An area code good enough to eat

Last weekend Eric and I stayed with friends Keli (my West Side running buddy), Ryan and Cole in Seattle. Keli and I were running the Seattle Rock n Roll Half Marathon, and Eric and I were using said friends as tour guides to eat our way through the Emerald City.

The race was sublime and I can’t wait to do it again (June 23, 2012!). But it won’t be nearly that long before I once again order up this amazing concoction of cheese and sausage and creamy goodness – the 509 Casserole. That’s right. The 509 pulls some serious street cred in the 206, thanks to this tasty Jak’s Grill gem.

Country sausage. Potato pancake. Cream. Eggs. Cheese. All packed into a cute country-style dish, baked, then topped with … wait for it … more cheese. And, just to make sure your arteries get a respectable workout, it’s served with a flaky biscuit and a side of what is quite possibly the world’s most delicious gravy.

Every forkful is dense with sausage and potato and creamy cheese, but through some feat of culinary magic, each moan-enducing bite lands lightly in your belly. Have I mentioned that I had to fight the urge to drink the gravy through a straw?

Yeah. Makes me proud to be a 509er. And also serves as a mouthwatering answer to that question I can’t seem to dodge: “Yeah, but, really, why do you run?”

You’ll find Jak’s Grill at 3701 Northeast 45th Street, Seattle. Road trip!