Seattle eaters, raise your hand if 2024 was your glow-up year. If you took yourself out for a solo dinner, rediscovered the joy of brunching with friends, or recreated an Il Corvo pasta moment at home, we see you. We’ve changed, too.
Seattle Restaurant Week has a history of drawing Seattleites out of their cozy hidey-holes twice a year—fall and spring—during the service industry’s slower shoulder season. In another era, this event was foodie code for two things: dopamine dressing and a coveted chance to experience a curated meal. After many creative iterations, ownership of the event series was consolidated and transferred to Seattle Good Business Network in the fall of 2017, uniting the city’s culinary scene under one mission-based nonprofit.
Inspired by BIPOC chefs challenging the narrative of “fine dining,” today’s Seattle Restaurant Week—this year it runs from October 27th to November 9th—has range. There are fewer menu requirements for chefs, and more accessible price points. Pop-ups, food trucks, and ghost kitchens are listed alongside long-standing institutions. Dress up if you want to, or don’t. This is food for real life.
Want more SRW history? 🥘
Here’s a full Seattle Restaurant Week retrospective.
Where to Find Pop-ups 🧆
📸: Mayra Sibrian of Pan de la Selva | Photo by Shannon Sullivan
IYKYK: the pop-up scene in Seattle is full of unexpected niches and emerging culinary talent. We already know so thanks to the well-fed, well-read Seattle Pop Ups Instagram account, so Seattle Good Business Network partnered with them to curate more than 15 opportunities to eat something you’ve never heard of before.
There are many occasions for which pop-up dining makes sense. A second date might be the best use case: novelty is a great bonding agent, they’re still fairly casual, and there are fewer chances of awkward throwbacks to bad dates past. Everybody wins. These are our top picks for an ephemeral shared experience this cuffing season:
🍯 Sweet Dream Bakes @ Hello Em
November 9th | 11 am – 2 pm
The $20 Sweets Box features Southeast Asian treats: a chewy pandan honeycomb cake, a layered ube cake slice, and a Vietnamese coffee nougat crisp.
🍛 Pashtun Palace @ Burke Gilman Brewing Company
October 27th – November 10th | Friday: 6 – 11 pm, Saturday: 4 pm – 12 am, Sunday: 4 – 11 pm
The $20 Afghani Menu includes a spicy chicken shish kabob, green chutney, a sugar cookie, and baloni—a vegetable-stuffed tortilla.
🔎 Find more pop-up picks here.
Where to Go for NA Options 🍹
📸: Judes Old Town
Hello Sober October! The sober-curious movement is in full swing, and it’s looking pretty cute out here. Whether you’re making an effort to consciously connect, you’re annoyed with the culture of default drinking, or you just don’t like the way alcohol tastes, it’s helpful to know you’re part of a growing movement.
And yes, you can still have a crazy night out, extravagant drink and all. The bartenders at these SRW eateries will make you a hand-crafted, zero-proof moment-in-a-glass that goes beyond basic soda and lime—best served over great conversation with a like-minded friend.
🍸 Jude’s Old Town | Rainier Beach
Menu Highlights: A handle on complex NA spirits like Pathfinder amaro and Kentucky 74 bourbon.
🍸 Mint Progressive Indian | Downtown Seattle
Menu Highlights: Refreshing takes on the classics—nogronis and a honey nold fashioned.
🍸 Hearth | Downtown Kirkland
Menu Highlights: As many ginger pomegranate mules as you need to make it through three courses.
🔎 Looking for more NA pairings? Seattle Restaurant Week has compiled its own list of restaurants with dedicated nonalcoholic options.
Where to Find Restaurants Doing Good 🌟
📸: Plum Bistro | Photo by Liz Dunn
Eating out is a privilege and a gift, made possible by generous hands and minds. Seattle Restaurant Week is highlighting these values-based restaurants that are using food as a vehicle for social change.
⭐ FareStart | South Lake Union
Job training, community and school meals, mobile markets, and consulting for organizations looking to build out similar programming.
⭐ Osteria la Spiga | Capitol Hill
The Future of Diversity guest chef program highlights artisans of color and cultivates vibrant dining experiences.
⭐ Republic of Cider | SODO
Their hands-on Craft Beverage Incubator provides coaching, helping launch passion projects into small businesses.
⭐ Palace Kitchen | Westlake
Recognized by EnviroStars for being a “green” business, limiting environmental impact and protecting employees.
⭐ Plum Bistro | Capitol Hill
Plant-based cuisine that honors “the way we view food and our personal responsibility to our communities.”
🔎 Here’s the full list of Restaurants Doing Good.
Where to Give a Meal 👐
📸: Chef Tanya Nguyen of ChuMinh Tofu
Did you enjoy your meal? Feeling generous? Paying it forward should be easeful, and Seattle Restaurant Week has made it so. “Give A Meal” restaurants support the work of Good Food Kitchens or their own community meal program in two ways: a donation option on guest checks, or an outright donation of a portion of sales.
Use the “Values” search filter in the Seattle Restaurant Week Directory to pull up participating locations. You can also support the delivery of over 7,000 culturally appropriate meals each month by frontloading your donation at goodfoodkitchens.org.
🧁 Maddy’s Bakeshop | Ballard
Offering direct donations to Good Food Kitchens.
Grab pastries and cakes made with local and seasonal ingredients at this pop-up. Box options include combinations with layer cakes, cupcakes, and thumbprint cookies or snickerdoodles.
🦐 Bar Dojo | Edmonds
Offering direct donations to World Central Kitchen.
Chino-Latino cuisine with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. Their three-course dinner options include a miso-shrimp bisque, coconut tofu laksa, and a matcha-infused vanilla cinnamon custard.
🍜 ChuMinh Tofu | Chinatown-International District and Columbia City
Offering direct donations to ChuMinh Tofu and The Eggrolls.
This completely vegan Vietnamese deli has been serving Little Saigon since 2011 and provides free community meals every Sunday. They make all their tofu in-house.
🌽 Mixt Cafe | Belltown and Hillman City
$2 of every panadero box will be donated to Good Food Kitchens.
Honoring their Filipino, German, and Mexican heritage, Mixt Cafe’s panadero boxes come with pretzel’d pandesal topped with Oregon dulse chili crisp, white adobo focaccia with wild mushrooms, a masa poundcake, and purple sweet potato pan de concha with green Szechuan pepper.
🔎 Find more Give a Meal participants here!
Seattle Good Business Network supports local buying, producing, and investment so that everyone has meaningful stakes in the local economy.
