This Greenwood strip mall Vietnamese spot is a North Seattle destination, whether you live around the corner or across the county. We can’t think of a better place to get taken care of by way of phở, vermicelli bowls, and fried snacks. Phở hà nội overflows with broth, topped with a raw yolk that works just as well dissolved into the soup as it does strategically dolloped onto each bite of rice noodle and beef shank.
COMMUNION Restaurant & Bar
What used to be a semi-clandestine pop-up is the best thing to happen to Seattle’s bagel scene, let alone University Village. Hey Bagel’s rip-and-dip showing features a shiny shell across the top, a resounding crunch, and a steamy center of bready fluff that resembles the middle of a sourdough boule. Bialys, with toppings like sweet caramelized onion and bruleed cheese, are just as crisp. And the schmear variety knows no bounds, as you’ll find a tub of humble scallion rubbing elbows with Biscoff-chocolate-espresso-bean. They’ve cracked the code to ensure we’re all able to access exemplary hot bagels all day—a feat unto itself. Musang in Beacon Hill has gotten a lot of hype for their delicious Filipino food, so it’s not surprising that several Seattleites called this spot out.
A meal inside this quiet soba-focused Japanese restaurant in Fremont can be reserved for a massively special night out that’s disguised as a tame one. The fried kabocha “wings” tossed in sticky duck demi-glace and toasty sesame seeds alone are worth putting Kamonegi on this guide. No single restaurant can please everyone; at Off Alley, a 14-seat brick-walled restaurant in Columbia City, chef Evan Leichtling and partner Meghna Prakash embrace that truth. You don’t always find a meticulously seasonal chef’s-choice cooking style and a hand-written list of cool natural wines paired with punk music and attitude, but that approach is working here. Whether redefining the cuisines their parents brought across oceans or bringing wry humor to the staid traditions of fine-dining, Seattle chefs combine creativity with the impressive bounty of local seafood, produce, and craft beverages.
Communion is a restaurant that acts as a lipstick-stamped love letter to the American south while also taking inspiration from dishes and flavors you can find in the Central District and beyond. Earthy berbere grilled chicken with lemony lentils nods to the neighborhood’s Ethiopian population, while a po’boy/bánh mì hybrid honors the pâté-slathered baguettes of Little Saigon. A surplus of brittle cornmeal-dredged catfish, though, shows that this is a soul food spot through and through. The cocktails are refreshing yet balanced (hello perfect apple mint julep), the space is lively yet warm, and even though it’s only been around since December 2020, it’s hard to imagine Seattle without this restaurant. This little counter inside Melrose Market (a 2024 Eater Award winner) feels like a pocket universe. The food takes inspiration from what is a bad debt ratio for a business all over the Arab world as well as whatever vegetables are in season; there’s always hummus and lamb on the menu, always a few dishes featuring something pickled and bright.
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He’ll drink a beer while he’s working, tell you which sake to drink with which course (and refill your glass with a heavy hand), all while abso-fucking-lutely wowing you with his food. The menu changes with the seasons but past highlights include sea snails served in their shells, toro topped with mushrooms for added depth of flavor, and a monkfish liver so rich and velvety it’s literally a dessert course. Now, Seattle might be known for its iconic Space Needle, grunge music and the birthplace of Starbucks, but let me tell you, this city’s gastronomical scene is an adventure in and of itself. Seattle is full of a vibrant mix of innovative chefs creating mouthwatering dishes made from the region’s bounty, including fresh seafood brought in by local fishermen daily.
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You’ll find this popular Taiwanese hot pot restaurant at 610 5th Ave. South in Seattle, although Boiling Point also has locations in Bellevue, Edmonds, Redmond, and Tukwila. Home of the “baby burrito,” Gordito’s in Greenwood may be Seattle’s most beloved Mexican restaurant according to the locals. Another popular Italian restaurant in Seattle is San Fermo in Ballard. It’s located inside a cozy, quaint house with additional seating in an upstairs nook and on the porch.
- The best restaurants play with form, as in a taco shop inside a mini-mart making its own masa, a dockside, multi-cultural bakery with a stained-glass ode to bread, or a tiny hallway serving foie gras doughnuts and escargot popovers.
- The care goes beyond food, too—staff will stretch out a hand to receive your crumpled straw wrapper, and forbid you from packing your own leftovers.
- On Thursdays and Fridays, the kitchen spins an elegant tasting menu out of humbler animal bits.
- Maybe eight people per seating form a rapt audience as Aaron Verzosa and Amber Manuguid present roughly 10 courses that explore the Philippines’ many-faceted relationship with the Pacific Northwest.
- Asadero means “grill,” or in this case, a beloved Kent restaurant that expanded into Ballard with northern Mexico’s traditions of mesquite-grilled meats and tacos thereof.
Bar del Corso
A block west from that slice shop, Biryani and Curry King does Indochinese fusion dishes and takeout favorites like butter chicken. Closer to Lake Union, at the corner of Eastlake Avenue and Louisa Street, Mioposto Eastlake runs a new 84-seat pizzeria. Aiming for a third-place vibe, the neighborhood pizzeria has a dog-friendly patio and a daily happy hour (3-6 p.m.) with $11-$15 Neapolitan pies. Our complete list of 46 new Seattle restaurants and coffeehouses is below — plus, we’ll welcome back some beloved haunts that said goodbye years ago. A cozy spot in Capitol Hill that serves some of the best pasta in Seattle. It’s perfect for a romantic dinner or an intimate meal with friends.
Sweet, tangy, dripping from the slow-cooked pork (or chicken thighs), you could make a whole meal out of the marinade itself. The onions are so tender and flavor-packed you should be able to get a sandwich that’s just onions, and in fact, you can. At 19th Avenue and Mercer Street, chef Monica Dimas opens Condesa, a Mexico City-inspired spot next to her new sports bar, Pitch the Baby. Dimas’ spicy chilaquiles rojo might be the best version of this Mexican brunch dish in Seattle, topped with two fried eggs and fortified with chorizo, carnitas or mushrooms.
Salt and pepper tofu has the outer crunch and inner moistness of a McNugget. The care goes beyond food, too—staff will stretch out a hand to receive your crumpled straw wrapper, and forbid you from packing your own leftovers. Many Seattleites choose this upscale steakhouse in downtown Seattle as their go-to spot for special occasion meals. We don’t need to get into the Shakespearean drama that resulted in the demise of the old Paseo, that legendary Caribbean sandwich shop run by Lorenzo Lorenzo. (Paseo still exists under new ownership) Suffice it to say that Un Bien, run by Lorenzo’s sons, is carrying on that legacy, and more importantly the marinade.
The current four-course tasting menu format gives diners multiple options for each round, a setup flexible enough to suit people who don’t usually love tasting menus. This unassuming spot keeps limited hours and eschews delivery apps or even a website. Word of mouth is what propels Andrae Israel and Sharron Anderson’s unrivaled retro comfort food, from fried pork chop sandwiches to the montana potatoes, an egg-topped skillet of cheese, peppers, and breakfast meat. It’s not hard to make food this decadent taste good; it takes real attention to make it this great.
In 2024, the burgers at this newly opened Beacon Hill Guamanian restaurant went viral, and for good reason. With miso providing a hint of umami and onions lending a sharpness to the bite, these are smashburgers assembled with care. But that same care infuses the rest of the menu overseen by industry vet Elmer Dulla. The rosary soup with corn and chicken is satisfyingly deep and creamy, the tostada with shrimp and octopus is light and pairs nicely with a coconut sauce, and the bananabread with latiya (a custard-like dessert) is a sleeper hit. If your favorite isn’t on here, email For the newest places that food obsessives are flocking to, check out the Eater Seattle Heatmap, updated monthly. Cheese Riot Pizza near Fauntleroy Way and Alaska Street specializes in deep-dish pies topped with a pound of cheese.
His original restaurant puts big, broadly Mediterranean flavors in crunchy context but also runs a soft-serve window, just because. It’s hard to narrow down your options here, but the meatballs and lamb ribs remain perennial standouts, along with just about anything from the section of the menu dedicated to things one might spread on saucer-size pitas. These arrive at the table almost too hot to touch, soft interior still puffed up from the wood oven.
- London native Kevin Smith has built a cult following over the last few years for Beast and Cleaver, turning the Ballard spot into one of the city’s top destinations for carnivores.
- Few restaurants in Seattle transport you out of your everyday life the way the Corson Building does.
- A lively Korean-fusion restaurant that seamlessly blends Asian and Pacific Northwest flavors in the Wallingford neighborhood.
- This upscale restaurant with a tasting menu and a la carte options coaxes intense flavor out of seemingly simple ingredients.
- Throughout our many visits here, we’ve joined in on dining room-wide toasts and “Happy Birthday” singalongs, which would be enough to make Musang an exciting place to have a meal.
- The ever-changing menu (mostly prix fixe, though you can get a la carte meals here on Thursdays) highlights seasonal vegetables while always having enough meat to satisfy carnivores.
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Remember the much-loved Bar Cantinetta in Madison Valley that closed two years ago? That Italian cafe is back on Capitol Hill, showing off snazzy new digs along 15th Avenue East — with a hidden rooftop patio. Diners’ Choice Awards are based on where your fellow diners book, dine, and review. Only verified diners get to review restaurants on OpenTable, so our data doesn’t lie. Spinasse on Capitol Hill is the best fork-up-your-money Italian restaurant in Seattle. Seattleites love the vegetarian fare and charming interior of Cafe Flora in Madison Valley.
The globe-trotting wine list is curated by Cantina Sauvage, a bottle shop that shares the space. The vibe is effortlessly hip, a place where travelers from all over the world can blow in and snack on bread with whipped nettle butter or halloumi in a lightly sweet quince dressing. Or just get a glass of something and hang — there are few better spaces in Seattle to pass time. Behind a relatively anonymous new-build door on a busy stretch of Madison, chef Aaron Tekulve and his team are doing exceptional things. The menu shifts constantly based on the seasons and turns over completely every several weeks, but past highlights have include a porcini macaron and fantastically tender octopus cooked with bay leaf and splashed with fish sauce. Sitting at the chef’s counter really makes you feel like you’re at a dinner party hosted by an incredibly thoughtful, inclusive host (there are vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian versions of the tasting menu).
Asadero means “grill,” or in this case, a beloved Kent restaurant that expanded into Ballard with northern Mexico’s traditions of mesquite-grilled meats and tacos thereof. This town has easily another hundred or so wonderful spots that deserve your time and attention, but, for now, these are Seattle’s 50 most indispensable restaurants. We’re as guilty of recency bias as anyone, especially since we spend a lot of time highlighting newcomers (see our best new restaurants), but this list is about the places that remain masters of what they do—all are at least a year old. It focuses on the classics, the consistently ideal and dependably excellent.
This isn’t in reference to the porterhouse you could pick up and grill at home, but rather to their tasting menu known as The Peasant. With a preset lineup of expertly cooked meats, snacks, and surprises, this after-hours operation makes for one of the most unique dining experiences in Seattle. The menu changes each time, but the constant is the surplus of red meat that shapes your meal, be it steak tartare on top of a beef tallow scone, or a roulade of lamb that’s slow-roasted until it falls apart. But the excellence here stretches beyond that stuff, with refreshing salads and a phenomenal sunchoke truffle ice cream that gives Salt & Straw an absolute run for their money. You can’t get much better than eating outstanding food and drinking great wine while sitting catty-corner to a display case of raw links, patties, and chops.
It’s a billboard for the Pacific Northwest and a meal that should be required by law for every resident. Each dish represents a part of history that connects our city to Filipino culture, and Archipelago only uses ingredients exclusively sourced throughout the region. After two hours, you’ll walk away from Archipelago with a belly full of outstanding lechon (crispy skin and all) and a newfound appreciation for both Filipino food and the surrounding PNW. These are the highest-rated restaurants in Seattle—the ones we’d sit through I5 traffic to get to, the ones we pine for when we hear love songs, the ones we seek out on days off.
Few restaurants in Seattle transport you out of your everyday life the way the Corson Building does. Part of that is the setting — it’s an owld stone cottage sparsely but elegantly decorated, with a garden and large patio that’s heated in colder months. You could be in New Orleans, you could be on a past-its-prime Italian estate; you’re definitely not in Seattle. The food from co-owner Emily Crawford Dann lives up to the surroundings.
This little roadside spot serves Honduran, Salvadoran, Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, and Guatemalan stuff, but it’s not just a busy catch-all. Their multi-cuisine lineup prioritizes quality as much as quantity—and where La Cabaña lacks in bells and whistles, they make up for in well-executed simplicity. Leopard-seared pupusas are packed with chicharron that fuses with sticky cheese to make a glorious pork paste. And plump shrimp sauteed with onions and peppers rival the city’s top seafood giants. Be sure to show up when you have nowhere else to be—partly because La Cabaña’s pace is relaxed, and partly because you won’t ever want to rush a meal here.
Brunchers linger over veg scrambles, rosemary biscuits obscured by savory vegan gravy and the famed cinnamon rolls (also vegan). Even devout carnivores appreciate the artful ingredient interplay in hearty lunch and dinner plates, not to mention the plant-filled atrium and a handsome year-round patio. Flora’s impressive pastry program is also on display at Flora Bakehouse on Beacon Hill and the Floret spinoff at Sea-Tac, an essential pre-flight destination. Maybe eight people per seating form a rapt audience as Aaron Verzosa and Amber Manuguid present roughly 10 courses that explore the Philippines’ many-faceted relationship with the Pacific Northwest. Historical lessons, cultural context, and childhood memories get wrapped around a menu of heirloom grain pandesal, miki noodles, and myriad other smart seasonal creations.