Last summer, I watched a girl running along the old, russet towers of Gas Works Park’s namesake gasification plant. She hopped from one scaffolding to another, posed atop a tank, drifted along a pipe. She couldn’t have been more than 15. A city worker arrived and yelled at her to get down. Falling—and she could have at any moment—would likely mean broken bones, torn ligaments, internal bleeding, perhaps death. Yet she moved with the unworried finesse of an acrobat or gymnast. The Gas Works plant, dormant since 1956, was repurposed into a sort of public art piece in 1976, when the park opened. Now the girl repurposed it again as a performance apparatus.
This spirit—a little recycling, a little transformation—animates the neighborhood around Gas Works, too. That’s fitting for an area in which the dump has a glass-enclosed viewing room. Many of Wallingford’s defining features used to be something else. The Good Shepherd Center in Meridian Playground was once a Catholic girls’ orphanage. In 1977 the organization Historic Seattle turned it into a community center. Between that and Gas Works, the Seattle Daily Times posited then, Wallingford was becoming a “better place,” no longer just a slope of aging craftsman houses. Today the Good Shepherd Center, with its groomed grounds and stained glass, is home to various tenants, including an art school, Seattle Tilth, a senior center, a “ketamine-assisted psychotherapy” practice, and the C.G. Jung Society of Seattle.
Along the neighborhood’s main retail strip, North 45th Street, you’ll find business after business located in residential houses—a coffee shop, a Thai restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, a thrift store. You’ll find Wallingford Center, the neighborhood shopping hub, which was once a public school. And you’ll find a reader board proffering the sort of jokes typically reserved for bumper stickers and coffee mugs: “Flat earthers have nothing to fear but sphere itself.” “Tried to grab the fog. I mist.” “Cremation is my last hope for a smoking hot body.”
In 2005, the nearby Wallingford Chevron station no longer needed its reader board for promo materials. So owner Jim Bernard decided to use the small sidewalk-adjacent sign to coax laughs. For the last seven years, many of those jokes have been written by Michael Boursaw, one of the gas station’s employees. He says he draws on a few sources for inspiration—customers, the “watercooler jokes” he heard while in the Army, the dad jokes of “older gentlemen” at the nursing homes his mom works in. He just needs to massage the wording to work as text.
It’s called the Wallingford Sign. Though if you’ve driven through the neighborhood, you might figure that moniker belongs to another bit of signage, equally repurposed. In 1996, neighborhood grocer Food Giant sold to QFC. When the chain took over, the large blue and white letters on top of the store spelling “Food Giant” no longer made sense. But instead of scrapping the whole thing, the store jettisoned only an O and a T, then added a W, two Ls, and an R. True to neighborhood spirit, the recycled descriptor reads—in glowing blue and white—Wallingford.
Seattle Met composite. Photographs by Olivia Brent, Amy Vaughn, and Shutterstock.
Off the southern end of Lake Union sits a company with some of the most resources in the world: Amazon. On the northern end, beginning with a bucolic park once home to a gasification plant, abides a community abundant with resourcefulness. Wallingford, the neighborhood between Fremont and the University District, doesn’t waste a letter, let alone a building. Everything from the sarcastic Chevron sign to the benevolent Good Shepherd Center bespeaks a devotion to clever repurposing. And vintage still undergirds the area’s impressive array of restaurants and shops.
Amidst a city of coffee shops and breweries, Wallingford’s juiciest bar is nestled on the corner of Wallingford Ave and N 44th street just waiting to be found. Juisala is a vegan juice bar and cafe offering a variety of small-batch, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, acai bowls and salads made with all organic ingredients - and everything is insanely delicious.
While Juisala only recently opened in late January 2020, this juice bar is a vision that has been manifesting for quite some time. After years of working in QFC’s produce department and setting up a juice bar whenever possible, Juisala founder and owner Jay Jeffries searched Seattle for the perfect spot to set up his juicer.
“[In] 2017, I wanted to set up to start with a juice bar,” said Jeffries. “So I did like a three month kind of trial run, and rented some commercial kitchen space down in lower Queen Anne, and just tried to do Uber Eats and delivery which didn't really work out that well.”
But he didn’t give up. After exploring possibilities in Queen Anne then Fremont, Jeffries turned to Wallingford after his sister moved her yoga practice there in 2019. While he initially hoped to open up a juicery next door to her studio, fate had other plans. While that deal fell through, Jeffries walked outside and noticed that a bakery across the street was now empty - the very same space that Jeffries had looked into years earlier for a possible business venture.
“There wasn’t even a sign on it yet,” said Jeffries. “So I called [the landlady] and she said ‘your timing is impeccable’.”
Jeffries attributes his interest in health and wellness to his mother, who bought him his first juice machine when he first started working at QFC and would “literally juice everything in the produce department.”
Aside from weekends, Jeffries typically works the shop by himself, pressing each juice with care and a whole lot of enthusiasm. Nearly every ingredient in the bar is organic and grown by local farmers, excluding the few vegetables he grows himself - like celery and parsley.
“I do feel pretty strongly about organic [fruit],” said Jeffries. “It’s all organic or wild harvested. If I know where it came from, whether I grew it myself or somebody I know harvested it, then that’s okay!”
While starting a new business during COVID-19 isn’t an easy feat, Jeffries quickly adapted, offering covered outdoor seating and implementing sustainability initiatives that keep people coming back, while also saving money (and the planet). To reduce the amount of consumer trash, Juisala uses reusable and recyclable glass bottles and mason jars. If you return, reuse or bring your own glass, you get $1 off, while glass bowls and spoons for acai bowls earn you $2 off.
From the authentic tapa cloths that drape the walls to the tiki that sits on the counter and the rainbow periodic table of juicing poster that hangs on the wall, Juisala in Wallingford is summer in a bottle, in an environment reminiscent of Hawaii in all of its fresh-fruit glory.
While the products, services, and/or accommodations in this post were provided without charge, all of the opinions within are those of the author and the Seattle Refined editorial board
This neighborhood in between Fremont and the University District features locations of many well-known local chains (Ezell’s, Molly Moon’s, and Dick’s, to name a few). But it also has independent restaurants serving a diverse array of cuisines, with Japanese izakaya food, Trinidadian curried goat, Afghani bolani, and more.
Wallingford's strength is well-established, mid- to bargain-priced restaurants that cater primarily to customers who live within walking distance, including University of Washington students wandering over from the adjacent U District. Here are some favorites. (For the purposes of this list, Wallingford cedes restaurants on Stone Way, south of 40th Street, to Fremont. Find that neighborhood’s many excellent restaurants in the Fremont map.)
Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com. As usual, this list is not ranked; it’s organized geographically.
The Madison Square Garden of Seattle novelty shops boasts an impressive collection of inspired creations, like a squishable “stress tardigrade,” “handerpants” (yes, hand underpants), and an Edvard Munch–inspired electronic noisemaker that emits all your pent-up screams for you.
Conveniently located right off the Burke-Gilman, Brooks Trailhead (runner talk for flagship) has all the gear you need to put one foot in front of the other. In-store experts will analyze those strides, too, to get you in the best locally designed shoes for your gait.
Outdoor enthusiasts form lines outside Evo for the Lib Tech snowboards and Sea to Summit sleeping bags, or, in better times, the shop’s classes and events. In current times, Evo’s got some comfy loungewear, too.
Harvey Hansen started making lampshades to make ends meet during the Depression. Now, his grandson Kim sells elegant porcelain lamps, showstopper chandeliers, and locally made lampshades out of a Wallingford shop his family has owned for over 60 years.
Miir, a blend of the Russian word for “peace” and environmentalist pioneer John Muir’s last name, slings design-conscious camp mugs and sleek insulated growlers.
Surprises await even for the ardent local shopper in the second location of this Tacoma-based store: pink glass conch shells, Alaskan bull kelp hot sauce, a guide to the region’s butterflies. All made in (you guessed it) the Pacific Northwest.
It wouldn’t feel right to split up these “business roommates,” as Peti’s website refers to the relationship: Both Peti Boutique’s clothing and home goods and Cedarhouse’s floral arrangements are delightfully on-trend.
Outfit your kitchen in handmade wares from Saltstone Ceramics.
Wallingford’s rare plant purveyor operates primarily online, but the well humidified brick-and-mortar overflows with exotic flora (reserve the special stuff online early in the week, before they sell out). Even the garden variety houseplant grows luscious here.
Reminisce (and dissent) in Ruth Bader Ginsburg socks from The Sock Monster.
This woman-owned boutique is somehow stocked with even more socks than you’d expect from a dedicated shop, from the novelty and Bigfoot-adorned, to popular brands, to warm and practical Merino wool.
Despite being at least a three-hour drive from waves breaking off the Pacific coastline, this surf shop nestled just off Lake Union deals in boards of all sorts, including paddleboards—yup, the ones you see skimming across Lake Union all year.
Your pet shops local, too, and for good reason: This unpretentiously boutique pet supply store stocks food brands with care, keeping you out of the grain-free weeds. Locally knit cat toys and an entire wall of doggy fun are just a bonus.
Wish’s own house line of funky, patterned clothing is fit for a PNW Ms. Frizzle—think little red mushrooms on a mid-length navy dress. Jewelry cases packed with shimmery hair clips, ornate costume earrings, and local creations ensure every visitor finds a treasure.
Secret Congee's artful bowls. Photograph by Amber Fouts
By most measures, Stone Way marks the border between Wallingford and Fremont. That means each hood possesses exactly half of this high-profile strip of dining. No matter—Wallingford might not present as a buzzy restaurant zone, but no other part of town can claim such a rich concentration of Seattle classics, from outposts of local names like Dick’s, Ezell’s, even Molly Moon’s to the quiet might of Kisaku or Pam’s Kitchen. Meanwhile, the newer tech zone centered in Fremont has glossed up Wallingford’s southwest edge.
These are the vegan maestros, the taco joints, and the preponderance of Japanese restaurants that give Wallingford texture, beyond the big names of Stone Way. (Don’t sleep on those either.) Covid continues to wreak the unexpected on restaurants, so confirm current hours and status online before you set your heart on Italian tonight.
Once upon a time, in 2016, it was novel: A convenience store that sells poke—really good poke no less—in the company of packs of Marlboros and individual size bags of Tim's chips. These days, Seattle is far more savvy in matters of marinated fish salad and unconventional food counters, but those piled-high bowls of tuna and salmon (and other options) still rank among the best, even in a town full of poke joints. Credit the fresh clean-tasting fish and customization options that feel more useful than overwhelming. The “poke pockets” wrapped in deep fried tofu: unmissable.
Buns and dumplings aplenty, including a standup vegan version.
Stretched, twisted, extensively folded dough yields hand-pulled lamen noodles, chewy ripples (no, not ramen) that elevate the simple preparations into something craveable. This fast-casual pocket of a restaurant on North 45th Street has equal expertise in buns, wontons, and dumplings with seven different fillings, including admirable vegan versions. The small dining room is steeped in personality, but dishes generally shy away from spice, so wield your own chili crisp accordingly. Dumpling the Noodle does its own delivery(!) after 5pm, but travel times aren’t always kind to food like this; fortunately batches of frozen dumplings let you steam up combos like beef and bell pepper, or pork, chives, and shrimp at home.
Seattle’s most iconic drive-in began in 1954 on Wallingford’s main drag; today the burgers, fries, and shakes dispatched beneath a hypnotically spinning sign don’t look much different. Loving Dick’s is an emblem of Seattlehood, available to both lifers and transplants—be they scraping by or affluent, sober or buzzed. It’s an emotion not necessarily based on the contents of that paper sack, but a Dick’s Deluxe packs plenty of uncomplicated charm—a collective quarter pound of fresh beef, properly gooey American cheese, fresh lettuce, mayo, squishy bun, and the gentlest of pickle relish.
They’re not Montreal-style bagels, exactly, but these slender little numbers dispensed at the chainlet’s Stone Way shop do share some characteristics with Canada’s famed bagel culture. Eltana boils its bagels in honeyed water and fires them in a wood-burning oven; slightly fatter than a true Montreal ring, they sport a dense crumb, its architecture more aPodment than open-air. But perhaps the coolest thing about the menu is its undercurrent of Levantine flavors, like a Yemenite egg salad sandwich, or honey almond cream cheese that’s sweet without cloying.
Original, spicy, and half-and-half combos are Seattle legend for a reason. They’re moist, not greasy (okay…maybe a little greasy)—especially when you order it spicy, along with a few fried livers and gizzards, throw in some cole slaw…and how about just one slice of sweet potato pie? Ezell Stephens went on to found Heaven Sent Fried Chicken, but the original continues; the outpost on 45th has an ample parking lot.
Musashi’s knows efficiency, from tabletop thermoses of serve-yourself tea (on hiatus because Covid) to the signature chirashi bowls, the most economical and purposeful way to get good quality sashimi into your mouth. Now a few franchised locations exist around town, but the obsession originates with this unassuming little poster-bedecked spot on 45th, where serviceable rolls and upgraded items like grilled hamachi collar are well priced and well suited for our current takeout-centered reality.
At Seattle’s Caribbean classic, the jerk chicken sandwich reigns supreme. A round of fried coconut bread provides a bewitchingly crunchy wrap for meat fiery in jerk spices. But chef-owner Pam Jacob’s talents extend far beyond that chicken; born in Trinidad, she infuses her menu (and her Instagram) with cultural context for fiercely loved staples like curry goat and rum punch.
Freddy Rivas’s reliably great tacos happen at a Capitol Hill drive-through, as well as in an old Winchell’s, very lightly converted into a walk-up counter on 45th Street. Here, in the parking lot, fans were doing the whole “eat under a tent” thing before it was a state mandate. The Wallingford location has a smaller menu but still pulls off an impressive, affordable range of burritos, tortas, tamales, and tacos (both hard shell and Mexico City–style, laced with onion, cilantro, and lime).
“Hidden gem” is an overused term when talking restaurants. But how else to describe this miniature, multitalented dining room tucked a few tree-lined blocks off Wallingford’s dual thoroughfares? Normally, boisterous groups occupy the handful of big round tables, spinning lazy susans to access salt and pepper shrimp, hand shaved noodles, and basil chicken. Taiwanese students from the University of Washington quelled homesickness with hard-to-find favorites: braised pork stew, texture-rich oyster omelets, stinky tofu that means business. Crowds and international students might be on hold, but the food still shines, including a flavorful vegetarian menu (especially the basil eggplant) and a thousand-layer pancake that’s the stuff of carby dreams.
Secret Congee makes a classic chicken version (below), but a riff on tom yum (top) is a fan favorite.
The customers in socially distanced formation outside a Wallingford juice bar aren't there for smoothies. But rather bowls of congee, rice porridge thoughtfully tricked out with braised pork belly and Sichuan peppercorns, or blue crab and garlic. Owner JP Lertsirisin tapped local chefs and cooks from a range of cuisines to bring big flavors to a comfort food usually served with minimal adornment. Secret Congee operates out of a commissary kitchen in the same building as Juisala juice bar and takes orders on the sidewalk out front. Ordering ahead is always a good idea, as is a sidecar of perfect, golden youtiao.
TNT Taqueria serves the neighborhood breakfast tacos, lunch salads, and straight through to dinnertime margaritas.
The lemon-yellow exterior on 45th screams for your attention, but the all-day menu shifts the focus entirely to the customer. Did you want to start your day with sweet potato and kale breakfast taquitos? Fancy three different types of tacos in your lunch platter? Should dinner consist of a massive burrito or a salad-like option that eschews the tortilla entirely? Legacy local restaurant group Chow Foods is behind this friendly taqueria, its menu full of well-sourced ingredients, dishes refreshingly versatile and durable in takeout form.
Kevin Moulder founded his bakery as Cubes, a Mexican-style bakeshop where everything—cakes, scones, savory muffins, tarts—was square- or cube-shaped. Over time he changed the name and chilled out on the cubes, but he leaned all the way into the Mexican confections of his youth, specifically tres leches. Now this business centers on the confection that incorporates three forms of milk to create decadently soaked cake layers atop a light and airy sponge. Tres Lechería does ample wholesale, but you can preorder a slice (in flavors like matcha, Mexican mocha, coconut, or cookies and cream) to pick up at his 45th Street storefront, or find them in nicer grocery stores like Central Market or Met Market. They’re even square-shaped.
This plank-tabled, iron-chandeliered dining room—the eldest of Cantinetta’s trio of restaurants—arrived on Wallingford Avenue in 2009. Seattle and its dining scene might change at warp speed, but Cantinetta has endured elegantly, thanks to Tuscan fare at its rustic best: fresh, constantly rotating antipasti, contorni, pastas made over at sibling restaurant Como, and mains. After opening briefly for takeout this fall and closing for the holidays and January, Cantinetta’s original location should reopen soon.
Five-course dinners might seem a tough fit for pandemic life, but Wallingford’s vegan destination nonpareil managed to translate its astonishing multicourse meals to takeout, sending fans home with menus built around mushroom spanakopita or curried cashew paneer, and even some suggested wine pairings. Meanwhile, a more casual lunch menu and market stocked with roasted beet garlic hummus, cookies, and creamy salad dressing offered a more relaxed insight into the kitchen’s plant-based talents.
Joule's sharp interior, and equally bold rice cakes.
Few restaurants in Seattle will reliably blow your mind like Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi’s original. When Joule moved from 45th to its larger, stylized digs on Stone Way, it acquired a sort of steak house identity, but leave it to Yang and Chirchi to take a staid and prescribed menu format and make it explode with chili oil, scallion pancakes, and Chinese broccoli with walnut pesto. The small front patio continues serving many of its dine-in customers, while a takeout menu offers more travel-friendly iterations of Joule’s big flavors. Spicy rice cakes forever.
A casual steak house on 45th comes steeped in Japanese sensibility, from the seared wagyu sushi on the starter menu to the pork tonkatsu made with a pedigreed Lan-Roc cutlet. The beef lineup mixes posh Japanese A5 wagyu with reasonably priced New Zealand bavette, and creativity infuses classic steak house sides—garlic anchovy mashed potatoes, arugula salad with salmon carpaccio and just the right dressing. Unexpected and welcome: a pasta menu, full of wagyu Bolognese and uni cream fettuccine. The food feels like a special occasion, without the rarefied prices.
For 16 years, Tangletown’s sushi destination identified itself by its chef, Ryuichi Nakano. Thankfully new owner Kyu Bum Han stokes the flames of Kisaku’s many charms, from the unmissable sushi counter omakase (at least in the days of dine-in) to the mix of seasonal specialties alongside impeccable maki and nigiri. This is one of those special places equally suited to a special occasion or a casual weeknight hang.
Ethan Stowell’s tiniest spot, at Tangletown’s compact crossroads, has always put its own spin on the restaurateur’s Northwest-Italian playbook. The kitchen balances Stowellian staples (burrata, rigatoni) with steak, seasonal gnocchi, cider-glazed duck breast, and its signature grilled green beans, crisp and salty as any french fry. Right now Mkt. offers one- and two-person takeout meal packages, in keeping with other ESR spots, as well as an a la carte menu, plus a few tented tables streetside and limited indoor dining.
Westward recently got a makeover, but fresh oysters remain essential.
Glorious beneath umbrellas in summer, now thoroughly tented for winter, Westward is one of the city’s best waterfront patios, full stop. That honor has much to do with the glittering expanse of Lake Union and Seattle’s skyline, displayed at an angle you never see on postcards. But a recent makeover courtesy of Renee Erickson’s Sea Creatures Restaurant Group (who acquired the restaurant in 2018) upped the food game with a menu that spans the Pacific coastline. Fresh oysters remain central, now joined by scallop ceviche in aguachile and bottles of wine from Baja’s vaunted Valle de Guadalupe region. A few staples remain from the Josh Henderson era: the clam dip got spicier; the roasted half chicken sits atop chimichurri. The credits have rolled on the Steve Zissou decor in the dining room, now redesigned to better accommodate future crowds.
The awning outside hasn’t changed since the neighborly Italian restaurant opened in 1986. Inside, the walls and ceiling drip with flair: vintage tandem bike, oversize dog statue in a cart, inverted year-round Christmas tree. The menu is comforting in its consistency: elk Bolognese, sugar snap pea carbonara, an uncomplicated caesar. Not that Bizzarro can’t adapt; the Sunday spaghetti and meatballs special became an everyday menu item when the pandemic hit (because what are days of the week at this point anyway?). While the restaurant is steeped in neighborhood lore (Il Nido’s Mike Easton first cooked Italian food here), Bizarro just opened a second location in White Center.
Heavy Restaurant Group’s cavernous Italian restaurant at the foot of Stone Way strikes the company’s signature balance: Not too cool for cheesy garlic bread or barbecue chicken pizza but able to pull off a respectable cacio e pepe or chicken parm. The critical mass of tech workers in adjacent Fremont appreciate the chopped salad, salami sliders, and 11-inch pizzas with flavor bomb combos. Nearby families make liberal use of the kids menu and seasonal specials. Everyone benefits from the deep list of Italian wines.
Low-key charm infuses the candle-lit dining room, but it’s the kebabs that established this corner spot on 45th Street as a majorly undersung Wallingford mainstay. Lamb and beef sport grill marks and a spark of coriander; chicken tastes of garlic, turmeric, and a hint of cayenne pepper. Even the basmati rice packs more flavor than you’ve any right to expect for prices these reasonable. The long menu means vegetarians have just as many options as meat eaters.
Heavy Restaurant Group has bracketed the base of Stone Way with Fiasco’s Italian menu and, a few blocks to the east, Pablo and Pablo’s sleek taqueria. Here, nachos come in classic and vegan iterations, and taco flavors inform a chopped salad. Actual tacos might be stuffed with carnitas, banh mi–inspired pork belly, or a whole fried soft-shell crab. Kids items and a host of bowls and burritos bolster Heavy’s reputation for broad appeal: This taqueria serves chocolate chip cookies, but also dynamite cocktails. Consume them via takeout or on the roomy front patio facing 34th Street.
The chainlet’s Neapolitan pies were among the first in the region to earn a rigorous VPN certification from the official governing body of pizza in Naples. Now the company’s seven locations include this timbered space on Stone Way, with a glass-enclosed bar so cool you can forget you’re drinking that cocktail inside a family-friendly pizza restaurant. (Of course, the side patio comes in particularly handy at the moment.) Tutta Bella balances Italian tradition with American accessibility—restraint with fresh mozzarella, heavy on the Italian sausage, or on smoked mozzarella and pistachio puree on a white pie. Starters, salads, and a handful of pasta dishes offer a ton of non-pizza options.
Oh, to have a place like Union Saloon down the street, with its oversize wooden booths and a vibe that strikes the seemingly simple balance of careful and chill. But calling this place a neighborhood bar doesn’t do justice to food that remixes vintage comfort with 2021 seasonality: hearty open-face sandwiches, German chocolate layer cake, even housemade chips and onion dip. The newly covered and heated patio includes a private fireside tent you can reserve for your party, and your party alone.
The Whale Wins retooled itself as an all day cafe, equally suited to takeout or tabletops.
Renee Erickson’s elder Wallingford outpost, a wood-fueled, white-marbled haven on Stone Way, made an early pandemic shift to become an all-day cafe. Now the open kitchen prepares a mix of French-tinged comfort food—breakfast frittatas, sandwiches of smoked turkey or maybe jambon and apple butter—and Ericksonian favorites like gnocchi parisienne and a mighty pork chop. Everything is designed for takeout or consumption on the (small, charming, semi-covered) patio. A larder, the other half of the Whale’s new identity, is more extensive than you might guess, stocked with dried beans, local cheese, legitimately appealing gifts, and beautiful produce from farms like Billy’s. Oh, and plenty of wine. The late-afternoon casse-croûte menu calls out to anyone who misses happy hour.
Quietly, but in a dining room that’s doubled in size over the years, Keisuke Kobayashi puts out izakaya fare that’s careful, crazy fun, and unlike anything else in Seattle’s constellation of Japanese restaurants. Born in Sapporo, Kobayashi pays particular tribute to dishes from his native Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, like the region’s zangi fried chicken or miso ramen. The rest of the menu is equal parts Japanese staples—a bevy of ramens, including a gluten-free version, okonomiyaki, pressed sushi, drinking snacks like spam fries. Snacks might be a good idea if you plan to explore the bar full of sake and Japanese whisky. Yoroshiku feels every inch a neighborhood joint, yet solidly worth a trip from other parts of town.
