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An open-faced gravlax sandwich with vegetables and a green spread.
An open-faced gravlax sandwich from Livbud
Harry Cheadle

12 Restaurants That Make Fremont the Center of the Universe

Wood-fired sourdough pizzas, a Taiwa, decadent burgers, and more

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An open-faced gravlax sandwich from Livbud
| Harry Cheadle

Nicknamed the “center of the universe,” Fremont has long been the crunchiest of Seattle’s crunchy neighborhoods. It’s famous for the often defaced, sometimes controversial statue of Lenin and the annual Solstice Parade, which brings together furries, pagans, naturists, Flying Spaghetti Monster worshippers, and a dozen other subcultures.

Unsurprisingly, the Fremont dining scene is hard to characterize. There’s an elite-tier Vietnamese coffee shop up the street from one of the city’s most hallowed bakeries up the street from a brunchy vegetarian all-day hangout spot. (The street in question, Stone Way, hosts an incredible array of restaurants.) Elsewhere in Fremont there’s a French bistro, a place for handmade soba noodles, and did we mention the diner with the disco balls? Sounds like a perfect place to unwind after a naked bike ride.

Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com. As usual, this list is not ranked; it’s organized geographically.

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Uneeda Burger

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The burger options at this glorified shack, a sibling to Feed Co. Burgers, are studies in decadence, although beef isn’t necessarily always the way to go. One favorite happens to be the lamb burger, with pickled peppers, manchego, cured lemon, and chermoula sauce.

Lupo is justifiably famous for its sourdough pizzas, baked in a wood-fired oven covered in red tile behind the service counter. The menu offers classic pizzas like marinara, pepperoni, and margherita, as well as a cacio e pepe pie and a burrata soppressata pizza with hot honey and Calabrian chili pepper.

Le Coin

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This bistro skews more toward French home cooking than haute cuisine, but all the dishes show refinement. There are multiple grilled meat and vegetable options, including a solid burger, but seafood is the real star, including raw oysters and seared halibut and scallop dishes (don’t forget about the lemon tarts for dessert).

Kamonegi

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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 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.

Chopsticks pulling buckwheat soba from a plate of green vegetables.
Mutsuko Soma makes soba from scratch every day at her Fremont restaurant.
Kamonegi

Aroom Coffee

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If you’re craving a break from the European-style coffee you can get all over Seattle, duck into Aroom and get your socks blown off. The Vietnamese phin-brewed coffee here is powerful and they cut it with flavors like salty cream, peanut butter, and sesame. The concoctions are sweet and strong and will keep you going all day.

A cup of iced coffee topped with foam. Harry Cheadle

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.

Local Tide

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What started as a pop-up in Pike Place Market is drawing long lines and plenty of buzz for dishes featuring the best in local seafood. The fish sandwiches, like the salmon blt and the seared albacore tuna sandwich are all excellent, while salads loaded with vegetables and grains and rice bowls with pork-and-fish patties and nuoc cham make for satisfying but light lunches.

19 GOLD Taiwanese Restaurant

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This pint-sized Taiwanese restaurant is regularly packed with diners eating dishes like crunchy garlic green beans, flavorful popcorn chicken, and lu rou fan (fatty soy-sauce-braised pork over rice) while sipping on boba tea. Though not strictly Taiwanese, the restaurant also serves several excellent versions of malatang, a spicy Chinese soup bowl with ingredients like lotus root, shell-on shrimp, fish cakes, sliced beef, and other meat, seafood, and vegetables. But the hidden gem of the menu is a cold soft tofu appetizer with preserved egg and a powerfully garlicky sauce with a deep umami flavor.

Sea Wolf Bakers

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This bakery from brothers Jesse and Kit Schumann has been anchoring Stone Way since 2014 and is one of the most reliable bakeries in the city. The sourdough baguettes are crunchy, chewy perfection; the cinnamon rolls are huge and addictive; the croissants are wildly inventive (as we type this, the savory croissant has zucchini, sunflower seed pesto, and pecorino). The secret here is that on weekday afternoons they serve pizza by the slice that is immensely satisfying lunch option.

Dreamland Bar & Diner

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From the owners of acclaimed drinks den Stampede Cocktail Club, comes this diner with a disco ball-packed hallway that serves all-day breakfast and a selection of solid drinks, including guava Moscow mules and vegan grasshopper slushies. It’s always packed, even on weekdays, with friends getting drinks after work, and the dance music is always bumping.

2022 James Beard Award finalists 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 succulent kalbi short rib over grilled kimchi. Expect inventive dishes too, like smoked tofu with mushrooms or the dash grits, rich with umami and perfect topped with some of bright house-made kimchi. 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. 

Livbud Cafe

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Livbud is a new restaurant from the Heavy group (it owns Purple and Pablo y Pablo, among others) that had the bad fortune of opening when extensive road work was being done on Stone Way out front. It’s worth walking around the construction though — Livbud has an extensive menu of small plates, toast, granola, and other bites, much of it vegan or vegetarian (there’s a lot of gluten-free options as well). It does coffee and alcoholic beverages too, making it a great all-purpose hangout from everyone from laptop warriors to first daters.

An open-faced gravlax sandwich with vegetables and a green spread.
The gravlax sandwich at Livbud
Harry Cheadle

Uneeda Burger

The burger options at this glorified shack, a sibling to Feed Co. Burgers, are studies in decadence, although beef isn’t necessarily always the way to go. One favorite happens to be the lamb burger, with pickled peppers, manchego, cured lemon, and chermoula sauce.

Lupo

Lupo is justifiably famous for its sourdough pizzas, baked in a wood-fired oven covered in red tile behind the service counter. The menu offers classic pizzas like marinara, pepperoni, and margherita, as well as a cacio e pepe pie and a burrata soppressata pizza with hot honey and Calabrian chili pepper.

Le Coin

This bistro skews more toward French home cooking than haute cuisine, but all the dishes show refinement. There are multiple grilled meat and vegetable options, including a solid burger, but seafood is the real star, including raw oysters and seared halibut and scallop dishes (don’t forget about the lemon tarts for dessert).

Kamonegi

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 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.

Chopsticks pulling buckwheat soba from a plate of green vegetables.
Mutsuko Soma makes soba from scratch every day at her Fremont restaurant.
Kamonegi

Aroom Coffee

If you’re craving a break from the European-style coffee you can get all over Seattle, duck into Aroom and get your socks blown off. The Vietnamese phin-brewed coffee here is powerful and they cut it with flavors like salty cream, peanut butter, and sesame. The concoctions are sweet and strong and will keep you going all day.

A cup of iced coffee topped with foam. Harry Cheadle

Meesha

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.

Local Tide

What started as a pop-up in Pike Place Market is drawing long lines and plenty of buzz for dishes featuring the best in local seafood. The fish sandwiches, like the salmon blt and the seared albacore tuna sandwich are all excellent, while salads loaded with vegetables and grains and rice bowls with pork-and-fish patties and nuoc cham make for satisfying but light lunches.

19 GOLD Taiwanese Restaurant

This pint-sized Taiwanese restaurant is regularly packed with diners eating dishes like crunchy garlic green beans, flavorful popcorn chicken, and lu rou fan (fatty soy-sauce-braised pork over rice) while sipping on boba tea. Though not strictly Taiwanese, the restaurant also serves several excellent versions of malatang, a spicy Chinese soup bowl with ingredients like lotus root, shell-on shrimp, fish cakes, sliced beef, and other meat, seafood, and vegetables. But the hidden gem of the menu is a cold soft tofu appetizer with preserved egg and a powerfully garlicky sauce with a deep umami flavor.

Sea Wolf Bakers

This bakery from brothers Jesse and Kit Schumann has been anchoring Stone Way since 2014 and is one of the most reliable bakeries in the city. The sourdough baguettes are crunchy, chewy perfection; the cinnamon rolls are huge and addictive; the croissants are wildly inventive (as we type this, the savory croissant has zucchini, sunflower seed pesto, and pecorino). The secret here is that on weekday afternoons they serve pizza by the slice that is immensely satisfying lunch option.

Dreamland Bar & Diner

From the owners of acclaimed drinks den Stampede Cocktail Club, comes this diner with a disco ball-packed hallway that serves all-day breakfast and a selection of solid drinks, including guava Moscow mules and vegan grasshopper slushies. It’s always packed, even on weekdays, with friends getting drinks after work, and the dance music is always bumping.

Joule

2022 James Beard Award finalists 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 succulent kalbi short rib over grilled kimchi. Expect inventive dishes too, like smoked tofu with mushrooms or the dash grits, rich with umami and perfect topped with some of bright house-made kimchi. 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. 

Livbud Cafe

Livbud is a new restaurant from the Heavy group (it owns Purple and Pablo y Pablo, among others) that had the bad fortune of opening when extensive road work was being done on Stone Way out front. It’s worth walking around the construction though — Livbud has an extensive menu of small plates, toast, granola, and other bites, much of it vegan or vegetarian (there’s a lot of gluten-free options as well). It does coffee and alcoholic beverages too, making it a great all-purpose hangout from everyone from laptop warriors to first daters.

An open-faced gravlax sandwich with vegetables and a green spread.
The gravlax sandwich at Livbud
Harry Cheadle

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