Editor’s Note: Originally published July 11, 2018. Republished January 26, 2023.

The place is classy. Large windows open to the street letting in that perfect Everett summer sea breeze. Brick walls. Skylight. Modern brass light fixtures with Edison bulbs.

The chef, Jimmy Liang, used to work at Terra Cotta Red Bistro on Hewitt. His menu offers fresh seafood, vegetables, and hand crafted pasta. When we visited he looked busy in the open kitchen, crafting meals for the lunch rush—the daytime suit coat set.

All of the food here is made in-house daily, pasta included. No joke ingredients: bolognese, marscapone, mint.

The lunch menu is salads, seafood appetizers, and plenty of gourmet pasta dishes laden with sausage and fancy cheese. The dinner menu follows suit but appears to be more on the steak and chicken side of things. 

I tried a mizuna salad. Mizuna is spicy Japanese mustard greens. The salad came garnished with small cubes of sweet watermelon and aforementioned fancy cheese. It was light, flavorful, and packed a zing.

Real talk. For years locals mourned the lack of fine dining options in the downtown core. Here's a restaurant owned and operated by a chef who interned at the legendary farm to table restaurant The Herb Farm. And his place was packed a week after opening. 

There's demand for this type of high-quality food. And, weirdly, the prices at Capers + Olives are comparable to your off-the-Sysco-truck diner.

In the gentrification arc, Everett's in the sweet spot right now—between quality and affordability. Don't tell anyone.

I'm celebrating. And my tastebuds are, too. 

CAPERS + OLIVES
2933 Colby Ave
Everett, WA 98201
(425) 322-5280

Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.