11 Splurge-Worthy Restaurants in Seattle and Bellevue (2024)

Harry Cheadle

When you want to make a splash without renting a kayak

by Harry Cheadle Updated Mar 20, 2024, 8:54am PDT

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Twitter
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: 11 Splurge-Worthy Restaurants in Seattle and Bellevue

• Pocket
• Flipboard
• Email

| Harry Cheadle

Unusually for a fine dining restaurant, Archipelago sometimes provides free seats to those who are “doing the difficult work to protect, uplift, and share.” But everyone else has to pay the $239 per seat price, making it one of Seattle’s most expensive and exclusive dinner reservations. You get not just a tour of Filipino cuisine, but short speeches on the history and legacy of Filipino Americans (and others) in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a sensational dining experience, even if the price tag is startling.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

If you want a delightfully silly way to spend $125 per person, book a gondola on Seattle’s waterfront ferris wheel for dinner, courtesy of the Fisherman’s Restaurant. The way it works is you show up for co*cktail hour at 6:30 p.m. to order wine or whatever else you want to drink, climb aboard the wheel at 7:00, and “take off” at 7:30. You get a meal of prawn co*cktail, Caesar salad, grilled salmon, and chocolate custard. This is only available on Fridays and Saturdays.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

A while back the Seattle Times ran a rather negative review of this Pike Place coffee shop, the tone of which boiled down to “$8.50? For a latte?” And it must be said the latte is nothing special — or at least, it doesn’t stand out among all the other good lattes in town. What makes Storyville worth it is the vibe: the dark wood interior is beautiful, especially by the grungy standards of most market shops; the view looking out over the Pike Place Market sign and Puget Sound beyond is one of the city’s best; and the service is far more attentive and welcoming than your typical coffee shop. It’s a tourist trap, sure, but an enjoyable one. (Also, we’d personally rather pay $10 for coffee than wait an hour in line to get coffee down the street.)

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

There’s no shortage of high-end restaurants in Bellevue’s Lincoln Square, but why not go right to the top? Ascend is on the literal 31st floor of the building, where you get a panoramic view plus indoor fires plus food that is honestly probably more impressive than it needs to be. There’s showoff-y items on here like the $100-and-up caviar service, $75 crab legs, or the $209 45-ounce “seahawk” chop steak, but we prefer the still-luxurious happy hour menu, where you can get $20 koji-smoked wagyu beef cheek sliders.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

This Capitol Hill counter charges $160 a seat, which is by no means out of line with other omakase places, but you’ll definitely want to get a sake pairing here too for $48. Chef KeijiTsukasaki isn’t just an expert sushi chef, he knows his way around drinks and delights in telling you which to drink with each course. The sushi itself is exceptional, and includes delights like monkfish liver, so velvety and rich it’s nearly chocolate-like.

• Open in Google Maps

Harry Cheadle

For about $200, service charge not included, you get admission to the dinner party of your dreams. There’s a drink at your door, 10 courses showcasing seasonal ingredients and Aaron Tekulve’s creativity, a freakin’ poem written about the menu, a bag of granola to take home, and a little cup of decaf coffee or tea to drink on your way there. The location is anonymous (Madison Valley?), but the service is guaranteed to impress.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Harry Cheadle

The chillest sushi counter in Seattle is down a Madison Park alley. For $180, you get the privilege of watching Yasutaka Suzuki and his assistants work through a 20-course (or so, who’s counting?) omakase menu. It’s a delight to see what will come out next, whether that’s a cornet fish dish (Suzuki loves showing guests the fish’s extra-long skull) or three different cuts of tuna so diners can appreciate the complexity of a single fish. The counter only seats 11, with another 10 seats in the dining room, so reservations aren’t suggested, they’re pretty much mandatory.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Harry Cheadle

Part of Canlis’s appeal is that it’s CANLIS, Seattle’s fine dining citadel, and it knows it. Its website is the only one that informs guests, a bit snootily, “We’re a very dressy restaurant. We recommend a suit or sport coat for men, and ask that no T-shirts, shorts, hats, or casual attire of any kind be worn.” Dinner here (sans beverages) is $180, but the vibe, the view, the lighting — seriously, the lighting here is sick — every component of the meal reassures you that it’s worth it.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

These brioche doughnuts aren’t the kind of casual snack you grab a dozen of, not at $5 or $6 apiece. But they’re also unique in Seattle. We’re talking about creme brulee filled with passion fruit, churro topped with caramel sauce, and a winter seasonal joint that is filled with a coquito (a Puerto Rican eggnog-like drink) cream, dipped in cookie butter glazed, and topped with a gingerbread cookie. Trust us, it’s worth it. (Vegan dough is available.)

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Fair Isle cultivates a slightly higher-class air than some of the surrounding Ballard breweries, and that extends to its kitchen, which is an extension of the nearby butcher-slash-restaurant Beast and Cleaver. The burgers are the most famous item on the menu, and they have a celebrity price tag: $16, or $19 for a bacon burger (which is what you’ll usually want). The burger comes with cheese and ketchup and precious little else, certainly nothing as gauche as fries. But the 100-day dry-aged beef doesn’t need anything else, it’s juicy and marbled and given just a little assist from the sweetness of the ketchup. Get here early in the evening, the kitchen tends to run out.

• Open in Google Maps

At $205 (without a wine pairing), dinner at Kirkland’s fine dining mainstay is expensive by any measure. And Cafe Juanita, tucked away on a side street, eschews flash or glamour. But holy cow is this one of the best meals you can have in the whole metro area. The menu changes seasonally but is always full of delights. Chef Holly Smith and her team pay meticulous attention to detail; even the freshly baked mini focaccia is a marvel.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Unusually for a fine dining restaurant, Archipelago sometimes provides free seats to those who are “doing the difficult work to protect, uplift, and share.” But everyone else has to pay the $239 per seat price, making it one of Seattle’s most expensive and exclusive dinner reservations. You get not just a tour of Filipino cuisine, but short speeches on the history and legacy of Filipino Americans (and others) in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a sensational dining experience, even if the price tag is startling.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

If you want a delightfully silly way to spend $125 per person, book a gondola on Seattle’s waterfront ferris wheel for dinner, courtesy of the Fisherman’s Restaurant. The way it works is you show up for co*cktail hour at 6:30 p.m. to order wine or whatever else you want to drink, climb aboard the wheel at 7:00, and “take off” at 7:30. You get a meal of prawn co*cktail, Caesar salad, grilled salmon, and chocolate custard. This is only available on Fridays and Saturdays.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

A while back the Seattle Times ran a rather negative review of this Pike Place coffee shop, the tone of which boiled down to “$8.50? For a latte?” And it must be said the latte is nothing special — or at least, it doesn’t stand out among all the other good lattes in town. What makes Storyville worth it is the vibe: the dark wood interior is beautiful, especially by the grungy standards of most market shops; the view looking out over the Pike Place Market sign and Puget Sound beyond is one of the city’s best; and the service is far more attentive and welcoming than your typical coffee shop. It’s a tourist trap, sure, but an enjoyable one. (Also, we’d personally rather pay $10 for coffee than wait an hour in line to get coffee down the street.)

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

There’s no shortage of high-end restaurants in Bellevue’s Lincoln Square, but why not go right to the top? Ascend is on the literal 31st floor of the building, where you get a panoramic view plus indoor fires plus food that is honestly probably more impressive than it needs to be. There’s showoff-y items on here like the $100-and-up caviar service, $75 crab legs, or the $209 45-ounce “seahawk” chop steak, but we prefer the still-luxurious happy hour menu, where you can get $20 koji-smoked wagyu beef cheek sliders.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

This Capitol Hill counter charges $160 a seat, which is by no means out of line with other omakase places, but you’ll definitely want to get a sake pairing here too for $48. Chef KeijiTsukasaki isn’t just an expert sushi chef, he knows his way around drinks and delights in telling you which to drink with each course. The sushi itself is exceptional, and includes delights like monkfish liver, so velvety and rich it’s nearly chocolate-like.

• Open in Google Maps

Harry Cheadle

For about $200, service charge not included, you get admission to the dinner party of your dreams. There’s a drink at your door, 10 courses showcasing seasonal ingredients and Aaron Tekulve’s creativity, a freakin’ poem written about the menu, a bag of granola to take home, and a little cup of decaf coffee or tea to drink on your way there. The location is anonymous (Madison Valley?), but the service is guaranteed to impress.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Harry Cheadle

The chillest sushi counter in Seattle is down a Madison Park alley. For $180, you get the privilege of watching Yasutaka Suzuki and his assistants work through a 20-course (or so, who’s counting?) omakase menu. It’s a delight to see what will come out next, whether that’s a cornet fish dish (Suzuki loves showing guests the fish’s extra-long skull) or three different cuts of tuna so diners can appreciate the complexity of a single fish. The counter only seats 11, with another 10 seats in the dining room, so reservations aren’t suggested, they’re pretty much mandatory.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Harry Cheadle

Part of Canlis’s appeal is that it’s CANLIS, Seattle’s fine dining citadel, and it knows it. Its website is the only one that informs guests, a bit snootily, “We’re a very dressy restaurant. We recommend a suit or sport coat for men, and ask that no T-shirts, shorts, hats, or casual attire of any kind be worn.” Dinner here (sans beverages) is $180, but the vibe, the view, the lighting — seriously, the lighting here is sick — every component of the meal reassures you that it’s worth it.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

These brioche doughnuts aren’t the kind of casual snack you grab a dozen of, not at $5 or $6 apiece. But they’re also unique in Seattle. We’re talking about creme brulee filled with passion fruit, churro topped with caramel sauce, and a winter seasonal joint that is filled with a coquito (a Puerto Rican eggnog-like drink) cream, dipped in cookie butter glazed, and topped with a gingerbread cookie. Trust us, it’s worth it. (Vegan dough is available.)

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Fair Isle cultivates a slightly higher-class air than some of the surrounding Ballard breweries, and that extends to its kitchen, which is an extension of the nearby butcher-slash-restaurant Beast and Cleaver. The burgers are the most famous item on the menu, and they have a celebrity price tag: $16, or $19 for a bacon burger (which is what you’ll usually want). The burger comes with cheese and ketchup and precious little else, certainly nothing as gauche as fries. But the 100-day dry-aged beef doesn’t need anything else, it’s juicy and marbled and given just a little assist from the sweetness of the ketchup. Get here early in the evening, the kitchen tends to run out.

• Open in Google Maps

At $205 (without a wine pairing), dinner at Kirkland’s fine dining mainstay is expensive by any measure. And Cafe Juanita, tucked away on a side street, eschews flash or glamour. But holy cow is this one of the best meals you can have in the whole metro area. The menu changes seasonally but is always full of delights. Chef Holly Smith and her team pay meticulous attention to detail; even the freshly baked mini focaccia is a marvel.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

• The Best Restaurants and Bars Near Seattle Center
• Seattle Restaurants That Are Perfect for a Romantic Date Night
• The Best Sandwiches in Seattle