Samburna is one of the Seattle area’s best options for Indian food, and is rare in focusing on well-executed South Indian cuisine. The owners of the restaurant grew up in Tamil Nadu, on the Southern tip of the Indian Subcontinent, where dosa is a staple, and the restaurant serves several excellent versions, including one that’s over three feet in length; all dosas are served with sambar and a variety of chutneys. The goat curry is also a must-try, and madras coffee with a milk-based dessert makes a nice end to the meal. Order Samburna to go, or enjoy a meal with quick service in the dining room.

Pinehurst’s Jewish-style deli and bakery is the versatile comfort food spot every neighborhood needs. Owner Josh Grunig, formerly of Grand Central Bakery, offers a bounty of baked goods, including whole cakes, sourdough loaves, croissants, and challah, as well as some of the best bagels in Seattle. There’s a covered patio, surrounded by planters, where diners can eat what Grunig calls his “big, ridiculous sandwiches,” piles of house-smoked pastrami and corned beef between slices of rye bread or bagel halves, or sip on matzo ball soup. The smoked meat, and other Jewish deli staples like whitefish and chopped liver, are available by the pound, and the shop’s delivery service covers most of the Seattle area. In January, Grunig opened his second Seattle business, Muriel’s, a kosher restaurant in Seward Park.

Kirkland’s Northern Italian fine-dining mainstay reopened its dining room in 2021 with several excellent seasonally changing tasting menus, including pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan options. Chef Holly Smith’s omnivore’s tasting menus include dishes like Anderson Valley lamb chops with turnip gratin, while the vegan tasting menu includes dishes like green garlic soup with fava bean toast.

From a farmers market favorite to a permanent tamale window near Green Lake, this popular Mexican spot from founders Osbaldo Hernandez and Dennis Ramey (with Hernandez’s parents helping to run the operation) serves half-pound tamales packed with rich flavors. The salsa roja pork and the salsa verde chicken versions are not to be missed, but the shop also serves vegan and vegetarian options, including tamales filled with sweet potato and mole and salsa roja and jackfruit. Everything is served pickled onions and carrots and best washed down with the house-made agua de horchata. Diners can also bring home bags of frozen tamales to steam at home.

Award-winning chef Renee Erickson’s original Ballard restaurant and pub serves eight varieties of Washington oysters, seafood dishes like raw albacore tuna with Meyer lemon sauce and blood oranges, and snacks like beef tartare, beef shank terrine, and plates of sliced cheese, along with a long wine list and a cocktail menu. The dining room is bright and airy, and there’s a heated, covered patio with string lights for al fresco dining. It’s also one of the few Seattle-area date-night restaurants open on Mondays.

Seattle’s only Native American-owned food truck opened its first restaurant in 2019 at the Burke Museum on the University of Washington campus. Its menu is vibrant as ever, offering fluffy fry bread tacos topped with 12-hour smoked pulled pork, braised bison, or vegetarian chili, plus wild rice bowls. Diners can order on the official website for takeout or delivery or eat the food on site.

Star chef Mutsuko Soma makes soba from scratch every day at this Fremont destination, which was chosen as one of Eater’s Best New Restaurant in America in 2018. Soma serves traditional soba shop dishes like seiro soba (cold with dipping sauce) and super-crunchy tempura but also more creative dishes like soba with oysters and gochujang broth and oreo tempura served with mini toasted marshmallows. Make a full night of it by sampling some sake and snacks at next door sibling bar Hannyatou before heading over to Kamonegi for dinner.

After building a strong following as a pop-up inside Fremont’s Pomerol, the contemporary Indian cuisine specialist Meesha became a full-fledged restaurant in 2020. Among some of the can’t-miss dishes from chef Preeti Agarwal are rarah keema pao with expertly prepared ground lamb, the fried Amritsari fish, and the paneer in tomato sauce with black cardamom. Takeout is still an option, but the lively dining room and patio are also open for business.

In March 2020, the Canlis family — who owns the 71-year-old Queen Anne icon — posted on its website that “fine dining is not what Seattle needs right now.” Since then, the restaurant wasn’t afraid to try out a host of different looks, including a burger drive-thru, but has now returned to full indoor service with new executive chef Aisha Ibrahim at the helm. The past year of creative menu shifts and a super-seasonal approach from Ibrahim inspired by Japanese kaiseki cooking has re-energized a classic. A recent four course menu offered options like duck with bitter chicory, celeriac and blood orange; striploin with Walla Walla onions and wild rice; and grilled sablefish with abalone, dashi, and daikon.

Vietnamese siblings Trinh and Thai Nguyen— who came to the U.S. as refugees — explore the food of their childhood at this modern Bainbridge Island restaurant. Southeast Asian flavors meet locally farmed and foraged ingredients in dishes like its pho, served with dry-aged ribeye or mushrooms, while small plates like the shrimp and pork wontons swimming in pools of chili and truffle oil and the chili-lime-butter calamari offer moments of decadence. The wood-floored dining room is decorated with a 10-foot-wide painting of a catfish that oversees diners who take ferries from all over the Seattle area for the Nguyens’ cooking.

Kedai Makan offers some of the only Malaysian food in the Seattle area, and the small, turquoise-walled dining room in Capitol Hill is packed late into the evening with diners scooping curry with roti and sharing piles of fried chicken with pineapple sambal. Owner Kevin Burzell was entranced by the funk and spice in Malaysian cooking when he traveled to Southeast Asia; he opened a takeout window in 2013, then opened the current space in 2015, staying true to the strength of those flavors. Cut the spice with cocktails made with Southeast Asian ingredients, like the lime-leaf gin and tonic or a bourbon drink made with green tea and pandan limeade. Reservations aren’t accepted, and a wait should be expected.

More than 10 years in, and this romantic trattoria on Capitol Hill continues to entrance diners with food from Italy’s Piedmont region. The nest of delicate tajarin pasta with butter and sage sauce is a Seattle comfort food mainstay, but every dish from chef Stuart Lane is memorable. After a satisfying dinner at Spinasse, one might want to head over to next door sibling bar Artusi for a digestif and dessert, or stop by the bar another night for snacks like beef tongue with salsa tonnata (tuna sauce) and burrata with pomegranate seeds and toasted pistachios.

Chef-owner Trey Lamont crafts Jamaican dishes and other Caribbean-influenced fare at this colorful Belltown restaurant and bar, where reggae is always playing. The namesake jerk chicken has a sneaky kick, while the remoulade sauce on the fried white fish is a star on its own — and the portions are always generous. Don’t sleep on the many potent rum cocktails on the menu, like the Caribbean Sunset (chilled with a rum and pineapple ice cube), which enhance the party vibes. The word is, Lamont has another location planned for the Central District’s Midtown Square development this year.

Capitol Hill’s vegan restaurant from celebrated chef Makini Howell is as versatile as it is magnificent. Some of the biggest hits include the “chicken” fried seitan burger, a mac and cheese spin called Mac and Yease (made with alternative milk), and black truffle sweet potato gnocchi with pesto and vegan sausage.

Chef Kristi Brown — who runs the successful catering operation That Brown Girl Cooks — calls the food at her nationally praised Central District restaurant “Seattle soul.” Brown’s memories of shopping at Chinatown-International District markets results in banh mi-po’ boy hybrids and a dish made with Washington clams, mussels, and Laotian sausage in a coconut milk “roux.” But Brown’s cooking shines most in her more traditional Southern dishes, like the pork neck bone stew, with smoky meat simmered in umami-packed broth with lima beans. After Communion made a couple of national best restaurant lists in 2021 (and nabbed an Eater Award), it’s been hard to get a seat at the dining room in the renovated historic Liberty Bank Building (the renovation, completed in 2019, is meant to support Black property ownership in Seattle’s historically Black neighborhood). Make reservations weeks ahead, or show up right when the restaurant opens on a weekday to nab a spot.

Diners have long flocked to the upscale Pike Place restaurant to watch master sushi chef Shiro Kashiba at work, with seats at the bar among the most coveted. Its meticulous attention to detail remains a big draw, as does chef Kashiba, who is credited for bringing edomae-style sushi to Seattle and has opened some of the city’s best-respected sushi restaurants, including the self-titled Shiro’s Sushi Restaurant in Belltown. First-timers should choose the omakase option and embrace each seasonal offering. Now 80 years old, Kashiba is focusing on his legacy and helping the next generation of Seattle sushi chefs continue the tradition with their own restaurants.

Pioneer Square’s Indian food destination restaurant serves soups, biryani, and curries from a variety of regions and happily caters to pescatarians and vegetarians with items like paneer-stuffed bell pepper with spicy tomato sauce. Owners Oliver and Gita Bangera have always made sure the takeout service is as robust as the dine-in experience — although seeing the gregarious Oliver in person usually adds a spark to the meal.

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. Pair the fragrant bowls of broth with cocktails made with passionfruit and mango or herbaceous drinks made with Thai basil and Vietnamese coriander. And last fall, owner Yenvy Pham opened a speakeasy-style Vietnamese bar, Phocific Standard Time, above the downtown location.

The seafood in the poke at this Central District gem— with options of tuna, salmon, octopus, and scallop — is extremely fresh; the flavors of the tuna in particular are brought to life by the chopped onion and green onion in the simple shoyu sauce. But the shop also has a lot to offer beyond poke: local oysters on the half shell, smoked mussels and scallops, shrimp cocktails, clam chowder, and more. And besides the ready-to-eat food, it’s one of the best fish shops in the city, with whole fish, sashimi grade filets, live oysters, mussels, clams, and more.

Acclaimed chef Mike Easton turned the historic Alki Homestead into a classic Seattle dining experience, with his intricate pastas and hearty entrees, like the coveted seared ribeye. Easton also recently added Roman-style pizza to the menu and aims to make the restaurant more accessible with a new “aperitivo hour” that doesn’t require reservations. But the main dinner service continues to be one of the more sought-after tickets in town.

Chef and owner Jerry Corso’s expert Neapolitan-style pizzas are the primary draw for this Beacon Hill hideaway, thanks to their light, airy, and slightly salty crusts. The garlic mussels, baccala fritters, and grilled octopus with corona beans are also exceptional, and reservations often go fast — although the restaurant recently added more sidewalk seating, great for people watching on Beacon Avenue.

Chef Evan Leichtling and partner Meghna Prakash’s 14-seat brick-walled restaurant on Rainier Avenue doesn’t play by the rules. Inside, industry insiders chat with staff about the newest in their hand-written list of natural wine while punk rock blasts through the speakers, and Leichling brings out plates of whatever he decided to cook that night. Menus change daily, are posted on a dedicated Instagram, and dishes are served until they run out. Leichling is a Seattle industry veteran who used to work at Lark but spent five years until 2019 cooking at some of San Sebastian and Paris’ finest restaurants. His dishes use the most compelling seasonal ingredients prepared in ways that best bring out their flavors. On a recent menu: juicy smoked mussels with celery on sourdough, whole quail with nettles in a cream sauce, salt cod with squid ink rice, and a burning hot Scotch bonnet ice cream.

In 2021, Hillman City’s nationally acclaimed Filipino American fine dining restaurant restarted its intimate tasting menu dinners, known for their ingenuity, storytelling, and passion. Husband-and-wife team Aaron Verzosa and Amber Manuguid create inventive dishes that weave the narrative of their personal journeys growing up in the area and that of Filipino immigrants to the Pacific Northwest, combining a meal and a compelling history lesson in each 9-to-12-course sitting. The 12-seat restaurant is normally booked out months ahead, but there’s a waiting list on the website.

Run by husband and wife duo Delish Lemma and Amy Abera, both hailing from Addis Ababa, Delish Ethiopian Cuisine features recipes passed down from Abera’s mother and grandmother. A relative newcomer to the vibrant Hillman City Ethiopian restaurant scene, Delish has a comfortable atmosphere with a bar area. Try the veggie combo, which includes 10 vegan selections (most veggie combos offer about five), or the beef tibs, slices of beef pan-fried in garlic, butter, onion and berbere spice. Delish also offers a coffee ceremony with three rounds of coffee, served with popcorn or a sweet bread and incense.

Many Seattleites likely have their own preferred banh mi destination, but it’s hard to beat this South Seattle spot for its perfectly flaky baguettes and juicy grilled pork (though the fried catfish version is a favorite as well). No sit-down service here — Tony’s is a small deli and market, but many of the other prepared foods (like steamed hum bao) are worth a look for a takeout feast, washed down with any of the boba tea options or fresh-squeezed sugarcane juice.

The much-anticipated White Center restaurant Tomo opened at the beginning of September with a menu serving micro-seasonal Pacific Northwest cuisine. Former Canlis chef Brady Williams’ five-course dinner menu offers creative dishes based on what’s seasonally available in the Seattle area. The restaurant was a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist for its outstanding wine program. The space is intimate with a wall of vertical ash slats, and The dishes change regularly, but a sample menu on the website includes pork collar with squash, fermented radish chawanmushi, and sweet potato with miso caramel. The name Tomo means “friend” in Japanese and is also an homage to Williams’ grandmother, Tomoko Ishiwata Bristol. No reservation? Go early and nab a seat at the bar for an expertly mixed cocktail and some bites. Tomo also offers an a la carte lunch menu on the weekends.

After five years as a food truck, El Cabrito became a brick-and mortar-restaurant in Burien’s Ambaum Boulevard in 2019. Chef-owner Leticia Sánchez started making moles with her grandmother in Oaxaca when she was five years old, and the years of experience show in the expertly balanced mole coloradito that pools around her pork enchiladas, and in dishes like the molotes (fried masa dumplings filled with potato and chorizo), drowned in smoky morita pepper and avocado salsas, all served on brightly hued ceramics. Sanchez also serves weekly specials like rockfish ceviche, and banana-leaf green mole tamales are available during the winter. There’s a few indoor seats at El Cabrito and a few tables on a covered patio behind the restaurant.

Vashon Island’s celebrated Thai restaurant is so good that many Seattleites make the trek over by ferry just to sample the food. Chef-owner May Chaleoy serves up entrees with bright flavors like fried whole fried trout alongside mango salad flecked with mint and cashews as well as satisfying appetizers like grilled pork skewers marinated in yellow curry. She also offers versions of ubiquitous Thai dishes with elegant twists, like pad thai served with turnips and banana blossom or tom yum soup with oyster mushrooms. For now, service is take-out only.