Yes, Seattle has market-fresh seafood and one of the best coffee scenes in the country, and is home to the Seattle dog. But there’s no denying: Seattle is teriyaki town. In the late 1970s, Toshi Kasahara started serving the masses chargrilled chicken slathered with his signature sauce atop a bed of steaming rice, popularizing the dish and pioneering a wave of teriyaki shops all over the city. Quality, portion size, proximity to your house, and even salad dressing are all contributing factors to what can be considered the city’s “best” teriyaki, but here are a few of our favorites.
Grillbird
As a lifelong vegetarian and Seattleite, I am extremely skeptical of the tofu teriyaki in this city. Most teriyaki restaurants don’t offer non-meat dishes, and if they do, it’s usually a sad slab of raw tofu with a little side of sauce. As far as I can tell, West Seattle’s Grillbird is the only restaurant that’s filling this gap. Grillbird makes marinated sesame tofu and fried cauliflower that is crispy, flavorful, and saucy enough to seep down and coat your rice. Plus, they offer mouthwatering sides, including a tart cucumber salad and, in my opinion, the world’s best macaroni salad. The shop doesn’t have indoor dining, but you can take it to go for a nourishing, reasonably priced meal to eat in front of the TV. AUDREY VANN
