Watershed Cafe

We had brunch here for the first time today. Drove up from Wenatchee. The atmosphere and the food was terrific. It wasn’t very busy and the service was pretty slow (really slow to start — like they didn’t know we had been seated). But, we agreed that we would rather have a little slow than a pushy overly hovering server. And, our server was very nice. So, it wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely four stars at least. We’re fans. We will be back for dinner soon.

Just finished eating here and loved it. Its GREAT «New American», locally sourced food. Started with the raw oyster and fresh Morells, and finsihed with the Halibut. The only reason did not give it the 5^th star was that the oysters seemed dry and lacking their natural juices when freshly opened. We’re the opened hours before? Don’t know. Would I come back? Absolutely.

This is a great stop for brunch! We loved our dishes! Would like to try their dinner menu in order to give 5stars.

Great food. The elk meatballs — yum. Halibut delicious. Cream brûlée– dull. Service A plus. It feels like an upscale restaurant but filled with outdoor enthusiasts– wear your REI pants to fit in

WOW! This was recommended to us by the hotel we were staying at, and we are so happy we came here! My parents were visiting from out of state and they are foodie-​types so we wanted some really excellent dining options in Leavenworth. There aren’t a whole lot of places available that serve fresh/​local/​PNW dishes until this restaurant opened. It’s whole theme is «farm to table» which is exactly what we wanted, just something simple and well-​prepared. They had fresh foraged ingredients like fiddlehead ferns and morel mushrooms. The seafood is tremendous. The cocktails were amazing. HIGHLY recommend!

I came here during the Christmas lighting weekend back in December. The ambiance is very pleasant and the staff was nice. But service was very slow considering the restaurant wasn’t at capacity. I ordered the Shepherd’s pie and it was only OK– it seemed to either be overcooked or simply just too dry. But hey– I’m always willing to give places another chance! I’d say at least check this place out if you’re interested in their menu.

Yum! I came here with my boyfriend for his Birthday breakfast before driving home to Portland, OR. Compared to other restaurants, this place had the best vegetarian options. We ordered the egg white scramble. It was so tasty, especially the potatoes. I wanted to order another plate of solely potatoes!
The service was fast and the staff was extremely friendly and pleasant. What I really appreciated was our waitress Jami asked if we wanted coffee refills rather than just filling it up automatically (my coffee is the perfect concoction of cream and sugar and I like to finish my cup before having more).
We also dug the coffee mugs, artwork, and overall ambience.
Thanks for a great last meal in Leavenworth! We shall be back!

I don’t know why anyone would give this place anything less than 6 stars?! Seriously… I do a road trip twice a year and 80% of the reason is just to eat here. The food is priced right for delicious farm to table fresh food that you can tell they slave over & put every ounce of love into it! This is one my favorite places in Washington to eat! Yes, reserve a spot ahead of time cause they’re a popular place! Their menu changes often & is wonderful every time! Their order to table time is just right for plates this amazing! I’ve eaten here several times now & I wouldn’t care if their ambiance was terrible & their customer service sucked… I’d eat here if it was in a shed out back! But no really… their atmosphere is awesome & their people are fantastic! Anna was our waitress she was delightful & their managers or who ever it was who gave us a little extra help… is super attentive to even the smallest details! I come over the mountains to go to a place in Wenatchee & the only reason I stay in Leavenworth is because of them! Don’t get me started on their desserts & drinks!

This was our 50^th anniversary dinner. Leavenworth and surround has not been a fine dining area. Lots of «German» and Mexican and fast food but nothing a good cook couldn’t make at home. The Watershed changes all that. A real chef and wonderfully prepared and presented food. Great wait staff as well.
We will be back soon.

I eat out all the time and have been to many restaurants over the years, just ate hear tonight and this is the best restaurant I’ve ever eaten in. I’m from Fairfax, VA and have very high food standards and this restaurant blew me away. The dishes have amazing taste/​flavor and presentation.

Excellent lunch… great value. Sandwich and salad were both very well prepared with quality, fresh ingredients.
Nice décor and excellent service. Best casual place in Leavenworth in well over a decade.

I always hate being the one to bring the unpopular review but this place just wasn’t for me. I don’t mind premium prices for good food, but the portion just didn’t match up to me. I got the short rib which was about as good as I expected, tender and flavorful but it was small. We were told they ran out of the crab so they gave us extra short rib in its place and still felt like there was hardly any there, and much of what was there was fat. There was plenty of potatoes though, so I’m curious what happened there, $ 40 meal, extra rib substituted for the lack of crab and maybe 3 – 4 bites out of it? For an appetizer we got the Oregon buffalo carpaccio. Opposite of the entrée in the amount food there is, there was enough salad to feed 3 people out of it. The actual buffalo I didn’t care for, it was rare and chewy. The place is OK, a bit cramped If you’re in there when its busy. I’d say if fine dining and presentation over quantity is your thing come here but I wasn’t moved by the reviews and buildup here.

A group of friends and I recently went out to Leavenworth for the day to watch the Christmas lights lighting and have a grand ol’ time, and found ourselves at Watershed Café.
It was a lovely experience.
The restaurant was full, and it was about a 45 minute wait, but they offered to serve us dinner in the bar area so we wouldn’t have to wait.
I had a glass of the house white – I wasn’t impressed at all – but I suppose that’s what I get for ordering house wine.
I had a the smoked trout salad, and it was rather top notch. My friend had the steamed clams, and shared a few – they were delicious!
Enjoying our dinner in the bar was actually really cool too – it’s conjoined with the food prep area – but I’m actually pretty sure it was quieter than the dine-​in area. The serving and cook staff was extremely courteous with their noise level.
Overall, it was an excellent experience. The only reason I removed a star, was that it was a little pricey. Other than that? Highly recommended.

This was an adorable little place with yummy eats and love the design. Anna was an amazing server! She is sweet and cultured… perfect asset to the Watershed! The cod was delish with the buerre blanc sauce and black rice! Light, flavorful, balanced in portion and depth. My husband had the elk Shepard’s pie… although scorching, it was filling and nostalgic of something you’d find when returning home to mom’s kitchen after a day of snowboarding! And the chocolate cake was the way to wrap up our evening!
I would definitely recommend this place; looking forward to coming back next summer!

We arrived here on Christmas Day, and this was the only place in town open late enough for Christmas Dinner– till 10pm.
They couldn’t accommodate us at a table because we didn’t have reservations, so we sat at the bar. The bar was comfortable with its wooden stools and table top, and watching the chef cook in front of you. But definitely not if you’re driving 2.5 hours from Seattle to be 100% comfortable.
Benefit to sitting at the bar was though was seeing all the appetizer, dinner and sleeper options right in front of you so that you could decide what you wanted to eat. The chef was also pretty friendly and could hear him give «personal reviews» of menu options.
Downside– it seems like a fairly new restaurant with staff trying to learn the culture and work flow.
We had the Kobe Slider appetizer which was amazing. Mainly because they use Kings Hawaiian Sweet Bread.
My fiancé had the Pesto Crusted Cod, with black rice and mixed veggies. I had the Grape Leaf Wrapped Tenderloin with cream corn, veggies and mashed potatoes. Best way to describe both meals was that everything on the menu complimented each other. The chef has a good palate for putting together a menu.
The menu is short, and limited to about 5 appetizers, 5 entrees, and 5 deserts. But this is a restaurant/​café and was expected.
Wonderful wine list. We had a wonderful waitress. I definitely would come back.

The brunch here is SO good! Look no further if you are looking for a place to eat in Leavenworth.
I Unilocaled a lot before visiting but because of traffic I got there later than expected. Most of the other places were closed by the time we arrived and we managed to stumble upon watershed a minute before 2pm and we were the last party they seated for brunch.
We ordered the eggs benedict, the egg white scramble and 2 orders of the eggs biscuit and sausage gravy and everything was absolutely delicious and perfect. The eggs benedict and egg white scramble comes with smashed potatoes and those were really good too and I’m usually not a huge fan of potatoes in brunch dishes.
Come here for brunch and you won’t regret it!

I originally was going to rate this restaurant 4 stars, but I added one more star because of how accommodating they were. My husband and I bought a tour bus ticket from Seattle to Leavenworth. According to the itinerary, we left the Puget Sound at 9:30am (on time), but due to having to chain up at the passes (and the fact that the bus is huge — it can’t go too fast) and traffic going into Leavenworth, we were late getting in to town — our estimated arrival time should have been 11:30am, but with all the delays/​slow downs, we really didn’t get into town until 1pm — which was the time I made our reservation for. I gave them a call to tell them that we were running a little behind and they accommodated us — we were about 20 min late! So I really appreciated them for saving us a spot.
We were at the restaurant for brunch — so our menu was limited — i really wanted to try the dishes that were posted on here, but due to the limited time we had before we had to head back to Seattle, we had to settle for brunch.
I had the squash soup — it was really good, nice and smooth. My hubby had the eggs Benedict with hash and I had the biscuits and gravy. All in all — it was good, but we definitely want to come back to try their dinner menu!
One thing I highly encourage — make reservations! I was calling in for reservations for brunch, but they immediately told me that their dinners were pretty much booked up. With a bunch of tourists coming into town for the holiday season, it can be a hot mess with long lines to wait for food!

Watershed café was a great experience. The food was delicious (had the cod, bruschetta, and Crème brûlée for dessert), the service was great, and the atmosphere is relaxing. Definitely a place to bring your friends and family to for a chill night! Would highly recommend to try it out at least once when you’re in Leavenworth!

I had the most amazing experience at this restaurant. It truly is the best restaurant between Spokane and Seattle. I had the best seat in the house. I sat right in front of Brett making all the salads and bruschetta’s while watching Brian and Jeff work their magic in the kitchen with the entrees. I literally watched them prepare almost every item on the menu all while watching the World Series game on the big screen.
I had the chance to ask about their sourcing and everything is so fresh and local! All their ingredients come from farms literally within ten miles away. I had the salmon to go the first night and came back the second day for the oysters, the arugula salad and the buffalo carpaccio. The lavender crème brulee looked absolutely delicious and would highly, highly recommend that to anyone wanting to try the dessert. I wish I lived closer as I would be a regular patron.
Please support this restaurant. You won’t be disappointed. I promise.
Thank you Brett, Brian, Jeff and Dan! You have created magic in Leavenworth and I’m charmed for life. You can bet you’ll see me again.
Thank you from the health nut traveling pharmacist,
Kellie

Seriously, go here! The atmosphere was what I’d call fine dining but without all the pretentiousness. Food prices were fair, especially considering the attention that was put into each dish. And their drinks! The Peppered Basil Lemon drop and Raspberry Vermouth drink were perfection! Also, something very important to me is how accommodating they were to meet my dietary needs. I can’t eat gluten and although they aren’t a gluten-​free/​celiac restaurant, they made me feel welcomed and did everything they could to be sure I enjoyed my food. We wanted to absorb all Watershed Café had to offer so we first enjoyed drinks and appetizers at their open kitchen bar (always a big fan of seeing my food prepared); and then we were seated in the dining room for dinner.
My husband and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the bar with their two well placed large flat screen tvs (supporting our Hawks will be great here!); and the dining room far exceeded our expectations. Best of all, besides the great drinks and food was their customer service!
What we ate:
My husband and I enjoyed a perfectly balanced bruschetta, specially prepared on gf bread for me; and some sort of mushroom, arugula and pear appetizer. The mushroom variety served was one we hadn’t seen much less eaten before, so that was pretty cool! And my husband was a big fan of the dish.
For dinner, my husband enjoyed the Elk Shepherds Pie and I was delighted with a Rockfish dish that was dressed to impress. It was my first Rockfish and it saddened me that my stomach became full before I was ready.
Dessert did not disappoint although initially, I thought I thought it had. This is because their only gf option was crème brûlée, which although used to be a favorite, I’ve gotten tired of it being my only dessert option. However, it might be the best crème brûlée I’ve had except for maybe a chocolate version I had some years ago. The crust was thick with just the right amount of caramelization, and the raspberries and purée it was topped with was not too sweet nor too tart; it just perfect. My husband went with the warm pecan cookie/​pie thing that I believe was served with ice cream; he was very pleased to say the least. And we both very appreciated the special «Happy Anniversary» chocolate message written on our dessert plates. We loved everything.
My husband and I own a vacation rental on Lakeshore Drive near Cole’s
Corner but on occasion, we get to enjoy it for ourselves. So, dining in Leavenworth isn’t new for us but because we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, we really wanted to find somewhere that’s romantic but awesome enough to write home about, and this was it. We are so happy to have discovered this new dining option in Leavenworth and we very much hope others will give them a shot as well. Restaurants are one of the hardest businesses to sustain and it would be such a shame if these guys didn’t get the recognition they deserve. We will be forever patrons and we are excited to go back for their new brunch offerings! Thank you Joe and Brian for making our evening such a delight.