Skip to content

Food & Drink

Seattle Ranked No. 5 City for Foodies

Apartment Guide ranked Seattle high for having 28 restaurants per square mile for a total of more than 2,400

By Nat Rubio-Licht September 29, 2020

Seattle, United States - February 17, 2016: Rainy night at Merchants Cafe and Saloon, Seattle oldest Restaurant in Historic Pioneer Square.
Seattle, United States – February 17, 2016: Rainy night at Merchants Cafe and Saloon, Seattle oldest Restaurant in Historic Pioneer Square.

Apartment Guide ranked Seattle No. 5 in its Best Cities for Foodies report out of more than 300 cities and towns in America. 

By calculating the number of restaurants per capita for cities with populations more than 100,000, Apartment Guide ranked Seattle high for having 28 restaurants per square mile for a total of more than 2,400. The report is based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 estimates and are pre-Covid, but gives hope that Seattle’s food scene will grow strong again once the pandemic has passed

Seattle is the most populous city in the top 10, and one of the two on the West coast. Everett also broke the top 50 and ranked No. 44 of the 314 cities. 

The report found that nine out of every 19 restaurants were locally owned, rather than chain restaurants, placing Seattle No. 8 in Apartment Guide’s list of cities with the highest percentage of local restaurants. 

Apartment Guide named Seattle staples Terra Plata, Monsoon, JuneBaby and Cafe Munir in the report.

Do you think you know which Seattle staples are the best? Tell us about it in the Best of 2020 Seattle magazine readers’ choice poll

Follow Us

Restaurant Roundup: Take a bite of the latest Seattle food news

Restaurant Roundup: Take a bite of the latest Seattle food news

Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City

If you were to put all of Seattle’s food news on a menu, you’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant with a table big enough to fit it all. So, we’re giving the scene the tapas treatment, breaking what’s going on in the city down to bite-sized tidbits for your reading (and eating) pleasure….

Grand Openings, Great Eats

Grand Openings, Great Eats

New restaurants brings the flavor

While it’s true that Seattle’s restaurant-scape is still sleepily waking up from its long pandemic nap, exciting things are happening in the city’s culinary scene. These days, we’re seeing new tantalizing restaurant openings and food events pretty much every week. Here’s a heads-up on seven restaurant openings to load up your dining calendar. Ringo Curry…

A Recipe for Romance

A Recipe for Romance

Three celebrity chef couples discuss the ultimate taste test

Many chefs and restaurateurs in the Seattle area have their own take on the popular axiom “Eat, Drink and Be Married.” They work together. They live together. They’re life partners. They share a passion for hospitality, endure long hours and intense schedules, and rely on teamwork and collaboration for emotional support in a close-knit work…

A Changing of the Guard at Canlis

A Changing of the Guard at Canlis

Chef Aisha Ibrahim and co-owner Brian Canlis say goodbye to Seattle’s iconic restaurant

Big changes are underway at Canlis. Executive chef Aisha Ibrahim and co-owner Brian Canlis have both announced they are stepping down. Ibrahim joined the Canlis team in 2021, making history as the restaurant’s first female executive chef, as well as its first Asian and queer chef since it opened in 1950. Her three and a…