
A Whopping 20 New Seattle Restaurant Openings You Should Know About
CAPITOL HILL — Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reports that the former Regent Bakery and Cafe space on 14th and Pine Street is now a Japanese hot pot joint called Raku Shabu Shabu, which is still in its soft opening phase.
SOUTH LAKE UNION — We've been hyping up La Loba for a little while now — this new Spanish restaurant from Vegas-based chef Oscar Amador inside the 1 Hotel has more style than most hotel restaurants and has a menu laden with all sorts of fun stuff, like wood-fired dishes, tableside tartar, and extravagant seafood platters.
PIONEER SQUARE — Speaking of swanky hotels, Populus just opened with a pair of food and drink 'concepts,' as they say in the biz: Firn, which is Pioneer Square's first rooftop bar, plus a below-roof restaurant called Salt Harvest.
CAPITOL HILL — And speaking of rooftop bars, Capitol Hill has a new one called Cantina Del Sol, which is the first of several bars and restaurants that the Pike Street Hospitality Group plans to put inside the former Mercado Luna building at the corner of Pine Street and Summit Avenue.
MADRONA — You don't get a lot of new barbecue restaurants in Seattle, but caterer Richard's Too Good BBQ just opened a brick-and-mortar location on 34th Avenue. It's serving classic barbecue dishes and Southern-style sides like corn bread and collard greens. As a bonus, the whole menu is gluten-free.
CHINATOWN–INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT — A new restaurant called International Lobster Rolls is 'serving fresh specialty lobster rolls inspired by Southeast Asian, Korean, Hong Kong, Vietnamese flavors and more,' according to its Instagram. It also has sides like garlic fries and lobster bisque.
CAPITOL HILL — Maybe the next new hot Vietnamese coffee shop just opened on Pine. Called Phe, it specializes in phin-brewed coffee (topped with things like honeycomb toffee) and matcha. Expect a crowd during this soft-opening phase — according to Phe's Instagram, it's been so popular it ran out of matcha last week.
KENMORE — Industry vets Cody and Andrea Westerfield have turned their pop-up De La Soil into a permanent restaurant inside Copperworks Distilling's Kenmore location. It's serving seasonal fare mostly sourced mostly from one farm, the nearby Tuk Muk. There's also a kids menu.
GREENWOOD — What might be Seattle's only drive-thru pizzeria just opened — BoBu serves a simple menu of square pizza slices, sandwiches, and pretzels out of a shack on Northwest 85th Street and Eighth Avenue.
FREMONT — Livbud, the vegetarian-friendly all-day cafe on Stone Way, has been converted by owner Heavy Restaurant Group into a new spot called Hushy's. It's serving freshly baked focaccia sandwiches, plus salads, sides, drinks, and (in the near future) soft serve.
CENTRAL DISTRICT — Temple Pastries owner Christina Wood has gotten into pizza, opening a new restaurant in the Temple space called Sacro Bosco. It specializes in Roman-style rectangular pizza and will also be serving aperitivo, Italian wine and cocktails, and some desserts including tiramisu and olive oil cake. For now, it's dine-in only.
BALLARD — Long-running Thai restaurant Thai Siam reopened after owner Vhanthip 'Nancy' Bhokayasupatt managed to get enough money to buy the building, keeping a neighborhood institution in place.
FIRST HILL — After starting out in the kitchen of a Tacoma Holiday Inn, a budding chain called Secret Burger Kitchen has opened a Seattle location at the sleepy south end of Broadway. It serves smashburgers, fries, and more smashburgers, with a whole section of the menu devoted to spicy, chile-laden burgers and fries.
DOWNTOWN — Taz Matcha Cafe & Bar is now open on Stewart Street near Fourth Avenue. Well, at least the cafe part is. It's serving 'ceremonial-grade' matcha along with pastries and small bites until 2 p.m., and the evening bar part of the business will open soon.
MADRONA — Another interesting cafe — this one drawing on Filipino and Korean influences — has opened on 34th Street. Called Yoka Tea, it has matcha, boba tea, and some croffles.
WHITE CENTER — Popular food truck Whateke has taken over the former Que Chevere space, which is now Whateke Sports Bar. It'll be serving the Mexican food Whateke is known for and some new items like ceviche. There will also be space for all-ages family dining, reports White Center Now.
AURORA — Top Dead Center, a motorcycle-inspired cafe, just opened on Aurora near 77th Street. It's serving coffee (both Vietnamese phin-brewed stuff and espresso) and a selection of Spanish- and Portuguese-inspired food, like tinned fish, egg tarts, and sandwiches.
PIONEER SQUARE — Famed local ice cream chain Molly Moon's has opened its 10th scoop shop, this one in a picturesque former boat launch down by Pioneer Square, part of a long-running effort to revive the downtown waterfront.
CHINATOWN–INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT — A new poke restaurant called Pokerrito Ya just opened on King Street. It's billing itself as 'Japanese–Hawaiian fusion' and serving poke in bowls as well as in burritos.
CAPITOL HILL — A year after opening its first Seattle location in the University District, student-centric cookie delivery chain Insomnia now has a second location, this one on Broadway between Pike and Pine.
BELLEVUE — Finally, a new bar called Valentina's Wine Bar just opened on Bellevue's Main Street. It will serve flatbreads and charcuterie in addition to wine, and it's owned by the same people behind a wine bar in the oceanside town of Seabrook.
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