Local Tide

With highlights that range from pork fat-laced shrimp toast to a mayo-y Dungeness crab roll, Local Tide is a stellar one-stop shop for exciting seafood-based genius. This counter spot in Fremont deserves a medal for their creamy smoked belly dip alone, served with paper-thin potato chips tossed in a house seasoning that you can and should purchase. But their lineup of sandwiches, like the weekend-only crab roll accented with lemony mayo and chives or a McDonald’s-style Filet-O-Fish copycat made with panko-coated dover sole, proves that phenomenal Seattle seafood doesn’t have to involve salmon or chowder. But damn, Local Tide has great salmon and chowder too.

Its prime location on N 36th, paired with their bright space and mostly-daytime hours, also make Local Tide one of the most useful spots in the city, whether you're grabbing one of their incredible pork and beef smashburgers for a solo takeout lunch, or walking in at 4pm with out-of-towners for a fish feast after hitting the breweries around the neighborhood.

Food Rundown

Shrimp Toast

These little triangles of sesame-topped toast are phenomenal, from the peppery ground shrimp softened by pork fat to the buttery crispness in each wedge of fried white bread—and when you bite down, you'll promptly send a shattering crunch into the universe. These are a mandatory starter for the table, and don't be shy on the sweet mayo dip.

Smoked Salmon Belly Dip

A rich, smoky, herby heap of cream cheese and sour cream-based dip loaded with flaked house-smoked salmon belly, lemon, dill, chives, and hot sauce for a subtle kick. It's fantastic licked off a spoon, let alone swiped up with paper-thin potato chips sprinkled with an excellent seasoning blend. To add to its appeal, you can also grab a sealed tub of the stuff with some chips to go, which comes in handy when hosting/attending a party that's low on snacks.

Salt & Pepper Fries

It's hard to go wrong with deep-fried potato nuggets tossed in salt and pepper. These are fluffy on the inside and craggy on the outside with all kinds of crunchy skin bits.

Smashburger

The burger at a seafood joint often ends up being a consolation prize for people who aren't into fish but got dragged to the restaruant anyway. Local Tide's burger, however, is the best dish on the menu, seriously. The smashed beef and pork patty has all the juiciness of dumpling filling, and harmonizes perfectly with jammy caramelized onions, a bit of mayo, and yellow american cheese. This is where we'd drop a mic for a dramatic effect, but that's actually not good for the equipment.

Crab Roll

Local Tide's crab roll is only available on the weekends, and often sells out pretty quick. After eating it, we can confirm that people's level of excitement for it is absolutely warranted. There's beauty in its simplicity of cold and creamy crab, lemon-squeezed mayo, and chives on a pillowy bun that's just as squishy as it is toasty. But an added shake of house seasoning on top gives each bite a different spice experience that keeps things interesting.

Salmon BLT

Salmon and bacon are a dynamic duo that we sometimes forget about. Not at Local Tide. This is an excellent BLT on sourdough made even better by the tender, medium-cooked piece of fish. Our only complaint is that slick mayo + tomato + soft salmon + butter lettuce makes this sandwich a little on the slippery side. Yet, it's still worth it.

Fried Fish Sando

If Ronald McDonald were a real human clown, he'd show up in sunglasses and a baseball cap, sit at a secluded corner table, and go to town on this Filet-O-Fish riff. It's two very crispy-thin slices of panko-breaded dover sole, a slice of american cheese, sweet butter lettuce, and a velvety tartar on toasty brioche. There's a wildly fun juxtaposition between crunch and gooiness here that the golden arches can't compete with.