Dinner with a Side of Planes Please: Mukilteo Speedway Cafe

Smack dab at the end of Everett’s very popular Paine Field, you can find the also very popular Mukilteo Speedway Cafe. You know it’s at the end of Paine Field not just by its geographic location but by how very — very — low some of those large planes come in right over the cafe! For a plane aficionado, it is a definite added bonus to dining there.

Mukilteo Speedway Cafe has been serving the area for years now but just with breakfast and lunch. Until recently. This summer, out of the blue, they surprised their many fans and announced they would be opening for dinner. Having dined there many times for breakfast, your intrepid reporter felt I simply must see what the dinner scene was going to be about.

For this outing, I met a foodie friend who hadn’t dined at the cafe before. We both love trying new places so this time, it was a place new for her and expanded for me.

They designed a dinner menu that felt comfortably similar to their breakfast and lunch menus. It is full of familiar dishes like french dips and fish n chips as well as some revved up menu items like the cilantro lime fish tacos or the chicken and squash fettucine. I hadn’t seen that combo on a menu before.

They have applied for a liquor license and where cocktails normally would be listed was a “Coming Soon.” I asked our server about when and she shared it should be some time in September. Meanwhile, they did have the classic Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers so tea totalers and kids have some fun beverages available. Not to mention, the yummy sounding M&Ms cocoa that is a rich coca with whip cream topped with M&Ms. I mean, hello! Who needs a cocktail with that hit of sweetness waiting to happen.

For dinner, my friend ordered the Kentucky Club. I’m not sure what made it Kentucky but she did say it might have been the best club sandwich she had ever had and she orders them on the regular.

For my order, I went with the meatloaf. I really liked that you could get it as a half order instead of a full order and it was still a lot. I hadn’t had meatloaf in years and felt like it was better than what I make but not as good as my moms. It came with mashed potatoes and gravy (a little salty for my taste) and really yummy fresh veggies. Both of us also got a green salad as part of our meal that was crisp lettuce with a carrot stick and tomato. Simple but a great start.

They were busy the night we were there. One of the things I thought was unusual and sets them a bit apart was that they feature breakfast for dinner. They have a dozen breakfast offerings including pancakes which often goes off menus by noon. They also offer prime rib on Fridays and Saturday and, according to the menu, “Seattles Best Pot Roast” which I’m pretty sure will be my husband’s choice when he makes it there. Its a big claim, so if you’ve had it already, I’d love to hear what you thought. I suspect delicious but Best, well, it must be tried.

Mukilteo Speedway Cafe, is that perfect spot to check out, no matter what meal, when you are looking for some comfort food, just down the road, and want it to come with a side of really big, really low-flying planes.

We live lucky my friends! — Jingle Jackson

Mukilteo Speedway cafe
11707 Mukilteo Speedway
Mukilteo WA 98275

Jingle Jackson grew up in Everett, attended WSU (go Cougs!) and worked a great career at Snohomish PUD. Now, she is working on the pursuit of new adventures and fun wherever she can find it.