Welcome to PART 2 of our Walla Walla Family Travel Guide! Here I’m sharing our recommendations for dining and lodging.  For activity (including parks, museums, wine tasting, and more) head to Part 1 of our Walla Walla, Washington guide.

You’ll find a variety of options for eating out from casual cafes, a bustling pizza joint, fancier (but kid-friendly) restaurants, and even an amazing option inside a gas station convenience store! Since Walla Walla is located in such a rich agricultural area, visitors truly get a taste of the region.  Many restaurants have direct connections with local farms, and as I mentioned in Part 1, Walla Walla is one of the friendliest towns in the United States! You’ll be treated well in both food and hospitality.

As always, here at Wild Tales of…we consider this space a community, so if you have Walla Walla dining or lodging suggestions to add to our list (we couldn’t get to them all!), please leave us a comment.

Family Friendly Dining in Walla Walla

Stone Soup Cafe

As soon as we walked into Stone Soup, we could feel the cafe was a community gathering space.  I loved seeing friends catching up, and chatting over lunch.  I was also grateful that folks were willing to share their table! The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch (7:30am-3:30pm weekdays), and serves a variety of sandwiches and soup with daily specials.  We appreciated the casual atmosphere, order at the counter and seat yourself, and thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches and soup.

Sweet Basil Pizzeria

Sweet Basil is exactly the kind of evening hangout spot that our family loves.  The highlights:

• Amazing hand tossed New York-style pizza
• Great beer selection
• A dedicated area for kids to play complete with vintage horse ride

Sweet Basil offers 18″ pizzas (& 10″ with 1 or 2 toppings), calzones, stromboli, salads, and breadsticks.  Their house made dough and marinara sauce (no sugar added) are exceptional.  Make sure you order breadsticks so you can truly enjoy that sauce! Parents of toddlers tip: Ask about their “kid cut”! They’ll cut your child’s pizza slice into perfect bite size pieces.  Yes, it’s a dream come true! 

Olive Marketplace and Cafe

We stopped into Olive several times during our visit to Walla Walla.  They have a great selection of local wines, and we really enjoyed their espresso drinks and baked goods.  There is plenty of room to spread out with 2 levels of seating, and the upstairs features a nice area for families to relax with toys, games, and coloring.  We also loved looking down on the busy bakers and chefs as they prepared cakes and other delicious food items.

Whoopemup Hollow Cafe

Whoopemup serves delicious southern cuisine with a focus on New Orleans/Louisiana style cooking.  We really enjoyed the unique flavors of our dishes, and loved the casual yet elegant feel of the dining area.  What stood out the most at Whoopemup was their children’s menu.  We really appreciated that the menu offered authentic items for the kids, instead of the usual “kid-friendly fare”  While Georgia (3 years old) went the more traditional route with mac and cheese, Bergen (6 years old) got to try gumbo for the first time, and loved it.  The scrumptious corn bread (served with Steen’s butter) on the side didn’t hurt either!

2019 Edit/Update: Unfortunately Whoopemup Hollow Cafe has closed.  

Waterbrook Winery

While we didn’t get to enjoy a full meal at Waterbrook since we were visiting for a wine tasting just after lunch, I wanted to include this option since it makes for such an easy wine tasting experience with kids!  We DID get to snack on amazing olives and almonds, so if you too aren’t hungry for a meal, small bites are also available.  You can read more about our wine tasting experience at Waterbrook in our Walla Walla Activity Guide.

Andrae’s Kitchen

Knowing how Andrae’s Kitchen is described on paper, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from the highly acclaimed and award-winning eatery housed in a gas station convenience store.  Yes, you read that right.  A real live working, modern gas station.  Now that we’ve had the chance to experience Andrae’s Kitchen, I can say it’s nothing short of genius, especially for us parents of young children.  High quality, delicious, unique and flavorful food in a relaxed, low-key, unassuming atmosphere is just the sort of thing we crave.

Chef Andrae seems to pull his menu inspiration from a variety of cuisine types (Mexican, Louisiana, Southern, Canadian, and more), but the overall vibe to me is comfort food.  While many of his entries and menu items will be well received by kids, he does have a dedicated kid’s menu, which we of course appreciate. With a little guidance from the chef on the restaurant’s most popular items and must-haves, we feasted on Halal chicken, poutine, a quesadilla (Georgia’s request), and their Cuban sandwich.

Other popular items: extremely delicious sounding hot dogs (sign me up for the Walla Walla dog next time), tacos, and Andrae’s Fish and Chips.  Breakfast is also served at Andrae’s Kitchen, and after all, since the restaurant is located in a convenience store, there are amazing grab and go items in their hot case.  Keep an eye out for Andrae’s Kitchen’s feature on the Travel Channel this fall!

Maple Counter Cafe

Inspired by his parent’s restaurant, the Oak Table Cafe located in Sequim, Washington, Kory and Rachel Nagler opened Maple Counter Cafe in Walla Walla in 2011.  This popular breakfast and lunch spot is a must for anyone visiting Walla Walla during the morning hours!

Taking the advice from Walla Walla locals we’d chatted with, we opted to stick to the sweeter, bready type of breakfast.  We treated ourselves to scrumptious pancakes, french toast, and their special for the day, a light and fluffy dutch baby.  Per our waitress’ recommendation, Slaed also got to try a Breve Latte for the first time.  After it’s rich decadence, it’s been hard to transition back to the world of “normal” coffee drinks.   A note to parents: Service was quick, crayons and color sheets are provided, and there is a dedicated kids menu featuring items made into bear shapes! 

In addition to the Sequim location, the family also has a restaurant in Silverdale, Washington (Kitsap Peninsula) that we can’t wait visit after camping in Scenic Beach State Park this summer.

Where to Stay with Kids in Walla Walla

Airbnb: Wine Country Getaway

Located just 1.5 miles from downtown Walla Walla, the Wine Country Getaway was a lovely home base for our weekend visit to Walla Walla.  The suite is a mother-in-law style space attached to the home of a very sweet family of 3 (parents Mariah and Tim & their daughter).  Even with just 1-bedroom, our family of 4 had plenty of room to spread out as the space is thoughtfully laid out and equipped.

Our kids (ages 6 and 3) shared the main bedroom (king bed & toddler bed), and Slaed and I slept on the queen-sized bed in the main area of the home.  Yes, we let our 6-year old take over the king-sized bed in favor of having the run of the space in the evening and morning when the kids were sleeping!

There were so many positive aspects of the suite:

• Toys and books!   We always bring along a few of our own, but it makes such a difference for our kids to have “new” things to play with and read.
• Breakfast and snacks! With coffee (Keurig), milk, eggs, bread, fruit, and more, we were able to take it easy on our first morning in town, and enjoy breakfast at home.
• Porch space.  Even though temperatures were chilly in the evening, it was so lovely to sneak out on the front porch after the kids went to bed to enjoy a glass of Walla Walla wine.
• Shared backyard. The kids loved being able to explore Mariah and Tim’s backyard complete with a play set, and Bergen had so much fun playing with their daughter!
• Clean and well maintained.

Marcus Whitman Hotel

If a hotel stay is more your style, we recommend the Marcus Whitman in downtown Walla Walla.  This historic hotel has been in operation since 1928.  It’s hard for me to picture Walla Walla without thinking of the Marcus Whitman.  Even if you don’t stay the night, like us for this visit, you’ll at least want to stop in to explore the beautiful and classic lobby area.  Maybe even dine at the Marc restaurant (there’s a kids menu!), or enjoy a glass of Walla Walla wine in their lounge.

Have you spent time in Walla Walla, Washington? Share you favorite dining and lodging options!

 

Also don’t forget to check out Part 1 of our Walla Walla with Kids Guide full of fun family activities!

A very special thank you to Visit Walla Walla for hosting us and arranging our itinerary during our stay in town. As always, all opinions expressed here are my own.

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