Best Burger Joint: Red Mill Burgers
By Seattle Mag November 10, 2025
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2025 issue of Seattle magazine.
Nothing hits the spot quite like a burger and fries. Despite the dozens of places to pick up a patty around Seattle, Red Mill Burgers offers straight-up classics featuring juicy beef and melty cheese, all at an affordable price. (A deluxe cheeseburger for less than 10 bucks? Almost unheard of these days.)
With roots extending back to 1937, when the original Red Mill opened on Capitol Hill, the casual diner is now a neighborhood favorite in both its Phinney Ridge and Interbay locations.
People rave about the thick-cut peppered bacon that comes on some of the options, and fear not, meat avoiders, Red Mill offers veggie patties and Impossible subs, as well as a grilled cheese featuring Tillamook cheddar. If you’re a traditionalist, go with the fries, but we think nothing can beat Babe’s onion rings, which are fried in a cornmeal-dusted batter and come out crispy, peppery, and impossible to resist. Unless you’re dining solo, you might need a double order.
Phinney Ridge: 312 N. 67th St., Seattle | Interbay: 1613 W. Dravus St., Seattle | redmillburgers.com
About Best of the Best
Everyone loves a winner. And when it comes to Seattle favorites, there’s no shortage of opinions on which places, spaces, and bites deserve top honors. This year, we did things a little differently—our staff weighed in, debating and voting to determine the best of the best across the city. We also ran our annual Readers’ Choice poll for comparison (and yes, there was overlap in just one category). Here’s to celebrating all the winners, no matter who cast the vote.
Follow Us
Best New Restaurant: La Loba
An exercise in global fusion, La Loba successfully brings together Spanish technique and Northwest ingredients, with a hint of Japanese flair. Located in the recently opened 1 Hotel Seattle and helmed by James Beard-nominated chef Oscar Amador, La Loba offers à la carte options (tableside butcher’s beef tartare, patatas bravas, a selection of meats, pastas,…
Best Outdoor Dining: Westward
In a city known for unmatched water access—and rainy weather eight months a year—outdoor dining becomes a coveted prize. And while there is no shortage of options for enjoying a meal with a view, Westward is a tried-and-true pick, unique in its full-city snapshot straight down Lake Union. Originally opened in 2013, Westward became a…
Best Pizza: Bar Del Corso
After more than a decade of serving up Neapolitan-style pizzas in its Beacon Hill niche, Bar del Corso has become a mainstay, not just for the neighborhood, but for the city at large. (In July 2025, the New York Times named the joint one of the top 25 restaurants in Seattle.) Opened by chef Jerry…
Best Seafood: Local Tide
When lifelong seattleite Victor Steinbrueck (yes, of the Seattle Steinbrueck family) launched Local Tide in 2017, it was a pop- up at Pike Place Market. A self-taught chef who grew up spending time in his grandmother’s kitchen making memories over meals, Steinbrueck understood the ways that food can connect people. In 2020, after the success…