schussat "Can't talk. Eating."

I have raved in the past about Hiro’s, another very good sushi restaurant in Flagstaff, but Fuji, after a somewhat rough opening few months, has become my sushi standby. The only reason I haven’t given them five stars is that their cooked food — reasonably tasty lunchtime bento boxes and noodle dishes — just isn’t as flavorful or as varied as Hiro’s.

But on the sushi front? Mmmmm, it’s every bit as good! Well-crafted, fresh, and with some nice inventive specials. Fuji is my impulse lunch out, and one of the spots that I really look forward to going for a dinner.

Dara is my favorite of the several Thai joints in town. There’s great variety on the menu and everything is tasty.

Victor’s has all the right atmosphere for a coffee shop: Lots of wood and light make it comfortable, if you can get a seat; it was crowded when I got there at 10-ish on a Saturday. The place also has a nice patio, which looks like it would be a great place to sit in better weather.

There’s a huge bread/pastry case, filled with bagels, cookies, and cakes, and the baristas behind the counter seem take their coffee very seriously. (And Victor’s has a pretty good-looking menu of fancy coffee drinks, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.) Victor’s also makes sandwiches (you can’t throw an Illy cup in a coffee shop without hitting a panini press anymore, apparently), and I think I saw a couple of plates of waffles piled high with whipped cream and fruit.

Victor’s seems like it’s definitely the place to be for good coffee and atmosphere in this part of town.

I wandered in here on a busy Friday night, but received a friendly welcome when I said I needed a menu to make a take-out order. After I ordered, the hostess offered me tea while I waited — nice.

It’s cozy inside, if a bit too snug-feeling. (It feels just a bit dim, which may contribute; I suppose if I were there on a date it would feel romantic instead of close.)

I didn’t dislike either of the sushi rolls I had here. Perhaps they’re simply prepared in a different style than I’m used to?

Ooba’s is tucked into a pretty nice location at the corner of a block of condos. It’s nice and colorful inside, if perhaps a bit spare. The menu is pretty diverse (I’ll try the fish tacos next time) and everything seems nice and fresh. The salsa bar is stocked with good stuff like jicama relish. There’s a fairly good selection of beers. The guy behind the counter was friendly, and they got our orders out surprisingly quickly. I’ll go back.

My follow-up review for this restaurant. Read my previous review for this restaurant here

I really enjoyed my first visit here. It was friendly, and the bagel and coffee were good (though the latter came in a rather silly glass). My second visit was too brief: They were still closed, half an hour after the posted opening time on the door. A pile of bagged bread and a a newspaper were on the porch. I went to Tully’s.

On the third visit, well, they were open, and the cappuccino was good (in a nice mug this time). But they forgot to make my coffee the first time I ordered it. So I had to ask again. I admit that I felt sort of bad interrupting the conversation behind the bar; I fear that I now know far, far too much about the personal lives of the staff.

The chatty baristas have a habit of shouting that your order is ready, even when there’s nobody else here. It rather startled the guy who came in for a latte.

This isn’t exactly an indie town, but the Redmond/Bellevue area has a few options for non-corporate coffee. I came in the morning of my first Saturday in town, and was happy to be greeted by a chipper barista and cheery surroundings.