The UW CS&E Seattle Restaurant Guide
Developed from the 1992 USENIX Microkernel Workshop
Restaurant Guide which was in turn revised from the ISCA 90
revision of the STOC 89 Restaurant Guide, compiled by
Richard Anderson and Paul Beame.
Contents
Seattle is a good city for restaurants. There are notable restaurants
in all price ranges and for most major cuisines. Seafood is a very
good bet. A number of restaurants have sprung up that serve what
could be called "Northwest Cuisine", specializing in fresh local
ingredients. European restaurants are well represented, with Italian
being particularly strong. There are a large number of Thai
restaurants which are consistently good, and a smattering of
Vietnamese restaurants. There are a number of good Japanese
restaurants. In addition to being a good place to eat, Seattle is
also a good place to drink: there are several microbreweries that make
very good beers, and Northwest wines are gaining increasing
recognition.
There are plenty of good restaurants within walking distance of the
conference hotel. The most convenient are located in the Downtown and
Pike Place Market areas. The restaurants listed for Pioneer Square,
the International District, Seattle Center, and Capitol Hill are
further away but still within walking distance; you can also, of
course, take the bus (the new downtown bus tunnel is worth a visit in
any case) or a cab.
Street addresses in Seattle are potentially confusing. Seattle is
divided into a number of regions, and the streets are designated with
the appropriate compass points. In downtown the compass point is
empty. The compass points are significant, since 1st Ave N is
different from 1st Ave NE is different from 1st Ave NW is different
from 1st Ave. Streets generally run east-west and Avenues generally
run north-south (although in some areas, such as downtown, east-west
and north-south are used in a weak sense). Both streets and avenues
are numbered, so after a series of wrong turns, you could find
yourself at the corner of 45th and 45th (in fact there are several
different places in the city where you could find yourself at this
intersection). The compass point comes before a street name,
as in N 50th Street, and after an avenue name, as in 9th Avenue
NE. This makes the use of "street" and "avenue" redundant, so they
are often omitted.
The restaurants below are open seven days a week unless otherwise
noted, but call to be safe. Restaurants are classified as
inexpensive, inexpensive-moderate, moderate, moderate-expensive, and
expensive. A listing of restaurants by type of food follows the main
listing.
None of these restaurants will disappoint. We have marked with an
asterisk (*) restaurants particularly recommended for the
infrequent visitor to Seattle.
- McCormick's Fish House*,
722 Fourth Avenue, 682-3900
-
Moderate-Expensive.
Very wide range of fresh seafood. A bit noisy.
- Metropolitan Grill,
820 Second Avenue, 624-3287
-
Moderate-Expensive. A well-regarded steakhouse.
- Fullers, Seattle Sheraton Hotel, Sixth Avenue and Pike,
447-5544
-
Expensive.
Consistently one of the highest rated restaurants in
the city.
Atmosphere and service are quite formal.
- The Dahlia Lounge*, 1904 Fourth Avenue, 682-4142
- Eclectic
cuisine. Moderate-Expensive.
- Nikko*
, Fifth and Stewart (Westin Hotel), 322-4905
-
Moderate-Expensive. Historically the best sushi in Seattle.
Recently transplanted from the International District.
- Place Pigalle*
, Pike Place Market, 624-1756
- Moderate.
Inside the market, great views, good fresh seafood.
- Campagne
, 86 Pine, 728-2800
- Expensive. Very good French
country restaurant.
- El Puerco Lloron
, 1501 Western Avenue (Pike Place Hillclimb)
-
Inexpensive. Authentic Mexican food.
Really sort of a cafeteria and take-out joint; worth a stop if you're
there and hungry.
- Chez Shea*
, Pike Place Market, 467-9990
-
Tiny restaurant serving
Northwest cuisine upstairs in the Market Building itself.
Closed Sunday and Monday. Expensive.
- Cafe Sport*
, 2020 Western Ave, 443-6000
- Known for its unusual
combinations of ingredients. Moderate-Expensive. Cafe Sport also has
a cafe menu (served in the bar), which is faster and cheaper.
- The Pink Door
, 1919 Post Alley, 443-3241
- Moderate.
Cheap wine and decent interesting pasta dishes. Fun, casual atmosphere,
particularly when the outdoor deck is usable.
- Tlaquepaque
, 1122 Post Alley, 467-8226
- Moderate.
Lively Mexican place where you won't find a burrito. Closed Sunday.
- Wild Ginger*
, 1400 Western, 623-4450
- Moderate-Expensive.
Westernized Asian. Pleasant, stylish decor.
A short distance to the north of Pike Place Market along 1st Avenue.
- Labuznik*
, 1924 1st Avenue, 682-1624
- Expensive. Consistently
one of Seattle's best restaurants. Imaginative preparation of meat dishes.
Rack of lamb (for two) is superb. Less expensive cafe menu served in
bar area up front. Closed Sunday and Monday.
- Queen City Grill
, 2201 1st Ave, 443-0975
-
Moderate. Seafood and Chops.
Well prepared seafood. A very good bet.
- Casa-U-Betcha
, 2212 1st Ave, 441-1026
-
A taco bar for beautiful yuppies. Kind of fun.
- Kaspar's by the Bay
, 2701 1st Ave, 441-4805
-
Moderate.
Pretty sterile atmosphere, but good continental food.
Heading south along 1st Avenue leads past Pioneer Square at Yesler to
a number of renovated turn-of-the-century office buildings with many
art galleries and bars/cafes.
- Al Boccalino*
, 1 Yesler Way, 622-7688
-
Moderate-expensive.
Reservations difficult.
Definitely the best Italian food in town,
with an un-stuffy atmosphere. Noisy.
Closed Sundays.
- Viet My
, 129 Prefontaine Place S, 382-9923
-
Inexpensive. Hole in the
wall place with good Vietnamese food.
- Trattoria Mitchelli
, 84 Yesler Way, 623-3883
-
Moderate. Open nearly all the
time. It's only OK Italian food, but at 3 a.m. who cares?
The bar has decent pizza and calzone.
- Elliott Bay Book Company and Cafe
, 1st Ave S and S Main
-
The best bookstore in Seattle.
The basement is a coffee house with an extremely
pleasant atmosphere. Worth a visit. Inexpensive.
- F.X. McRory's
, 419 Occidental Ave S, 632-4800. Moderate.
-
Steaks and Chops. Good Bar. So, you want a 30 ounce steak?
- Il Terrazzo Carmine, 411 1st Avenue S, 467-7797
-
Expensive.
Classic Italian cuisine. Very good food in formal atmosphere.
Closed Sunday.
- Pacific NW Brewing Company
, 322 Occidental S
-
A brewpub. The beer is good. We haven't tried the food.
The coffee place one door to the north is fantastic.
An area east of the Kingdome
surrounding the superb Japanese supermarket, Uwajimaya.
- Mikado*
, 514 S Jackson Street, 622-5206
-
Expensive. One of the
best Japanese restaurants on the west cost. Closed Sunday.
- Thanh Vi
, 1046 S Jackson, 329-0208
- Inexpensive.
Vietnamese (Southern).
- Little Bit of Saigon
, 1036-A S Jackson St, 325-3663
-
Inexpensive. Good Vietnamese (predominantly Northern).
- Green Village
, 721 S King, 624-3634
-
Moderate. Peking/Szechuan. Also, one of the few places in
Seattle serving real Taiwanese food. Closed Sunday-Tuesday.
- Ho Ho Seafood Restaurant
, 651 S Weller, 382-9671
-
Moderate-Expensive.
Not great decor, but really good food.
- House of Hong
, 409 8th Ave S, 622-7997
- Inexpensive.
Good Cantonese, but
dim sum is the really strong suit here.
- Ocean City Restaurant
, 609 S Weller, 623-2333
-
Good for dim sum.
- Ayutthaya Thai Restaurant, 727 E Pike St, 324-8833
-
Inexpensive. Very good Thai food. Closed Sunday.
- Aoki, 621 Broadway E, 324-3633
- Moderate. Highly recommended
sushi. Closed Monday.
- Pacific Desserts, 420 E Denny Way, 328-1950
- One of
several good dessert places in Seattle.
- Dilettante Chocolates*, 416 Broadway E
- Crowded place
serving high octane stuff.
- Siam on Broadway, 616 Broadway E, 324-0892
- Moderate.
Among the best Thai in Seattle.
- Angel's Thai Cuisine*, 235 Broadway E, 328-0515
-
Moderate. Has a very strong local following.
- B&O Espresso, 204 Belmont E (at Olive), 322-5028
-
Nice coffee house, also serving desserts and light
food.
Open late; nice for hanging out.
- Thai Restaurant, 101 John St at 1st Ave, 285-9000
- Very
good Thai food.
Inexpensive-Moderate. Closed Monday.
- Thai Heaven, 352 Roy, 285-1596
- Pretty much ditto.
- Phoenecia, 100 Mercer St, 285-6739. Middle Eastern
- restaurant hidden
away in the corners of an old bakery. Moderate. Closed Sunday.
- Le Tastevin, 19 W Harrison St, 283-0991
- Expensive.
Light French cuisine and excellent wine list.
Dine in the bar - lighter, cheaper, and faster.
- Pacific Desserts, 127 Mercer St
- A branch of the
Capitol Hill dessert place.
These restaurants are located on all sides of Lake Union.
- Chandler's Crab House, 901 Fairview Ave N, 223-2722
-
(South end of Lake Union.) Moderate-Expensive.
Fresh seafood with a nice view over Lake Union.
Terrific on a sunny day.
- Cucina! Cucina!, 901 Fairview Ave N, 447-2782
-
(South end of Lake Union.) Moderate-Expensive.
Owned by the same people as Chandler's. A formula Italian
restaurant that's pretty good.
Terrific place on a sunny day.
- Rattlers Grill*, 1823 Eastlake Ave E, 325-7350
-
(East side of Lake Union.) Moderate.
A good, fun, Southwestern ("New Mexican") restaurant.
- Adriatica, 1107 Dexter Avenue N, 285-5000
-
(West side of Lake Union.) Expensive.
Excellent Italian and Yugoslavian food. But perhaps the best
feature is the dark, quiet bar up on the third floor overlooking
Lake Union.
- Hunan Harbor, 2040 Westlake Ave N, 286-1688
-
(West side of Lake Union.) Moderate-Expensive.
As Cantonese as it is Hunan despite its name.
Decent food, and a beautiful restaurant and view of the lake.
(None of these is worth a special trip.)
- Chili Pepper, 5000 University Way NE, 526-5004, Inexpensive
-
Very good regional Mexican food.
Closed Sunday.
- Ave, 4743 University Way NE, 527-9830
- Moderate.
The best authentic pizza in Seattle.
- Big Time Brewing Company, 4133 University Way NE
-
Brew pub with decent sandwich-style food.
- Saleh Al Lago*, 6804 E Green Lake Way N, 522-7943,
Moderate-Expensive
-
Central Italian food. Consistently good.
Pretty location. Closed Sunday.
- Santa Fe Cafe, 2255 NE 65th Street 524-7736, and 5910 Phinney
Avenue N, 783-9733, Moderate
-
New Mexican food, very good, green chili burritos a specialty.
Northwest Beers.
Closed Sunday and Monday.
- Lemon Grass Grill, 7200 E
- Greenlake Drive N, 525-6510.
Moderate. More excellent Thai.
- Sailfish Grill, 8917 Roosevelt Way NE, 526-8109
-
Good broiled seafood.
- Royal Palm, 6417 Roosevelt Way NE,
523-2400
-
Yet more good Thai.
- Honey Bear Bakery, 2106 N
- 55th, 545-7296.
An institution for excellent baked goods.
- Rain City Grill, 2359 Tenth Avenue E, 325-5003
-
Moderate.
Innovative food, umbrellas hanging from ceiling.
- Cactus*, 4220 E Madison, 324-4140
-
Moderate. Excellent Spanish / (New) Mexican.
- Cafe Lago, 2305 24th Ave E, 329-8005
-
Moderate.
More good Italian food. Close to the University.
Small, friendly, informal room. No reservations
(but you can wait in the tavern next door).
- Rovers*, 2808 E Madison, 325-7442
- Expensive.
Outstanding, semi-formal, French-inspired Northwest
cuisine. Small portions.
- Sostanza, 1927 43rd E, 324-9701
-
Moderate.
Pleasant Italian restaurant with interesting food.
Along the lines of Al Boccalino and Il Terrazzo Carmine
but a little cheaper (and less formal than Carmine).
- Ray's Boathouse*, 6049 Seaview NW, Expensive, 789-3770
-
Seafood with a great view. Reservations are difficult.
The upstairs portion of the restaurant
(Ray's Cafe) does not
take reservations, has much of the main menu, has a more relaxed
atmosphere, and is much cheaper. Go there; definitely worth the trip
on a nice evening.
- Chinook's at Salmon Bay, Fishermen's Terminal,
Ballard, 283-HOOK
-
Inexpensive-Moderate.
Good fresh fish and chowders.
Can be noisy.
- Le Gourmand*, 425 NW Market St, 784-3463
-
Expensive. Intimate, no-frills decor
with some of the best Northwest cuisine.
A must for the serious foodie.
Closed Sunday-Tuesday.
- Union Bay Cafe*, 3505 NE 45th St (East of
the University, in Laurelhurst), 527-8364
-
Moderate-Expensive.
Small cafe with continental/Northwest food. Great desserts. Closed Monday.
- Bai Tong, 15859 Pacific Highway S,
SeaTac (by the airport!), 431-0893
-
The best Thai food in the area.
- Vietnam's Pearl*, 708 Rainier Ave S,
726-1581
- The best Vietnamese in town; sort of up-scale
and nice-looking, too.
- Szmania's, 3321 W McGraw St (Magnolia),
284-7305
-
Excellent continental food. Moderate-Expensive.
- Labuznik*, North of the Market
- Adriatica, Lake Union
- Le Gourmand*, Ballard
- Fullers, Downtown
- Campagne, Pike Place Market
- Le Tastevin, Seattle Center
- Chez Shea*, Pike Place Market
- Union Bay Cafe*, Elsewhere (NE Seattle)
- Cafe Sport*, Pike Place Market
- Queen City Grill, North of the Market
- Rain City Grill, North Capitol Hill / Montlake / Madison Park
- Place Pigalle*, Pike Place Market
- Kaspar's by the Bay, North of the Market
- Rovers*, North Capitol Hill / Montlake / Madison Park
- Szmania's, Elsewhere (Magnolia)
- Dahlia Lounge*, North of the Market
Deleted by Lazowska, March 1992:
- Cafe Alexis, First Avenue and Madison, 624-3646
- Inventive menu,
in a pleasant hotel. Moderate-Expensive.
Great, but it's closing down.
- Kaleenka Russian Cafe, 1933 1st Ave, 728-1278
- Moderate.
Russian and Siberian cuisine.
Closed Sunday.
Real average. If I were on that block, I'd go to the VI
and drink beer.
- Enoteca, 414 Olive Way, 624-9108, Moderate-Expensive,
Wine Bar and
nouvelle Northwest Cuisine
- Across from the Westlake Center.
Closed Sunday.
Died.
- Prego, Stouffer Madison Hotel, 515 Madison St
-
(upstairs), 583-0300.
Moderate-Expensive.
Large portions of vaguely nouvelle Italian cuisine.
Just not good enough to list for a visitor.
- The Other Place, 96 Union, 623-7340
- Expensive. Fish,
lamb and game excellently prepared in simple sauces. Closed Sunday.
Died.
- World Class Chili, 1411 1st, 623-3678
- Best chili in
Seattle. Not a sit down place. Inexpensive.
So what?
- Mama's Mexican Kitchen, 2234 2nd Ave, 728-6262
-
Inexpensive-Moderate.
Not worthy of note.
- Top of the Pier, Alaskan Way & Broad, 441-1867
-
Moderate-Expensive. North end of the water front. Seafood and a
good view.
Ditto.
- Blue Moon Tavern 712 NE 45th St
- An infamous and endangered
tavern. They do not serve food.
Get real!
- Settebello, 1525 E Olive Way, 323-7772
- Moderate. Very good
Italian restaurant. Closed Sunday.
Died.
- Testarossa Stuffed Pizza, 210 Broadway E (upstairs), 328-0878
-
Excellent Chicago-style stuffed pizza with fresh ingredients. Pesto pizza
anyone? Inexpensive.
Sorry, Hank, I hate this place!
- Toscana, 1312 NE 43rd St, 547-7679 (in the alley), Moderate,
Italian
- The owner is an unforgettable character. Definitely worth a visit.
We had way too many Italian places. Borriello said to nuke
this one.
- Cafe Ciello
-
More Italian.
It's fine, but service can be very slow, and the food is
not off the scale by any means. If you're stuck on Capitol
Hill and have got to have Italian, go here.
On the Waterfront
Winding down through the Market is the Pike Place Hillclimb which leads to
a waterfront boardwalk and many touristy restaurants and shops.
- Ivar's Acres of Clams, Pier 54
- Don't make a special
trip, but if you are out for a stroll on the boardwalk and your
stomach starts rumbling ... An institution, in business since before
Seattle had restaurants. Inexpensive.
I deleted the entire para. The restaurant is real average.
If you're stuck on the waterfront and want food, walk to
Pioneer Square or to the Market.
- Sala Thai
- 5010 University Way NE, Moderate. A new Thai
restaurant.
Not worth traveling for.
- Axum, 4142 Brooklyn Ave NE (entrance by aerobic studio
around the corner), 547-6848
- Ethiopian. Inexpensive-Moderate.
Bad breath knows no bounds.
- Coffee houses
- The best place for coffee is Cafe Allegro, which
is located in the alley between University Way and 15th Ave N, between
42nd and 43rd Streets.
Coffee's everywhere.
- Wanza, 6409 Roosevelt Ave NE, 525-3950
- Inexpensive. Ethiopian.
Closed Monday.
Never been there.
- Sunlight Cafe, 6403 Roosevelt Way NE, 522-9060
- Hip
vegetarian food. Inexpensive.
I really don't like the food here, and I like veggie food.
- Toyoda Sushi, 12543 Lake City Way NE, 367-7972
-
Inexpensive-Moderate. High
quality sushi. Closed Tuesday. A long way from downtown, but worth
going to if you are visiting the north end.
My friends don't visit the north end.
- Salvatore Ristorante, 6100 Roosevelt Way NE
- , 527-9301.
Closed Sunday. Moderate. Best Italian restaurant close to the University.
Not enough of a recommendation for me!
- Palomino, 1420 5th Avenue (Pacific First Centre),
623-1300
- Eclectic and yuppie. Noisy. Expensive.
Hanks feels Dahlia dominates and is also easily walkable
from hotels.
- Italia, 1010 Western, 623-1917
- Basic yuppie
Italian. Moderate.
No one spoke up strongly for it.
- Salute!, 3410 NE 55th Street, 527-8600
-
Inexpensive-Moderate.
Italian. Reasonable food and great atmosphere.
This is the place for you if you like to wait a long time in a small
crowded room for a table. No Reservations.
Closed Monday.
Some liked it, some hated it. It's out.
- Tandoor, 5024 University Way NE, 523-7477
- Moderate.
Well prepared Indian food.
Beame nuked
- Mamounia, 1556 E Olive Way, 329-3886
- Moderate. Middle Eastern.
Closed Sunday and Monday.
NoBODY goes there, so it can't be great
- Chau's Chinese Restaurant, 310 Fourth Ave S,
621-0006
- Inexpensive. No atmosphere. Dirty.
Very good Cantonese. Skip the menu, ask your waiter.
Got Chinese recommendations from Bill Lee; he nuked this.
- Julia's 14-Carrot Cafe, 2305 Eastlake Ave E, 324-1442
-
Inexpensive.
>
Breakfast every day; no dinner Sunday or Monday.
Geez, I think this is a local cult place that's only
really good for breakfast/brunch.
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