The restaurants worth a reservation in Seattle, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
The restaurants worth the trip in Seattle. bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
Canlis in Seattle is the city's enduring fine-dining room: Aisha Ibrahim's five-course menu, a 1950 cedar lodge above Lake Union, and Food and Wine's number.
OrderThe five-course chef's menu with Aisha Ibrahim's Filipino-tinged Walla Walla onion course.
TipTuesday and Wednesday open with quieter dining rooms and the same kitchen; the bar pours the same wine list at half the formality.
The Walrus and the Carpenter in Seattle's Ballard is Renee Erickson's 2010 oyster room, a wood and marble bar, a chalkboard of 14 oysters. Priced at $$$.
OrderA flight of Hood Canal and Samish Bay oysters with the steak tartare and rye toast.
TipWalk-ins from 17:00 on Tuesday to Thursday; Friday and Saturday line up by 16:45 or take Resy at 16:30.
Spinasse in Seattle's Capitol Hill cuts its tajarin a millimetre wide at the marble counter every morning, a Piedmontese pasta room 17 years old and still.
OrderTajarin alla salvia, the 40-egg-yolk pasta cut a millimetre wide with brown butter and sage.
TipThe bar seats five and walks in 17:00; the small dining room takes Resy 30 days out and goes within an hour.
Lark in Seattle's Capitol Hill is John Sundstrom's 20-year Pacific Northwest dining room: a James Beard winning kitchen plating local ingredients.
OrderJohn Sundstrom's foie gras terrine, the only dish that has not left the menu in 20 years.
TipThe bar runs an early happy hour 17:00-18:30 with the foie gras at $14 instead of $26.
Communion in Seattle's Central District is Kristi Brown's Seattle Soul kitchen: catfish, hood sushi, berbere chicken, served from the Liberty Bank Building.
OrderThe smoky berbere chicken, half-portioned over jollof rice with a side of greens.
TipSundays are family-style: a single price prix fixe for the room with one menu that changes weekly.
Sushi Kashiba in Seattle's Pike Place Market is Shiro Kashiba's bar: the chef who opened Seattle's first sushi counter in 1970, now back behind glass at 86.
OrderThe 14-piece omakase at the bar with Shiro Kashiba himself if you can get the seat.
TipThe omakase is bar-only and takes 90 minutes; book the 17:00 seating on a Wednesday for the chef and a quieter room.
Matt's in the Market in Seattle is the Pike Place Corner Market room with windows over the clock: a Pacific Northwest kitchen sourcing five floors down.
OrderThe catfish sandwich at lunch, on Macrina sourdough with house remoulade.
TipLunch counter seats walk in at 11:30 and turn quickly; dinner needs a reservation, especially for window tables.
The Pink Door in Seattle's Pike Place Market is the unmarked Post Alley Italian room: a 1981 institution with Elliott Bay views, nightly cabaret and proper.
OrderThe Bolognese lasagne with a glass of Sangiovese on the deck overlooking Elliott Bay.
TipThe deck takes reservations only April through October; aerial cabaret runs Thursday to Saturday at 21:30.
Ramie in Seattle's Capitol Hill is the Nguyen siblings' 2024 modern Vietnamese room: Ba Sa veterans channelling pho and nuoc cham into Wagyu carpaccio.
OrderThe hamachi crudo with nuoc cham, herbs and lime to start, then the pho risotto.
TipWednesday and Sunday early seatings have the chef at the pass; ask for the bar if you want to watch the line.
Atoma in Seattle's Wallingford is the chef-driven Craftsman-house kitchen named Seattle Met's Restaurant of the Year 2024 and a James Beard New Restaurant.
OrderThe chef's tasting; the menu changes every two weeks with the Washington harvest.
TipReservations open four weeks out at 09:00 and book inside an hour; the bar seats four for walk-ins.
Cafe Campagne in Seattle's Pike Place Market is the city's foremost French bistro since 1994: zinc bar, Post Alley address, croque madame at brunch.
OrderCassoulet on a rainy night; the croque madame at brunch with a glass of Sancerre.
TipBrunch from 09:00 weekends fills first; walk in at 08:30 Saturday for a window table.
Westward in Seattle on Lake Union's north shore is the Renee Erickson seafood room with a fire pit, deck chairs and a kitchen that serves the city's best.
OrderThe Dungeness crab in season, cracked over crushed ice, with a glass of Chablis.
TipArrive by water on a Boatel from the Center for Wooden Boats for the most Seattle of dinners; book the deck in summer.
Ba Bar in Seattle's Capitol Hill is Eric Banh's 2011 Vietnamese street-food room running pho until 02:00 weeknights and 03:30 on weekends, the city's only.
OrderThe pho ga with chicken at 02:00 or the bun cha at lunch with extra nuoc cham.
TipThe bahn mi counter at the front does takeaway until close; the late-night menu after midnight is shorter and faster.
Shaker + Spear in Seattle's Belltown is the Kimpton Palladian seafood room: a kitchen working off the Pike Place fishmongers and Hood Canal shellfish growers.
OrderThe whole roasted rockfish with brown butter and capers, deboned tableside.
TipThe two top by the kitchen pass is the best seat for solos; happy hour runs 16:00-18:00 with $2 oysters.
Le Pichet in Seattle near Pike Place is the unhurried French bistro since 2000: tile floor, zinc bar, slate boards, a kitchen that does poulet roti.
OrderPoulet roti for two, ordered on arrival; it needs 60 minutes from the oven.
TipThe bar is first-come first-served from 16:00; ask for the corner two-top in the window.
Maneki in Seattle's International District is the oldest Japanese restaurant on the West Coast: opened in 1904, surviving wartime internment.
OrderThe geoduck sashimi if it is on the board, otherwise the chef's nigiri set with a tatami room.
TipReserve a tatami room four to six weeks ahead; the bar runs walk-in but the room shapes the meal.
Ivar's Acres of Clams in Seattle on Pier 54 is Ivar Haglund's 1946 waterfront fish house, a wood-walled dining room over Elliott Bay with pan-fried oysters.
OrderPan-fried Olympia oysters with the alderwood-smoked salmon plate at a window table.
TipThe Pier 54 fish bar to the side is the cheap counter: same clams, lower price, ferry views.
The Boat in Seattle's Little Saigon is the original Pho Bac since 1982: the city's first pho restaurant, still a red boat-shaped building at 13th and Jackson.
OrderThe original Pho Bac tai with rare flank, or the com ga mam toi the kids put on the menu.
TipCash and card, walk-in only; arrive at 11:30 or after 14:00 to skip the line through the parking lot.
Phnom Penh Noodle House in Seattle's International District is the Sam family's 1987 Cambodian kitchen: hu tieu, bai sach chrouk and cha houy teuk.
OrderThe hu tieu noodle soup with pork and prawn, and the bai sach chrouk grilled pork rice plate.
TipClosed Monday and Tuesday; the lunch crowd lines up at 11:00 and the kitchen sells out of bai sach chrouk by 14:00.
Toulouse Petit in Seattle's Lower Queen Anne is the city's largest Cajun-Creole kitchen: 200 covers, beignets and chicory coffee at breakfast.
OrderThe bouillabaisse with the Mardi Gras jambalaya for the table, or just beignets at the bar.
TipThe 09:00-11:00 breakfast service is the secret deal: beignets and eggs cardinal, fewer than 12 covers full.
Damn the Weather in Seattle's Pioneer Square is the cocktail-driven gastropub since 2013: a brick-walled room, a 24-seat bar, kitchen open until midnight.
OrderThe cheeseburger and a Sazerac, in that order; the kitchen runs late on a Sunday.
TipMondays the cocktail list goes half price after 21:00; Sundays the kitchen takes the day off.
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar in Seattle's Pioneer Square is the on-counter outpost of the 135-year Samish Bay farm: half-shells, geoduck crudo, manila clams.
OrderA dozen Olympias and Kumamotos from the farm, with a glass of grower's Champagne.
TipHappy hour 16:00-17:00 drops the oysters to $1.75 each; the Occidental location is the largest and quietest of the three.
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar Melrose in Seattle's Capitol Hill is the Capitol Hill outpost inside Melrose Market: a marble bar, Samish Bay oysters.
OrderHalf-shell oyster flight with the steamed manilas in white wine, butter and parsley.
TipWalk in for the marble bar; the back room books on Tock and turns slower.
Wataru in Seattle's Ravenna is the 2015 edomae omakase counter: aged nigiri, Toyosu-sourced fish, and a 10-seat bar that runs two seatings a night.
OrderThe 14-course omakase at the bar; Wataru flies the centrepiece fish from Toyosu Market in Tokyo.
TipTock booking opens at midnight three weeks out; the second seating at 19:30 is easier than the 17:00.
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