By Georgie Hicks, Morrissey Morrissey
Welcome to Olympia! If you’re new in town you’ve probably already heard about some of the local favorite spots like the Reef, Vic’s and Old school. Your friendly CPJ staff are here to give you the scoop on other places we like to go for a great time on a budget.
Food-wise Olympia may lack some of your hometown favorite, (I know I’ve been hoping for an Ethiopian place for the last 3 years!) but it does have some good places to go for food. We recommend these:
McCoys’
418 4th Ave E, Olympia, WA 98501
12:00 p.m. – 1:45 a.m. Mon-Sat
12:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Sun
A pretty freaky dive bar with a jukebox upon which you can play entire My Chemical Romance albums and no one will get mad at you. Then again, you could just go to the Reef for that, and get some overpriced fries while you’re at it.
Koibito
1707 Harrison Ave NW, Olympia, WA 98502
11:00 – 9:30 Mon-Fri
11:30 – 10:00 Sat.
Koibito is great. You get miso soup and a salad with your order. A California roll will run you about $4.95; likewise, for the vegetarians and vegans, an avocado roll will run you four-fifty. With soup and salad that’s a whole meal under ten dollars. It’s also a good place to bring your parents (*hint*) when they’re in town: their bento boxes are more than enough food for two meals. The lunch bento ranges from about twelve to fifteen dollars while the dinner ones will cost you fifteen to twenty.
El Guanaco
415 Water St SW, Olympia, WA 98501
11:00 – 9:00 Mon-Thur
12:00 – 9:00 Sat.
El Guanaco is a Salvadoran restaurant located downtown near the waterfront that serves pupusas: handmade corn tortillas filled with pork, beans, cheese and zucchini. Pupusas are $2.25 and two are more than enough to fill you up alongside the free chips and salsa. For those 21+ they also have pretty good drinks. When I’m feeling extra fancy I like to get a Margarona, which is a margarita with an upside down corona in it served in a small sand bucket, they’re really good but they will run you about 15 dollars a piece.
Great Cuisine of India
1002 116 4th Ave W #10, Olympia, WA 98501
11:00 – 9:00 Mon-Fri
12:00 – 9:00 Sat-Sun
This place has a lunch buffet that runs all week 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12 p.m. to 3 on Saturday and Sunday. The buffet is small, but it has a good variety of food and will cost you $10.95+tax. Naan will cost you extra though.
Nom Nom Deli
513 Capitol Way S, Olympia, WA 98501
11:00 – 7:00 Mon-Fri
12:00 – 6:00 Sat
Nom Nom has great bánh mì! They will run you a little under five dollars for one sandwich. Most of the sandwiches including the bbq pork priced at 4.25. The most expensive item is the lemongrass pork at a very reasonable $4.75. A hum bao will cost you $3.99. The rest of their menu including friend rice or noodles is all under ten dollars, with noodles and rice around 7.50. Come here to get lunch and bring a bánh mì home with you for dinner all under 15 dollars.
Wally’s
2106 Harrison Ave NW Olympia, WA 98502
10:30 – 9:00 All Week
10:30 – 8 Sun-Wed during Winter
Wally’s is a classic Olympia sandwich shop. Their ten inch subs best subways “footlong” any day. A sandwich will cost you $10.75 for a full sub, $5.95 for a mini sub and $9.75 for a veggie sub.
The Gyro Spot
317 E 4th Ave, Olympia, WA 98501
11:00- 9:00 p.m. Mon, Wed, Sun,
11:00- 2:30 a.m. Fri, Sat
The Gyro spot is great, since it has some of the tastiest vegan and vegetarian options in Olympia. Located downtown, this Greek restaurant has cute indoor seating and a window pick up if you are on the go. Also most of the courses stay below 8.00. For example Gyros run at 6.50 a piece and the traditional greek dessert, Baklava, only costs 3.00 a piece. A small Greek salad costs about 4.00. The Gyro spot is a couple giant steps up from fast food, with the same time commitment.
