Snoqualmie Valley Blog

Fall Color in the Snoqualmie Valley

Thanks to Terry O’Brien for passing his video along!

Snoqualmie Valley Rifle Club Offers $5 Sight-ins

Snoqualmie Valley Rifle Club is offering sight-ins at the SVRC range on Sept 27 and 28 and Oct 4 and 5.

The club assists local residents by sighting rifles at the low cost of $5 per rifle.

For more information, see www.svrifle.com

Snoqualmie & North Bend Happy Hour Report

Every day (Monday-Friday):

Ana’s Mexican (Snoqualmie Ridge): 3-7 pm, bar only. $3 well drinks, beer & wine $2-$3, $3.50 margaritas

Attic Bistro at the Salish Lodge: 4-6 pm

Capone’s Lounge at The Pizza Place (North Bend): 12-6 pm and 10pm-midnight; Half price appetizers and pizza by the slice, half price wine and microbrews, 25% off spirits, and free pool after 10 pm.

Cascade Steak & Seafood (North Bend): 3 to 6 pm; $5 wine, $4 wells, $2.50 and $3.50 pints

Finaghty’s (Snoqualmie Ridge): 3 to 6 pm and 10 pm to midnight; $3 wells, $2 domestics, $3 imports, $5 imperial pints, all small plates half price.

Jay Berry’s (North Bend): 3 to 6 pm, 9 pm to close; $5 menu

Mike’s Cascade Grill (Snoqualmie Ridge): Specials from 4 to 6 pm.

Mt. Si Golf Course Restaurant: 2 to 4 pm; Bud Light and Coors Light $2 pints

Pour House (North Bend): 4 to 7 pm, $2 pints, $3 microbrews, $4 wells, $1.50 PBRs

Raging River (Fall City): All day until 6 pm, $3.50 wells, $3 domestic drafts

Snoqualmie Brewery: 4 to 6 pm, $1 off beer and appetizers

Uncle Si’s Pizza (Snoqualmie Ridge): 4 to 6 pm; $2.50 pints

Woodman Lodge: 3 to 6 pm; half off appetizers

Monday

Mt. Si Pub- Micro Mondays

Twede’s Diner - $9.99 all you can eat pancakes

Tuesday

Mt. Si Pub - Tightwad Tuesday $1 PBRs

Raging River - $1 Tacos

Jay Berry’s - $2 taps including Mac & Jack, Pyramid, more

Wednesday

Woodman Lodge: Wild Women - Music & Wine Wednesdays

Mt. Si Pub - Well Wednesdays

Jay Berry’s - $1 off any house wine

Twede’s - $9.99 All you can eat chicken strips after 5 pm

Thursday

Ana’s Mexican - $5 tequila tasting

Jay Berry’s - $2.50 wells

Los Cabos - $1 tacos, $2.50 Miller Lite

Maple Valley Aesthetic Clinic To Hold Open House

Dr. Stacy Cosmetic in Maple Valley will hold a fall open house on  October 7, 2008.

The event will feature informal presentations and live demonstrations Fraxel Repair, SmartLipo, and Thermage Body Shape. Someone will win a FREE face or body Thermage treatment valued up to $4000.

For more information, visit Dr. Stacy Cosmetic.

RANT: Restaurants on Snoqualmie Ridge

We try and try to get a decent meal in Snoqualmie and our list of places where this is possible is now very short. We don’t have kids, so our reviews will be slanted that way - but I’d love to have reviews submitted from anyone in the area.

Most people try a restaurant once and if they don’t have a good experience, they never come back. In terms of the Ridge, that could put a place out of business in a hurry.

In particular, I love the Pickle Lady for lunch and have had good experiences at Emerald City Smoothie. We like iBurger, but when I’m craving a great burger it’s certainly not my choice.

When we tried to go Talay Thai, we walked in to a nearly empty restaurant, sat down, and waited for at least 5 minutes. The chef saw us, ignored us, and didn’t tell anyone in the back we were there. We heard lots of laughing and commotion from the back, but no one ever came out. We’ll never return.

Nick and Willy’s take and bake pizza is now closed. We never tried it. Hmmm…

Taco del Mar is one of my favorites, but when I tried to go there on the Ridge, the food was sub-par and the service was awful.

Tried to go to Finaghty’s once, but it was so crowded that we couldn’t sit down. I take this as a sign we need more adult-oriented restaurants! We’ll try again and report back.

Mike’s Cascade Grill was overpriced and the menu was mediocre and unmemorable at best. It’s very loud in there.

I have to wonder if the restrictions placed on businesses in this area have prevented success in general. The cost of just being open has got to be extremely prohibitive for the owners of these restaurants. While it’s nice to have original concepts in there, I fear that the conditions for opening, growing, and maintaining a successful small business on the Ridge are backfiring a bit, resulting in a standard of poor quality and service.

Tour de Peaks bicycle rally 20th Anniversary set for July 27

What began as part of the Snoqualmie centennial birthday celebration 20 years ago has evolved into one of the most fun, family friendly events of the summer. Besides the scenic bike ride that takes off from Meadowbrook Farms in North Bend, expect some festivities at the finish line such as the funk band Emerald City Throwdown, a juggling act, face painting and the chance for participants to win some great door prizes. Register for $35 at www.tourdepeaks.com or just sign up for $40 on the day of the ride.

Rotary Golf Tourney at Mount Si

For $125 you can tee off to raise funds for Snoqualmie area organizations.  The 15th annual Snoqualmie Rotary Golf tournament will take place July 25th at Mount Si Golf Course in North Bend.  The format for the tourney will be “4 player scramble.”

Register by calling 396-1055.

Snoqualmie Valley Women in Business - July Meeting

July Meeting

Date:  Wednesday, July 16th
Time:  12 noon – 1:30 pm
Location:  The Salish Lodge – Vintage Room
It’ll be a working lunch with menu items from $15 and up which includes a beverage.

If you plan on attending the lunch meeting, please RSVP to Lesli Williams at  lesli@blissontheridge.com by Monday, July 14th.

SVWIB is a new community group in the Valley called “Snoqualmie Valley Women in Business”.  The purpose of this group is to unite business women of the Snoqualmie Valley for the purpose of collaboration, brainstorming, networking and community leadership.

The group meets the third Wednesday of each month for a 90-minute working lunch.  The group is working cooperatively with the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce and other local entities, and is open to any business woman who lives and/or works in the Valley.  Some members are business owners, and many are not.  There are no requirements relating to recruiting, lead generation or participation.

If you are interested in attending the next luncheon, or would like to be added to the email distribution list, please contact Lesli Williams at lesli@blissontheridge.com.  Please feel free to share this information with anyone you know who may be interested.

Orchestra program struggling to form in Snoqualmie Valley

A group of parents, teachers, community supporters, and professional string teachers met tonight at Mt Si High School to discuss formally organizing a string orchestra program to serve the Snoqualmie Valley.

Several obstacles must be overcome to begin an organized youth string/orchestra program:

1. Limited space is available in the SVSD system for rehearsals and concerts. Any non-school-sponsored programs wishing to use SVSD facilities are required to pay fees too expensive for a fledgling program. No non-district spaces were discussed, except for a joke about using the IGA on the Ridge since no one ever seems to be in there.

2. Possible grant options were discussed and will be further researched.

Resources identified include:

1. Hammond Ashley in Issaquah

2. Music Works NW in Bellevue

3. Teachers

4. Advertising and PR support

Anyone interested in participating in the upstart of this program should contact info@snovalleystrings.org for more information.

Chili’s in Issaquah Isn’t Closed

Yeah, we freaked out when we went to eat there this week too…

But the sign on the door says they’re just remodeling, so don’t fear - the great food and terrible bartenders will be back any day now.