Stars—they're just like us: They love tracking down great places to eat. This year, famous foodies like Alison Roman and J. Kenji López-Alt and VIPs like Lizzo and Ali Wong dined in Seattle. We've gathered their picks here (and what they ordered) so that you, too, can feast like a celebrity. For more ideas, check out our list of the 30 most notable Seattle bar and restaurant openings of 2019.

Alison Roman: Linda's Tavern, Taylor Shellfish
In November, culinary darling Alison Roman, a food writer and the creator of Instagram-famous recipes like "the Cookies" and "the Stew," celebrated the release of her new cookbook Nothing Fancy at a party hosted by indie feminist food mag Cherry Bombe at the beloved Linda Derschang-owned dive Linda's Tavern. While in town, she also shared a snap of a meal at Taylor Shellfish on her Instagram stories.

Ali Wong: Bun & Oc, Facing East, Pho Bac Súp Shop
The gloriously foul-mouthed comedian and Always Be My Maybe star loves Asian restaurants so much she dedicated a chapter of her book Dear Girls to teaching her daughters how to select good ones, a legacy she deems "more crucial than money or love" (and notes that she would rather catch them "trafficking cocaine into Thailand through any number of orifices" than spot them eating at a P.F. Chang's), so it stands to reason that she visited some solid spots while in Seattle for her Milk & Money tour. She pronounced the Vietnamese food (including the namesake snail vermicelli soup) at Bun & Oc in Chinatown-International District "ngon lắm" (delicious), called Bellevue's Facing East "one of the best Taiwanese restaurants I’ve ever been to," and commented that the pho at Pho Bac Súp Shop was "so good."

Christopher Kimball: Macrina Bakery
The bespectacled, bow-tied food icon and Milk Street founder called the bialy egg sandwich at Macrina his "number one breakfast choice in the world" (and noted that the character Max Bialystock from The Producers would have loved it).

Fuchsia Dunlop: Beecher’s, Lionhead, Lowell’s, Pike Place Market, Starbucks
The James Beard Award-winning food writer Fuchsia Dunlop, who specializes in writing about Chinese cuisine and was the first Westerner to train as a chef at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine in Chengdu, visited the Emerald City in late October for the tour of her new book The Food of Sichuan, the highly anticipated updated version of her landmark cookbook Land of Plenty. She hit up Pike Place Market to try Beecher's cheesy tomato soup and mac and cheese, but was not a fan of the special reserve espresso at the Pike Place Starbucks: "Thin and bitter. I’ve had better espressos in Starbucks branches in Chengdu!" While in Seattle, she also dined on Dungeness crab eggs Benedict at Lowell's by the waterfront and feasted on Sichuan dishes at a special dinner inspired by her book at Lionhead in Capitol Hill.

J. Kenji López-Alt: Porkchop & Co., Taylor Shellfish, Yasuko’s Teriyaki
In September, famed chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt wrote in an Instagram post, "Is Seattle-style teriyaki one of those things you kinda have to grow up eating to appreciate? Or have I just not had any good versions?" and called the version he tried at Yasuko's Teriyaki "okay" and "kinda like generic mall food court teriyaki," prompting Seattle Times food critic Bethany Jean Clement to compose a spirited response in its defense. He also visited Taylor Shellfish and admitted on Instagram that he was not a fan of Pacific oysters. However, he did praise the "excellent blistered and chewy" everything bagel he tried at Porkchop & Co.


Lindy West: The Willows Inn
Feminist writer and notable local Lindy West shared some photos and videos on Instagram of a meal at the acclaimed Willows Inn on Lummi Island, which earned the top spot in a list of best restaurants in the country in 2017.

Lizzo: Biscuit Bitch
After performing at Capitol Hill Block Party in July, the singer/rapper/flautist tweeted that she wanted to try the expletive-peppered, Southern-inspired, "trailer-park-to-table" chain Biscuit Bitch (the Reader's Choice for breakfast and brunch in The Stranger's 2019 food and drink guide), but had to leave for an early flight before they opened. Not to worry: The Biscuit Bitch team turned out to be longtime Lizzo fans and opened the store early for her, and Lizzo was able to snag her breakfast after all. Her order? The "Hot Mess Bitch": biscuits and gravy with eggs and garlic grits smothered in cheese, plus a grilled Louisiana hotlink and jalapeños. Coincidentally, just earlier that month, actor and comedian Andy Richter also ordered the same breakfast on the recommendation of Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings and posted about it on Twitter, and chef Carla Hall (a former Top Chef contestant and former co-host of ABC's The Chew) dropped by Biscuit Bitch in February while in town for a dinner she cooked at Edouardo Jordan's award-winning restaurant JuneBaby.

Marcus Samuelsson: Archipelago, Barkada, Fou Lee Market and Deli, Hood Famous Cafe & Bar, Knee High Stocking Co., Oriental Mart
Chef Marcus Samuelsson, host of the PBS show No Passport Required, visited Seattle in January to film an episode centered around Seattle's Filipino food scene, which aired on December 13. In the episode, he tried sinigang (made with salmon collar, tamarind broth, and mustard greens), longanisa sweet sausage, and chicken adobo at Oriental Mart in Pike Place; the popular ube cheesecake and coconut buko pie at Hood Famous; the lechon (crispy pork belly) and dinuguan (a pork offal stew) at Fou Lee Market; arroz caldo (a rice porridge with chicken) at Knee High Stocking Co; lechon and shrimp chips at Barkada; and a tasting menu at Archipelago. He also stopped at the downtown diner Ludi's and the Capitol Hill bar East Trading Co., both of which have sadly closed since filming.