Seattle’s 10 Most Anticipated Openings, Spring and Summer 2018

Seattle restaurants continue to sprout like Skagit Valley tulips, so here now is Eater’s guide to the most anticipated restaurants scheduled to open in spring or summer 2018. They’re listed in roughly chronological order of the most recent projected opening date.

Little Neon Taco

Location: 1011 Boren Ave., First Hill
Key Players: Monica Dimas (Neon Taco, Westman’s Coffee and Bagel, Tortas Condesa)
Projected Opening: March 23
The Situation: Fresh off the buzzy opening of Westman’s Bagel and Coffee on Capitol Hill, Dimas is moving toward downtown with this standalone sibling to Neon Taco, which operates within Nacho Borracho. Originally anticipated last fall (when it was known as Lil’ Neon Taco), Little Neon Taco, actually the largest of Dimas’ eateries, is now slated for early spring. Lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch should feature a mix of tacos both traditional (like lengua and adobada) and modern (cueritos with soft pork rinds), tortas, and other Mexican specialties.
Status: Certified open.

Brandon Patoc Photography via Neon Taco/FB

Wa’z

Location: 411 Cedar St., Belltown
Key Players: Hiro Tawara
Projected Opening: Late March
The Situation: When Shota Nakajima converted Naka to casual Adana, Seattle lost its only restaurant focused on the meticulous, seasonal Japanese art of kaiseki. Now another chef, Hiro Tawara, is bringing the cuisine back to town. Tawara’s career started at Kyoto’s Kyo-Yamato and other kaiseki restaurants in Japan, and he’s been practicing the style for years via pop-ups even while working at Shiro’s and Sushi Kappo Tamura. A 12-seat chef’s counter will serve 8 to 10 courses priced at $100 to $110 with an option to add a sake pairing. In the 16-seat dining room, a scaled-down “Gozen” involves three menu options priced at $50 each.
Status: Certified open.

Wa’z [Official photo]

Raised Doughnuts

Location: 1101 23rd Ave., Central District
Key Players: Mi Kim
Projected Opening: May
The Situation: Great news for anyone who struggles to track the shifting tides of Seattle’s pop-up scene: Mi Kim has found a permanent home for her creative, agonizingly intermittent business and its gluten-free mochi doughnuts, maple bars, raspberry holes, and more.
Status: Certified open.

Raised Doughnuts/FB

Super Bueno

Location: 3627 Stone Way N, Fremont
Key Players: Ethan and Angela Stowell
Projected Opening: Spring
The Situation: Ethan Stowell Restaurants is branching out beyond its Italian-leaning portfolio of restaurants (including upcoming Cortina downtown) with this new Atelier Drome-designed two-in-one project, the group’s first focused on Mexican food: Cafe Bueno, serving coffee and breakfast burritos in a family-friendly space to start the day, and Super Bueno, catering to the dinner crowd with margaritas, boozy slushies, grilled corn, and ceviche. But will Super Bueno’s tamale be good enough to save Ethan Stowell the trip down to White Center’s Carniceria el Paisano for his favorite version?
Status: Certified open.

Ethan Stowell Restaurants [Official photo]

Seattle Biscuit Co.

Location: 4001 Leary Way NW, Frelard
Key Players: Sam Thompson
Projected Opening: Spring
The Situation: One of the city’s essential food trucks is adding a homey brick-and-mortar across from Frelard Pizza Company, in the difficult-to-define zone between Fremont and Ballard. Mississippi native Thompson has actually been permitted to open for months, but a variety of factors have delayed his first restaurant, which will focus on fried chicken, brown liquor, and, of course, fluffy biscuits made with local ingredients.
Status: Certified open.

Seattle Biscuit Company/FB

Homer

Location: 3013 Beacon Ave. S, Beacon Hill
Key Players: Logan Cox
Projected Opening: July 1
The Situation: Cox’s experience at Sitka and Spruce should serve him well as he opens his own restaurant dedicated to the art of wood-fired cooking. But he’s hoping to keep his Mediterranean- and Middle Eastern-skewing menu (pitas and spreads, grilled vegetables, local shellfish, and lots of fermented items) affordable enough to make Homer a neighborhood staple, with prices between $6 and $22. “We live in this ‘hood and love Beacon Hill, we want [it] to feel like we’re part of the fabric of the neighborhood and not something that sticks apart from it,” he said.

Homer [Official photo]

Sawyer

Location: 5309 22nd Ave. NW, Ballard
Key Players: Mitch Mayers
Projected Opening: Early July
The Situation: After four years at Lark, chef de cuisine Mayers is ready for his own restaurant in the former home of Kickin’ Boot Whiskey Kitchen. The Washington native plans to go a little more casual than Lark, serving a broadly American menu of food he loves to eat (oxtail nachos, rotisserie porchetta, jojos) in a down-to-earth space filled with booths and designed by Graham Baba Architects.
Status: Certified open.

Mitch Mayers [Official photo]

Shake Shack

Location: 2115 Westlake Ave., Denny Triangle
Key Players: Randy Garutti
Projected Opening: Summer
The Situation: The East Coast’s cult burger chain is finally opening its first Washington outpost so fans can gorge on Shackburgers, chicken sandwiches, concretes, milkshakes, and maybe even hot chicken, chicken tenders, and local collaborations — a Canlis burger, perhaps? (CEO Garutti is an alum of that hallowed institution, after all.) A large outdoor area means the insanity can spill outside, too.

Shake Shack [Official photo]

Willmott’s Ghost

Location: 2101 7th Ave., South Lake Union
Key Players: Renee Erickson, Jeremy Price
Projected Opening: Summer
The Situation: Renowned chef Erickson (Bateau, The Walrus and the Carpenter, and more) and business partner Price are opening two new ventures in Amazonia: a bar modeled after dimly lit and dark-toned Manhattan hotels — a departure from the duo’s tendency to keep things open, airy, and light — and an Italian restaurant, called Willmott’s Ghost, inspired by Erickson’s college stint in Rome. The former will serve bites like smoked oysters and beef carpaccio, the latter quick meals like pizza bianca, salads, small fried bites, and salumi to suit the working crowd as well as pasta and other diverse Italian dishes at dinner.

Morgen Schuler for Eater

Little Fish

Location: 1701 Western Ave., Pike Place Market
Key Players: Bryan Jarr, Zoi Antonitsas
Projected Opening: Late summer
The Situation: Little Fish is a wildly ambitious sequel, expanding upon the size and scope of Jarr’s tiny, European-style Jarrbar in every way. Inspired by the quality but also the show of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Seattle Fish Guys, and other makers in the historic market, the new restaurant will feature a microcannery, an exciting component that will allow diners to view the preservation of local seafood on-site. The large space overlooking the water in the Marketfront expansion will also have an open kitchen where incomparable chef Antonitsas will combine these tinned experiments with fresh PNW fish, undoubtedly to great effect.

Sarah Flotard