The coolest bars and restaurants in town

It's time for a new edition (easy there, Bobby Brown) of the Thrillist 47, giving you the best new and new-ish places to eat and drink. Some had to go (why'd you turn the Coterie Room into an event space McCracken & Tough? Why?!), while other hot spots could not be denied (Hey McCraken & Tough, the Old Sage is pretty sweet!). Have a look at the list (organized by hood, this isn't a ranking) and make the most of your next night out.
 

BALLARD

bitter root bbq

1) Bitterroot BBQ
5239 Ballard Ave NW; 206.920.4196
A custom smoker doles out serious "Q" cuts of pork belly, baby backs, and pulled pork, which go onto custom pretzel buns from Tall Grass Bakery. 
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Walrus Carpenter Oysters

2) The Walrus and the Carpenter
4743 Ballard Ave NW; 206.395.9227
From the French-foodtrix behind the Boat Street Cafe, this big-time (but not very big) oyster bar is dominated by heaping baskets of shellfish, and a totally open kitchen, who claims to not care who his GF is forking.
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staple and fancy mercantile

3) Staple & Fancy Mercantile
4739 Ballard Ave NW; 206.789.1200
S&F gets its name -- not to mention the inspiration for its "Staple" a la carte eats and "Fancy" chef's tasting menus -- from the original hand-painted signage they found behind a plaster wall in this renovated machine/mercantile shop.
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ray's seattle
Mike Russell

4) Ray's Boathouse
6049 Seaview Ave NW; 206.789.3770
After a four-month hiatus, this waterfront seafoodery came back with a swanked out vengeance, and a new shared plate-heavy menu.
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anchors down

5) Anchor’s Down
2016 NW Market St; 206.789.1396
If it's not in the right location, opening a nautical- & pirate-themed bar can seem pretty... sorryboutthis... arrrrrrr-bitrary, but since it’s in a 'hood with a working waterfront, is helmed by the lady behind Po Dogs, Auto Battery, Grim's, etc., and pouring pioneering cocktails, Anchors Down is actually a logical place for drinks to go bottoms-up.
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annex oysters

6) Ballard Annex Oyster House
5410 Ballard Ave NW; 206.783.5410
The crew behind Kickin' Boot Whiskey Kitchen and The Matador smoothly took over the old Thaiku and turned it into a gleaming custom woodwork-heavy spot dominated by a raw bar inhabited by living crabs they’re cooking whole, or turning into crab-based and other sweet seafood dishes.
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percys

7) Percy’s Seattle 
5233 Ballard Ave; 206.420.3750
A stunning apothecary-style spot from dudes who's past credits include places like King's Hardware, Rudy's, and The Ace Hotel, Percy's is serving up a sophisticated selection of eats (Confit Chicken leg w/ slow-roasted carrots) and drinks that, as the parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme infused gin-based Garfunkel demonstrates, are practically works of... waitforit... Art.
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Barnacle

8) Barnacle
4743 Ballard Ave NW; 206.706.3379
Opened by the lady behind The Whale Wins and next-door's The Walrus and the Carpenter, this petite (less than 800sqft), copper-bar'd boozer is pouring simple, unfussy cocktails, and serving a handful of sweet seafood-based snacks.
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stoneburner

9) Stoneburner
5214 Ballard Ave; 206.695.2051
Naming a restaurant after yourself can be a risky move in famously humble Seattle, but Bastille's executive chef Jason Stoneburner has totally pulled it off by opening a Ballard Ave spot where his last name also describes what the restaurant's all about: almost everything's literally cooked on stone hearths... though hopefully he's a little less literal about burning things.
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le zinc

10) Le Zinc
1449 E Pine St; 206.257.4151
When it comes to food, the hardest thing for Americans to say (besides "No, I do not want fourths", obviously) is pretty much anything French, but that's exactly what the dudes behind Maximilien are serving, with the help of some decidedly not-French local ingredients, at Le Zinc.
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witness

11) Witness 
410 Broadway E; 206.329.0248
The best place for a witness is obviously hiding out in Amish country with Harrison Ford, but the best place for a bar called Witness is apparently the former Five Fish Bistro space on Cap Hill, 'cause that's where a Knee High Stocking Co. bartender is serving enough corn to suffocate a man, some seriously delicious Southern eats, and a slew of creative craft cocktails.
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Von Trapp's

12) Von Trapp's
912 12th Ave; 206.325.5409
The crew behind Bastille stormed Cap Hill with this massive, 420-seat beer hall fitted with two bars, five indoor bocce courts, and a mess of housemade sausage. 
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The Old Sage

13) The Old Sage 
1410 12th Ave; 206.557.7430
The latest spot from the team behind some of Seattle's sweetest eat/drink spots (Spur Gastropub, Tavern Law) is essentially a casual take on an old-school drinking club, but they’re pairing a huge range of smoky, Scotch-based cocktails with hugely attractive meat/ seafood dishes that’re prepared almost exclusively via smoking.
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bait shop

14) Bait Shop
606 Broadway E; 206.420.8742Opened by the lady behind Linda's, King's, Oddfellows, etc., this North Broadway boozer's presumably called Bait Shop because you'll end up hooked on its tropical drinks! Or just, you know, because of the nautical motif or whatever. 
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whiskey bitter

15) Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium
928 12th Ave; 206.552.9755
Despite its vintage-artillery-style logo, this place's name references canonical standards of good taste, which it displays via lavish, Prohibition-era touches and seriously elevated cocktails.
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alutura

16) Altura Restaurant
617 Broadway E; 206.402.6749
Helmed by a husband & wife team who legit met while crushing Deluxes at the nearby Dick's, Altura slings next-level Boot-food sourced mostly from Pike Place Market.
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terra plata

17) Terra Plata
1501 Melrose Ave; 206.325.1501James Beard winner Tamara Murphy's aggressively farm-to-table eatery is smack in Melrose Market, which is also an exchange where Andrew Shue futures contracts are trading at... well, look at that: they're free.
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Rumba

18) Rumba
1112 Pike St; 206.583.7177
Inspired by '50s-era Cuban drinking rooms, Rumba's decadence flies in the face of the Revolution, and it must be destroyed the second spot named for a dance opened by the dude behind nearby Tango.
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Wandering Goose

19) The Wandering Goose
403 15th Ave E; 206.323.9938
Serving a biscuit-heavy line-up of Southern eats, this narrow, 30-seat cafe is separated from the neighboring Rione XIII only by a vintage leaded glass "demising-wall" that looks totally killer. 
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Artusi Patio

20) Artusi
1535 14th Ave; 206.251.7673
Spinasse's boozier little brother preps badass imbibables, plus lighter Italian fare inspired by famed, 19th c., Pellegrino Artusi-penned cookbook Science in the Kitchen.
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bar cotto

21) Bar Cotto
1546 15th Ave; 206.838.8081
Right next to one of Ethan Stowell's other excellent eat spots (Anchovies & Olives), this salumeria'll ply you with prosciutto, mortadella, Parma, and other porcine products that're H.A.M. to pass up.
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auto battery

22) Auto Battery
1009 E Union St; 206.322.2886
Located in a former (wait for it!) auto battery shop, this garage-door-fronted hybrid coffee shop/sports bar's got everything you need to enjoy the game, including tubular-shaped meat from next door Po Dogs.
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Poquitos Patio
Poquitos

23) Poquitos
1000 E Pike St; 206.453.4216
This extravagantly appointed, 122-seat comida-ry has a massive, flame-heated, covered deck, an intricately tile-art'd interior, and made-to-order tortilla and guac stations.
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BELLTOWN

the upstairs

24) The Upstairs
2209 2nd Ave; 206.441.4013
Sneakily located in the pseudo-residential space that once housed art co-op/kinda illegal drinking establishment the McLeod Residence, The Upstairs is accessed via a street-side stairway that's marked only by extremely subtle signs, which you won't be giving off after a few of their craft 'tails.
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tanakasan

25) TanakaSan
2121 6th Ave; 206.812.8412
Tucked inside super-chef Tom Douglas’ sprawling Assembly Hall (along w/ a deli, coffee shop, etc.), this sweet Asian-American resto is helm'd by Eric Tanaka, a longtime Douglas compatriot, who's cooking stuff inspired by his childhood in LA.
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Local 360

26) Local 360
2234 1st Ave; 206.441.9360
Even sourcing most of their consumables from within 360 miles of Seattle, they still manage to turn out malted buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, plates of pork belly slathered in beans for dinner, plus snacks from PB&J Bon Bons to crispy pig ear.
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DOWNTOWN

radiator whiskey

27) Radiator Whiskey
94 Pike St, Ste 30; 206.467.4268
As Ian and Max learned after messing with Anthony Michael for the entirety of Weird Science, it's not always a good idea to cross the Hall, but that hasn't stopped the guy behind Matt's in the Market from doing literally just that with this seriously sweet boozer specializing in barrel-aged cocktails and down-home vittles.
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eggs

28) Cha:n
86 Pine St ; 206.443.5443
Using Western techniques is either a good way to get your university in trouble for giving Shaq a car/Penny Hardaway a house/that white dude no one knows a tractor, or a sweet way to prepare classic Korean eats, as evidenced by the courtyard-adjacent Cha:n.
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PIONEER SQUARE

tinello

29) Tinello
314 2nd Ave S; 206.467.4541
For years, going to Pioneer Square meant going to some trashy nightclub, or to... um, jail, but now, going to Pioneer Square might as well mean some sweet daytime eats from the guy behind the former Rialto Pasta Bar in Fremont.
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Rain Shadow Meats Squared

30) Rain Shadow Meats
404 Occidental Ave S; 206.467.4854
After killing it from behind a counter at Melrose Market, the former Discount Tire jockey/ Boat Street sous chef-turned-butcher behind Rain Shadow Meats opened a second location he's calling Rain Shadow Meats Squared, which is a wholly inaccurate description since it's, like, cubed the size, and the selection is to the, like, um... why are algebraic expressions so hard?!?!
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il corvo

31) Il Corvo
217 James St; 206.538.0999
The guy behind this beloved former Pike Street Hill Climb pop-up tops his meticulously handmade pastas with everything from spicy coppa to wild boar.
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e smith mercantile bar

32) E Smith Mercantile Back Bar
208 1st Ave S; 206.641.7250
Shopping 'til you drop is A) probably not a real thing, and B) nonetheless pretty much every dude's worst nightmare... unless said shopping takes place in a badass haberdashery like E. Smith Mercantile, and said drop is the result of one too many craft cocktails made with rare and unusual liquors in the tiny 14-seat boozer they opened in back.
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EASTLAKE

blind pig

33) Blind Pig Bistro
2238 Eastlake Ave E; 206.329.2744
Opened in the same charmingly strange strip mall space that used to house Nettletown, and before that Sitka & Spruce, this... um, spruced 20-seater serves a constantly rotating menu of delicious-but-affordable small plates. 
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blind pig teriyaki

34) Blind Pig at Eastlake Teriyaki
2236 Eastlake Ave E; 206.329.2744
The crew at Eastlake's badass Blind Pig Bistro clearly aren't... um, blind to sweet business opportunities, so when the former Eastlake Teriyaki space opened up, they turned the neighboring storefront into a sweet daytime sandwich establishment but kept the same old freakin' Teriyaki sign!
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WALLINGFORD/FREMONT

rock creek

35) Rock Creek
4300 Fremont Ave N; 206.557.7532
Opened by a former Toulouse chef in a cavernous, Uneeda Burger-adjacent space, this fish-slinger's serving a selection of seriously next-level ocean-going eats that rotates depending on what's fresh (guess that means Doug E.'s always on the menu!) like half Dungeness w/ garlic, chili, etc., and creative mezcal, sake, or aquavit oyster shooters.
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agrodolce

36) Agrodolce
709 N 35th St; 206.547.9707
If she spelled her name differently, you might think James Beard winner Maria Hines had 57 restaurants, but Fremont's Agrodolce -- a Southern-Italian follow-up to Tilth and Golden Beetle -- is actually only her third.
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the whale wins

37) The Whale Wins
3506 Stone Way N; 206.632.9425
Not just a succinct paraphrase of the Cliffs Notes on Moby Dick, The Whale Wins is actually an airy, L-shaped 50-seater from the chef-lady behind The Walrus & the Carpenter and Boat Street Cafe that boasts French country eats cooked almost exclusively in a massive wood-fired oven.
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joule

38) Joule
3506 Stone Way N; 206.632.1913
This Korean steakhouse sports a “Beef of the Day” offering that ranges from short rib steak w/ kalbi & grilled kimchi, to a tartare w/ spicy cod roe & Asian pear.
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westward

39) Westward 
2501 N Northlake Way; 206.552.8215
If there's one thing you can expect from the Skillet crew's charmingly quirky Westward, it's the beautiful... uh, Southward(!) facing views over Lake Union? Nah, it's that the nautically themed spot's serving badass eats (fresh oysters, an Oregon lamb burger), and craft cocktails. 
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revel and quoin

40) Revel and Quoin
403 N 36th St; 206.547.2040
Quoin's an industrially appointed, 20-seat drinkery specializing in infused syrup/bitters-heavy 'tails and flavored Korean sojus. Revel's a casual 40-seat box serving street food-inspired Asian/French small plates. Perhaps the city's best twofer.
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pinky's seattle

41) Pinky's Kitchen
210 NE 45th St; 206.867.5209
This not-so-mobile food operation started by serving badass sandwiches, but morphed into one of The Town's sweetest BBQ joints by building a smokehouse in the parking lot across the street.
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MADISON PARK

madison park conservatory

42) Madison Park Conservatory
1927 43rd Ave E; 206.324.9701
Boasting a seasonally driven menu of whatever-style-of-food-they-feel-like-making, this Mediterranean-ish eatery rolls out a constantly innovating array of bites.
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bar cantinetta

43) Bar Cantinetta 
2811 E Madison St; 206.329.1501
Opened by the crew behind Wallingford's Cantinetta and Bellevue's Mercato Stellina Pizzeria, this compact Madison Valley-boozer is pouring a shton of wines to go with an equally shton amount of playfully simple boot-food like pork bellly, risotto w/ fennel sausage, etc.
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SODO/WEST SEATTLE

gastropod

44) Gastropod
3201 1st AVE South Suite 104; 206.403.1228
Since the most epic way to enjoy beer is probably illegal in the continental United States, you should probably just hit this experimental 20-seat brewpub from the guys behind Epic Ales, who spent two years creating a menu of locally sourced/personally foraged eats that competing tasting rooms would probably love to make illegal.
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brass tacks

45) Brass Tacks
6105 13th Ave S; 206.397.3821
Getting down to Brass Tacks means... taking Hwy 99 or 4th Ave S down to Marginal Way and trying to stay out of lanes that force you to get on the freeway until you get to Airport Way, and finding this highly-curated, hand-built drink establishment from the dude behind next-door Ground Control.
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Ma'ono Fried Chicken

46) Ma'ono Fried Chicken & Whiskey
4437 California Ave SW; P206.935.1075
Responding to the high demand for his previously only-available-on-Monday fried chicken, accolade-heavy chef Mark Fuller turned his entire restaurant into a destination for that sweet breaded poultry, and totally normal stuff like SPAM sushi.
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TANGLETOWN

mkt soup

47) Mkt.
2208 N 55th St; 206.812.1580
The smallest Ethan Stowell establishment yet (just under 30 seats!) is slinging barrel-aged cocktails and locally sourced eats like fried quail, and a grilled lamb tongue that’s so good you'll probably want to slip the chef some of yours.
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