By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Abundant local eateries can please any palate

Georgetown may have a dearth of sidewalks and parks but it does have some great ethnic restaurants, coffee shops and spicy, hole-in-the-wall eateries such as Matt's Famous Chili Dogs on East Marginal Way South, reputed to serve one of Seattle's best dogs.

The cops from Seattle's South Precinct prefer Kettells Grocery & Deli on Fourth Avenue South. Gary Kettells says his grandfather, Claude Kettells, started the restaurant in 1942, when there was a police precinct around the corner.

"I grew up with a lot of them," says Kettells, who still caters police banquets and functions.

Over on Sixth Avenue South is a more recent Georgetown addition, Kauai's Family Restaurant. The Hawaiian diner and gift shop has a loyal following that comes for steamed pork, ginger chicken, macaroni salad and desserts such as Lilikoi chiffon pie made with passion fruit.

Like many small Georgetown businesses, Kauai's is a family operation. Pat Garren waits tables, while her son, Peter Buza, cooks. Two daughters bus dishes and wait tables while another bakes.

Garren, born and raised on Kauai, says many Hawaiians send their children to the University of Washington or Seattle Pacific University. When the kids hear about Kauai's they come looking for home cooking, she says. "They come in and I say, `Who's homesick? Who needs a hug?' And they say, `Me! Me!' and I give them hugs," Garren says laughing.

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