Updated: 3/6/2024 | Cutest Seattle Restaurants
As a blogger, I am on a neverending journey to find the cutest spots to dine at and snap photos of. I’ve lived in Seattle long enough to know the best spots to go if you want delicious food and drinks and a cute backdrop for your Instagram feed.
Here is my list of the cutest restaurants in Seattle. Hope you enjoy it!
Related: Best Craft Cocktail Bars in Seattle
Cutest Seattle Restaurants
Ba Bar
Ba Bar serves great Vietnamese food and craft cocktails in a hipster setting. They have three locations; Capitol Hill, South Lake, and University Village. We recommend the crispy imperial rolls, pho Hanoi style, fish sauce chicken wings (come in on Tuesdays for 60 cent wings!), and rotisserie chicken.
Their happy hour menu is amazing and a great way to sample their extensive menu. They also offer baked goods such as French macarons, croissants, cream puffs, and pandan bread. The pandan bread is only available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Bacco Cafe
Bacco Cafe is a cute breakfast and brunch cafe with sidewalk seating. Their menu is one of my favorites when it comes to brekkie in Downtown Seattle. They also offer fresh juices which they use in their cocktails too. We absolutely LOVE their Bloody Marys.
They do not take reservations, so you’ll have to queue up and wait your turn. It’s totally worth it though. Dogs are welcome on the patio.
The Backdoor
The Backdoor is a speakeasy-style restaurant and bar. They offer seasonal cocktails and their food menu is phenomenal. On certain night, you can come to enjoy aerial shows. The space itself gives off New Orleans vibes.
Ben Paris
Ben Paris is located in the State Hotel in Downtown Seattle. The restaurant has large windows which invite a lot of natural lighting. They offer excellent craft cocktails and American fare.
Boat Bar
Boat Bar is a great play for seafood and serious libations. They have plenty of oysters to choose from, seafood crudo, as well as craft cocktails and bright white wines. They also have happy hour every day from 5-6 PM.
Boat Bar was formerly Bar Melusine and is next to Bateau, the French steakhouse.
Cafe Campagne
Cafe Campagne is our favorite spot for French cuisine, and one of the best downtown Seattle restaurants. White linen napkins on rustic wooden tables surround the restaurant, which exudes an air of the historic significance to be found at Pike Place Market. Just a few steps away from the market, Cafe Campagne offers a peaceful escape where you can people watch and relax. An absolute must-try here is the crab quiche, which is only available on Saturday or Sunday during brunch hours. It is generously woven with Dungeness crab, sweet onion, and Comtè cheese that is typically served with a vinaigrette side salad.
Cafe Sabine + Bar Sabine
Sabine Cafe
Cascina Spinasse
Spinasse is pricey, but it just might be the best Italian food in Seattle.
It has all the vibes of a local trattoria in Italy, with fantastic handmade pasta to go with the aesthetic.
Don’t miss the fried zucchini blossoms (a summer menu item) and their gnocchi.
Champagne Diner
When a restaurant attempts to elevate classic comfort dishes, it does so at a risk. Why mess with the gooey perfection of a grilled cheese or an egg breakfast sandwich? But at Champagne Diner, chef Fernando Martinez manages to capture the essence of canonical greasy-spoon favorites while bringing new and exciting elements; say, adding swiss and brie to complicate that aforementioned grilled cheese. For a more traditional diner option, order a burger: a six-ounce patty on a toasted bun with cheese and house sauce.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre is a restaurant with a spacious two-story dining space with tall windows. They have an amazing happy hour and delicious Italian fare.
Ciudad
Ciudad is located in Georgetown and offers a la carte Mediterranean meat that is grilled to perfection and served with sides and house-made pita bread.
Deadline
The Deadline is one of our favorite places for date night or private group dinners. They have an awesome food menu and an inventive cocktail selection.
Di Fiora
Di Fiora is a Thai Italian fusion restaurant. They offer creative cocktails that are Instagram-ready! We love their fried chicken wings, spicy french green beans, Malaysian coconut soup, and the affordable lunch special (garlic pork over rice with a side of coconut soup). Their space is also a plant lovers’ destination with Instagrammable angles everywhere you go.
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Dreamland
Dreamland is a restaurant and bar located in Fremont.
Dreamland’s balcony patio, a.k.a. Carnelian Bay, for a drag brunch, friend hang, or any other occasion. The whimsical space-galaxy-jungle-grotto surroundings make this diner feel like a hazy movie mashup of Jurassic Park, Alien, and Xanadu in the best way possible. There are $99 large-batch margaritas served in disco balls alongside salty pucker powder-rimmed glasses, frozen grasshopper slushies, Jell-O shots that taste like homemade jam straight from the jar, and some of the best bar snacks in the city—like vegetarian chicken strip baskets, pimento cheese slathered on fried saltines, and a gooey Happy Hour steamed burger that can do no wrong in our eyes. Very much like the title track of Xanadu.
The Dressing Room: Bistro and Bar by Can Can
Esters Enoteca
Fitch and Pine
The Flora Bakehouse
The Flora Bakehouse is a great place to grab an iced cardamom latte, cheddar-chive scone, pink-frosted fudgy vegan brownie, or super flaky almond croissants. This Beacon Hill destination also happens to have a fantastic u-shaped rooftop that’s perfect for an afternoon work session or brunch with the gals al fresco.
La Fonda la Catrina
Frolik
Frolik is a rooftop bar and restaurant located in Downtown Seattle at the Motif hotel. They offer creative cocktails such as the Mother of Dragons that is made with dragonfruit and sharable dishes such as loaded tater tots and burrata salad.
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Goldfinch Tavern
Harry’s Fine Foods
The parlor-style dining room at Harry’s Fine Foods is nice, but during the warmer months, the back patio is even better. It feels like someone’s backyard, but with antique touches like crystal chandeliers hanging from exposed beams and San Marzano can utensil holders on each table. Split small plates like crudo or caramelized brussels sprouts, and then move on to more important things: the excellent cheeseburger and some negronis.
The Harvest Vine
Il Terrazo Carmine
Jerk Shack
Jerk Shack serves delicious Carribean fare. We especially love their deep fried pork belly. Always ask for all their sauces. Their all amazing and great with everything on the menu.
Kamonegi
Great Japanese food enthralls the world with its detailed dominance of seemingly simple preparations. Mutsuko Soma’s hand-cut soba noodles illustrate the principle. Earthy, chewy, and exquisite when topped with seaweed and a sous vide egg, or duck breast and leeks, or tomatoes and kimchi, or vegetable curry and mozzarella cheese, this nutty pasta inspires and satisfies. In addition to being a soba and tempura master, Soma also happens to hold a sake sommelier certification, so she can connect you with some quality junmai, too.
Kin Len Late Night Thai Bites
Kin Len is one of the best Thai restaurants in town! The atmosphere immediately transports you into bustling Thailand but with rap music. We love their banana blossom, pork belly and Chinese broccoli, boat noodle soups and papaya salad. Come here for their amazing happy hour which includes discounted food and drink. Holla!
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Le Pichet
Le Pichet is a great spot for French breakfast. Here you’ll get baguettes, jams, butter and more.
Matt’s in the Market
Matt’s in the Market is a cute breakfast and lunch establishment located in Pike Place Market. Their location is the perfect spot to capture the Pike Place Market sign.
They are always packed and reservations are highly encouraged.
Meet the Moon
Monsoon
“Rooftop dim sum” is not a phrase you hear every day in Seattle, unless you have a friend who makes you dumplings on top of their three-story townhome. But the balcony at Monsoon is the perfect place for a brunch of shumai, pork buns, and wontons. If you’re still hungry after all of that, throw in a few vermicelli bowls.
Oddfellows Cafe + Bar
The secret back patio garden at Oddfellows is a narrow space filled with bistro tables, a ton of exposed brick, and string lights.
Sit there on a brunch date, eat some of the best-scrambled eggs in the city, alongside some homemade biscuits with raspberry jam, and feel like you’re in Europe.
Palisade
Percy’s & Co.
The Pink Door
Dining at The Pink Door is a unique experience that everyone who lives in or visits Seattle needs to try at least once. Aptly named for its entry point down an alley in Pike Place Market (a pastel pink door) leads you downstairs into a mysterious and intimate experience.
We recommend the lasagna, cioppino, and Pink Door Caesar salad with Dungeness crab. Pair their food with a craft cocktail or something from their intentionally curated wine and bubbly list.
Reservations are highly recommended. And if you have the chance to, try booking one of their patio seats where you’ll get a view of Elliott Bay and Pike Place Market from above.
Place Pigalle
Purple Cafe & Wine Bar
Kin Len Thai Night Bites
We are obsessed with the happy hour here! We also really loved their pork belly with Chinese broccoli and fried banana blossoms.
Lark Restaurant
Mr. West Cafe + Bar
Outlier
Reckless Noodle House and Cocktails
What’s up with that weirdly beautiful wallpaper? Oh, wait, it’s a collection of 1000 tiny shark jaws, carefully arranged in rows. Welcome to Reckless, an odd little surf shack where the cocktails flow freely and the flavor-packed plates take inspiration from Vietnam, Cambodia, China, and Thailand. Chef Kenny Lee isn’t shy with the fish sauce. It permeates the spicy papaya salad, lends sour depth to ribeye wrapped in betel leaves, and makes a tasty dip for fresh rolls, chubby with vermicelli noodles and slices of caramelized pork. But Lee’s best dish, the Ma La Braised Beef Cheek Noodle, is pure Sichuan, showcasing that cuisine’s signature contrast of searing heat and comforting textures.
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Ristorante Picolinos
Ronette’s Psychedelic Sock Hop
Ronette’s Psychedelic Sock Hop is located in Freelard (between Fremont and Ballard). They serve delicious pasta dishes and have a fully stocked bar. They also make wine in-house that pairs perfectly with your pastas.
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Rumba
Rumba is a Cuban restobar located in the Cap Hill area. They offer tasty Tiki drinks in Instagrammable glassware.
San Fermo
The porch at San Fermo feels like you’re at someone’s country home: there’s a rickety wooden floor, white siding, exposed brick, and plenty of shade. Maybe it’s just like your own porch, but with way more pasta, and definitely without any raccoons playing with cans in the recycling bin. We love San Fermo for a date, or for gathering the social circle together to drink chilled brown liquor cocktails and eat a lot of carbonara and charcuterie. If nothing else, an order of farinata and a fizzy coupe of sparkling wine are all you need.
Sawyer
Sawyer’s industrial-chic décor narrowly escapes feeling dated, thanks to stylish tiling around the bar and a beautiful blue-gray color scheme. Perfectly lit in the evening, the room feels at once hip and adult—a refuge from the raucous bars that line this once-easygoing Ballard strip. And while Sawyer may be
serious restaurant, it’s a serious restaurant that knows how to have fun. Chef Mitch Mayers populates his playful menu with duck-fat tater tots, cheesesteak tartare, and Korean fajitas. Oh, and we can’t forget the S’more Choco Tacos for dessert.
Sawyer’s menu is all about combining two dishes to engineer something that’s better than the sum of its parts. Sunday brunch in their light-blasted Ballard space is no exception. We’re talking about things like bananas foster skillet pancakes, or a Taco Bell-inspired crunchwrap supreme filled with scrambled eggs, tender rotisserie chicken, and tangy ‘nduja queso. Their covered patio is available by reservation only, so plan accordingly and you’ll be dunking garlicky fried potatoes in buttermilk ranch and drinking cola cocktails with cherry wine and vanilla tincture in no time. And don’t forget an order of cinnamon roll monkey bread.
Six Seven
Smith Tower Observatory Bar
Tallulah’s
Tallulah’s is what happens when a West Elm projectile vomits haphazardly inside a café, and it’s actually rad. Come for brunch, and after a couple rounds of blackberry mules (like Moscow Mules, but better) and avocado toast, Sunday suddenly won’t seem so bad. Plus, Tallulah’s menu is made up of mostly vegetables, so your vegan friends get more options than a side of breakfast potatoes seasoned with their own tears. They also do a great happy hour, and dinner on the spacious patio is never a bad idea – but brunch is what Tallulah’s does best.
Tavolata
Tavolata is definitely on our list for one of the best places to get pasta in Seattle. They also have a happy hour menu complete with wines, pastas and more.
Tilikum Place
If you want the best brunch in downtown Seattle, make a reservation at Tilikum Place Cafe. It’s located in a historic building that once belonged to a print shop. Everything on the menu is delicious, but you have to try one of their dutch babies. These take some time for the kitchen to make but they are worth it. It’s also located very close to the Space Needle, so hop on over before or after your visit to Tilikum.
Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge
Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge is a Creole-inspired restaurant with comfort food that will leave you stuffed. Come here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The restaurant is filled with rustic, wooden booths and natural light that floods in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. This is a great spot for both intimate dates and group dining.
They also offer the world’s BIGGEST happy hour menu. Come here for regular or late-night happy hour. You’ll be impressed at their extensive menu.
Reservations are highly recommended.
Westward
Sail away to seafood paradise from the shores of Lake Union: when Renee Erickson added this waterfront gem to her Sea Creatures restaurant group, she got rid of the Wes Anderson-esque boat behind the bar but kept the Mediterranean and seafood theme on the menu and the waterfront fire pits surrounded by Adirondack chairs. Go big with a seafood tower featuring pristine shellfish and a flight of house-made hot sauces or stick to simple snacks like the spicy clam dip and marinated mussels before moving onto mains, such as crispy duck leg with aioli, chickpea fritters, and saffron clams.
In case you missed it, Westward—a waterfront institution—was purchased by the team behind The Walrus And The Carpenter back in 2018. The result? A slick, coastal-inspired place to slurp briny oysters with a view that reminds you where oysters come from. Their small plates are marginally better than the entrees, so consider Westward an A+ spot for sipping sparkling wine while snacking on potato chips with spicy clam dip, grilled gem lettuces with tomatillo caesar dressing, and baked oysters with ‘nduja butter and melty beef lardo (courtesy of Bateau). Bonus points if you do all of your snacking while sitting in a water-facing Adirondack chair.
The Whale Wins
Wilmott’s Ghost
Witness
Violet
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