Dan Mallahan’s seafood-focused menu is some of the best food you’ll find on a Seattle waterfront; it’s filled with stunning vegetables and hot and cold seafood compositions built around local fish and shellfish. This higher-end spot on Alki opens right up to the beach and its tiny Statue of Liberty replica. If you’re keen on water views, request a table near the front windows to properly enjoy the vista.

Restaurateur Trevor Greenwood’s new spot on Carillon Point has a patio you’d swear was airlifted from Southern California. It sits mere feet from Lake Washington, with deep, cushioned couches and plexiglass walls that don’t waste one iota of view. In nice weather, this is a capital-S scene, with pandemonium to match. But the menu's best dishes deserve just as much attention as the surroundings. Chef Gabriel Chavez’s modern Mexican fare includes guacamole with totopos, ceviche, tacos, and a beautiful chile en nogada.

El Encanto’s sister restaurant sits right on top of it, delivering a broad second-story expanse of glittering lake from its bank of windows. The whitewashed walls and careful Italian menu offer a surprisingly decent substitute for Lake Como. Italian wine and cocktails balance a menu of antipasti (like flawless crispy fried artichokes), handmade pasta, and a few shareable pizzas.

One of the town’s most coveted waterfront dining experiences happens on Lake Union’s north shore. Patio tables and the dining room windows offer a postcard tableau—water, boats, an underappreciated angle of Seattle’s skyline. The menu at this Renee Erickson restaurant doubles down on the waterside vibes with influences from up and down the Pacific coast, plus a decadent seafood tower.

It’s one of Seattle’s most distinct and wonderful bakery-cafes, even before you factor in its location on Portage Bay. Sure, the water views are succinct, but Saint Bread’s location in the redeveloped Jensen Marina means you’re surrounded by boats, stand-up paddleboarders, and the awareness of lunching in a functional shipyard. Saint Bread does pastries and sandwiches that blend Japanese and Scandinavian influences with A-level breadmaking. The bakery has no indoor seating, but its multiple covered patios offer the best water views anyway.

The centerpiece of Pike Place Market’s newer MarketFront wing is this soaring, wood-beamed brewpub that overlooks the most picturesque sweep of Elliott Bay: ferries, mountains, sunsets, Great Wheels. A menu of beer-friendly snacks (burgers, pizza, pretzel bites) augment a large beer menu. The long tables and capacity make Old Stove great for large groups. Since this is a cool brewpub, with a view, in the heart of a Seattle landmark…plan on crowds.

This longstanding cafe on the Portage Bay shoreline has a threefold patio situation: A covered porch-type area so open you might as well be outside, an actual patio that appears to float over the kayaks below, and the relatively new Marina Cantina, an entirely separate patio downstairs alongside the water with its own bar and dedicated taco truck. The Mexican menu is a hit with the UW crowd, but owner Travis Rosanthal (also of Rumba) has leveled up the cocktails.

People don’t always think of Fisherman’s Terminal for waterfront views, but this been-there-forever diner offers the sort of views that usually come with $50 entrees. Here, people take in dock slips, jammed with boats, while inhaling omelets, hash browns, BLTs, and coffee in sturdy white china mugs.

The South End has far too view waterfront dining spots, considering its expanse of lakeshore. This one-time service station, a tudor-style building made of stacked stones, now serves breakfast all day, plus homey fare like BLTs, grilled cheese, and fish and chips. The drink menu contains absolutely everything you might want to drink while gazing upon a lake.

The Edgewater Hotel looms large in Seattle lore. It’s built over the water, on a pier overlooking Elliott Bay, something modern zoning laws will likely never allow again. The Beatles fished out of the window of their suite; Led Zeppelin got banned after a similar incident got out of hand. The hotel’s Six Seven restaurant seemingly hovers over the water, with a neo-rustic interior, a narrow but coveted patio, and a menu that’s heavy on seafood, but offers the sort of accessible breadth you expect in a hotel restaurant.

As formulas go, this one is fairly unbeatable: kimchi fried rice, kalua pork tacos, and other hits from the Marination mini-empire. A perch near the water taxi station. A beer garden–style patio where you can drink a sangria beneath an umbrella and take in downtown Seattle on the other side of Elliott Bay. Water views are pretty decent from the small dining room, but the patio is one of the city’s greats.

In 2023, the dockside legend marks 50 years serving ultra-fresh seafood on Shilshole Bay. Downstairs has a more sedate, classic dinner vibe with entrees of scallops, salmon, and sablefish, and a veteran staff that pays attention. Upstairs, the more casual Ray’s Cafe serves lunch and dinner menus heavy on salads and sandwiches (but still full of great seafood).

These days, the 1970s-era Native American longhouse design comes off kitschy. The seafood menu plays it safe. But oh, that view. The I-5 bridge soars above; boats seem close enough to touch, and the skyline hovers at Lake Union’s south end. The Salmon House is a distinct Seattle curio—and a handy place to keep in your pocket for visiting grandparents or multigenerational group meals.

When the Alaskan Way Viaduct came down, suddenly restaurants along its path had a view of the water. Aerlume, the artful sibling of El Gaucho and Aqua, does beautiful things with local produce. That might be an appetizer of crisped-up cauliflower, or an especially intriguing carrot preparation to accompany an entree of black cod. Farther down the waterfront, Aqua offers more mature vibes and gloriously extensive water views.

A brewpub with decent beer (and milkshakes), not to mention a kid-friendly menu of burgers, tacos, and salads perches next to Lake Washington, within Magnuson Park’s former naval air station complex. Tiers of covered and uncovered patios—plus a small dining room—all get a close-up view of a small boat launch ramp, sailboats, and other urban marine delights. The setting has lots of room for kids to roam while they await their grilled cheese. The cafe is even open for brunch.

Weirdly Seattle's waterfront is sparse on options for waterfront dining. The best of them is probably Elliott's. The location makes it a favorite with tourists and high prices are inevitable given the real estate. But the oyster program is unimpeachable, with more than two dozen varieties from the Northwest and California. It’s a great place to learn your Hood Canals from your Totten Inlets—and take in some ferry views (and oyster-friendly wine) while you’re at it.