn't have as much of a chew. The minced chicken is part of the sauce, while the bigger pieces of pork spare ribs are the "main protein" of the dish. I ranked the spiciness to be 3+/4- out of 5. It was pushing hubby's limits, while it's deliciously spicy for me. Savory Eggplant with beef and jasmine rice Menu: Mom's Secret Stir-fry Sauce with Eggplant, Bell Pepper, Carrot, Onion, Curry Powder, and Basil We both love eggplants, so this dish is a homerun, especially because hubby loves beef dishes. We've seen this called basil eggplant also. Perfectly savory, this dish felt homey. Mango Sticky Rice Menu: Fresh Ataulfo Mango Half, Warm Sticky Rice, Coconut Cream, and Mung Bean I don't recall seeing this dish served with the chopped mung beans. As Supo mentioned, not everyone likes the mung bean. I'm one of them. I don't like polar-opposite hard texture with the otherwise soft and smooth textures of sticky rice and mango. Hubby was fine with it. I also like a light drizzle of coconut sauce under the mango. (I know, too specific.) We were very happy with our sampling of these dishes. We snooped at the menu and paid a fair price for hubby's portion of this meal and tipped for the full meal. A big thank you to Supo, his mom, Alexa, and Yelp for organizing this wonderful event. Whatever they choose to do in the future, I wish them great success.

We had the best Thai food and drinks tonight…read more This event was held in a back semi private dining area at the Redmond location of Bai Tong. I've eaten here before and this place is great. We began with the lettuce wrap appetizer which had 8 separate items you could use to make you customized wrap. Then came their infamous Bai Toey Chicken which were seasoned chicken breasts wrapped and cooked in leaves (banana?) These were best with the dipping sauce and filling enough to be a meal in itself! Spring rolls with delicious peanut sauce showed up along with two soups, one with shrimp and the other with tofu and coconut milk. I loved both of them. We also had Trout Salad, which had a sweet and tangy sauce on the top of the breaded and fried/baked trout. I also had the alcohol based Spiced Thai Tea which tasted surprisingly like a regular iced tea with not much of overpowering alcohol taste. The staff were very attentive throughout the evening and were super friendly. They also brought us mango with sweet sticky rice and a sauce at the end of the meal. There were lots of photos and videos taken and sharing of drinks and food throughout the event so we all got a good taste of everything. I really love the food at Bai Tong. They do a great job! Thank you to Yelp, Bai Tong and the Amazing Alexa for making this such a fun event.

Wow best Yelp Elite event ever!! Definitely my favorite event I've attended in the Eastside, thank…read moreyou Alexa and Yelp for organizing. We were treated to an array of appetizers and mains and a drink each - I ordered the Spiced Thai Tea for my drink and it was delicious, not to mention super pretty. The Bai Tong team brought out so much food, I was stuffed by the end and felt truly pampered. The customer service was off the charts and they did a fantastic job at making us feel welcomed! My favorite food items were probably the Chao Phraya Garden (Trout salad) and the mango sticky rice for dessert, but everything tasted great. It was so fun to meet other Elites in an intimate setting, my table had an awesome time and I can't wait for the next Yelp Elite event!

Somehow just now found this, I attended this experience and had an AMAZING time. The actors were…read morefantastic and made the experience super immersive. It didn't feel overly cheesy despite how themey it was. I loved that the immersive part was prior to the ending space with the photo ops and merch/food. So thoughtfully done on a production side and an extremely fun time. The drinks were delicious and I ended up purchasing some fun merch! I think this is a fun time for adults but would be even better for kids (those old enough to have seen the show obviously). 10/10 experience!

Imagination is your Greatest Friend or Limitation. (Slight spoilers )…read more This is a lovely experience for those who can channel their inner energy and focus it on immersing themselves in the experience. I will admit this was very high production value experience the actors the staging and experience over all was very top notch. I highly, highly advise taking children between 8 to about 16 here as a surprise, if i had children omg i am confident they would love this!!!. I had gone with my husband and we both had a blast from start to finish. Are there any improvements to the experience? Perhaps, maybe in the 3D immersion a little more 4D effects like when the Monsters exploded a water spritz would have definitely drawn me in more and a tiny bit more time on the puzzles in the beginning would be nice. If this is somewhere that changes the theme from time to time i would go again and again. However if it remains the same i find it hard to justify going back again for a second experience that remains the same regardless i would recommend my visiting friends and family to go and i could see this being a Seattle recommended place to go.

I poked the beast. It roared but quickly went back into hibernation. Lol. But seriously, whoever is…read moreclimbing to the top just to throw away their blizzard cups needs to stop. It's just tacky hand pathetic you can't put your trash in the bin.

1) The Lake Stevens Monster is very cool geology, but a few things detracted from the experience…read more 1a) some developer thought it would be a great idea to build a neighborhood around this piece of incredible geology and it is near impossible to get a good look at it or appreciate it because the homes are so close to it, they left no wiggle room to squeeze a trail or park area by it. 1b) the surrounding area is not well maintained.

This was a super fun event with wonderful food and great company. The 4 pm start time left us free…read morefor our evenings as well. We were treated to some delicious sushi and drinks at this newly opened second location of The Koi Sushi & Sake Bar. We were allowed to choose two food items and two drinks from the special Yelp Elite Happy Hour menu. The service was on par for the large table of us approximately 20 Yelpers with a friendly waitress. I got to meet new people and rekindle conversations with some of my Yelp friends and enjoy a great meal. I ordered the Sushi Set 2 which was a Chef selection of 5 Nigiri and a spicy tuna roll and also ordered a Spider Roll. For drinks I chose the Moscow Mule and later about 6 of us had the Sake Bomb drink. Most of us shared our food items as there was quite the variety. I tried several of the other items which was pretty nice. I love the creative names of some of their menu items (Bad Boy, Heaven of Tuna, Tiger Eyes, etc.). Overall, I really enjoyed the rolls over the Nigiri and loved the Spicy Tuna Tacos and I ended up buying an additional Spider Roll to take home for later. A big thank you to The Koi Sushi & Sake Bar, the Amazing Alexa and Yelp. Thanks for the invite and the great company.

- Lovely food, lovely fellow yelp elites -…read more I used to live right around the corner, but I've only been here once to celebrate an anniversary. Flo was fancy as far as I could remember, and romantic at night. Their food was good, but nothing was there to pull me back. I was lucky to be part of this event, and I arrived super early when Alexa was the only one there. The restaurant was empty with no other guests. Everyone arrived shortly, and we ordered drinks to start. I don't really drink, but I really like Japanese draft beer and was tempted. I ended up ordering a lemonade and the waitress refilled it for me once even though she's quite busy with everyone. I got two sushi set #2 and everything was good. I think the soy sauce was too salty for my liking since I usually use the low sodium soy sauce. One thing that really stands out is the extra seared lobster/crab roll in the end. It was a lovely surprise from the owner and I think it's the best thing that I've eaten there. I'd probably order it if I go back there again to celebrate another special occasion. It was great meeting everyone, though I became more of an introvert over the years and didn't really talk much. I do enjoy the pet topic that came up though, and maybe next time I will share a pix of my two cats who are waiting for me to go home while I was eating sushi xD! Everyone was super nice and shared food like a family. When I left, there were around 5 groups dining around 6pm. Their business seems alright for dinner, but slow for happy hour. I didn't really notice any music in the background, but I think they can perhaps play some jazz or light music for happy hour to lighten it up a bit. The service though, was really good. @thekoisushisake @YelpWashington

I RSVPed for Camp Yelp back in August (thanks Craig!) and was happy to receive my party pass…read more I often see posts from other Yelp regions where they have huge events. Finally, I had the opportunity to participate with Yelpers from all over the Puget Sound region and up & down the I-5 corridor this evening at the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett (11/3/25). Three levels of awesomeness. A wide variety of purveyors, vendors, and creatives showcasing their cuisine, beverages, snacks desserts, and products. There were folks too who photographed for photo keepsakes, a henna artist, a tarot card reader, lively DJ, and others I may have missed. Loved that some Yelpers & guests arrived in camp attire. That's the party spirit! Caught up with familiar faces in person, chatted up others at the tables, and talked with vendors. I think I covered most of the 3rd floor vendors. Wished I could have tried the fresh oysters, sushi nigiri, cotton candy, and the Dué Cucina table...was too full! Such tasty variety! Many thanks to Carol C for the HOV ride, thanks to Lauren, Alexa, Jennifer, all the participating vendors, and Imagine Children's Museum staff for hosting us!

Was lucky to partake in the first ever WA #CampYelp !!! It was fun and, a lot of foooood!!!…read more We all got to gather at Imagine Children's Museum, in Everett. It was a nice space to be able enjoy a ton of food vendors and also be able to run around like kids and burn off all of the delicious Pork Belly, from Due Cucina, Cookies, from Paper Napkin, Creamy Chocolates, from Royce, Sausage Rolls, from Premier Meat Pies and more! I met several new friends, that weren't Elites, so it was great to give them a little taste of how the YES! world works! Hopefully, we'll see more of them soon! Thank you Yelp, all the tasty & fun vendors and the Imagine Children's Museum, for an evening full of whimsy!

In a word: WOW! This was a mighty impressive event and I will definitely be adding it to my list…read moreof can't-miss festivals. Held at the absolutely GORGEOUS Eaglemont Golf Club, the Skagit Wine & Beer Festival features wineries, distilleries, breweries, cideries and tons of food. And it's all-you-can consume! Nope, they don't give you a limited amount of tasting tickets. You can enjoy as much (or as little) as you want (including the food). Since I was the designated driver, I definitely spent more time stuffing my face with food samples than wine/beer/spirits, and left feeling like I wouldn't need to eat for several days. The venue is spectacular, with its sweeping views to the west, over the sound and towards the stunning Olympic mountains. Held on two levels of the golf club, the top floor is full of wineries and distilleries. The bottom level features mostly breweries, with a few cideries sprinkled here and there. The food stations are on both levels, and I enjoyed everything from a deconstructed nacho plate by Max Dale's Chop House to a delicious pork taco from COA Mexican Eatery. Other eats included sliders from Skagit River Brewing Co, Indian food from Taste of India, and nibbles from Eaglemont's own restaurant: Fireweed Terrace. There were also cheese/charcuterie samples from Whole Foods, and chocolates from Forte Artisan Chocolates. I'm sure I'm missing a few - I was in too much of a food coma to note all of the options! The VIP room was in a separate area and featured even more food, plus pretty much all the chocolate and candy you could ever want. It was a nice place to sit and relax away from the growing crowds once the doors opened for General Admission. There were also some raffles and a free photo booth with goofy props, plus a huge "store" area where you could buy bottles from your favorite vendors. I can't wait to go back next year! And next time, I'll bring my own driver (or take an Uber) so I can enjoy more of the alcohol samples.

The wine flowed with ease and the beer was poured with a heavy hand into each person's…read morecommemorative festival glass. Tickets were about $60, but I managed to win mine at a Yelp event earlier in the month. The wineries and distilleries were on the 2nd floor, and the breweries were on the 1st floor. Many heralded from Skagit County (Glacier Peak Winery, Valley Shine, Farmstrong, etc.), but there were several from Whatcom (Bellewood Acres, Aslan, Samson, and Wander) and King Counties (Elysian and Fremont) too. All but one or two were from Washington state. Most of the wineries offered 4 different varieties for tasting; whereas the breweries were more likely to have just two choices: one light (ambers and lagers) and one dark or hoppy style (stouts and IPAs). If you liked what you were drinking, you could go back for more. If not, each table had a bucket where you could dump the excess. Vendors were great about rinsing the glasses with water before each pour so you could enjoy their special offering. Interspersed between the vendors were restaurant representatives handing out small samples of their food offerings. These included BBQ chicken (which was always drawing a line and ran out seconds after the chaffing dish arrived), pulled pork sliders (tender, flavorful and moist), Indian chicken marsala (spicy and warm), and pork belly served on polenta with a spicy pesto (elevated and unique). Forté had samples of chocolate and the chocolatiers, a husband and wife team, were there answering questions and selling their sweet bars of perfection. All were delicious and paired well with the liquid libations flowing freely. An onsite store was available so people could purchase the flavors they became enamored with during the evening. No sales tax and a 5% discount made this the cheapest way to stock up on your "liquid therapy" for dealing with in-laws during the holidays. Skagit Media Marketing captured the fun with a free photo booth. Groups of friends grabbed props and donned costume ware for silly photos. I guess the amount of drinking will be in direct proportion to just how goofy the photo results are. I'm afraid to look on Facebook! Uber was nice enough to throw in a $20 discount on your ride home. Hopefully lots of people took advantage of this as there didn't appear to be any perks for designated drivers other than bottles of water available to all. Personally I left with a grin plastered on my face. Sampling so many varieties of wine and beer was a contributing factor, but what really brought about the happiness was winning one of the raffles. I bought 4 tickets for a grand total of $20, and I walked away with a new television and Blu-Ray DVD player. The Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce staff were nice enough to help me squeeze it into my compact car. I'd like to send a shout out to them for putting on such a fantastic event.

I had the best time at this event, so great to be able to check out a new to me winery and do some…read moreline dancing at the same time. I love an active event that makes me feel less guilty for skipping a gym day. This kind of exercise is the best though since you can do it holding a glass of wine, but FYI this does make it more challenging. This was my first line dancing experience that had a soul theme, I admit it I love the Cupid Shuffle, but Flo Rida has a special place in my heart too. Silver Sweet Soul Line Dancing were amazing, I loved that so many people got up and danced. It was nice that they brought a group of people to help us figure out the moves. I have a friend planning a moving away party in the future and I totally plan to try to convince her she needs them at her event. It was nice to see everyone wearing their Western clothes as well. The Alluvium Cellars event space was awesome too. I had no idea this was back here and I feel like I have been to this area quite a few times. It does now make me want to go back and check out the actual tasting room. The tastings offered were delicious and it was great to be able to purchase full glasses too. Wine Tasting in Woodinville has been on my to do list for way too long. This place was much bigger than I expected. I love that it has an actual bar and comfy places to sit. Plus I am a huge fan of places with excellent parking options. I ate before I came because I thought this would be a food free event. So nice to have Sparta come and offer us pizza. It looked delicious, but I admit I didn't have any. I do know Sparta though having been to the Lynnwood location a handful of times. This was a good reminder to go back and check them out again. So cool to know they've been around for nearly 50 years. Thanks for another great event. I wish I had better luck convincing people that line dancing would be a blast, but those who declined missed out.

Such a fun event. The partners were Alluvium Cellars, Sparta Pizza, Blown Away Balloons, and…read moreMichelle Silver Line Dancing! The wine was great, got to sample a few. The pizza was yum. The decorations were great as well. Many helpers came dressed up for line dancing but i unfortunately couldn't. The dancing was fun as well. Overall loved the event and the cozy vibe. Thanks to Alexa and team for organizing it.