Hi, Summitview: Friends of Eater Pick 2014's Best Dining Neighborhoods

Q: Name 2014's best dining neighborhood.

Julien Perry, co-founder, One Night Only Project

Capitol Hill

Nicole Sprinkle, food editor, Seattle Weekly

In terms of sheer volume, Pioneer Square. But I still gravitate to Ballard and Capitol Hill. However, there's a lot happening in the fringes of neighborhoods, like "Fre-lard."

Allison Scheff, food & dining editor, Seattle Magazine

The best dining neighborhood is Capitol Hill. There's hardly a question. You could spend a weekend eating around and still not hit every good place. There's coffee at Joe Bar and the Sidewalk Vivace, then Volunteer Park Cafe for the maple-fig scone or Ines for amazing croissants or Wandering Goose for biscuits with fried oysters or Cafe Presse for a perfect omelet and that room's perfect vibe. Then lunch at Taylor Shellfish or Sitka before getting cocktails at Canon or Sun Liquor or Liberty. Dinner at Mamnoon or Quinn's or Poppy or Single Shot or Spinasse. Even a clueless person has a very good chance of happening onto a great meal on Capitol Hill right now.

Jonathan Zwickel, senior editor, City Arts

Capitol Hill. Still the most diverse, walkable array of restaurants, bars, and price points.

Leslie Kelly, editor, Zagat Seattle; project manager, Tastemade Seattle

I'd say Capitol Hill, but the parking has gone from horrible to nightmarish. Fremont might not have the huge number of openings, but there's loads of quality options including newbies like Pomerol, Bourbon & Bones, Tray Kitchen, and Red Star Taco Bar. Parking's not great, but still better than Capitol Hill. OK, I'll shut my trap and Uber up to Suika, Bannister, Lark, and Stateside, a few of the new places I'm excited to try on the Hill.

Jameson Fink, wine blogger, Wine Without Worry podcast host

Capitol Hill

Surly Gourmand, "world's greatest food writer"

The best dining neighborhood continues to be Capitol Hill. Despite the fact that the Hill is rapidly becoming choked with an influx of emigrant douchebros, the neighborhood is still bursting with brilliant dining rooms such as Spinasse, Restaurant Zoe, and Lark. People keep talking about Ballard being a great place to eat, but the chatter sounds like a deflating gas bag to my ears because I hate Ballard.

Allecia Vermillion, food & drink editor, Seattle Met

Pike/Pine apparently does not stop.

Bethany Jean Clement, food writer, The Seattle Times

Clearly, the microhood now known as Summitview is Seattle's burning-hottest fraction of zip code, with Cafe Barjot and Single Shot both arriving on the tree-lined, walkable-if-not-parkable scene... JK, everyone knows you have to have three new places to give a neighborhood a made-up name and start saying stupid stuff about it. But, sorry, Capitol Hill wins by sheer volume, with 117 new places including Barjot, Single Shot, Stateside, Spaghetti Western, Trove, Zhu Dang, Suika, Kaisho, Restaurant Marron, Mezcaleria Oaxaca, Nacho Borracho, Revolver Bar, Villa Escondida, Manao, Kanak Cuisine of India, Thudsuan Kitchen & Bar, Somsiri, Corretto, and Shibumi. And I'm sure I'm forgetting some, and Nue opens very soon. The thing that's difficult to believe is how many of these places are great or promise to be great. Please send more stomach.

ADDENDA, with the help of jseattle at Capitol Hill Seattle Blog (thanks!): the new Lark (of course), the ginormous Starbucks Reserve® Roastery and Tasting Room with a Serious Pie lodged inside, the new Comet and Canterbury (sigh,) Nuflours, 500 East, and Inès Pâtisserie. Good lord.

Nancy Leson, food writer, KPLU food commentator

If you love Asian food as much as I do, come to my neighborhood: Edmonds. Stop laughing—and get in the car! At T&T Seafood Restaurant, a dedicated dim sum-kitchen staff keeps carts filled daily at lunch and fills my craving for Cantonese cookery at dinner. In the same complex, past BCD Tofu House (and only a couple blocks from my other soondubu standby, Hosoonyi) look for Looking for Chai (yes, there’s tea, but the lengthy Taiwanese menu is why I’m here). Or head north—half a block—to the strip mall where Biang! (their exclamation point) draws even the cool kids from Seattle, who come for the handmade "biangbiang" noodles famous in China’s northern Shaanxi province. And it’s a rare week when you won’t find me slurping dumpling noodle soup at Biang’s neighbor, Wonton Noodle House, or down the block at the Edmonds branch of the Viet soupery Pho Bac, for my favorite fast-food fix.