13 best places to eat at in Seattle (because it has some of the best restaurants in the country)

Seattle has some of the best restaurants in the country. A few summers ago when I was working in New York and my partner was working in the Emerald City, I flew out to stay with him. We didn’t plan an itinerary so much as we planned meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner; Snacks between breakfast, lunch and dinner – many of them in Renee Erickson’s great restaurants. After years of cooking their recipes, one of my travel destinations was to finally enjoy their food in person. And we ever have. But we came across many other wonderful foods as well. I spoke to my Food52 coworkers to get their opinion on the best places to eat in Seattle, and here are our 13 best spots in no particular order.

1. Sea Wolf

Two brothers – Kit and Jesse Schumann – founded Sea Wolf in 2014. They started baking in borrowed kitchens and moved to their own rooms a few years later. Fortunately for us, it was just a jog from Justin’s apartment. The bakery’s kitchen is wide open so as you step inside you can see bakers pouring dough into containers and pulling bread out of the oven. There is sunshine everywhere thanks to the four skylights and the larger-than-life cinnamon buns are easy to spot even from the door. They consist of leftover croissant dough (!) And are filled with butter, cinnamon and raisins. “They’re a tribute to the cinnamon rolls we ate when we were kids at Carol’s Coffee Cup in our hometown,” Kit told me. “When you’re nine, they look like they’re the size of your head.

2. Ellenos

Ellenos says his yogurt “starts with the pure, pasteurized whole milk we source directly from local farms, which creates our signature velvety texture and slightly sweet taste.” But that’s not what makes it special. Apparently it’s the family’s mix of probiotic cultures. (What? Your family doesn’t have that?) That’s what sets their ultra-thick Greek yogurt apart. Ellenos lives in a pint-size booth in Pike Place Market. You’d almost miss it in the midst of the madness if it weren’t for the long lines or the crowds of people walking around with swooshy, swirling, get me some of that yogurt. While they have a range of flavors – lemon curd! Passion fruit! Marionberry! – the nutty, fruity oatmeal was my favorite.

3. General porpoise donuts

General Porpoise makes donuts and caffeine – nothing more, nothing less – and they do it really, really well. The donuts are yeast raised, rolled with sugar, and filled with – well, that’s the fun part. Classics are vanilla pudding and lemon curd. Wildcards can be anything from chocolate marshmallow to peanut butter and jelly. When Justin and I were there, it was a sweet and tart rhubarb jam. But the custard was our favorite, especially with a huge cup of coffee that lived up to all the Seattle hype.

4. Land batter

You are at Pike Place. You’ve seen the fish tossing (the way it sounds) and the gum wall (also exactly what it sounds like) and survived the original Starbucks crowds. You want lunch – ASAP, please – and Country Dough is the place. This place specializes in guo kui, crispy stuffed flatbreads, perfect if you want to walk and eat. We got ours with chicken, but you could get pork, beef, or mushrooms and young bamboo shoots. We also got the chinese crpe and hand shaved noodle soup. Justin said ordering dumplings too would be an exaggeration, which I still find salty.

Currently Country Dough is temporarily closed due to the effects of COVID-19.

5. The walrus and the carpenter

The Walrus and the Carpenter slurps between 100 and 140 dozen oysters every night. That’s 1,200 to 1,600 oysters every damn night. This cozy, lively space opened in 2010 and has a fully open kitchen surrounded by a bar like a basketball game. The oysters are so cold they might as well have been plucked from the bottom of the sea. The menu lists them from mild to salty, and the selection changes regularly, depending on the availability of local farmers. Each is served with freshly grated horseradish, shallot and champagne mignonette, and lemon. We shared too many (is there such a thing?) And said “cheers!” in front of everyone who clink their shells together.

6. Barnacle Bar

What to do while waiting in line at the Walrus and the Carpenter? Go to one of Erickson’s other locations – right next door. They even tell you when your table is ready. Barnacle “celebrates the Italian aperitivo bar in a jewel case with wines in the glass and everything that is canned, pickled, smoked and matured.” That means a mean splash and all the snacks to go with it. Or let’s say the huge Jamón Serrano on the counter, hand-cut to order, and silky chicken mousse with amaro-pickled cherries. Or, my choice, boquerones – buttery white anchovies – drowned in olive oil and topped with crushed green olives and crispy breadcrumbs.

7. Molly Moons

Planning a trip to Seattle, ask for recommendations and inevitably someone will tell you you need to go to Molly Moon. Name giver and founder Molly Moon Neitzel opened her first scoop shop in 2008. Today the brand has seven more. Expect classics like strawberries (made with local fruits), chocolate (made with melted chocolate versus cocoa powder), and salted caramel (“dare to be salty than everyone else!” According to the website). But I kept the line up with samples for samples of flavors you can’t find everywhere: earl gray, honey lavender, and yeti (yep, yeti), which is made from granola, vanilla caramel, and chocolate chips.

8. Frankie & Jos

Justin and I didn’t find Frankie & Jo. Frankie & Jo have found us. We went to dinner one evening and left the restaurant looking for Molly Moon’s and saw all these people walking by with ice cream cones. Then there was Frankie & Jo’s, a plant-based ice cream parlor. Cherry Bombe recently called co-owners Autumn Martin and Kari Brunson “the most influential duo in the vegan ice cream world”. And you only need a spoon to see why. I chose Tahini Chocolate (salty Tahini ice cream with chocolate ribbons and sesame fudge) and Gingered Golden Milk (turmeric coconut milk ice cream with cinnamon, cardamom and candied ginger). My sweet pea got the beet, strawberry and rose sorbet. I feel like there isn’t a bad taste here, but the highlighter neon golden milk totally blew my mind.

9. Salt & Straw

This quirky ice cream parlor with ever-changing flavors is from Portland, Oregon but recently opened a new outpost in the Pike / Pine neighborhood. It’s centrally located, super handy for having a scoop of signature flavors like Salted, Malted, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough; Honey lavender; or arbequina olive oil.

10. Café press

Kaleigh Embree, Customer Care Specialist at Food52, is a fan of this simple French restaurant in the First Hill neighborhood. A friend of mine who lives in Seattle told me that I have to visit this place because “When the atmosphere, staff and food are all the same amazing quality, then I know I have found my new favorite place. “

11. Alki Beach Café

Food52 Sample Coordinator Ace Baclay recommends this casual beachfront eatery with great views of the Seattle skyline. The menu includes everything from tropical-inspired cocktails and eggs benedict to ahi poke bowls. But Ace calls the Caesar salad with crispy calamari particularly “divine”.

12th step

When Ace wants a Caribbean-inspired bite, he goes to this Seattle restaurant and tiki bar with two locations in the city. His favorite order is the sautéed prawn sandwich, which is served with black tiger prawns sautéed in garlic tapenade with fresh coriander, pickled jalapeños, caramelized onions and crunchy romaine lettuce.

13. Grocery store

“I dream of Roti Jala Net bread at Kedai Makan,” says Larissa Sanz, Brand Manager at Five Two. “This is hands down one of the top five dishes I’ve ever eaten in my life. I can’t find this dish anywhere in NYC. I recently recreated it after a lot of research, but it didn’t compare to this restaurant’s . ” When I return to Seattle anytime soon, this will be stop # 1. “