Monday, November 16, is National Fast Food Day, but that doesn't mean you have to go to McDonald's. Here are 31 of our favorite, non-corporate restaurants with fast (but still delicious) food.
CAPITOL HILL/FIRST HILL
1. Big Marioâs
Big Marioâs pizza is good: The crust is thin but not floppy, except at the very tip; the sauce is almost salty, almost sweet, and sparingly applied.
2. Freddy Junior's
Get great mini-burgers (with pickles made in-house) for super cheap at this no-frills burger place on Broadway.
3. Georgeâs Sausage & Delicatessen
In a city thatâs shy on the flavors of Central Europe, Georgeâs Polish shop delivers on that meaty, smoky feel that every deli should have.
4. Hot Mama's Pizza
When youâre looking for the kind of slice that was made to be folded in halfâthe kind that drips a little grease down your armâHot Mamaâs is the place.
5. Marination Station
The kalbi beef tacos, the aloha sliders, the kimchi fried rice⌠it is all really good.
6. Piroshki on Madison
The piroshkiâsavory pies, filled with things like chicken, cabbage, rice, and mushrooms, as well as potatoes and cheeseâhere are wonderful. But Piroshki makes the best borschtâa hearty winter soup of beets, cabbage, and potatoesâ in the city.
DOWNTOWN
7. Bakeman's
Bakemanâs turkey sandwich is legendary. You line up cafeteria-style, and you better know what you want: light or dark meat, white or wheat bread, cranberry or no. Other stuff is good; the turkey sandwich is great.
8. Market House Meats
Seattle is lucky to have Market House Meats, the brining mecca and corned beef meat market with the hand-painted signs on the corner of Minor and Howell.
9. Maximus Minimus
Usually parked at Second and Pike, the pig-shaped truck Maximus/Minimus (from the people of Beecherâs Handmade Cheese) serves righteous pulled pork sandwiches.
10. Oriental Mart
Oriental Mart is nothing but a family kitchen in a public space. Regulars here are 100 percent certain that itâs the best Filipino restaurant in the city. Feel free to eat with your fingers.
FREMONT
11. Sinbad Express
Brought to you by the same people as the well-loved Aladdin Gyrocery in the U District, this Mediterranean place is cheap and real good, and the dudes who work here are real nice.
GREENWOOD
12. Gorditoâs Healthy Mexican Food
Huge portionsâthe burritos are bigger than most babiesâalong with good salsa, all-natural ingredients, and an absence of lard have made Gorditoâs a Greenwood favorite since 1994.
INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT
13. Kau Kau
This is where you get those gorgeous, delicious barbecued ducks, as well as awesome barbecued pork, to take out or eat in.
14. Subsand
This tiny, cheap, popular ID lunch spot serves a huge variety of banh-mi-inspired sandwiches, including lemongrass chicken, Mongolian beef, fish cake, and salt-and-pepper tofu.
MADISON PARK
15. Seattle Salads
Seattle Salads believes with admirable optimism that âsalad shops are the future of fast food.â Depending on the season, their ingredients come from Seattle Tilth, the local/organic division of Charlieâs Produce, and/or a number of Seattle bakeries and food-makers.
PHINNEY
16. Martino's Smoked Meats & Eatery
At this old-school-looking deli in Phinney Ridge, Chris Martino (co-owner of the Nickerson Street Saloon) specializes in smoked-meat sandwiches. He does a lot of stuff right, but the Santa Maria tri-tip steak sandwich is so good it may make you cry.
PIONEER SQUARE
17. Salumi
Armandino Bataliâs narrow storefront in Pioneer Square is world-famous and duly mobbed (and rightfully so). At Salumi, youâll find fantastic house-cured Italian meats, along with hot and cold sandwiches.
18. Tatâs Delicatessen
Thereâs nothing scientific or precise about Tatâs enormous, sloppy sandwiches; theyâre just slapped together with the belief that more is always better. And at Tatâs, thatâs right.
SOUTH LAKE UNION
19. The Berliner
Local guy Victor Twu became such a fan of the doner kebabâthe Turkish version of a gyro, served on the street in Berlinâthat he opened this doner shop.
UNIVERSITY DISTRICT
20. Aladdin Gyrocery
Aladdin Gyroceryâs falafel and gyro sandwiches are perfect student food: cheap, fast, filling, portable. That the gyros happen to be delicious is an added bonus.
21. Guanacos Tacos Pupuseria
A Salvadorian restaurant with affordable prices, Guanacoâs Tacosâ specialty is (despite its name) pupusas (corn pancakes stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese, and veggie).
WALLINGFORD
22. Mr. Gyros
Mr. Gyros turns out the solid standards of quick Middle Eastern food: falafel, shawarma, kabobs, baba ghanoush, and hummus.
SEVERAL LOCATIONS
23. Burgermaster
Unlike the burgers at Dick'sâSeattleâs other, more well-known longtime local chainâBurgermasterâs burgers are made with grass-fed beef and can be ordered and eaten without requiring you to ever leave your car.
24. Eltana Wood-Fired Bagel Cafe
Eltanaâs bagels are hand-rolled for chewy deliciousness, wood-fired for more handsomeness, and smaller than most, along the lines of the bagels found in Montreal.
25. Ezell's Famous Chicken
What might be the best fried chicken in the country, sold over-the-counter (and on wheels). Oprah has it FedExed directly to her mouth.
26. Grand Central Baking Company
Grand Central has been making high-quality, yummy bread and baked goods for a long, long time, and comes with a presidential seal of approval: Obama ate a turkey-and-chutney sandwich at the Pioneer Square shop in August 2010.
27. Li'l Woody's
Liâl Woodyâs serves good burgers made with Painted Hills beef, with the basic model starting at less than $5. Also: Molly Moonâs milkshakes and âcrack fries,â which come with a little milkshake as dipping sauce.
28. Red Mill Burgers
Justly famous for the gigantic, aromatic heaps of freshly fried bacon that await crisscrossing on the burgers at each location, family-owned Red Mill isnât gourmet, itâs just really, really good.
29. Spud Fish & Chips
Hand-battered fish ânâ chips done good and greasy at two classic Seattle order-at-the-counter spots.
FOOD TRUCKS
30. Hallava Falafel
The vaunted Hallava Falafel truck roves from Georgetown to Capitol Hill and beyond, serving great falafel for your lunch-, dinner-, and drunky-time needs.
31. Where Ya At Matt
Mattâs poâboys use bread baked to his specifications by a secret local baker, and his oyster poâboy is $9 of heaven.
