On October 10th, you’ll get a chance to try a wide variety of street food all in one place. Mobile Chowdown brings a bunch of Seattle’s street food vendors all to one location. The event is free (other than the food that you buy), so come bring a chair and hang out with your fellow street food aficionados.

In the lead up to Mobile Chowdown, there’s even a trivia contest on Twitter. Follow @mobilechowdown and answer their trivia questions each day for a chance to win dinner at Tilth and a night at the Sorrento Hotel (plus a subscription to Seattle Magazine). Make sure when you respond to the trivia though, that you include the hashtag #mcd in your tweet.

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10
Where: 1616 W. Bertona (Interbay)

Go check them out during their last two weeks. Skillet is there serving dinner, and there’s Parfait Ice Cream as well. They always have music and their chef demos have been impressive and tasty every week.

Queen Anne Farmers Market
Queen Anne Ave and West Crockett
3-7pm, Thursdays

Counter Burger has been “previewed” several times already on several different blogs. So far, the buzz seems to be favorable.

We checked it out during one of their preview parties, and the food was excellent. I’d be interested to hear if anyone has been there in the past two days.

Be sure to follow them on Twitter as well. They often tweet specials or coupons.

Now, I’ll be honest. I don’t really like Starbucks’ coffee. However, I never really had a problem with the company. They have done a lot for the coffee culture in this country and I believe they are part of the reason that coffee shops (in general) have a much higher success rate as businesses than restaurants.

Plus, no matter how many Starbucks there are in this city, the small independent coffee shops are doing quite well. So I certainly don’t see them as a big evil corporation. From what I’ve read, they try to do good and working there is a pretty good experience (unless of course, you were one of the many they laid off over the past two years).

However, this whole rebranding just doesn’t sit well with me. It feels like they are trying to be something they aren’t. I’m all for their baristas pulling shots by hand again and trying new things (like the pour over brew), but why not just embrace the fact that they’re Stabucks? They are the big giant coffee shop with the green sign and the modest siren on the door. They are the ubiquitous coffee shop. The one I can find in every town I visit, and I can always expect pretty much the same thing.

I know when I go to Dallas for a trade show, without a car, that I can find predictable coffee in the Starbucks in the hotel. I know that I will pay a reasonable amount for it, and that I will get what I expect.

I guess I just wish they would stick to what made them popular in the first place.

But that’s just me. What do you think?

I know, very few of us have a lot of extra money these days, but consider $10. It is the cost of one movie ticket.

The Northwest Film Forum reports that their income is off by about 30% this year (much like a lot of other organizations) and their existence is in danger. Their email plea went out to 10,000 people the other day and it sounds pretty dire.

…while we remain scrappy and imaginative in tough
spots, this time is different.

We are looking at real changes at the Film Forum unless you say yes
and support us. We need to reach a goal of $70,000 by August 15.
Please walk it in, mail it in, or click here to make your donation.

The NWFF is a pretty special place. They hold classes, rent equipment and space, and offer up a wide variety of film programming. Please consider donating today. You don’t even have to get up out of your chair.

Perhaps taking a cue from the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Seattle DOT has a Twitter account and a Facebook page. Where the two seem to differ (at least on the surface) is that the WSDOT follows all of their followers back in order to provide real time traffic updates and incident reports via direct message.

The Seattle Department of Transportation’s website doesn’t work well in Google Chrome, but it plays well with IE and Firefox.

What do you think about your city and state departments going all social these days?

I’ll be running the marathon and have a 3am wakeup call, but before I sign off, here’s a link for road closure information.

Mr. Bacon

The move was insane. According to an employee, they weren’t even sure they’d be able to remain in the Seattle proper area there for a while. They were looking north and south. Can you imagine Archie McPhee in Renton? I can’t.

Archie McPhee's Homemade Rocket Ship

The new space has a very quirky feel to it. There are twists and turns and walls and posts and merchandise literally EVERYWHERE! The Wallingford store is about the same size as the main building in Ballard, so they had to get rid of a few of their larger items. I asked them what one of their biggest regrets was regarding merchandise they needed to sell and their answer was the handmade rocket. But don’t fear. The rocket went to a very good cause – 826 Seattle! It fits in perfectly with their Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company.

Archie McPhee opens in their new location on Monday. So spend your weekend browsing their website or Flickr pool if you need your Archie McPhee fix. Here are a few photos of their new location.

Archie McPhee's Devil

The series starts this Sunday. The BBQ runs from 12pm to 8pm, with live music most days from 2-4pm. Here’s the schedule.

May 31st – Seoul Melange: Korean Street Food
June 7th – Game’s on: Got Goat?
June 14th – Night of the Iguana: Mexican Riviera
June 21st – New England Clam Boil (with Oyster Bill from Taylor Shellfish helping out)
June 28th – Night in Tunisia: Seif! (Seif is one of the owners)
July 5th – Southern Affair
July 12th – Bangkok Express
July 19th – Salmon Run
July 26th – Spanish Fever
August 2nd – Food on a Stick (one of my favorites)
August 9th – Mambo Italiano
August 16th – JFC: Joule Fried Chicken
August 23rd – Cochon Joule: Pig Out
August 30th – Joule Country Fair

Note: Since these menus are fixed ahead of time but not often detailed publicly until the restaurant opens for the day, people with food allergies or dietary restrictions might shy away from coming. Well, don’t! If you call ahead, Joule will make sure you can find something to eat. Granted, a vegetarian might want to avoid the Pig Out night or maybe the Goat or Fried Chicken nights, but Joule will work with you to make sure there’s something you can eat and enjoy. Just call ahead and let them know.

Joule Restaurant
1913 N. 45th Street
Wallingford