Best New Restaurants

The city’s best new restaurants, including our restaurant of the year. Plus: hot springs and saunas, a shipyard memoir, Tacoma’s ICE facility, and Mariners magic.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

Poetic

Three Poems by Ally Ang

The latest in Seattle Met’s poetry series.

10/03/2025 By Ally Ang

Cymbals Rule Everything Around Me

Kassa Overall Is Back in Seattle and Back in the Flow

The Garfield alum’s new album is all jazz and all hip-hop.

09/15/2025 By Eric Olson

Eat & Drink

Asked/Answered

What’s the Deal with Pull-Tabs?

Washington’s dive bar–iest form of gambling, explained.

11/25/2025 By Eric Nusbaum

Fro-Dough

The Great Seattle Cookie Bake-Off

Bake-at-home cookies offer the best parts of baking, with none of the mess.

11/11/2025 By Naomi Tomky

Hot Topic

Tasty Trends and Fusty Fads

The hottest and nottest in the local food scene this season.

10/31/2025 By Naomi Tomky

Best Food Forward

What Seattle Does Best

The restaurant genres where our little city punches above its weight.

10/27/2025 By Naomi Tomky

Knives Out

A Butter Place Spreads Creativity to the Dairy Aisle

Adrian Sanders churns up wild flavors designed to make dinner easier.

10/21/2025 By Naomi Tomky

Hunger Gains

Seattle’s Best New Restaurants

This year’s top spots made the best of tough times by getting creative, obsessive, or both.

10/20/2025 By Naomi Tomky Photography by Amber Fouts

Battle Local

This or That: Seattle Food Edition

A lightning round of local specialties, chosen by local chefs and restaurateurs.

10/20/2025 By Naomi Tomky Illustrations by Betty Turbo

Best New Restaurants 2025

Little Beast Is Seattle Met’s Restaurant of the Year

At his bold English pub, Kevin Smith dares to be butcher, baker, and money-maker.

10/13/2025 By Naomi Tomky Photography by Amber Fouts

Big Dumpers

Expand Your Dumpling Universe

There’s a whole world out there beyond xiao long bao.

10/07/2025 By Naomi Tomky

She’s Got Big Bowls

She Sells Xiao Long Bao by the Seashore

With Happy Crab on Shilshole, Lily Wu’s unflagging ambition brings Chinese cuisine and so much more to one of the city’s premier restaurant spaces.

08/12/2025 By Naomi Tomky

Green Scene

The Hottest Club in Town Is the Line for Matcha

Farhan Mustafa has a revelation about why the kids are all in line for tea.

07/29/2025 By Farhan Mustafa

Health & Wellness

Warm Up

Where to Sauna in Seattle

The city has gone crazy for heat, and we're not mad about it.

10/29/2025 By Allison Williams

Home & Real Estate

Tyrannosaurus Rest

Property Watch: The Home Before Time

A Jurassic Park–themed property hides near Washougal.

10/01/2025 By Taylor McKenzie Gerlach

News & City Life

Photo Essay

The Women of Nomad Boxing Club Can Take a Punch

"The punching-each-other-in-the-head-to-best-friend pipeline is real."

11/18/2025 Photography by David Jaewon Oh By Alex Smith

Hardhat Days

My Life in the Shipyards

I didn’t expect to be a union ship scaler. But after graduating college in the 1970s, that’s exactly where I found myself.

11/10/2025 By Mike Nolan

Explainer

How to Rent an Apartment in Seattle

It’s not cheap. It’s not easy. We’re here to help.

11/06/2025 By Taylor McKenzie Gerlach Illustrations by Jordan Kay

Detained

Taken by ICE

More people than ever are being held in Tacoma’s ICE detention center. Fewer are leaving.

10/30/2025 By Eric Nusbaum

Almost

A Beautiful, Heartbreaking Mariners Season

We commissioned some baseball cards to remember the good parts.

10/21/2025 By Eric Nusbaum Illustrations by Adam Villacin

Style & Shopping

Retail Therapy

How One Mall Is Cultivating Joy and Inclusion

Seattle Fat Mall centers its shoppers in every way.

08/26/2025 By Haley Shapley

Travel & Outdoors

Morning Glories

The Endangered Morning Mountain Workout Just Off I-90

Dawn patrol skiing at Snoqualmie Pass is a unique combination of outdoor fun and blood-pumping exercise, but it’s not always available anymore.

12/02/2025 By Allison Williams

Japow

Why Is Everyone Skiing in Japan?

Suddenly all of Seattle is taking snow vacations 4,000 miles away.

11/24/2025 By Allison Williams

Pit Crew

Building a Better Luau

How one organization is flipping the dynamics of an exploited tradition.

11/04/2025 By Naomi Tomky

High Desert Praise

What to Do in Bend

Central Oregon doesn’t stay inside during any season.

10/23/2025 By Allison Williams

Destination Dossier

What You Need to Know About a Trip to Olympia

The capital city has indie shops, great food, and a love of a good groove.

10/16/2025 By Allison Williams

Soak it in

Hot Springs Near Seattle

Thank the Northwest's volcanic landscape for our all-natural hot tubs.

01/17/2025 By Allison Williams

Warm Up

A Visit to the Elusive Goldmyer Hot Springs with Kids

The journey was tough. The clothing was optional. The connection was real.

01/15/2025 By Allecia Vermillion