food in Stanwood, WA: Leatherheads

[jenn]

We spent a lovely weekend in Cama Beach, alternating between hanging out and looking for glass floats but pretty much always outside. Mostly we packed in our food but by the time we left on Sunday, the cupboard was bare and the monsters were starving.

So I figured we'd hit the Duck In Burger place on the way back to Seattle and thats what I told the starving pups.

Imagine my dread when the Duck turned out to be closed on Sundays. Whoops!

Thinking quickly, I pulled up to the Snow Goose Festival and ran inside in hopes of finding someone to make a recommendation before my starving pups tore each other to bits. A very kind lady at Friends of Camano Island suggested a place called "Leatherheads" which was located walking distance away and which served sandwiches. We headed over right away.

What we found was an old fire station converted into a restaurant pub-ish sort of place. The name "Leatherheads" is dervived from a nickname given to firemen back when they wore leather helmets or so said the explanation on the menu.

As we were told, Leatherheads is a sandwichy sort of place with various sandwiches and burgers. We ordered one burger with guacamole and bacon, one chili burger and one chili dog. Oh and a plate of fries. All of the orders came with a choice of salad or fries. We went for 2 fries and one salad. No beers --its sad to be the driver with 3 pups in the car---though there was an ample selection of microbrews as well as local wines.

At one point a crisis arose because they weren't sure they had enough chili for both orders. Elder pup agreed to an alternative burger but later our waiter came back and announced the crisis was averted. I was sorry to hear that because the other burger sounded pretty darn good.

When our orders arrived, the fries were tasty thick steak cut variety and the portions were considerable including the chili on the two orders. Both the chili burger and the hotdog proved to be a knife and fork kind of thing instead of something you pick up with your hands. And there was enough chili on the dog to scrap off some and use it to top the fries. The chili was not particularly spicy but then again my standard is sichuan so maybe it was. Still it was tasty and there were no complaints.

Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised by the side salad which was an ample bowl of romaine. I got a taste of the guac burger --- the bacon was the thick cut and quite tasty. Another plus to my mind is that both burgers were cooked the way we wanted--rare to medium rare. In my experience, it can be hard to get a restaurant to cook meat that way, even if you request it and accept full responsibility.

In the end, we had fries to pack up because no one could finish them. Still, the menu board mentioned homemade walnut pie and, having never tried walnut pie, I couldn't resist. We figured we'd order one piece, each take a bite and take some home to the missing parent. That would allow me to finish the coffee I had ordered.

HAH! The pie arrived with a nice smoosh of whipped cream. We had our one bite, looked at each other and said, "well what he doesn't know won't hurt him!" and that was the end of the pie. I never had walnut pie before but honestly, I'd stop just for pie.....mmmmmmm.

For those traveling to/from Camano Island or those parts, we happily recommend the place. Note that they seem to have bands some evenings so it might get loud. And we did see a number of happy Sunday bikers parked outside.

Leatherheads
10209 270th st NW
Stanwood, WA
One block to the right of the main drag as you approach Camano Island. Turn right at the last light [i think]. Its in a yellow two story building with red trim.

T-R 11:30 to 9pm
F-S 11:30 to ?
Sunday 11:30 to 7pm.
http://www.leatherheadspub.com/

Even if you don't like burgers, there's always the /Walnut pie.

[LotusRapper]

FWIW, Colophon Cafe in Fairhaven (Bellingham) has a good assortment of pies made in-house. Their claim-to-fame is prolly their peanut butter pie, which is my must-have when I'm there. We don't go to Colophon anymore for meals per se (their prices rose quite a bit in the past 5-6 years) but we still go for the pies.

They do have a walnut pie, but I've never had it. I'm sure it's good:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=ht...

[sedimental]

Things must have changed.

We tried Leatherheads today. Cheap, processed foods. The avocado bacon burger was made with a frozen preformed patty. The french dip was cheap deli roast beef on a costco undercooked french roll with McCormicks "au jus". The onion rings were the same ones I buy at Cash & Carry. No one "cooked" in the kitchen. No pie.

The environment is kind of "cute" but not worth having to eat there....maybe for a quick beer...

[jenn]

Back to the Beach and back to Leatherheads for more pie, more really really amazing pie. This time we had it with ice cream....mmmmmm.

This time, everyone had burgers [a guacamole bacon, one with onions and mushrooms, a traditional cheese and one regular hamburger] except for the pup with the craving for bones and chicken wings. That pup had the spicy chicken wings and liked them very much especially after she figured out the best technique in eatting. CAUTION: the level 5 wings Really Are Spicy. In addition to burgers and wings, we had a scattering of salads,
a separate order of fries and a couple of on-tap micro brew beers. All was fine and good, cooked as requested.

For anyone wandering up to the Tulip Festival but hoping to avoid most of the crowds at lunch, I would suggest scurrying off the 5 into Stanwood and having lunch/dinner at Leatherheads. As an added bonus, on Sundays, the pints are $1 off and there are happy hour deals on many of the appetizers as well.

[jenn]

Alas, not on Easter Sunday. We tried to stop in on the way home but Leatherheads, as well as pretty much every other place in Stanwood was closed. We finally found food but it was nothing to write a post about.

I'm thinking I will just have to make a walnut pie run one of these days. . . .