I recently heard about the Too Good to Go app in Seattle. Too Good to Go is an app that connects consumers with businesses to buy ‘Surprise bags” of food not purchased during business hours that might otherwise go to waste. I love the idea of being able to try a business, try something new, pay a reduced price and also help out the environment at the same time. According to their website, 40% of edible food in the USA is wasted and by purchasing and consuming perfectly edible, good food that would otherwise be thrown out, consumers can help reduce green house gas emissions created by food waste. The Too Good to Go App is an app that was founded in Copenhagen (one of my family’s favorite cities we ever visited!) in 2016 and is now in 17 countries (or more!) including the USA and Canada.
Here are a few seattle restaurants that I’ve tried that use the Too Good To Go app:
Petite Pierre
Petite Pierre is a popular bakery/cafe in Magnolia and it’s a great stop if you go to Discovery Park for a hike or the spend a morning at Ella Bailey Playground. It used to have a bunch of seating inside but now it has outdoor seating and a giant pastry case filled with lots of beautiful treats. I picked up my surprise bag that I ordered the day before on the Too Good to Go app and there was a pre-packaged bag of 4 delicious pastries waiting when I arrived. The pastries tasted fresh and a few of them were not things I would usually order so I’m glad I had a chance to try them. Using the Too Good to Go app also made a good excuse to visit and now I want to go back and try other things I saw in the pastry case too.
Cafe Con Todo
I had to drop my husband’s skis off at Evo in Fremont so I knew I was going to be in the neighborhood and I looked up places on the Too Good to Go app the night before. I ended up getting a surprise bag from Cafe Con Todo, a place I’ve had pinned in my Google Maps for a while as a place I’ve wanted to try. Cafe Con Todo ended up being my favorite Too Good To Go pickup to date. My bag was amply full of delicious surprises and my family devoured them. The spacious cafe has a cool vibe and even hammocks and at night doubles as a dance studio. I’m really glad I had the chance to visit and this is another place I’ll be back to again.
Fuji Bakery
The Fuji Bakery is one we’ve been going to for years-we started when my guys went to Farm School at Kelsey Creek Farm and we found the Fuji Bakery nearby (I think it was where Tres Sandwich House is now and that is a very delicious place to visit too!) The Surprise bag at Fuji Bakery was also very generous and it made us try things other than our regular pastries. I find that we always order our same favorite things every time we go. We really enjoyed a giant cream puff that was in our surprise bag and it felt good that by ordering these pastries we could help the environment too. (Also the surprise bags change every day so I’m curious to see what we might get next time too!)
FrogLegs Cooking School in Uvillage
We’ve been to FrogLegs for kids’ cooking classes and they have really delicious cookies too. With our Too Good To Go App we ordered the day before we visited and got 4 cookies in a bag for 3.99. One of them had the cutest rainbow on it too.
Old Salt Fish and Bagels
I have been wanting to try Old Salt Fish and Bagels (they are right next to Sea Wolf Bakers another favorite of ours) already so it was really cool to find them on the Too Good To Go App. Pickup was really easy-we just walked in and there were 5 bags of bagels on the bar counter and we were told to help ourselves to one and show the swiped app code. I think there were at least 8 bagels in our bag-mostly everything flavor and a few plain. They were really delicious.
Metropolitan Market Bakery Queen Anne:
Parking isn’t always my favorite at this stop but I wanted to see what the bakery here would have in the Too Good To Go App because they usually make delicious things. We ended up with one of my favorite things! I love the Bakewell tart at Metropolitan Market and this one had a strawberry rhubarb flavor. We also ended up with a box of danishes and a cookie and a cupcake. This seemed like a fun surprise treat for a great price too.
Theo Chocolate
Theo chocolate is often on the Too Good To Go app and on Valentine’s Day I was heading to the chocolate factory anyways and saw that there was a surprise package available. This was only 5.99 and it ended up having 6 chocolate treats in a bag and I got 10% off the rest of my purchase as well. One of the chocolates I brought home was one I would be unlikely to try so I’m glad it was in the surprise bag because this forced my out of my usual choices.
When you think of all the things we are trying to do these days to make the world a better place, this one feels simple, delightful and fun. I heard from someone in Norway that restaurants there put leftover things from weekend breakfast buffets in their Too good To go app surprise bags and I hope that is something we do here in Seattle one day too. Brunch like this would be so fun. Have you tried the Too Good To Go app in your area yet? (I think it might be a great idea for travel too!)
Also have you heard of a LOMI home composter? We are using one to help reduce our food waste and create nutrient rich dirt and I’m documenting our journey here.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)