The Best Restaurants in Seattle, by the Record
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Rank 74. Secret Congee
Chinese
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Rank 74. Tamari Bar
Japanese Cocktail Bar
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Rank 74. The Crawfish Hut
Seafood Cajun & Creole
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Rank 74. The Pink Door
Italian
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Rank 74. Vivienne's Bistro
Cantonese
Wooden lanterns and colorful cocktails set the tone at this upscale Chinese bistro inside the Sheraton, where the chef takes Cantonese as a starting point and then wanders pleasantly off-script. Surf-and-turf kung pao and lobster rangoon signal the playful agenda, though the Forbidden Roast Duck, a five-spiced bird with crackling skin served alongside monogrammed bao buns, is the dish the table will still be talking about on the way home.
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Rank 109. A+ HK Restaurant
Cantonese
- Seattle Met Seattle’s Best Lunch Spots
- Seattle Met 2026 · The Best Restaurants in the Chinatown–International District Right Now
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Rank 109. Bottega Gabriele
Italian
Two Italian men, both named Gabriele, run this Italian deli on Yesler Way, and the staff communicate in rapid, gesticulate Italian that could be an argument or a recipe debate or just Tuesday. The focaccia sandwiches are stacked with imported prosciutto and mortadella, and the 'nduja is made next door. Shop shelves hold Sardinian cheese, Calabrian honey, and bottarga for browsing. Vegetarians exist here, but they have to ask nicely.
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- Seattle Met Khao Soi Chiang Mai · The Best Things I Ate This Year
- Seattle Met Pak Mor Yuan · The Best Things I Ate This Year
- Seattle Met Seattle’s Best Lunch Spots
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Rank 109. Onibaba
Japanese
- Seattle Met Seattle’s Best Lunch Spots
- Seattle Met 2026 · The Best Restaurants in the Chinatown–International District Right Now
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Rank 109. Soufend Cafe & Eatery
Vietnamese
Bún bò Huế arrives as tacos here, which tells you everything about the approach. This Vietnamese cafe in South Seattle pairs deep-cut dishes like stir-fried snails in coconut sauce with banana cookie crumble matcha lattes, and somehow neither feels out of place. The bánh xèo comes gasp-inducingly large on a woven basket ringed with herbs. Seattle Met named it one of Seattle's best new restaurants in 2025.
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Rank 116. Arthur's
New American
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Rank 116. Byrek & Baguette
Balkan Mediterranean
Byrek are coils of flaky pastry from Albania, and they're the reason to find this small, stylish cafe near Seattle University. The menu covers baguette sandwiches, fries, and salads well enough, but the byrek, stuffed with leeks and feta or beef and onions, arrive with housemade yogurt for dipping and upstage everything else. Save room for baklava or a slice of cake from the counter display.
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Rank 116. Carmine's
Italian
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Rank 116. Daruma Sando
Japanese
A sandwich shop named for the round painted lucky dolls that fill the room, this sibling to ramen spot Menya Musashi does Japanese katsu sandwiches and a few things that upstage them. The nori-dusted fries are the thing people keep mentioning. The katsu curry plate, technically a detour from the menu's thesis, is what the regulars seem to order instead.
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Rank 116. Fat's Chicken and Waffles
Southern
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Rank 116. Jackalope
Tex-Mex Mexican
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Rank 116. Kobuta & Ookami
Japanese
A katsu shop born from the owners' off-hours obsession with Japanese cutlets, this Redmond spot keeps things focused: pork, chicken, cheese, all fried to a crunch you can hear across the room. The chef pulls from Tokyo tradition and Vancouver's izakaya scene, so the cutlets land in dark chocolate curry, bubbling nabe, or buried under enough grated Parmesan to require a snow shovel. A focused, casual lunch counter doing one thing with real conviction.
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Rank 116. La Garrafita Antojitos
Mexican
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Rank 116. Le Coin
French Cocktail Bar
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Seattle
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Rank 116. Mama’s Kitchen
Korean
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Rank 116. Milk Drunk
American
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Rank 116. Pestle Rock
Isan Thai
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Rank 116. Red Bowls
Korean
A no-frills counter in the ground floor of the Central Building that's been scooping rice bowls since before poke was a personality type. Red Bowls runs nearly 50 variations, from eight styles of bibimbap to bulgogi, fish, tempura, and vegetarian options, all piled high and served fast. No website, no fuss, and a line that moves. Seattle Met named it one of the city's top lunch spots, which tracks.
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Rank 116. Snowy Village
Korean
Korean-style shaved ice, known as bingsu, is the whole point here, served in bowls almost too pretty to disturb. Snowy Village is a casual international chain with a University District outpost where the milk-ice shavings come out feather-light and piled with toppings. The classic order leans into sweet red beans, chewy injeolmi rice cakes, and a dusting of soybean powder, though mango and Oreo versions exist for the less traditional.
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Rank 116. Supreme Dumplings
Chinese
Each basket of xiao long bao arrives with bamboo tongs and a card explaining exactly how to pinch and transfer without losing the broth, which tells you something about how seriously this soup dumpling shop takes its product. The room is neutral-toned and quietly polished. Six styles of xiao long bao, plus pan-fried buns and wontons that get the same careful treatment. Seattle Met named it one of Seattle's best lunch spots, and the expansion to multiple cities suggests agreement was widespread.
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Rank 143. Boiling Point
Taiwanese Chinese
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Rank 143. Chu Minh Tofu and Vegan Deli
Vegan Vietnamese
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Rank 143. Fort St. George
Japanese
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Rank 143. Fuji Bakery
Bakery Japanese
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Rank 143. Hong Kong Bistro
Chinese
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Rank 143. Jade Garden
Chinese
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Rank 143. Jin Huang
Cantonese
Claypot dishes and lacquered roasted meats are the draw at this polished but casual Cantonese spot, where most of the menu stays under $15 and the lunch crowd moves fast. It shares a building with the much larger Diamond Bay, which means dim sum from that sprawling menu is also on offer, a dangerous development for anyone who came in planning to keep it simple. New York restaurant group, Seattle address, Chinatown, International District building with history.
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Rank 143. King Noodle
Noodles
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Rank 143. Mike's Noodle House
Noodles
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Rank 143. Phnom Penh Noodle House
Cambodian Noodles
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The pizza here is long, rectangular, and crust-heavy enough that it reads more like an open-faced sandwich than a pie, which tells you something about the kitchen's priorities. Sacro Bosco is an Italian-leaning dinner spot sharing space with Temple Pastries, and chef Christina Wood brings an almost artistic fussiness to a small, seasonal menu. The housemade ricotta alone has been called one of Seattle's best bites this year, and looking at the plate, you'd believe it.
- Seattle Met Seattle’s Best New Restaurants
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- Seattle Met Housemade Ricotta · The Best Things I Ate This Year
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Rank 143. Saigon Deli
Vietnamese
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Rank 143. Sichuanese Cuisine
Sichuan
The menu calls them "Sichuan ravioli," which tells you everything about the vibe here. This old-school International District Chinese restaurant has been serving homestyle Sichuan long before hot pot chains made the cuisine trendy in Seattle, and the approach hasn't changed much: big plates, ropy noodles, a pepper-reddened boiled fish that sounds mild and isn't, and portions sized like someone's grandmother is worried you look thin.
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Rank 143. Szechuan Noodle Bowl
Noodles
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Rank 143. Tai Tung
Chinese
The long counter at this old-school Chinese restaurant in the Chinatown-International District has been accumulating scuffs, celebrity photos, and regulars for decades. The menu has been this way forever, and that's the point: beef in oyster sauce, chop suey built on sautéed vegetables, nothing experimental. The owner waves you out the door himself, which is a touch you don't get everywhere.
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Rank 143. Thanh Son Tofu
Vietnamese
A tofu production company that sprouted a deli counter, Thanh Son is the rare spot where the house-made soy milk and fresh tofu, sold by the pound, upstage everything else on offer. The banh mi are built to order on house-baked bread, and the glass case of che, Vietnamese sweet dessert, stacks up a rainbow of tapioca, jellies, and beans in combinations that take a minute to decode. Bring restraint, or at least a spoon.
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The kitchen operates out of Copperworks Distilling in Kenmore, which means you order at a counter in a sprawling taproom full of kids and dogs, then sit down to charred cabbage with miso buttermilk and baby carrots cooked in beef fat with black garlic yogurt. The seasonal menu leans on produce from a nearby farm, and the team, veterans of the Seattle dining scene, lands dishes that feel genuinely original while nodding at comfort food. The kids' menu is nearly as long as the main one.
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Rank 162. La Marea
Seafood Mexican
A seafood counter tucked inside Fair Isle Brewing, La Marea brings Mexican coastal cooking to a city that usually prefers its seafood left alone. Hamachi and tuna arrive over tostadas, sliced with a precision that suggests sushi somewhere in the team's past. The scallop aguachile and chile morita aioli do not shy from heat. The brewery's farmhouse ales and saisons make good company, and the shared space keeps the whole thing loose.
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Fufu made from scratch and shito, the shrimp pepper sauce that shows up on nearly every table, are the signals that this is something Seattle doesn't have much of: a proper West African restaurant serving Ghanaian and Liberian cooking. The minimalist First Hill room fills fast with regulars who already know the goat peanut soup and newcomers working their way through peri peri wings and fried plantains for the first time.
- Seattle Met Seattle’s Best New Restaurants
- The Stranger The Beef Hand Pies · The 10 Best Things I Ate in Seattle
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- Seattle Met Smashwich · The Best Things I Ate This Year
- The Stranger The Potato Chip Crispy Treat · The 10 Best Things I Ate in Seattle
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Rank 177. CheBogz
Filipino
Pork belly sisig arrives still sizzling on a cast-iron plate, which tells you most of what you need to know about the room. This Filipino restaurant near the Beacon Hill light rail grew out of a food truck the family started after redevelopment shuttered their first spot, and the new stationary digs feel more like a return than a debut. The menu runs to lumpia, bistec, and adobo, with flavors on the gentler, pull-you-in end of the spectrum.
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Rank 177. Darkalino's
Italian
An Italian cafe tucked inside a streetwear and sneaker shop, which is either a strange choice or the most Pioneer Square thing imaginable. Counter-service focaccia sandwiches and housemade pasta land in that comfortable zone between careful and fussy, and happy hour swings toward spritzes and antipasti without much ceremony. The kind of spot that handles a pre-game and a leisurely lunch date with equal ease.
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Rank 177. El Encanto
Mexican
The patio hangs so close to Lake Washington you could lose a chip in it. El Encanto is an upscale Mexican restaurant where the room is very white, the crowd is very photogenic, and the chef quietly runs circles around the decor. The chile en nogada, made daily with help from his mom, is the kind of detail that earns its reputation. The cocktail list takes the tequila selection seriously, which helps when the selfie-to-taco ratio tips the wrong way.
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Rank 177. Secret Fort
Yakitori Japanese
Charcoal grills and skewers of chicken thighs, beef tongue, and mochi wrapped in bacon define this Wallingford yakitori bar. Empty skewers go into containers shaped like Super Mario pipes, which tells you everything about the room's energy. Pressed sushi and small plates keep the highballs coming. On the way out, the Indigo Cow soft-serve window near the entrance turns milk from Hokkaido cows into a rich, swirly send-off.
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Rank 182. Wild Cumin
Xinjiang Chinese
A live-coal grill, the kind you'd see on a street corner in Xinjiang, sits in the kitchen of this Uyghur restaurant tucked into a Kent strip mall. The lamb skewers come off it cumin-crusted and properly smoky, the sort of thing that makes a food writer ask to see the back of the house. The menu covers the northwest Chinese canon: hand-pulled noodles, flatbreads, big plates of spiced meat.
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Rank 182. Xochi
Mexican
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Rank 189. Taco Time
Mexican
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