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The burger and corn from Pig Iron Burger Shack
Pig Iron Burger Shack

The Hottest New Restaurants in the Seattle Area, May 2023

New entries include a retro diner reopening, a food truck slinging meaty sandwiches, and pork burgers in Georgetown

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The burger and corn from Pig Iron Burger Shack
| Pig Iron Burger Shack

The Eater Seattle Heatmap aims to answer to question “Where should I eat right now?” for people trying to keep up with the city’s constantly changing dining landscape. It focuses on newer restaurants — typically opened or revamped significantly within the last six months or so — that are reshaping Seattle’s food scene for the better.

Restaurants have endured enormous challenges the last several years, forced to contend with a pandemic that’s made restaurant work more dangerous, caused supply chain disruptions, and contributed, in some part, to labor shortages. Still, each month chefs continue to navigate uncertainty and open restaurants that expand the possibilities for dining in the city. Know of a spot that should be on our radar? Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com.

New to the map in May 2023: Sammich, Luna Park Cafe, and Pig Iron Burger Shack.

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Dark Room

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This new Greenwood cocktail spot (where the old Teacher’s Lounge used to be) isn’t afraid of a gimmick. It’s menu at launch included the Pisco & Paparazzi, a drink that comes garnished with a Polaroid of yourself drinking it — yes, the bartender comes out with a camera. Another concoction, the Kimcheech and Chong (an ingenious combination of mezcal, lime, orange, orgeat, peach bitters, and kimchi brine) comes with an orange peel rolled up and singed so as to resemble a joint, get it? But bartenders and owners Matthew Gomez and Matt Hassler are serious cocktail crafters and are doing seriously delicious work here. The Korean-inflected food menu from chef Amy Beaumier (the third owner) makes you want to make a meal out of bar snacks, included marinated mayak eggs served with roe, a kimchi pimento cheese dip, and pork and shrimp sandwiches on the bar’s own milk bread.

a cocktail on ice garnished with an orange peel
The Kimcheech and Chong.
Harry Cheadle

Sammich Seattle

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One of the most-hyped food trucks of the spring landed in the Maple Leaf parking lot of Project 9 Brewing in early May. Originated in Oregon but with its heart somewhere between Chicago and Texas, Sammich specializes in meaty, messy sandwiches like the Italian Beef, which is loaded with peppers and best enjoyed with au jus poured all over everything. Sammich sandwiches pair nicely with beer, but also with an afternoon nap.

A beef sandwich Harry Cheadle

Beth's Cafe

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It’s baaaaaaack. The good news is that the twice-closed diner by the side of Aurora reopened in February; the bad news is the former 24-hour spot is now only open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. But Beth’s devotees will take what they can get, and this local legend is still serving its infamous 12-egg omelets alongside smaller portions of comfort food. It’s not spacious or fancy or pretentious or “elevated,” and thank god for that.

Spud Fish & Chips

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If you’re struck with a bad case of the Lulemon Blues while walking around pre-revolution Green Lake, duck into this refreshingly unpretentious fish and chips shop, which has been around in some form since 1940 but just reopened in late 2022. The fish is flaky on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside, and the fries cry out for vinegar and tartar sauce. What more could you ask for?  

Coastal Kitchen

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Capitol Hill classic Coastal Kitchen reopened in December after a car crashed through its entrance. The 29-year-old fish house and oyster bar boasts a new sign and black exterior, dark booths offsetting bright white walls and white-tiled floors, bar tops of dark wood and light marble, and a vibrant mural by artist Becca Fuhrman. In the kitchen, the chefs are doubling down on Northwest and Pacific Coast seafood like oysters, halibut ceviche, wild Alaskan salmon with black trumpet mushrooms and salmon roe, and shellfish risotto. Small-batch natural wines, local draft beer, and cocktails dominate the drink menu, including a spiced persimmon hot toddy and the Tahoma, which shakes up gin with yuzu liqueur and egg whites.

Milk Bar

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Is this in a mall? Is $50 sort of a lot to pay for a cake? Okay, we hear you. But have you bitten into the rich, dense center of a birthday cake truffle? Or let the cereal milk soft serve topped with corn flakes transport you back into your carefree, unselfconscious youth? If you’re going to be in Bellevue Square anyway, why not eat something sweet and memorable?

Ox Burger

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The Lao Burger at Taurus Ox was so good that it deserved its own restaurant, and now it has one on Capitol Hill. The original burger is still one of the city’s best, with two beef-and-pork smash patties, taro stem, pickled onions, provolone, and jaew bong mayo to give it a little bit of a kick. They also have fried chicken sandwiches and burgers with more traditional American-style toppings. But if you haven’t had the Lao Burger, that’s what you’re ordering here.

A burger with pickled onions and cilantro
The Lao Burger.
Harry Cheadle

Lai Rai Restaurant and Bar

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For what looks like a bog standard Belltown club-slash-bar, Lai Rai is doing wildly ambitious things with its menu. It opened in October but didn’t bring on chef Christopher Ritter (of Stateside and a few other notable restaurants) until December, and the things he and his team are doing here are not to be missed. There’s a Philly cheesesteak banh mi with “fancy Cheese Whiz,” a shrimp toast that melts in your mouth, triple-fried chicken with a sweet kick from fish sauce caramel — and also the best, most tender, fall-off-the-bone-est pork ribs in Seattle?? Or at least, if there are better ribs here please let us know at seattle@eater.com!

Asean Streat Food Hall

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Level 1 of Westlake Center downtown has a new food hall called Asean Streatdecorated brightly with colorful tablecloths, chairs, milk crates hanging from the ceiling, and large video screens. The name refers to the street eats that the food hall serves from food carts representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which comprises 10 countries, so you can order from a centralized kiosk to combine the likes of Thai and Laotian dishes such as larb from Zaab Eli with Vietnamese from Phancy Pho.

Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe

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After showing proof of concept with a hugely popular pop-up, cookbook author Sara Upshaw has opened her highly anticipated gluten-free Korean restaurant, Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe. Expect about half vegan options among noodles, soups, stewed meats, and 10 or so seasonally rotating banchan, the kinds of fermented side dishes (like various styles of kimchi) that typically accompany rice at Korean meals. The counter-service spot in Pioneer Square also serves soju, wine, cider, and gluten-free beer in the evenings.

Itsumono

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The name of this ID bar is Japanese for “the usual” or “regulars,” and though it’s getting some unfamiliar faces among its customers after the Seattle Times raved about it, it still has the feel of a laid-back pub that just happens to serve innovative cocktails and attention-getting dishes like Seattle dog musubi. If you want a tip, order the oysters, which when we had them were topped with Hawaiian chili oil, a sweet-spicy-briny mouthful we’re still thinking about days later.  

A bowl with rice, breaded pork, and curry
The pork katsu with tikka masala curry at Itsumono
Harry Cheadle

Driftwood Restaurant

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Acclaimed chef Dan Mallahan and his wife and business partner Jackie Mallahan opened their much-hyped Alki Beach spot in January, serving extremely local seafood sourced with the help of members of the Quinault and Makah tribes. This is a destination for anyone interested in what “Northwest cuisine” can mean, with menu items like pull-apart rolls served with shittake butter and rockfish accompanied by brussel sprout leaves, salsify, and celery root mousse.

A table covered in dishes, including a plate of oysters

Luna Park Cafe

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The West Seattle Bridge has been open now for a little while, but the trip across the water didn’t feel the same while the Luna Park Cafe was closed for some R&R. As of March, that hiatus has thankfully ended, and the diner is once again a beacon of kitschy retro fun. The menu is that timeless diner stuff, the only innovation here being that they’ll serve your breakfast items in a “pile” (on hashbrowns and topped with eggs) or a “hobo” (mixed up with hashbrowns and eggs). They got a whole vegan menu here, and Rainier tall boys (that famous local vegan speciality) are like $5. What else do you want?

Pig Iron Burger Shack

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Georgetown’s Pig Iron BBQ has been in a chrysalis since it closed during the pandemic, and now it has emerged butterfly-like as a pork burger joint. Substituting pork for beef makes a huge difference — the patties here are sweet, fatty, and seared to give a kiss of caramelization. The fixings aren’t bad either, like the pickled jalapenos on the Texas Heat sandwich that balance out the pork’s sweetness. The fried tomatoes are a side we could eat all day, though honestly if you fried anything in batter and dipped it in Pig Iron’s roast jalapeno scallion buttermilk sauce we’d want to put a ring on it. The only downside is the short hours, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A burger next to a side of corn Pig Iron Burger Shack

Mama Sambusa Kitchen

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Halal food cart Mama Sambusa Kitchen has made the leap to a permanent home in Rainier Valley for the Somali street foods that Marian Ahmed (aka Mama Sambusa) and her daughter Chef Mohammed have perfected over the decades. Crispy sambusas filled with beef or veggies are obviously the star, but you’ll also find spaghetti, lamb and rice bowls, and decadent cheesecakes. The late-night hero typically stays open until 4 a.m., and will still focus primarily on to-go business as it only seats four for now; keep an eye out for brunch in the future as well.

Dark Room

This new Greenwood cocktail spot (where the old Teacher’s Lounge used to be) isn’t afraid of a gimmick. It’s menu at launch included the Pisco & Paparazzi, a drink that comes garnished with a Polaroid of yourself drinking it — yes, the bartender comes out with a camera. Another concoction, the Kimcheech and Chong (an ingenious combination of mezcal, lime, orange, orgeat, peach bitters, and kimchi brine) comes with an orange peel rolled up and singed so as to resemble a joint, get it? But bartenders and owners Matthew Gomez and Matt Hassler are serious cocktail crafters and are doing seriously delicious work here. The Korean-inflected food menu from chef Amy Beaumier (the third owner) makes you want to make a meal out of bar snacks, included marinated mayak eggs served with roe, a kimchi pimento cheese dip, and pork and shrimp sandwiches on the bar’s own milk bread.

a cocktail on ice garnished with an orange peel
The Kimcheech and Chong.
Harry Cheadle

Sammich Seattle

One of the most-hyped food trucks of the spring landed in the Maple Leaf parking lot of Project 9 Brewing in early May. Originated in Oregon but with its heart somewhere between Chicago and Texas, Sammich specializes in meaty, messy sandwiches like the Italian Beef, which is loaded with peppers and best enjoyed with au jus poured all over everything. Sammich sandwiches pair nicely with beer, but also with an afternoon nap.

A beef sandwich Harry Cheadle

Beth's Cafe

It’s baaaaaaack. The good news is that the twice-closed diner by the side of Aurora reopened in February; the bad news is the former 24-hour spot is now only open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. But Beth’s devotees will take what they can get, and this local legend is still serving its infamous 12-egg omelets alongside smaller portions of comfort food. It’s not spacious or fancy or pretentious or “elevated,” and thank god for that.

Spud Fish & Chips

If you’re struck with a bad case of the Lulemon Blues while walking around pre-revolution Green Lake, duck into this refreshingly unpretentious fish and chips shop, which has been around in some form since 1940 but just reopened in late 2022. The fish is flaky on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside, and the fries cry out for vinegar and tartar sauce. What more could you ask for?  

Coastal Kitchen

Capitol Hill classic Coastal Kitchen reopened in December after a car crashed through its entrance. The 29-year-old fish house and oyster bar boasts a new sign and black exterior, dark booths offsetting bright white walls and white-tiled floors, bar tops of dark wood and light marble, and a vibrant mural by artist Becca Fuhrman. In the kitchen, the chefs are doubling down on Northwest and Pacific Coast seafood like oysters, halibut ceviche, wild Alaskan salmon with black trumpet mushrooms and salmon roe, and shellfish risotto. Small-batch natural wines, local draft beer, and cocktails dominate the drink menu, including a spiced persimmon hot toddy and the Tahoma, which shakes up gin with yuzu liqueur and egg whites.

Milk Bar

Is this in a mall? Is $50 sort of a lot to pay for a cake? Okay, we hear you. But have you bitten into the rich, dense center of a birthday cake truffle? Or let the cereal milk soft serve topped with corn flakes transport you back into your carefree, unselfconscious youth? If you’re going to be in Bellevue Square anyway, why not eat something sweet and memorable?

Ox Burger

The Lao Burger at Taurus Ox was so good that it deserved its own restaurant, and now it has one on Capitol Hill. The original burger is still one of the city’s best, with two beef-and-pork smash patties, taro stem, pickled onions, provolone, and jaew bong mayo to give it a little bit of a kick. They also have fried chicken sandwiches and burgers with more traditional American-style toppings. But if you haven’t had the Lao Burger, that’s what you’re ordering here.

A burger with pickled onions and cilantro
The Lao Burger.
Harry Cheadle

Lai Rai Restaurant and Bar

For what looks like a bog standard Belltown club-slash-bar, Lai Rai is doing wildly ambitious things with its menu. It opened in October but didn’t bring on chef Christopher Ritter (of Stateside and a few other notable restaurants) until December, and the things he and his team are doing here are not to be missed. There’s a Philly cheesesteak banh mi with “fancy Cheese Whiz,” a shrimp toast that melts in your mouth, triple-fried chicken with a sweet kick from fish sauce caramel — and also the best, most tender, fall-off-the-bone-est pork ribs in Seattle?? Or at least, if there are better ribs here please let us know at seattle@eater.com!

Asean Streat Food Hall

Level 1 of Westlake Center downtown has a new food hall called Asean Streatdecorated brightly with colorful tablecloths, chairs, milk crates hanging from the ceiling, and large video screens. The name refers to the street eats that the food hall serves from food carts representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which comprises 10 countries, so you can order from a centralized kiosk to combine the likes of Thai and Laotian dishes such as larb from Zaab Eli with Vietnamese from Phancy Pho.

Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe

After showing proof of concept with a hugely popular pop-up, cookbook author Sara Upshaw has opened her highly anticipated gluten-free Korean restaurant, Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe. Expect about half vegan options among noodles, soups, stewed meats, and 10 or so seasonally rotating banchan, the kinds of fermented side dishes (like various styles of kimchi) that typically accompany rice at Korean meals. The counter-service spot in Pioneer Square also serves soju, wine, cider, and gluten-free beer in the evenings.

Itsumono

The name of this ID bar is Japanese for “the usual” or “regulars,” and though it’s getting some unfamiliar faces among its customers after the Seattle Times raved about it, it still has the feel of a laid-back pub that just happens to serve innovative cocktails and attention-getting dishes like Seattle dog musubi. If you want a tip, order the oysters, which when we had them were topped with Hawaiian chili oil, a sweet-spicy-briny mouthful we’re still thinking about days later.  

A bowl with rice, breaded pork, and curry
The pork katsu with tikka masala curry at Itsumono
Harry Cheadle

Driftwood Restaurant

Acclaimed chef Dan Mallahan and his wife and business partner Jackie Mallahan opened their much-hyped Alki Beach spot in January, serving extremely local seafood sourced with the help of members of the Quinault and Makah tribes. This is a destination for anyone interested in what “Northwest cuisine” can mean, with menu items like pull-apart rolls served with shittake butter and rockfish accompanied by brussel sprout leaves, salsify, and celery root mousse.

A table covered in dishes, including a plate of oysters

Luna Park Cafe

The West Seattle Bridge has been open now for a little while, but the trip across the water didn’t feel the same while the Luna Park Cafe was closed for some R&R. As of March, that hiatus has thankfully ended, and the diner is once again a beacon of kitschy retro fun. The menu is that timeless diner stuff, the only innovation here being that they’ll serve your breakfast items in a “pile” (on hashbrowns and topped with eggs) or a “hobo” (mixed up with hashbrowns and eggs). They got a whole vegan menu here, and Rainier tall boys (that famous local vegan speciality) are like $5. What else do you want?

Pig Iron Burger Shack

Georgetown’s Pig Iron BBQ has been in a chrysalis since it closed during the pandemic, and now it has emerged butterfly-like as a pork burger joint. Substituting pork for beef makes a huge difference — the patties here are sweet, fatty, and seared to give a kiss of caramelization. The fixings aren’t bad either, like the pickled jalapenos on the Texas Heat sandwich that balance out the pork’s sweetness. The fried tomatoes are a side we could eat all day, though honestly if you fried anything in batter and dipped it in Pig Iron’s roast jalapeno scallion buttermilk sauce we’d want to put a ring on it. The only downside is the short hours, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A burger next to a side of corn Pig Iron Burger Shack

Mama Sambusa Kitchen

Halal food cart Mama Sambusa Kitchen has made the leap to a permanent home in Rainier Valley for the Somali street foods that Marian Ahmed (aka Mama Sambusa) and her daughter Chef Mohammed have perfected over the decades. Crispy sambusas filled with beef or veggies are obviously the star, but you’ll also find spaghetti, lamb and rice bowls, and decadent cheesecakes. The late-night hero typically stays open until 4 a.m., and will still focus primarily on to-go business as it only seats four for now; keep an eye out for brunch in the future as well.

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