The new restaurant openings you should know about.
If you tried to keep track of every new restaurant and bar in Seattle, your head might spin. So just read this list instead. These are the openings that seem like they have the most potential. Although, keep in mind, we make no promises about the places we haven't visited yet. Go forth and be a pioneer—or just keep up with our Hit List to see which new restaurants we checked out and loved.
Missing out on great, new restaurants and bars keeps us awake at night, so we're always researching spots. Here you'll find every new opening from the past three months that caught our eye. While we haven’t visited them all yet, once we do, we’ll give you our honest review. Those we love will make it onto the Hit List.
November
This Portland-based chain is opening a big new Pike Place location on Friday, November 7—its fourth outpost in Seattle proper and 50th overall. To mark the occasion, they’re serving a limited-time menu item called the Pike Sundae, which has sour-cream-and-horseradish gelato, salted apple compote, and smoked salmon “snow.” Sounds…interesting?
Downtown has a new sports bar that, for some reason, evokes a roaring '20s theme. The menu is all over the place, with burgers, sandwiches, and tacos living alongside Chinese food and seafood fettuccine. There’s a happy hour, too, with $7 well drinks and $3 cans of Rainier.
Heads up, fans of Korean egg bread. This new cafe specializes in the gyeran ppang with toppings like bulgogi, bacon, and spring onion cream cheese, as well as sandwiches. They also serve coffee and a variety of flavored lattes.
There’s a new French bakery and cafe in the heart of Queen Anne. Mon Chou took over the location formerly occupied by Top Pot Doughnuts, and is serving things like matcha croissants, scones, and quiches. It looks like there’s plenty of seating inside for hanging out with a laptop.
October
This massive SLU space sat empty for ages with a “coming soon” sign teasing us. But Meat Moot, a halal spot specializing in Turkish-smoked meats, is finally open and already drawing attention for over-the-top presentations involving billowing flames, dramatic plating, and flashy salting (a la Salt Bae).
Billing itself as a bistro for book lovers, there’s very little in the way of distraction here. No TVs, no loud groups, just folks curled up with a novel from home or one borrowed from the bar’s shelf. On the menu are cocktails, low-ABV options, and plenty of non-alcoholic choices, alongside a few light snacks.
If you’ve missed the bright bubblegum pink building among Bellevue’s sleek gray high-rises, that’s the newest outpost of this famous Portland-based chain. Much like the recently opened Capitol Hill shop, expect long lines, bacon maple bars, and their signature voodoo doll-shaped treats.
A Seattle dessert veteran is opening a new cafe in the old Watson’s Counter space on Friday, October 24th. Pastries include apple turnovers and French flan, though the breakfast and lunch menu looks a bit more substantial with things like Indonesian-influenced chicken and waffles, croque madame, and croissant eggs benedict.
The folks behind Secret Fort and Indigo Cow have opened a new restaurant. This Ravenna spot is all about Sapporo soup curry, which is thinner and brothier than typical Japanese curries spooned over rice and katsu. You’ll find bowls here topped with chicken, fried tofu, and rotating specials like beef vindaloo.
Majnoon is a Persian-influenced cocktail bar on Queen Anne with a beautiful interior (most likely thanks to the bar being co-owned by a designer). Reservations are highly encouraged at the intimate location to make sure you snag a seat and a drink.
This Kirkland restaurant with deep blue walls and chandeliers specializes in Indo-Pakistani dishes, such as lakshmi chowk karahi, nawabi korma, and tons of chutneys. There’s also a “Pakinese” section on the menu that features their take on things like hot and sour soup and egg fried rice.
September
At this self-serve malatang spot in Bellevue, bowls, tongs, and gloves are your tools for customizing individual hot pots. You add various proteins and toppings, pick a broth, weigh it all out, and then sit down to slurp.
Like the name suggests, this new CID Vietnamese restaurant does, in fact, have bò né, which they serve in a cow-shaped skillet. The “more” means fresh rolls and vermicelli bowls alongside the likes of chicken nuggets and macaroni with beef.
Inside The Somm Hotel in Woodinville is Bin 47, a fine-dining spot that pulls the classic hotel restaurant move (a.k.a serving food all day). In the morning, there are cast-iron corn pancakes. By lunch, pizza, wagyu burgers, and caesar salads are happening. And when dinner rolls around, look for things like dry-aged steaks, beef tartare tartlets, and cacio e pepe gnocchi.
This worker-owned restaurant at Fishermen's Terminal comes from two brothers who have been around Seattle’s restaurant and farmers market scene for years. Pidgin Cooperative specializes in ramen (good news for soup lovers), but the initial menu also includes a longanisa smash burger, fish and chips with Sichuan tartar, and furikake fries.
Queen City Grill was a Belltown institution for over 30 years before it closed in 2020 after a two-year revival by the team behind Linda's Tavern. Now the restaurant is back again under new ownership, with a slightly shorter name. The new menu leans into dishes like seared sea scallops, a lamb burger, and half a roasted chicken with rice pilaf.
This West Seattle takeout window serves Burundian specialties like sambusas, goat stew with cassava fufu, and sukuma. There’s also a lemon-ginger drink called the Burundi Breeze that we hope is just as refreshing as its name suggests.
This new downtown restaurant specializes in customizable seafood boils, but the menu also has grilled catfish, fried shrimp, and plenty more. It’s all served inside a dining room fully committed to the nautical bit, complete with lots of fishing nets and buoy lanterns.
This soul food catering operation has moved into the same corner spot formerly occupied by the beloved Catfish Corner. Wally's is still getting up to speed with limited hours, but their menu looks promising with dishes like catfish po’boys and smashburgers for lunch, and turkey wings with mac and cheese and greens for dinner.
University Village just got an offshoot of a Woodinville-based winery. Those shopping at the mall can stop in for a glass of wine, as well as lunch and dinner. The food menu lists a bunch of fancy snacks like oysters, caviar toasts, and grilled quail, but you can also find burgers and salads.
We won’t argue with a new spot to get a Vietnamese sandwich. This takeout counter located in North Beacon Hill offers six bánh mì varieties (like tofu, grilled pork, and chicken), plus Vietnamese coffee, matcha drinks, and smoothies.
The latest in the seemingly neverending wave of new matcha cafes, Junbi is located at the Pike Motor Works building on Capitol Hill and comes from a national chain known for its matcha lattes and cold brews. It remains to be seen whether the people waiting in line at around the corner will migrate over.
Open every day, this CID coffee bar serves fun drinks like toffee miso lattes and white peach probiotic sodas. There are big windows that flood the shop with natural light, plus plenty of seating for lingering. And yes, tea lovers—there’s matcha on the menu, too.
There’s been a lot of hype around the Ballard location of Happy Crab, a Cajun and Chinese crab boil spot from Auburn that’s taking over the old Anthony’s waterfront spot. The menu features dishes like xiao long bao stuffed with spicy mala crawfish seafood gumbo, and noodles. You’ll also find fully customizable feasts involving shrimp, crab, clams, and other creatures of the sea.
Bellevue’s longtime Taiwanese restaurant opened a new dine-in location on Bel-Red Road to supplement their nearby Bel-Red strip mall outpost. At the new 10th Street restaurant, you’ll find many of the same dishes, like spiced pork stew, bao burgers, shrimp pancakes, handmade wontons, and sauteed sliced lamb. It's mainly geared toward takeout, but there are a handful of tables inside and outside.
The fourth location of this popular scoop shop opens August 29 on Queen Anne’s main drag. You’ll find seasonal flavors like pickled cucumber and chocolate chip zucchini bread. And, of course, don't forget about the classics (we’re talking arbequina olive oil and gooey brownie). On opening day, they’ll have complimentary drinks from Cafe Vita.
When one pie shop closes, another one opens—even in the same building. Pie Bird Bakeshop, a farmers market favorite, has taken over the old Pie Bar space in Ballard. Pie variations include chocolate bourbon pecan, chicken pot pie, and sour cherry. There are also some extras like cinnamon rolls, crumbles, and pocket pies.
Ballard just got a new sushi joint with a fun name. At Sushi-licious, the menu is stacked with nigiri and sashimi, plus rolls like salmon skin, a deep-fried Philadelphia, and a baked scallop number. And if you’re still hungry, they’ve got deep-fried Oreos for dessert.
Is this a wine bar, or an elaborate marketing ploy for the owner’s novel of the same name? In either case, you can get some food here (like salads and pastas) in addition to glass pours, while pondering whether the tale of Luca and his adventures in Italy is worthy of your book club.
Pioneer Square just nabbed a pizzeria from The Mall Of America, of all places. In addition to pies and slices, the Minnesota-born restaurant features wings, calzones, and pasta dishes, all served in a dining room festooned with throwback 80s posters.
Here’s the 2.0 version of Torta Condesa— a popular torta window that used to be right next to Montana. The new sit-down location has dishes like fried Oaxacan cheese, Moroccan fritters, and of course, tortas. And it shares the building with sister bar Pitch The Baby, so you can have dinner and then watch women's sports.
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