This Roosevelt Way standby serves a wide survey of Indian cuisine and has a large heated and covered outdoor dining area. The aloo gobi, okra masala, and Tandoori prawns are good, but don’t leave without trying the butter chicken — enough food for two hungry people, with a creamy sauce that’s the perfect balance of tangy and sweet. Open for dine-in and takeout.

Diners come to Xi’an for one thing: wide, chewy biang biang noodles, made by hand every morning, at their best when adorned simply with chili oil. The pork dumplings and cucumber salad also make for excellent starters. Open for outdoor seating and takeout.

This U District biscuit shop offers the kind of folkloric biscuits that breakfast lovers dream of — warm, pillowy interior, crispy exterior, flaky bite — but ups the ante by making everything on the menu, including its staple baked good, gluten-free. The “fast break,” Morsel’s primary breakfast sandwich, is a behemoth stack of eggs, fatty bacon, and cheddar cheese on a biscuit of your choice that’s smeared with earthy tomato jam. You can also opt to grab one of its buttermilk biscuits plain with butter and jam on the side; there’s strawberry balsamic jam, chocolate hazelnut jam, and raspberry jam, among others. The restaurant has not reopened its dining room since the start of the pandemic; takeout hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Mountaineering Club opened in 2019 on top of the new Graduate Hotel, offering some of the best views of Seattle from any bar or restaurant. The spirits and cocktail list is expansive, with good choices for Bourbon, Irish, Canadian, and Japanese whiskeys as well as brandy, tequila, gin, and rum. There’s also a list of house cocktails. The food features appetizers like shrimp cocktails and oysters on the half shell as well as several sandwiches (including a wagyu and Dungeness crab hot dog), and seasonally rotating entrees. Reservations are recommended.

Earl’s is the perfect college bar. The drinks are strong and affordable. There are multiple pool tables. And the food offers some of the best value of any Seattle restaurant, with a super combo of four onion rings, four jalapeno poppers, four mozzarella sticks, two chicken strips, two full-size corn dogs, and an enormous pan of waffle fries for just $19. The sandwiches here are also always a good bet for a satisfying, affordable meal.

This U District counter-service gem serves many popular dishes, from the mellow khao mun gai, with its poached chicken over ginger rice, to the fiery pad krapow gai kai dao, with its minced chicken, Thai basil, and chilis. The restaurant is open for takeout and delivery and also serves sealed bento boxes of popular dishes and pantry items like a house-made chili oil.

Thanh Vi is among a number of Vietnamese restaurants on The Ave, including an outpost of Pho Thanh Brothers, but it stands out for options not available at the others, like banh xeo (Vietnamese crepes) and tom nuong (charbroiled shrimp) served with spring-roll wrappers, vermicelli, and vegetables to make DIY rolls on a tray. The banh xeo, made with rice flour, coconut cream, and turmeric, has a wonderfully crisp crust and soft, airy interior and is studded with pieces of shrimp, filled with bean sprouts, and served with sprigs of cilantro and basil. Open for dine-in and takeout.

Most UW students have an opinion on the best late-night gyro spot on The Ave, but it’s hard to beat Sultan Gyros Grill for its Falafel Super sandwiches, loaded with feta, hummus, vegetables, and falafel that’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The greek fries, served with feta and tzatziki sauce, are a satisfying snack after a couple of drinks. Open for dine-in and takeout.

Big Time Brewery and Alehouse is one of the best hangouts on The Ave, with a few covered outdoor tables on the street and inside tables and bar seats where UW staff and students chat or come study with a laptop (the brewery offers good wifi). The beers on tap tend to be hoppy and pair well with well-executed bar food like chicken tenders and burgers and massive portions of salad.  Open for dine-in and takeout.

Out of the several Korean restaurants in the U District, The Alley stands out for its generous portions of banchan: the green onion pancakes are crispy; the potatoes are a perfect balance of sweet and savory; and the kimchi is crunchy while still bringing zinginess. The bibimbap, japchae, and kimchi fried rice — served sizzling in a cast iron skillet — are all excellent choices.  Open for dine-in and takeout. 

This tiny, inconspicuous spot is a hidden gem serving some of the U District’s best Chinese food, with an emphasis on the cuisine of northeast China. The cabbage and pork dumplings are tender and juicy; the mapo tofu is balanced and packed with umami; and the chicken fried rice is some of the best in the city.