Battle of Seattle Chili: Slim's Last Chance vs. Mike's Chili Parlor

Always the right time for chili

In a city where it is gloomy and rainy for 60% of the year certain businesses are going to thrive. People who have the good sense to sell rain jackets, waterproof mascara, and coffee are set for life. Certain things just go hand in hand with rain and cold. 

Which leads us to the point of today's post. 

Chili.

More specifically, where is the best chili in Seattle? Because what goes better with rainy, cold weather than hot, tasty chili? 

Now you can find chili on a lot of menus around town, but only two of those menus count for anything. Slim's Last Chance and Mike's Chili Parlor. Both of these spots have history and a killer chili recipe. Today they face off. 

Slim's Last Chance

Welcome to Slim's Last Chance

Slim's is a bar in South Seattle in the Georgetown neighborhood that is a little dive-y, but welcomes all shapes and sizes to come and enjoy the food, drinks, and atmosphere. They not only have some of the tastiest chili in the city, they have a stage for musicians and a killer patio for nice days. The staff is friendly and decor will entertain you while you wait for your food to arrive. Once it does, you'll only have eyes for one thing! 

Slim's awesome outdoor seating (with a stage!)

Slim's amazing chili loaded up with Mama Lil's!

They have 4 types of chili.

• Texas Red: traditional all meat chili made with choice beef
• Brisket n’ Bean: Pig Iron slow smoked brisket, ground choice beef, fire roasted tomatoes & red beans
• Chili Verde: New mexico green chilies, tomatillos, and slow simmered pork
• Turkey & White Bean: ground turkey, white beans, and serrano chilies simmered in a hearty broth

Slim's chili verde

We love the chili verde. It's got a strong kick to it and the pork adds a ton of flavor. Add "the works" (cheese, sour cream, chives and tomatoes) and get a side of cornbread for the full experience. Make the final decision of whether to get your chili on top of (wait for it) jalapeño mac 'n cheese or white cheddar grits. Obviously, the Texas Red is a good option if you want something more traditional..but if you are a chili traditionalist we think you'll want to stick around for our next review....

Slim's crazy outdoor mural

Mike's Chili Parlor

Mike's is an institution in Seattle. Just walk past it on the sidewalk in Ballard and you can see it has been around to see a lot of changes in the city. The old diner has literally been surrounded by development. The Ballard Blocks, a large commercial mall with an LA Fitness and Trader Joes, left them just enough room on the corner of 15th and NW Ballard Way to continue doing what they do best, make chili. 

Mike's has been serving up their famous chili recipe since 1922. The story as told by Tom Robbins for the Seattle Times is framed in the back of the bar. Four generations ago, Mike opened up his little shop in Ballard and has been going ever since. This spot feels truly authentic and hasn't become a tourist trap, even after being featured on a couple different TV shows like Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. 

Now, when you go to Mike's you get one type of chili. It's the famous recipe that has been served for almost a century and they have been in business this long for a reason. That recipe is fire. It has the perfect amount of heat. The perfect ratio of beans to meat. The cheese and chopped white onion will take you back to a simpler time. 

Mike's traditional chili

Messy but delicious - Mike's chili dog

Now, they do give you some choices. You can get a bowl of chili, or cover a burger or hotdog with chili. You can also get the chili without beans, which is sort of weird, but also awesome for non-bean lovers or people on first dates. We also supposed you could go and not get the chili (they do have a full menu), but we don't know why you would. 

So, who wins the contest? Well if you want good options and like a little southern spin on your chili, go to Slim's. If you want tradition and the feel of home cooking, go with Mike's! Let us know which one you choose!

Mike's hold its own between the fancy new buildings

Yep.

Seattle Brewery Tour: Interbay & Magnolia

Interbay/Magnolia are sister neighborhoods that have Seattle institutions like Fisherman's Terminal, Red Mill Burgers, and Palisade. In the past few years it has also gained a few new spots that add to its charm and community. And they just so happen to be our favorite kind of spots, breweries.

There are four breweries in the Interbay/Magnolia area, all with a little bit different atmosphere and flavor profiles. Today we take you on a little tour to check them all out. 

Urban Family Brewing

Urban Family Brewing is located on a quiet street close to Salmon Bay in Magnolia. They brew French and Belgium inspired beers in their taproom and often have food trucks around on the weekend. 

If you like sour beers, this is the spot to go. Their Sour Bog (currently on tap) was refreshing and tart. Want to know what will make it taste even better? Drinking it while playing Pictionary, which you can do because Urban Family totally got the memo about stocking up a games cabinet! Holla at your girls! 

The tables are long for big groups, so bring your friends and order one of everything!

Urban Family, everyone is welcome!

Figurehead Brewing Co.

New kids on the block! Figurehead is a small brewery in Interbay that opened up in 2016. Fun fact, they were officially Seattle's 60th brewery (do we live in the best city or what??), and we think they will have a nice, happy life here. The staff is friendly, the beer is diverse, and the logo is super cool. We would totally buy a t-shirt with that ship on it. These are the important things people, t-shirt design potential.

Golden and delicious

12 taps of Figurehead

Taster at Figurehead. 

Holy Mountain Brewing

Holy Mountain is the brewing child of male duo Colin Lenfesty and Mike Murphy. They opened their space in Interbay in 2014 and have become a favorite spot for beer drinkers because of the open space, large booths, and the oak-inspired beers. They have had some pretty spectacular beers on tap recently, including the Astral Projection Double IPA and the Bourbon Barrel Aged Kings's Head.

Insider tip: If it's your first time visiting we would recommend plugging the address into your GPS. The front door is actually around back of a large warehouse building on 15th Ave. 

That middle one might look like OJ, but it's was actually a juicy Double IPA

They really try to make sure you can't miss it once you find it! 

The door is clearly labeled so you don't accidentally go into the employee entrance of Dog Lounge next door. 

Rooftop Brew Co.

We saved the best for last. This is our favorite brewery in the neighborhood because of its cozy space and amazing sense of community. It's hard not to make new friends in this spot and the awesome beer on top of everything else makes for a great afternoon. 

Rooftop is located right by the Ship Canal bike path and is a great spot to ride to if you are out and about. The patio is a wonderful place to drink beer during any season (heaters are out in the colder months) or you can grab a spot inside and sit close to the popcorn machine, which is kept full of the (free) salty treat all day! If you need something more substantial then wait until after 4PM and Curbside Burgers and Brats will pull up. 

So, what beer should you drink? There is always a tap list full of great options, but we recommend always getting at least one pour of the Beer Trumps Hate IPA. All the proceeds go to non-profits that "fight hate by advocating for people of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic statuses." It tastes good and helps the community. Can't do better than that. 

Our beer family. Papa, Momma, and four babies.

Nice pour.

Free popcorn, yes please! 

3 Seattle Desserts to Try Now

As the Rain or Shine dynamic duo we have a lot in common, our love of travel, wine, food, and dogs to name a few, but there is one thing we will just never agree on... 

Desserts.

The line has been drawn. Spoons have been unholstered. The question on the table? Which is more delicious, fruit desserts or chocolate desserts?

It is a battle as epic as the Hatfields and McCoys, the Packers and the Bears, Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. Neither side is backing down. But hey, we don't mind, we actually look forward to the times we get to go into battle versus each other, because this means we get to eat. And so far it has proven to be one of the most delicious arguments ever.

We took this battle to the streets of Seattle to try some of the biggest and best desserts the city has to offer. Here are our three favorite finds! 

Bambu's Shaved Ice

Chocolate and Strawberry Shaved ice from Bambu

We agree on a lot, but never on dessert flavors

Tucked on 7th Ave in the International District this Vietnamese spot is churning out some seriously delicious desserts. Shaved Ice is definitely taking the U.S. by storm with shops popping up in many of the big cities and we aren't complaining! This was our first time having this cold, loaded up mountain of sweet goodness and we both almost died trying to finish our plates. We would have died happy though, that's for sure. It is a combo that tastes similar to ice cream, but a lot icier (so colder) and strangely enough, it was more dense too. They have 14 different flavors and double that amount of toppings, so there is something for everyone and they come in a few different sizes, including the family size which looks more like it would take a village. (Challenge accepted?)

Check them out.

Shug's Ice Cream Sundaes

Shug's S'more Sundae (Sarah's favorite) 

Shug's Banana Split (Has fruit in it. Obviously Kristina's choice.)

Shug's is one of the new additions we saw at Pike Place Market in 2016 (along with Old Stove Brewing and Cycene). It is an old style ice cream shop, complete with a soda fountain and ice cream made on Lopez Island. The menu features some classics (banana splits and good ole milkshakes), but a quite a few modern ice cream creations as well. They also partner with a lot of local makers to get ingredients from the community for their masterpieces, including cacao from indi chocolate and donuts from Mighty-O. We highly recommend the S'more sundae. Make sure to grab a seat at the bar if there is one available, watching them make the desserts is half the fun...obviously eating them is the other half...or maybe it's more like an 80/20 spilt....90/10? Anyways, you get it. Eating them is really enjoyable.

Check them out.

Blank Space Bubble waffles

Blank Space Bubble Waffle

This one is good for everyone, chocolate and fruit lovers alike. 

You have to venture across the bridge to get Blank Space, but it's worth it. We have no idea why bubble tea is the main advertisement when you can get THAT (^^) from the menu. Those waffles are made fresh and they are not hollow bubbles, they are little puff balls full of sweet bread that you can then soak in ice cream and coat in toppings like oreos, fruity pebbles, and sprinkles. Icing on the cake? They have macrons too! What is this heavenly place?! It is like they snuck into our dreams and then recreated them in a discreet building in Downtown Bellevue. Thank you Blank Space, thank you!

Check them out.

Rain or Shine out. Gotta go sleep off this sugar coma.

Seattle's Best Food Trucks

Seattle is definitely a little behind on the food truck game compared to its sister city to the south, Portland, and California was wayyyy ahead of the game. But lately we definitely feel a larger presence around the city and we are even starting to get some decent sized pods popping up around town. Which is exciting, because who doesn't love more casual and delicious dining options? If you just raised your hand, we kindly ask you to leave this blog. We don't want food truck haters here. After all the saying goes: Peace, love, and food out of a truck. 

If you are curious where a few of the "hubs" are you can check out this website as a resource. 

Here is part one of our "Best of Seattle: Food Trucks". Let us know in the comments if we missed any of your favorites! We have tried a ton, but not every one, so speak up! 

Nosh

Nosh serves up British/American grub and let us just say, everything they make is DIVINE. Yep, we just used that word and it was in a serious manner. We've been to the UK and are okay saying their fish 'n chips are the best we have ever had. Best. Ever. Other awesome menu offerings include the Caprese Baguette and the Roasted Bone Marrow.

RoS Insider Tip: Always use eating at Nosh as an opportunity to say "Cheerio chap!" in a British accent as you get your food.

Napkin Friends

Have you ever looked at your sandwich and thought, "Wow I really wish someone would take this to the next level."? Enter Napkin Friends. They looks at that sad, plain, tasteless bread you put on either side of your sandwich fixings and decided to replace it with two deep fried latkes aka a potato pancake. Our favorite is the B.L.T.G.A. Imagine two hash brown patties and then stuffed bacon, lettuce, tomato, gouda, and avocado in between. Hungry? 

Delfino's Chicago Pizza

Delfino's has a brick and mortar location in University Village and to everyone's delight a food truck too. They serve up Chicago style deep dish pizza as personal sized pies. Honestly we always wish we had like 1-2 more slices, but if you're craving pizza, this will hit the spot. 

Off the Rez

If you aren't familiar with Indian Fry Bread, well then you haven't been living. Off the Rez is famous for their version of tacos. They start by deep frying dough for the "shell," it comes out puffy and soft, but a little crispy. Then they top it with sweet or savory goodies! You absolutely cannot go wrong getting a couple 10 hour slow cooked BBQ pork tacos along with a nutella sweet taco to top it off! 

Where Ya At Matt?

This southern/creole inspired food truck is great when you are looking for some flavor! The smothered chicken Po'boy and the Shrimp and Grits are hard to stray away from. The spice is just right and leaves your mouth and your stomach smiling! 

Photo by Mark Gsellman

Bomba Fushion

Bomba Fushion lets you do a create your own bowl/burrito/taco style meal. They combine Korean and Mexican foods to bring you mind-blowing delciousness. Think nachos covered in spicy pork bulgogi. Or if you want something a bit more traditional you can get a colorful Bibimbap bowl with our favorite part, the perfectly fried egg!

El Cabrito Oaxaca

If we had to pick one food to eat for the rest of our lives, it would probably be tacos. So this food truck gets a lot of love from us. El Cabrito makes traditional style Mexican food for a great price. The taco plate is where it's at. $7 for four street tacos. yes please! We recommend piling them with the carnitas or al pastor because this places knows how to cook pork.