seattle restaurants

Where to Find Spicy Chili

Where to Find Spicy Chili

As winter approaches, duck inside these cozy spots to warm up with a hearty bowl of chili.

MAGGIE BLUFFS MARINA GRILL The only thing better than the view of Elliott Bay here may be the prime rib chili, made with high-quality prime rib, then layered with sour cream and cheddar cheese. $5.59/cup, $6.99/bowl. Magnolia, 2601 W Marina Place; 206.283.8322; maggiebluffs.com SLIM’S LAST CHANCE CHILI SHACK & WATERING HOLE This 21-and-older hotspot serves…

The Willows Inn

The Willows Inn

This Best New Seattle Restaurant is neither new, nor in Seattle. But it's worth breaking the rules (

Without a doubt, my meals at The Willows Inn’s restaurant are among the very best of the year. You may be familiar with the story of young chef Blaine Wetzel, who moved to Lummi to lead the kitchen at Willows; prior to the move, Wetzel was sous chef at Copenhagen’s illustrious Noma, arguably the best…

Cuoco

Cuoco

People-pleasing Italian food with an artisanal touch: pastas made with a delicate hand and vegetable

It’s the crown jewel of Tom Douglas’ trio of restaurants in his refurbished South Lake Union brick warehouse tucked beneath the shiny new Amazon buildings (it’s also home to Brave Horse Tavern’s tasty pub food and Ting Momo’s hit-or-miss Tibetan dumplings). Sturdy reclaimed wood and walls of exposed brick create a masculine backdrop for pasta…

Madison Park Conservatory

Madison Park Conservatory

A sophisticated addition, current enough to draw food obsessives, approachable enough to bring the p

Tucked away in the tony enclave of Madison Park in the old Sostanza space is a restaurant where the chefs, managers, bartenders and servers all seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company, a vibe that spills over into the elegant dining room, now pared down with a spare Mediterranean vibe. Owners Bryan Jarr and Cormac…

Reviewed: Skillet Diner

Reviewed: Skillet Diner

Toddlers and hipsters are equally at home at this upbeat, affordable diner

Skillet Diner may share a name with owner Josh Henderson’s popular Skillet Street Food Airstream, but the brick-and-mortar version has a personality all its own. Though it’s hardly a greasy spoon, Skillet is a diner in the truest sense of the word: The avocado-green booths are vinyl; stools at the long counter swivel. Doors open…

Bar del Corso

Bar del Corso

A Beacon Hill restaurant good enough to lure folks to this underrated corner of the city.

Jerry Corso may not be a household name quite yet, but to the tight-knit chef crowd, he’s well known and much loved. Chef Corso long worked for someone else—at Betty and The Harvest Vine (among other local spots)—but not anymore: Now, he’s got his eponymous place in his Beacon Hill neighborhood. Wood-fired pizzas cooked hot…

Hitchcock: Best New Restaurant 2011

Hitchcock: Best New Restaurant 2011

Finally, there’s a definitive restaurant on Bainbridge Island that highlights the best of the region

Chef Brendan McGill worked at Seattle restaurants Il Bistro, The Harvest Vine, the now-defunct Cremant and for the Via Tribunali group. But when it came time to open his own restaurant, he was drawn to Bainbridge Island, where his wife’s family has lived since 1890. Hitchcock takes its name from McGill’s wife’s family tree, and…

Fuji Bakery

Fuji Bakery

This French-meets-Japanese bakery opened in the International District last year.

There are people in this world who love sweet baked goods, and there are people who get more excited about savory tastes. Both types unfailingly rave after a visit to Fuji Bakery. This French-meets-Japanese bakery opened in the International District last year (the bakery has been in Bellevue since 2009). Owner Akihiro Nakamura found pastry…

Screamin' Deal: Free Truffle Fries at Hotel 1000

Screamin’ Deal: Free Truffle Fries at Hotel 1000

If you work downtown, consider stopping by BOKA Kitchen + Bar part of your Friday routine. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays in February, the folks at Hotel 1000’s restaurant are giving out free truffle fries to anyone. Yep, that includes passersby, guests, starving college students and screamin’ deal junkies. Kick start your…

Boat Street Cafe's Best Brunch

Boat Street Cafe’s Best Brunch

There are breakfasts, and then there’s Boat Street Cafe & Kitchen's Rustic Cornmeal Custard Cake.

There’s really no better place to meet friends for brunch than at the Boat Street Cafe & Kitchen, which is tucked away on the far reaches of Belltown near the foot of Queen Anne Avenue North. Cool light spreads through the loft-like space; it’s the kind of place where crisp white linens, freshly cut tulips…

Bisato is Affordable Brilliance

Bisato is Affordable Brilliance

It seemed out of character when, in January, chef Scott Carsberg closed his revered fine-dining dest

It seemed out of character when, in January, chef Scott Carsberg closed his revered fine-dining destination, Lampreia, after 18 years. Even more of a shocker: He reopened the same corner space just a month later, serving his version of an Italian cicchetti-style (small-plates) menu. Gone (and, if you ask me, not missed) are the hushed…

Restaurant Review: El Pilón

Restaurant Review: El Pilón

“Homespun” may have become a ubiquitous term, but at Marta Vega’s 5-month-old restaurant, El Pilón,

 With the help of son Luis, Marta Vega realized her dream of cooking the Puerto Rican food her neighbors and family have loved for years. In a snug space between Columbia City and Hillman City—with room for just six red vinyl booths—families share Vega’s specialty, mofongo, a soulful, comforting mash of plantains and slow-cooked pork…

Elliott's Oyster House Pleasantly Surprises

Elliott’s Oyster House Pleasantly Surprises

Does Seattle’s premier tourist-friendly seafood restaurant deserve a better reputation?

Every August, our guest room fills up with friends from out of state betting on seeing the Seattle I swear exists: the one that doesn’t require an umbrella. Planning their itinerary, they ask the inevitable: “Where should we go for the best seafood?” And…hmm. For the seafood-focused Best Restaurants issue of Seattle magazine in April,…

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