Ballard
Hattie's Hat 5231 Ballard Ave NW, 784-0175, $$
With stiff drinks, good food, and a gorgeous hand-carved bar, Hattie's is one of Ballard's most beloved joints. The Southern American-styled menu offers something for everyone, from classic burgers with sweet potato fries to smoked-salmon club sandwiches and buttermilk-soaked fried chicken. (There's good stuff for vegetarians, too.)
Smokin' Pete's BBQ 1918 NW 65th St, 783-0454, $
The pork ribs are meaty and succulent, served "dry" with the sauce on the side, and the brisket is so seductively tender you'll blush. There's also chicken, wonderful sausages, and a number of sandwiches, including the Slow Joe Pork Sandwichâtons of smoky pulled pork on a hoagie roll, smothered in sauce.
Zagi's Pizza Ristorante 2408 NW 80th St, 706-0750, $
This New York-style pie is satisfaction incarnate. A little cornmeal on the bottom of the excellent crust adds body without giving the gritty sensation that your pizza's been dropped on a cornmeal beach. The cheese evades the mountain-of-mozzarella problem, and the flavors are intricate enough to make a plain slice a pleasure.
Belltown
Le Pichet 1933 First Ave, 256-1499, $$
Unfussy, delicious, clean, uncluttered, real. Here is the place to indulge your cravings for all the weird, wonderful things the French do to meat, such as rillettes, confit, and paté. Le Pichet could so easily have gone over the top with the preciousness and the pretentiousness and the expensive food; praise the Lord, it didn't.
Two Bells Tavern 2313 Fourth Ave, 441-3050, $
Great pub food, great drinks, and exceptionally friendly service. A comfortable neighborhood joint.
Capitol Hill
Capitol Club 414 E Pine St, 325-2149, $$
This snazzy nightclub/eatery specializes in seasonal Mediterranean-Moroccan fare, from seared duck breast and braised lamb shank to small plates of grilled spiced prawns and Penn Cove mussels. But what people lose their minds over is the Kobe beef burger ($13), a legendarily luxurious burger experience praised by devotees for its intricate flavors and juicy hugeness.
Crave 1621 12th Ave, 388-0526, $$
Crave is the kind of restaurant that seems to crop up in every district in San Francisco and Brooklyn. It is not a destination restaurant, but cultivates regulars with a slightly industrial space, medium prices, and a menu of homey dishes done up in noble ingredients. Restaurants like this should be a given.
Kingfish Cafe 602 19th Ave E, 320-8757, $$
From the day it opened its doors to do business, the lines into Kingfish have never diminished. People still wait, often for an hour during the weekends, to eat its fancy soul foods, and absorb its atmosphere of jazz and black American prosperity. Buttermilk fried chicken, thick and sweet collard greens, spicy and flesh-soft catfish are a few of their treasured items.
Monsoon 615 19th Ave E, 325-2111, $$$
Sparse and simple Vietnamese cuisine in the upscale Monsoon is surprisingly comfortableâand well worth the menu price. Be sure to check out the new dim sum brunch on weekends, which is dreamily delicious.
Central District
Jones Barbecue 3216 S Hudson St, 725-2728, $
The longstanding alpha dog of Seattle barbecue, Jones has little to prove but the continued deliciousness of their food. Among the popular favorites: the excellent, sweet-and-fiery sauce, giant rib bones smoked with very Northwestern cedar, spicy collard greens, and a worship-worthy sweet potato pie.
Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant 1325 E Jefferson St, 860-0403, $
What distinguishes Mesob from its numerous competitors is a certain lightness it achieves in what should otherwise be very heavy meals. The meats, the bread, the stews, the African greens, even the egg, which sits at the center of a wide variety plate, do not burden the stomach, but with assistance from honey wine, seem to be absorbed with great ease and satisfaction.
Downtown/Pioneer Square
Il Bistro 93-A Pike St, 682-3049, $$
Off the cobblestones that run under Pike Place Market, Il Bistro is a nice spot for a cozy date or to get away from the bustle and savor some tippy-top-shelf scotch. Bowls of pasta and zesty cioppino are satisfying choices among other Italian fare.
Matt's in the Market 94 Pike St, 467-7909, $$
Only a few tables and a small bar tucked into a cozy second-floor restaurant. The place overlooks the big Market clock and a bit of the Sound, but the real draw is the clean simplicity of everything surrounding itâfrom the dĂ©cor to the food. The dinner menu changes every two months but features plenty of seafood selections.
Palace Kitchen 2030 Fifth Ave, 448-2001, $$$
Expensive but worth itâif you can get a booth along the wall. The tables along the windows are cramped and the glare from the streetlights can be annoying. Terrific, hearty food, apple-wood grill, and awesome appetizers. The pork chops are terrific, the drinks are strong, and the monorail zips by overhead.
Eastlake
Serafina 2043 Eastlake Ave E, 323-0807, $$
Bright, delicious ingredientsâfresh peperonata, white Spanish anchovies, tender pea shootsâlift the menu from suffocating red sauces to a variation on Tuscan purity. Even simple dishes such as flank steak (so easy to abuse) are treated with care.
Fremont
El Camino 607 N 35th St, 632-7303, $$
Fancy Mexican food, with fancy drinks and cute waiters. Don't miss the deep-fried plantain chips with guacamole.
Fremont Classic Pizzeria & Trattoria 4307 Fremont Ave N, 548-9411, $
Great pizza and entrées in a cozy, friendly neighborhood space.
Greenwood/Phinney
Carmelita 7314 Greenwood Ave N, 706-7703, $$
Carmelita is the city's highest-minded vegetarian restaurant, with elaborate dishes that set out to make you forget the portobello-mushroom "steak" that passes for a vegetarian meal at so many restaurants.
Stumbling Goat Bistro 6722 Greenwood Ave N, 784-3535, $$
Here, a purist philosophy results in a small, restrained menu. You might think you could cook this stuff at home, but don't be misledâit is precisely this simplicity, this lack of pretension or fuss, with a careful focus on each ingredient and its true flavor, that makes the food very good. The menu changes frequently; generally there is beef, pork, chicken, one type of fresh fish, and a risotto.
International District
Seven Stars Pepper Szechuan Restaurant 1207 S Jackson St, Suite 211, 568-6446, $
The flavors are distinct and specific: delicately textured wontons swimming in spicy, oily sauce; fragrant cumin lamb; and delicious crispy duck. Whole crab dishes are phenomenal.
Tamarind Tree 1036 S Jackson St, Suite A, 860-1404, $
There is a plethora of beefy delights here. They play fast and loose with the notion of courses here; it's more like a stampede, as very shortly your table is covered with upwards of a dozen elegant dishes.
Madison Park
Harvest Vine 2701 E Madison, 320-9771, $$
In a perfect world, you would never have to eat anywhere else. Each tapas dish is perfect in some way: aged Spanish cheeses, lovely anchovies, seared sea scallops, mushrooms sautéed with leeks and scrambled eggs, a whole pan-fried trout, Spanish ham... you could sit at the counter and have one amazing dish after another slide right by you. That would be heaven indeed.
Madrona/Leschi
Hi-Spot Cafe 1410 34th Ave, 325-7905, $
Two words: Pint-size mimosas. So much better than those dinky champagne flutes that are gone three times before your breakfast arrives. Even the hearty toast and good-as-Grandma-makes jam is yummy, and that's not just the mimosa talking.
Queen Anne
5 Spot Cafe 1502 Queen Anne Ave N, 285-7768, $$
With its ever-evolving menuâhalf of which rotates every three months or soâthe 5 Spot Cafe focuses on regionalism in American cuisine. Even better, the experiments are almost always yummy.
Banjara Cuisine of India 2 Boston St, 282-7752, $$
Admirable daals and vindaloos, stuffed naan and tandoori, all presented with a visual flair. But Banjara's claim to fame is the fried calamari appetizer, flecked with green bits of cilantro.
Tup Tim Thai 118 W Mercer St, 281-8833, $
We've never heard an ill word spoken about the comfortable yet convenient Tup Tim Thai. Maybe that's why its lunch and dinner hours are consistently bustling and its regulars refuse to eat Thai anywhere else.
Rainier Valley/Beacon Hill/ Mount Baker/Columbia City
Baja Bistro 2410 Beacon Ave S, 323-0953, $
Good Mexican food isn't easy to find in Seattle, and I certainly wouldn't have guessed that Beacon Hill would be the destination for it. But Baja Bistro turns out to be the home of great Mexican fare.
Jones BBQ 3216 S Hudson St, 725-2728, $
BBQ enthusiasts have said that Jones BBQ in Rainier Valley has the best ribs and the best Arkansas-Texas-influenced sauce in town. It's one-stop shopping for barbecue fans.
SoDo/Georgetown/South Park
Pig Iron Bar-B-Q 5602 First Ave S, 768-1009, $
The food comes in only medium-huge portions on cool-looking tin trays, with sides nested in matching cylinders. So even though no one's calling you "honey"âthe hospitality's still fine, and the pulled pork is almost falling-apart tender, with crisped edges here and there.
Smarty Pants 6017 Airport Way S, 762-4777, $
A vast array of hot, delicious sandwichesâevery damn one of 'em available vegetarian-style, with homemade field roastâserved up in a charmingly funky space. Beyond the sandwiches exist other delights, including Frito Pie (!) and a full bar.
University District/Ravenna
Agua Verde Cafe and Paddleclub 1303 NE Boat St, 545-8570, $
If the sun is out, the water will be shimmering behind this cottage-like restaurant that, along with offering yam tacos and mango margaritas and hominy stew, also rents kayaks by the hour. The menu of simple, fresh foodâtacos (meats, fish, and vegetables), empanadas, sandwiches, quesadillas, salads, nightly specials, and sublime dessertsârecalls the cuisines of Baja, Oaxaca, Tampico, and salt-sprayed Mexican beach towns.
Thai Tom 4543 University Way NE, 548-9548, $
Ingredients don't spend a lot of time on the fire, so they don't suffer from the overkill-spice-absorption and mushiness you often find in Thai restaurants. This is vibrant, macho cookingâsome of the best Thai food in Seattle.
Wallingford/Green Lake
Essential Baking Company 1604 N 34th St, 545-3804, $
Delicious European sandwiches, plus amazing bread.
Eva 2227 N 56th St, 633-3538, $$
Amy McCray's menu is both worldly and grounded, with good honest cooking. She's got a nice knack for sides like chorizo-bread pudding with sherry-braised rabbit, squash spaetzle with a veal shank, and corn pudding with pork loin.
West Seattle/White Center
Mission 2325 California Way SW, 937-8220, $
The deep, dim room feels like a private compound, a grand refuge on a still-sunny evening (or a rainy one, for that matter). The décor cleverly plays on '60s Mission ranch style with geometrical wrought iron and an immense flagstone wall; rough lath cutouts highlight the bar. The house margaritas are quite good (which figures; the owners are from El Camino). The short but appealing Mexican menu is well priced, and the food looks very pretty on the plate. Order the ceviche. Recently, superfresh halibut (the fish varies) had, extraordinarily, the pillowy texture of scallops. It's excruciatingly, deliciously the tartest ceviche in town and easily the boldest, best thing on the menu.
