Restaurants in Seattle

The tables at Shilla Restaurant can get really hot, at least as hot enough to sear a slice of meat. Each tabletop grill allows diners to become the masters of their fate, flipping over slices of bulgogi beef, calamari, pork belly at their own discretion. The chefs do quite a bit of work, as well, rolling more than 30 varietals of maki and cooking up an expansive menu of Korean cuisine. After they assemble bowls of bibimbap and sautéed spicy kimchee, waiters take out dishes to salivating guests seated in a in a sleek, monochromatic dining room. Beneath geometric paper lamps, these guests can counteract bites of spicy Korean entrees with sips of house sake and wipes from their furrowed brows.

A barbecue place is only as successful as its saucy foodstuffs, and the hot and mild meats at The Original Family BBQ Pit have been winning affections for more than 20 years. Originally known as Jones Original Barbecue, the new iteration of the family business still makes full use of the original sauce recipe devised by current owner Leanne Jones-Hauser's grandfather, William U. Jones, Sr., and refined by her father, William U. Jones Jr. With signature ribs and smoked brisket featured on Food Network's BBQ with Bobby Flay, the eatery was voted Best BBQ for five years in row (2004–2008) by readers of Seattle Weekly. Beside bountiful rolls of paper towels, tables populate with chopped pork, brisket, and hot links in sandwiches and on platters with collard greens and mac 'n' cheese. After wrestling down sharable meat combination platters, patrons can snatch bottles of their signature barbecue sauce to slip into holiday stockings filled with coal and other grilling essentials.

Pastel hues fill the dining room in the form of pink-cushioned chairs and mint-green banquettes that match the partitions lined with potted flowers and plants. The menu collects a Pan-Asian spread of recipes, including chow fun and chow mein noodles loaded with shrimp and sparerib meat, and a Vietnamese-style sole fillet. Guests can also sample LA Cafe's unique protein delicacies, such as ox tongue, roasted pigeon, and wild tofu caught grazing outside a natural food store.

A barbecue place is only as successful as its saucy foodstuffs, and the hot and mild meats at Jones Barbeque have been winning affections for more than 20 years. With signature ribs and smoked brisket featured on Food Network's BBQ with Bobby Flay, Jones was voted Best BBQ for five years in row (2004–2008) by readers of Seattle Weekly. Beside bountiful rolls of paper towels, tables populate with chopped pork, brisket, and hot links in sandwiches and on platters with collard greens and mac 'n' cheese. After wrestling down sharable meat combination platters, patrons can snatch bottles of Jones' barbecue sauce to slip into holiday stockings filled with coal and other grilling essentials.

The chefs at Racha Noodles & Thai Cuisine wok-fry and sauté Thai and Asian-fusion dishes awash with spicy sauces and tender noodles. The dining room envelops patrons in vibrant hues and touches of nature, from planters filled with living greenery to winding floral sculptures that reach from floor to ceiling like Stretch Armstrong during a yoga class. The decor also enchants the eye with a colorful backdrop of murals depicting scenes from Southeast Asian lore and culture.

"My paternal grandmother's kitchen was like a window into the world of food," head chef Paul Michael reflects on Frontier Room's website. A transplant from Louisiana, he draws much of his culinary inspiration from his Southern roots and his grandma's cooking—a melting pot of such culinary influences as Syrian, French-Louisianan, and African-American. Chef Michael crafts many of his recipes over the smoke of a wood barbecue pit, cooking beef brisket for up to 14 hours and barbecuing Northwest salmon with the same creole spices that the fish migrate every year to harvest.

These dishes are complemented by an extensive list of craft beers from the West Coast and around the world, from a Redhook coffee stout to an Allagash brew selected specifically to pair with barbecue. En route to the outdoor patio, the aromas of smoked meats waft through the Frontier Room's rustic interior, where hardwood tables sit under deer antlers and a bronze-relief cow amid such fixtures of Americana as a pile of chopped firewood reminiscent of Paul Bunyan's pencil shavings.