SEAGuide

The Hit List: New Seattle Restaurants To Try Right Now

We checked out these new restaurants and loved them.
The Hit List: New Seattle Restaurants To Try Right Now image

photo credit: Eric Tra

When new restaurants open, we check them out. This means that we subject our stomachs and social lives to the good, the bad, and more often than not, the perfectly fine. And every once in a while, a new spot makes us feel like a geography nerd at that Pike Place map store. When that happens, we add it here, to The Hit List. 

The Hit List is where you’ll find all of the best new restaurants in Seattle. As long as it opened within the past several months and we’re still talking about it, it’s on this guide. The latest addition might be a buzzy new omakase spot that slaps gold leaf on every piece of fish. Or it might be an under-the-radar lunch counter where a few dollars will get something wonderful and unexpected.

Keep tabs on the Hit List and you will always know just which new restaurants you should be eating at right now.

New to the Hit List (2/21): Lioness

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Eric Tra

Italian

Phinney Ridge

$$$$Perfect For:Small PlatesDrinks & A Light BiteDate NightDinner with the ParentsDrinking Good Wine
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Any Italian wine bar can serve spritzes alongside appetizers that merely require assembly—like burrata and cured meats—but Renee Erickson’s (you know, that chef with the oyster empire) newest spot in Phinney Ridge makes aperitivo hour actually exciting. Spritzes are infused with buddha’s hand. Lemon-oiled burrata is served with ciabatta toast that absorbs stracciatella like a sponge. And prosciutto is shaved thinner than parchment paper. Though, Lioness doesn’t stop at fancy snacks. You can build a full meal with things like buttery cavatelli, an excellent (albeit solitary) meatball, and clams swimming in anise-kicked broth we’d swig by the gallon. To have that in a galley-style space with a marble standing bar, date night chatter swirling around, and some of the best small plates in North Seattle? That’s a win.

To say that we love the New York-style pizza at Stevie’s Famous’ original location in Burien is as much an understatement as the Sound Transit expansion taking “a few years.” And now, Stevie’s has a second counter operation happening inside Clock-Out Lounge on Beacon Hill. You can order the same great pies and slices, like white-sauced ones topped with crisp Italian sausage and caramelized onions, or the Normie Macdonald—a masterpiece where coppa, hot honey, and pools of fresh burrata all come together. And unlike the Burien spot, this place is big. There’s a full-length bar, booth seating along the walls, and a stage where you can watch drag spelling bees with a mouthful of sourdough crust.

photo credit: Nate Watters

We’ve been telling everyone about this Guamanian restaurant on Beacon Hill—coworkers, friends, and even our postal carrier. And that’s because Familyfriend is great for everyone. It’s date night for the couple at the bar splitting a kewpie-slathered smashburger that trumps Loretta’s (yeah, we said it). It’s dinner for the family of four squeezed into a booth passing around tinatak bowls with tofu and smoky eggplant. And it’s an after-shift dinner for our aforementioned mailperson who we’ve spotted with a cup of coconutty corn soup. This place isn’t a secret—expect a bit of a wait at dinnertime—but once you’re in, you’re met with warm service, excellent food, and your own reasons to spread the word.

Sure, Atoma is technically a fine-dining restaurant, but where this Wallingford place shines is in its appetizers. Like the “KFM,” Kentucky fried mushrooms with a paprika-spiced dredge. Or bouncy crumpets smeared with koji butter and fermented garlic honey that have the power to stop the table’s conversation. The space is a repurposed craftsman-style house, and with dim lighting, forest green walls, and Aesop soap in the bathroom, it's both special and cozy. Even though the entrees play second fiddle to the snacks, you can feasibly use Atoma as a great first date spot—if only for miniature martinis and farmer’s cheese-filled rosette cookies before grabbing a Dick’s deluxe on the way home.


While there’s no shortage of casual lunch places in the International District, you should prioritize Kilig. This Filipino spot from the folks behind Musang specializes in pancit and bulalo, and it all happens in a space with seafoam-painted walls and bottles of Maggi displayed like knickknacks. Come here with a group ready to twist kare kare dan dan noodles swimming in a silky peanut and tahini sauce, or get a five-star facial from steaming bowls of beef shank bualo. But it’s their sour tamarind-dusted singang wings that we can't shut up about—dunk each crispy piece in the sweet mango dipping sauce at your discretion. And unlike Musang, which can require patience and pure luck to snag a reservation, Kilig is ideal for an impromptu meal. (And some seasoning-based home decor inspiration.) 


A night out on Capitol Hill usually has a full itinerary—there’s the pregame dinner, the dive bar where pint towers start to form, the inevitable karaoke place, and, of course, the hot dog stand finale. Next time, just go to Donna’s. This new Italian cocktail bar by the folks from Rose Temple has the whole-night-out package. With tasty under-$15 bowls of pasta like curly mafaldine in a creamy bolognese, music loud enough to ripple your tomato-basil martini, and a gold disco ball spinning at the center, there’s enough fun and great food to make Donna’s the one (and only) destination for a rowdy Capitol Hill evening. 


Beast & Cleaver is a Ballard butcher shop that becomes an upscale restaurant after-hours, and it’s one of the toughest tables in town to book. Now, they’ve taken over the kitchen at Fair Isle Brewing, and the result is a second B&C location that makes this brewery special occasion-worthy. And don’t let the relaxed atmosphere and barrel furniture fool you—this food is serious. To pair with Fair Isle’s farmhouse-style ales are decadent confit potatoes, panzanella with corn and heirloom tomatoes, or pork rillette smeared on olive bread. And Beast & Cleaver’s famous 100-day-dry-aged burger is here too. Aside from being 99 days older than the budding Hinge relationship at the next table over, it has a heavy hand of ketchup, American cheese, and thick homemade bacon. Use this place for an upcoming birthday celebration where you can share fancy charcuterie and hand out burger wedges like Costco sheet cake.


photo credit: Nate Watters

Normally, we’d associate the dual presence of blacklights and pepperoni with a fraternity party. Now, Ballard Beer Box is here, and we can’t think of a better place for a last-minute group hang in the neighborhood. There’s not much to this mellow spot, other than a few taps, refrigerators where you can grab natural wine, and lest we forget the most important appliance: a pizza oven. That thing fires up glorious pies that are as plush and crackly as a dog’s favorite toy. There’s a BBQ pizza that’s toned down by bechamel and a gooey olive-oiled margherita. But the white Queen Bianca pie unironically rules all with its garlic bread vibes and ricotta rosettes. They can only bake one pizza at a time, but the beer, blasting EDM, and internalized college nostalgia should keep you occupied during the wait.


Miss Pho is a seemingly ordinary strip mall Vietnamese restaurant in Greenwood that serves soup, vermicelli bowls, and fried stuff. But nothing about their food is ordinary at all. Salt and pepper tofu has the outer crunch and inner moistness of a McNugget. Phở hà nội overflows with broth, topped with a raw egg yolk that works just as well dissolved into the soup as it does strategically dolloped onto each bite of rice noodle and beef shank. Grilled chicken can be as special as a tin can that gets repeatedly run over by cars, but Miss Pho’s tastes like lemongrass-rubbed brilliance. The best part is that takeout travels spectacularly. If you do decide to eat here, know that there’s not much to look at except a moped parked in the middle of the dining room.


Tivoli makes the best slice of pepperoni pizza in town. This place is a collaboration between the folks behind Post Alley Pizza and Saint Bread, so like Zoë Kravitz, it seems destined for greatness. The crust is thin, crackly, and doesn't flail around like a car dealership’s inflatable dancer, and the tangy tomato sauce is a sweet complement to crisp-edged pepperoni cups. Some pizza spots in Seattle might have a three-month waitlist, but Tivoli is remarkably easy. Having lunch in the airy space means sitting at long wooden tables while slices come out on paper plates and caesar salads arrive in plastic take-out containers. The whole meal feels like a quaint weekend picnic, just with fewer killer geese.

photo credit: Brooke Fitts

$$$$Perfect For:BreakfastBrunch

When Ludi’s closed, Seattle collectively gasped. The thought that this well-loved Filipino diner would no longer supply us with bright purple ube pancakes was devastating. But Ludi’s has returned, and so have the pancakes. Despite the new Downtown location, it still has the same family-run diner vibes—coffee never goes cold, a sizzling blacktop is the morning soundtrack, and breakfast is served all day. Ordering the combo silog (a.k.a bites of Ludi’s greatest hits) is a necessary right of passage. The plate is filled with peppery longanisa, Subway foot-long sized lumpia, a juicy thinly pounded pork chop, and fragrant garlic rice you could eat fistfuls of on its own. Just get here when they open at 7am, because by 7:30 a line is already forming underneath the iconic yellow and blue sign.


We’ll just come right out and say it—Ben's Bread Co. in Phinney Ridge is the best new bakery in Seattle. These pastries and loaves taste like they were engineered in a lab by deliriously hungry chemists. Their bread is crustier and fluffier than a senior poodle, and the blue corn pound cake slick with lemon glaze has a perfect crumb that would spook judges of The Great British Bake-Off. Tangy sourdough english muffins are springy with a tender crackle, and taste even better as a breakfast sandwich stuffed with egg soufflé and crispy country ham that shatters into a million pork chips on each bite. If you aren’t the kind of person who sets an alarm on the weekends for a pastry run, now you are.

We used to follow this Filipino food truck around like a band groupie. But now, Chebogz is back as a permanent counter spot on Beacon Hill. They serve awesome Filipino plates that you should prioritize for a filling sit-down lunch or a “leave-work-two-hours-early-on-a-Friday” kind of meal. The space is filled with the smell of garlic and colorful homages to Filipino culture, like a proudly displayed flag, sungkâ, and intricately woven baskets and hats. But it’s the food you’re really here for. Their peppery pork sisig has a sizzle that could replace a white noise machine you turn on before bed, and a garlic aioli that comforts like a weighted blanket. Or, if menu-related FOMO takes hold, the Island Combo has a little taste of Chebogz’s greatest hits.

There are lots of great sandwiches around town, but not too many fancy sandwiches around town. At Layers, the sandwiches take themselves seriously—kind of like that one friend of yours who has a handlebar mustache. You'll find barbecue potato chips smushed onto tuna salad, mortadella on a dutch crunch roll, and duck confit buddying up with fried eggs. On the side, things are just as serious, like green goddess-drenched fried fingerlings that momentarily steal the spotlight from the between-bread stuff. It doesn’t get much better than a lazy weekday lunch at this busy Green Lake counter.

There are casual lunch spots in Seattle, and there are special lunch spots in Seattle. Onibaba is both, which is a rarity in this town. The Japanese restaurant in the ID specializes in onigiri, and from the Tsunkshinbo team, we're not surprised to find that this place rules. The long list of fillings covers a lot of ground, like marinated egg, shrimp tempura with honey-laced mayo, and spicy cod roe. These rice parcels are so good that you could end up perfectly happy by flipping a coin to decide your order, but don’t leave it all to chance—the yaki onigiri is non-negotiable, whether grilled in sweet soy sauce until crackly and topped with a pat of butter or covered in gooey torched cheese. Rounding out an incredible spread here are Tsukushinbo’s iconic pan-seared gyoza, brothy salmon and roe ochazuke, and silky curry udon noodles.

This Belltown sports bar is a party full of happy people gnawing on chicken bones. Vindicktive's wings are truly exceptional, and you should pop in with a friend for a dozen with fries or plan an entire group outing around their Wednesday 99-cent special. Flavor options aren't as extensive as what you might find at (insert horrible wing chain here), but the lemon pepper has citrusy specks that cling to skin, the mango habanero doesn’t skimp on spice, and the buttery hot buffalo is exceptional.

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