The Seattle and Eastside Guide to Christmas (Eve) Dining

Let's get back out there.
Image: Sviatlana Barchan / iStock
The restaurants on this list will serve meals either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (some intrepid kitchens will tackle both). We will continue to update this list through December, and will make each restaurant’s particular mix of options clear. If your holiday calls for takeout, we’ve got intel on that, too. Now…bring on the dessert buffets, the heated patios, and copious amounts of prime rib.
Ethan Stowell Restaurants
Various
A host of the restaurateur’s spots are open for Christmas Eve: Check out Ballard Pizza Co., How to Cook a Wolf, Red Cow, Rione XIII, Staple and Fancy, Tavolàta, and the Victor Tavern’s South Lake Union location. Each spot will run its regular menu, plus some holiday specials.
Le Coin
Fremont
On Christmas Eve, a $105 four-course dinner includes multiple options like warm dungeness salad, foie gras with pan au lait—even a classic Christmas goose (breast). You can book indoors, or on Le Coin’s small but mighty front patio.
Maximilien
Pike Place Market
The venerable French restaurant in Pike Place Market will throw a proper réveillon, complete with accordion music. A set menu will take over the dining room, as well as the restaurant’s clear patio igloos.
Carrello
Capitol Hill
Four-course dinners on Christmas Eve begin with an array of family-style antipasti. Next up: pasta, an entree of your choosing, and dessert. Options include dishes for pescatarian, vegetarian, and gluten-free diners.
Altura
Capitol Hill
Nathan Lockwood’s $195 Christmas Eve menu will embrace the season, as well as most dietary restrictions. Better yet, you can reserve either a dining room table or seats at the chef’s counter.
Goldfinch Tavern
Downtown
Chef Brian Doherty has a busy holiday in store: The restaurant at the Four Seasons will serve a three-course Christmas Eve dinner ($130 per adult, your choice of appetizer, entree, and dessert) then get back at it the next morning for a Christmas brunch that includes both an appetizer and dessert buffet.
The George
Downtown
The re-done restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel will serve a family style menu on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It’s $135 per person and includes shared portions of everything from nori sourdough to fried oysters, seared scallops and sticky toffee pudding (plus way more).
The Lakehouse
Bellevue
A four-course menu runs $83 per person (with a children’s plate option) on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The lineup from Jason Wilson and Thomas Cullen offers choices like prime rib, salmon, or truffle risotto.
Ray's Cafe and Ray's Boathouse
Ballard
The classic waterfront destination for pristine seafood and even better views will serve holiday menus on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The more upscale Boathouse (on the first floor) has a three-course $70 menu with plenty of options available both days. The more casual upstairs cafe runs a regular menu on the 24th, but augments that menu on Christmas Day with a few holiday specials.
Kricket Club
Ravenna
If you’re into holiday dinners, but not on the actual Christmas holiday, this glamorous pan-Indian spot puts on a celebratory feast on December 21. The $125 menu kicks off with a Bombay masala puff amuse-bouche and runs through multiple courses, including dessert and a palate cleanser. Sibling restaurant Meesha does its own holiday feast December 18, both indoors and on the patio.
STK Steakhouse
Bellevue
A $79 prime rib dinner special includes all the fixings: black truffle madeira sauce, green beans, confit fingerling potatoes. It’s available December 23–25.
Six Seven
Waterfront
The restaurant at the storied Edgewater Hotel will serve Christmas Eve brunch and dinner, plus an a la carte menu on Christmas Day with dishes like mushroom bisque with Maine lobster, sticky toffee Washington apple pudding, and the house cedar plank salmon.
Conversation
Downtown
Hearth
Kirkland
Copperleaf Restaurant and Bar
Sea Tac