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A dining room with velvet orange seats and a teal carpeted floor.
The dining room at Bourbon Steak.
Bourbon Steak

12 Great Seattle Restaurants That Are Open on Mondays

Where to have a nice night out on a day when most restaurants are closed

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The dining room at Bourbon Steak.
| Bourbon Steak

For many restaurant industry workers, Mondays are a day to relax, run errands, hit up the dispensary — whatever it takes to decompress from a busy weekend of service and prepare for the following week. In other words, Mondays (and sometimes Tuesdays) are the weekend for many people working in Seattle restaurants. This day of rest is necessary, especially during the ongoing labor shortage that’s left restaurants understaffed and employees overworked, but it also makes it hard to plan a dinner date on Monday — and what do you if you’re a service-industry who wants to go out on your day off ? The following list aims to help anyone looking to eat dinner out on Mondays.

Know of a place that should be on this list? Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com. As usual, this list is not ranked; it’s organized geographically.

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Sunny Hill

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In early 2020, this welcoming Sunset Hill pizzeria started making its indelible mark on the scene, focused on both Detroit-style square and 12-inch round pies served from a Wood Stone hearth oven. Options include the Lord General, made with fennel sausage, soppressata, green olives, and pecorino, and the War Child, which features mushrooms, leeks, and truffle cheese.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

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If you’ve got a case of the Moooooondaaaays and need an impromptu after-work hang, you can’t go wrong with Renee Erickson’s exceptional Ballard oyster bar. It doesn’t take reservations so you can just show up with the expectation of scoring a seat — the downside is that there’s often a long waiting list. The fried oysters are worth it, though.

Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge

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This Cajun-Creole restaurant in Uptown has hundreds of candles adorning the walls and a disco ball hanging in the dining room. It feels like something between a shrine in a mountain cave and 80’s Miami drug lord’s den. The menu, inspired by the cuisine of New Orleans, is expansive, with oysters on the half shell, charcuterie and cheese plates, pasta and gnochi, steaks, and six preparations of half chickens. There’s also classic Southern dishes like gumbo and jambalaya.

James Beard Award-nominated chef Rachel Yang and partner Seif Chirchi offer simple but refined dishes at their Korean-influenced Fremont restaurant, including a smoked mackerel kedgeree and a famed kalbi short rib over grilled kimchi. Expect inventive dishes too, like smoked tofu or beef tartare with Asian pear and pine nuts. With an inviting, open space and easy-going service, Joule offers a special night out sans pretension. Sit at the bar and watch chefs plating dishes and sip on one of Joule’s creative cocktails, like the lapsang souchong tequila drink with lime and Thai chili agave.

With an rooftop patio with views of Lake Union, the Space Needle, and myriad cranes soaring above the booming South Lake Union neighborhood, Mbar is one hell of a spot to soak up the sun. It’s made even more memorable with a robust Middle Eastern menu with dishes like smoked eggplant croquettes, muhammara, falafel, and grilled lamb chops as well as some potent cocktails.

Rondo Japanese Kitchen

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This Capitol Hill Japanese bar and restaurant serves a dizzying array of Japanese dishes, including several preparations of ramen and udon, omakase and a la carte sushi, donburis, Japanese curries, bento boxes, and snacks like smoked tuna tataki and a shooter made with uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), and yuzu soy sauce on rice. The $24 chirashi bowl features many of the restaurant’s best ingredients: seared wagyu beef, crab, unagi (eel), ikura, uni, tobiko (flying fish roe), and a selection of sliced fish. 

Pho Bac Súp Shop

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The Pham family’s Pho Bac “boat” restaurant was a pioneer in the Vietnamese dining scene, and the more modern Pho Bac Sup Shop continues its legacy with aplomb in Little Saigon. Tender beef falls off massive beef ribs on its internet-famous pho or on the spicy bun bo hue. Enjoy the fragrant bowls of broth with cocktails made with passionfruit and mango or herbaceous drinks made with Thai basil and Vietnamese coriander in the colorful, lively space. If you want another take on Vietnamese food, cross the parking lot to The Boat, which services fried chicken, waffles, garlic rice, and can’t-miss cocktails.

Cafe Lago

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Carla Leonardi’s Italian bistro has been serving Tuscan-inspired food on white tablecloths in an old brick building in Montlake since 1990. The wood-fired oven at the back of the restaurant churns out delicate, crispy pizzas that are only $10 on Mondays for customers dining in, making this one of the rare restaurants that really courts the Monday crowd. The only downside is that it can get pretty busy, so expect a wait; reservations are encouraged.

Le Pichet

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Though this Anthony Bourdain–endorsed French bistro and cafe near Pike Place Market is probably best-known for its brunch and lunch and its charcuterie, pates, and quiches, it’s also a great spot for a casual French date night. Classic entrees include duck leg confit, steak frites, and a whole roasted chicken.

Pestle Rock

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Pestle Rock features Thai food from the Isan region of the country, which is known for dishes packed with fresh herbs and chili peppers and drenched in lime juice. Highlights include the crispy fried chicken wings, an excellent kao soi, and a Dungeness crab fried rice. Quality preparations also make deft use of local ingredients, such as the grilled wild boar collar served with lime juice, toasted rice, and lots of chili pepper.

Umi Sake House

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This late-night Belltown destination for sushi, sake, and Japanese whisky offers an impressive list of nigiri and sushi rolls — which include traditional Japanese versions as well as creative American-style specialty rolls like the Dragonfly, made with tempura shrimp, yellowtail, grilled shishito peppers and ghost pepper aioli. Omakase, (starting at $50 per person) is also an option if you’re dining in. If you’re having one of those “let’s just get takeout” types of Mondays, Umi Sake House also has some of the best takeout sushi in the city.

Reckless Noodle House and Cocktails

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This Central District restaurant features bold flavors wielded expertly in dishes like roast duck crispy rolls with sambal hoisin, papaya salad, caramelized pork fresh rolls with Hanoi fish sauce, and tingly ma la noodles with melt-in-your-mouth beef cheek. Nothing about this place feels particularly reckless, just plain dialed in — ditto the original cocktails.

Sunny Hill

In early 2020, this welcoming Sunset Hill pizzeria started making its indelible mark on the scene, focused on both Detroit-style square and 12-inch round pies served from a Wood Stone hearth oven. Options include the Lord General, made with fennel sausage, soppressata, green olives, and pecorino, and the War Child, which features mushrooms, leeks, and truffle cheese.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

If you’ve got a case of the Moooooondaaaays and need an impromptu after-work hang, you can’t go wrong with Renee Erickson’s exceptional Ballard oyster bar. It doesn’t take reservations so you can just show up with the expectation of scoring a seat — the downside is that there’s often a long waiting list. The fried oysters are worth it, though.

Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge

This Cajun-Creole restaurant in Uptown has hundreds of candles adorning the walls and a disco ball hanging in the dining room. It feels like something between a shrine in a mountain cave and 80’s Miami drug lord’s den. The menu, inspired by the cuisine of New Orleans, is expansive, with oysters on the half shell, charcuterie and cheese plates, pasta and gnochi, steaks, and six preparations of half chickens. There’s also classic Southern dishes like gumbo and jambalaya.

Joule

James Beard Award-nominated chef Rachel Yang and partner Seif Chirchi offer simple but refined dishes at their Korean-influenced Fremont restaurant, including a smoked mackerel kedgeree and a famed kalbi short rib over grilled kimchi. Expect inventive dishes too, like smoked tofu or beef tartare with Asian pear and pine nuts. With an inviting, open space and easy-going service, Joule offers a special night out sans pretension. Sit at the bar and watch chefs plating dishes and sip on one of Joule’s creative cocktails, like the lapsang souchong tequila drink with lime and Thai chili agave.

mbar

With an rooftop patio with views of Lake Union, the Space Needle, and myriad cranes soaring above the booming South Lake Union neighborhood, Mbar is one hell of a spot to soak up the sun. It’s made even more memorable with a robust Middle Eastern menu with dishes like smoked eggplant croquettes, muhammara, falafel, and grilled lamb chops as well as some potent cocktails.

Rondo Japanese Kitchen

This Capitol Hill Japanese bar and restaurant serves a dizzying array of Japanese dishes, including several preparations of ramen and udon, omakase and a la carte sushi, donburis, Japanese curries, bento boxes, and snacks like smoked tuna tataki and a shooter made with uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), and yuzu soy sauce on rice. The $24 chirashi bowl features many of the restaurant’s best ingredients: seared wagyu beef, crab, unagi (eel), ikura, uni, tobiko (flying fish roe), and a selection of sliced fish. 

Pho Bac Súp Shop

The Pham family’s Pho Bac “boat” restaurant was a pioneer in the Vietnamese dining scene, and the more modern Pho Bac Sup Shop continues its legacy with aplomb in Little Saigon. Tender beef falls off massive beef ribs on its internet-famous pho or on the spicy bun bo hue. Enjoy the fragrant bowls of broth with cocktails made with passionfruit and mango or herbaceous drinks made with Thai basil and Vietnamese coriander in the colorful, lively space. If you want another take on Vietnamese food, cross the parking lot to The Boat, which services fried chicken, waffles, garlic rice, and can’t-miss cocktails.

Cafe Lago

Carla Leonardi’s Italian bistro has been serving Tuscan-inspired food on white tablecloths in an old brick building in Montlake since 1990. The wood-fired oven at the back of the restaurant churns out delicate, crispy pizzas that are only $10 on Mondays for customers dining in, making this one of the rare restaurants that really courts the Monday crowd. The only downside is that it can get pretty busy, so expect a wait; reservations are encouraged.

Le Pichet

Though this Anthony Bourdain–endorsed French bistro and cafe near Pike Place Market is probably best-known for its brunch and lunch and its charcuterie, pates, and quiches, it’s also a great spot for a casual French date night. Classic entrees include duck leg confit, steak frites, and a whole roasted chicken.

Pestle Rock

Pestle Rock features Thai food from the Isan region of the country, which is known for dishes packed with fresh herbs and chili peppers and drenched in lime juice. Highlights include the crispy fried chicken wings, an excellent kao soi, and a Dungeness crab fried rice. Quality preparations also make deft use of local ingredients, such as the grilled wild boar collar served with lime juice, toasted rice, and lots of chili pepper.

Umi Sake House

This late-night Belltown destination for sushi, sake, and Japanese whisky offers an impressive list of nigiri and sushi rolls — which include traditional Japanese versions as well as creative American-style specialty rolls like the Dragonfly, made with tempura shrimp, yellowtail, grilled shishito peppers and ghost pepper aioli. Omakase, (starting at $50 per person) is also an option if you’re dining in. If you’re having one of those “let’s just get takeout” types of Mondays, Umi Sake House also has some of the best takeout sushi in the city.

Reckless Noodle House and Cocktails

This Central District restaurant features bold flavors wielded expertly in dishes like roast duck crispy rolls with sambal hoisin, papaya salad, caramelized pork fresh rolls with Hanoi fish sauce, and tingly ma la noodles with melt-in-your-mouth beef cheek. Nothing about this place feels particularly reckless, just plain dialed in — ditto the original cocktails.

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