Restaurants in Mercer Island

In 1992, restaurant owner Carlos Kainz and chef Julie Guerrero first joined forces to open a tiny West Seattle bakery and café, a spot that quickly gained traction and outgrow its modest trappings. The duo packed up the winning operation and moved on to a larger space and a larger vision, renaming their venture Dulces Bistro & Wine and crafting an ambitious menu focusing entirely on Latin-fusion cuisine for dinner. Although Guerrero traces her family heritage back to Mexico, many of her dishes, including paella valenciana and boeuf bourguignon, show strong European influences. Unadulterated Latin staples pepper the menu, such as the green chicken enchiladas that serve as a staple in Mexico City and at Sam I Am’s Cinco de Mayo parties.

Wine shelves, glowing in the near-black azure of the deep sea. Undulating waves set in the smooth surfaces of columns and sushi bar. Bubble-like sheets of lights. The easy flow of Haiku Sushi & Seafood Buffet seems to mimic the smooth rhythm of the eatery’s namesake poem. Patrons slip through the restaurant, gazing at a buffet laden with a rotating selection of sushi, clams, fresh-cut sashimi, and lobster. Like snow tires stored for the summer, the seafood options stay cool on thick beds of ice, and the nearby grill releases merry crackling as chefs place made-to-order entrees on its rippling-hot surface.

As the tango dancers that perform inside Buenos Aires Grill strut and twirl, they enact a wide range of dance influences—traditional polka, Cuban habanera, candombe rhythms from Africa—that reflect the same melting-pot culture that shaped the country’s food and, thus, the restaurant’s menu. Authentic asado—or grilled beef—cooks over a mesquite charcoal fire to ensure that fillets, rib eyes, skirt steaks, and porterhouses retain their natural juices. Chefs also stuff ravioli with ricotta cheese and crown angel-hair pasta with Pacific prawns, an option that most guests prefer to gnawing on a halo. Diners pair their entrees with pours from an extensive wine list that includes options from Argentina as well as France, Chile, Portugal, Spain, and California.

For more than 40 years, Robert C. Mathwig has owned Family Pancake House and defended his sanctuary for the fluffy breakfast staple against the ravages of time, stringently maintaining the same wholesome business practices that set the cozy eatery apart from the competition on its very first day. The kitchens still make most of the menu from scratch, sourcing as many ingredients as possible from local suppliers to ensure that each order arrives to its table at the peak of freshness. The whole menu of breakfast treats and savory later-day meals is available all day long, with fluffy pancakes, crepes, and omelets sharing space at diners’ tables with grilled cheeses and breaded pork chops.

Family Pancake House takes its friendly moniker to its logical conclusion by acting as a supportive family for the community that has kept the eatery's doors open for nearly half a century. The company routinely sponsors youth sports teams, and employees often volunteer their leftover flour supply to sweaty-palmed gymnasts.

The brisk sounds of live alternative rock, hip-hop, electronica, and punk music waft from High Dive's stage nearly every night. National and local acts regularly crank out tunes amid the blue- and purple-lit performance space, imbuing the intimate environs with a lively soundtrack to complement the upscale pub cuisine dispensed from the kitchen. Staffers fuel dance-floor festivities with hearty burgers forged from grass-fed lamb and premium Angus beef, and swathe sandwiches in such elegant accouterments as goat cheese, roasted peppers, and fried egg. To conquer seafood cravings or British trivia contests, they dole out fish 'n' chips that feature wild-caught cod hidden inside a jacket of batter made with locally brewed beer.

Wooden arches and light-gauze curtains invite diners into Queen Sheba, a cool, tranquil interior rich with the meandering aromas of exotic spices and authentic Ethiopian recipes. An intimate table hosts diners as they enjoy hearty stews crafted with traditional spice mixtures such as mitmita and berbere, which accentuate the chunks of lamb or beef. A spongy serving of injera, a disk of unleavened bread, soaks up spicy sauces, and bites of fresh-cut okra accompany all plates, acting as edible silverware for the authentic stews, not unlike a using pixie sticks as chop sticks. Vegan red-lentil stews or ground peas seasoned with ginger and garlic further rope in taste buds trying to play hard to get.