The restaurant industry in Bellevue is constantly changing. Whether old places close due to lack of popularity or new ones open, oftentimes your old favorites aren’t there forever. They are replaced by the ever-changing food industry. Recently Bellevue has had a lot of new restaurants open or be close to opening, which is exciting, but they aren’t always what you expected. I’ll help you decide whether visiting these new restaurants is worth it or not.
One new restaurant coming to Bellevue next month is Crumbl, a popular cookie store. Crumbl has a rotating menu each week, meaning there are 6 new cookie flavors available each week. I went to Crumbl recently and I really enjoyed it.
My first impression was just…WOW. Each cookie has a unique design and is larger than you might expect. I bought a box of four with the flavors dulce de leche, confetti cake, raspberry danish, and brookie. When I picked up the box there was another added bonus– the cookies were warm, which enhanced the flavor nicely.
The first cookie I tried was the brookie, a mixture of chocolate chip cookie on one side and a thick brownie on the other. This was my first introduction to how rich and sweet the cookies are. The combination of cookie and brownie in the same bite is purely delicious. Another flavor that proved to be amazing was dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is a rich, caramel-y flavor originally from Latin America. This cookie looked fantastic and tasted equally as good. The swirl on the top was the perfect touch, and added a creamier texture to the cookie. The carmel on top complemented the cinnamon cookie well, and overall it was a great combination of flavors that I highly recommend.
Next up, confetti cake. This one tastes exactly as it looks, like the nostalgic sweetness of a childhood birthday cake. The cookie features glowing pink icing and sprinkles. The sweetness of it all overwhelmed me, but I still had a blast eating this flavor. I also enjoyed my last cookie, the raspberry danish. Though less sweet than the others, the raspberry danish cookie had delicious raspberry jam and icing drizzled on top. It seems like a cookie found at your grandma’s house, but it was nice to step away from the sweetness for a minute and enjoy the jam featured on this cookie.
Overall, I was very pleased with Crumbl. They have fantastic new flavors every week with great presentations. My one complaint is that their cookies are expensive. They are wonderful, but a box of four is $13.95, and to get all of the flavors of the week you’ll be paying over $21. I’m not saying it’s not worth the money, but better cookies may exist for a lower price. I would rate Crumbl 4.5/5 stars, losing 1/2 a star for price and slight over-sweetness.
Another new restaurant that opens next month is Five Guys. Five Guys is a popular burger place that also serves sandwiches and hot dogs. They have base menu items but allow customers to build their own burger with the toppings they love. I went to Five Guys recently and thought it was good due to the menu design and delicious food.
I ordered the little bacon burger with Five Guys style fries. It came relatively quickly, and with a kitchen and grills in the heart of the restaurant, I could check how far along the food was whenever I wanted. When my food came, I was impressed. I enjoyed the patty and the bacon combo, and you don’t have to end there. There are countless other free toppings to enhance the flavor.
The other menu item I got was the fries. I’m not going to lie, I was less impressed with them. They weren’t terrible, but they weren’t quite crunchy or flavorful enough to impress me. I ordered the smallest size, but I got a boatload of fries,which I could barely finish. I think the fries went well with the meal, but they didn’t totally meet my expectations.
Even though I didn’t enjoy every part of my meal, I’m still satisfied with Five Guys and would go there again. I have a similar complaint as I did with Crumbl, though– it’s also expensive. For two meals, our total came out to be over $28. It’s a good food option, but I think you can find better food at a lower price. All in all, I enjoyed my meal and would rate it 4/5 stars, losing 1 star for price and lack of uniqueness.
One final new restaurant in Bellevue is The Alley, a local bowling, pizza, and axe-throwing place. The Alley opened in late 2023, and currently doesn’t have bowling available yet. They have pizza from Frank’s Pizzeria, as well as wings, salads, breadsticks, and more. The Alley is definitely worth your time.
The first thing my family ordered was garlic knots. While we waited for these to come out, we played the 12 arcade games they have in their building– all of which are free. After just a few minutes our garlic knots came, which I was very impressed with. The garlic knots were lighter than I expected, but the garlic flavor stood out and they had just the right amount of crunch.
For our main courses, my family ordered a pepperoni pizza, cheese stromboli, and chicken tenders with french fries. Our food was served on paper plates and with plastic utensils, which were hard to use. I ate the pizza first, and I have to admit I was a little disappointed. While the pizza had fantastic flavor, the hand-tossed crust was a bit too thin. Apart from the crust, the pizza was better than most local places I’ve been to, especially due to the authentic tasting cheese.
Next up was the cheese stromboli. I was impressed with this dish because I’ve never had stromboli, but now the bar is set high. It almost tasted like the garlic knots but with cheese inside, which is a great addition. You also can’t miss out on the marinara sauce on the side. The stromboli had a great crunch but a soft middle, and certainly hit the spot.
Lastly I tried the chicken tenders and fries. A classic for sure, but tasty nonetheless. The tenders were larger than I expected, but they tasted amazing. Whatever breading they have on them is flavorful and crunchy in a way that perfectly hits the spot. This meal also came with french fries that I loved. The fries were slightly seasoned and salted, and had a nice crunch to them. I enjoyed The Alley’s fries better than Five Guys.
Overall, my family and I really enjoyed The Alley and I think it’s a hidden gem in Bellevue. The food was great, and their building has much more to offer such as axe throwing and the free arcade games. I rate The Alley 4/5 stars, mainly losing a star because our food was served on paper plates. Even though The Alley has some areas that need improvement, I would highly recommend going there for dinner sometime.
All in all, I was impressed with all of the new restaurants coming to Bellevue. I would recommend all three restaurants and I personally will be going to all of them again. Bellevue is gaining three new great restaurants, and next time you don’t know where to go for lunch, dinner, or dessert, consider Crumbl, Five Guys, or The Alley!
