There are literally dozens of slightly funky neighborhood bakery-cafes in Seattle that are chill places to work remotely or decompress, but Loyal Height’s La Copa stands out for its savory pastries, which have a rotating selection of fillings. The mushroom-filled one knocked us back in our seat the last time we had it and forced us to take a five-minute break from work to appreciate it. The breakfast sandwiches are warm and filling and cheap too.

The unifying theme of this map-jumping soul food/Creole/Chamorro joint is “chef Rodel Borromeo’s favorite foods.” It’s an irreverent approach in an era where ultra narrow menu focus is the prevailing expectation, and it absolutely works. There are too many standouts to name ‘em all: a roasted adobo pork sandwich, jalapeno-cheddar hush puppies that easily rank as Seattle’s best, decadent gumbo boosted with brisket and house-made bacon, fried chicken that can throw elbows through this city’s crowded poultryscape, we could go on. And heads up: It’s not even on the menu, but there is often lumpia available. 

This Phinney Ridge bar and restaurant serves over 300 gins (the biggest gin list in the country, it claims), a long list of house cocktails, and a shockingly good menu of New American bites. The steak frites here with a couple of appetizers and cocktails always hits the spot for a date-night meal. For something on the more affordable side, stop in at happy hour for the fried chicken sandwich (on a Sea Wolf bun) or the burger, which comes with white cheddar and pork belly.

There are a lot of places around Pike Place serving market-sourced, French-inflected Pacific Northwest cuisine worth trying, but when we want to go someplace comfortable the V.I. is always a good bet. You can get all the usual suspects — mussels, chowder, fish and chips, local beer on tap — at wallet-friendly prices. A block away from the market itself, it feels like a refuge from tourist destinations and a retreat into history. It’s been around for 120 years and should be around for at least another 120.

Kabul’s location on 45th Street makes it easy to notice on the way to I-5 and then forget about in the ensuing mind-numbing traffic. But this intrepid spot has been serving as Seattle’s only Afghan restaurant for over 30 years, with a concise menu of Afghanistan’s quintessential dishes. Ashak is a standout; scallion and cilantro-filled pasta dumplings are topped with rich turmeric-coriander minced beef and generously crisscrossed with bright tomato and mint-yogurt sauces. There are also a variety of enticingly aromatic stews, each served with Kabuli Palaw, a saffron rice pilaf dish studded with carrots and raisins. All entrees are available in vegetarian form. 

This pint-sized restaurant (with just a few tables inside) next to a laundromat in the University District serves some of the best Chinese food in the city. The focus here is on Northeastern Chinese dishes, like the braised pork ribs potatoes and green beans, but the menu also includes dishes from other parts of China, and the fried rice dishes here are consistently satisfying. It also serves particularly refreshing jellyfish salad with cucumber matchsticks.

This University District gem is wedged unassumingly between a Korean joint and a Taiwanese spot a ways away from the bustle of the Ave, which is perhaps why it doesn’t get much love outside of a dedicated contingent of lunchtime regulars. The combo plates are the way to go, here, allowing you to sample a spread of Salvadorian morsels like the signature pupusas, fried yuca, or savory pastelitos, a golden pocket of pastry similar to an empanada. You get to choose your own blend of fillings for the pupusas, and the glorious options range from pork and refried beans to traditional nopales and loroca, a South American herb with a distinctive woody, vegetal flavor reminiscent of asparagus or spinach. All the combo plates come with an expertly-executed side of beans and rice and a bracingly hot, vinegary salsa. 

Bellevue’s Dosa House is packed late into the night with people speaking Hindi and eating affordable, satisfying dosas and other vegetarian Indian snacks, but the restaurant is largely unknown outside of the Eastside. Most of the dosas, which all come with some sides, are only around $11. The potato-filled masala dosa is a good choice, as is the schezwan dosa, an Indo-Chinese fusion dish filled with what tastes like spicy chow mein.