With two little ones under the age of three, we’ve had a lot of early mornings where the whole family is awake. In many of these instances, we’ve decided to treat ourselves and go out for breakfast, so we’ve visited a lot of spots over the years. Seattle has some really great breakfast spots and people ask us what our favorite restaurants are all the time.
In order to be eligible for our list of Favorite Seattle Breakfast Spots, the restaurant has to be open for weekday breakfasts. There are a lot of restaurants that only serve breakfast on the weekends. None of those places make the list. A true breakfast spot serves breakfast everyday.
Without further ado, here are our Favorite Seattle Breakfast Restaurants.
Thanks for reading Our Favorite Seattle Breakfast Spots blog post.
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Description on Lighthouse Roaster’s website : One of Seattle’s original roaster cafes, Lighthouse has spent more than twenty years creating a loyal following of coffee lovers by treating the coffee buying, roasting and drink-making as a noble calli
Description on Caffe Ladro’s website : Caffe Ladro Ravenna joins a thriving neighborhood; it is situated on the corner of 65th Street and Brooklyn Avenue. Stop in for the modern vibe and enjoy amazing coffee at one of the windows, or outside in one of the Adirondack chairs. If you’re seeking excellent Ravenna coffee, sample any of Ladro’s signature drinks (Medici, Gibraltar, or Shakerato), try one of their house-baked pastries, or take some beans to brew at home.
Address:1222 NE 65th St Suite 103, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Gibraltar, Mocha, Bacon & Caramelized Onion Quiche, Ham and Cheese Croissant, Medici
Comments: They call it Caffe Ladro – Ravenna on their website but it’s actually located in Roosevelt. Like other new additions to the Roosevelt neighborhood, Santo Coffee and Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt, this Caffe Ladro is located on the ground floor of a brand new apartment building. This one being Brooklyn 65th.
Caffe Ladro is probably our favorite coffee purveyor in Seattle, so we were thrilled when one opened in our neighborhood. They are now up to 16 locations in the greater Seattle area, so it’s easy to get the benefits of their coffee card program where you get two free drinks for every 10 you purchase.
They have a limited amount of pastries that become half price after 4:00pm.
Here are reviews of some of the other Caffe Ladro locations:
The Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt location is on par with some of the smaller Ladro locations like Union Street, Lower Queen Anne and Pine Street. Although it’s small in size, it still manages to have a little living room area, an L shape counter and one 4 seat table in the middle
More than any other Caffe Ladro, the Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt location really emphasizes the use of it’s outdoor space. There’s gotta be at least 20 Adirondack chairs in front of the store as well as a bench seating. The Adirondack chair is a staple of many of the Caffe Ladro in the area -Fremont, Upper Queen Anne, Lower Queen Anne locations have them, but only a few.
The Caffe Ladro – Roosevelt is a good grab-and-go spot. It opens early at 6:00am. It’s not a place I’d stay and do work on a laptop. The way most of their seating is arranged your back is exposed and people can see what you’re working on. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but I like having my back against a wall for some privacy. They say this is why dogs often sleep against big objects or prefer enclosed places-too protect their back. I guess I’m the same way.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The over 20 adirondack chairs and outdoor space
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.00
Overall: 4.25
Eavesdropping Convo: None
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Recommended by: The last time we met up for brunch with some local friends at Portage Bay Cafe, they mentioned Skillet Diner as having the same type of vibe and also having great brunches.
Description on the Skillet Diner’s website: The award-winning Skillet Diner opened in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle in 2011. We’re a neighborhood joint doing our best to make the place feel relaxed, service attentive and easy, and the food approachable yet focused. We use fresh, locally-sourced ingredients and continually redefine the meaning of comfort.
Neighborhood/Type: Capitol Hill
Address: 1400 E Union St #4150, Seattle, WA 98122
What we ate/drank: Breakfast Burrito -fried chicken, three eggs scrambled, cheddar, hand-cut fries, pico de gallo, flour tortilla. Deconstructed Corned Beef Hash-brisket, roasted potatoes and carrots, onions, fennel, two eggs*. Kids pancakes and fruit.
Comments: Skillet Diner has been around since 2011 and before that it was food truck, an Airstream Trailer called, Skillet Street Food since 2007. It’s located in Capitol Hill, so parking can be a bitch, but we luckily found street parking across the street. Tall ceilings make the space seem spacious and the open kitchen gives the space energy. Like a traditional diner, there’s lots of counter seating, but also a lot of booths.
I can see why our friends we met at Portage Bay recommended Skillet Diner. Their interiors are very similar-the lighting, the casual family atmosphere, the décor. There’s a random piece of art hanging on the back wall with John F Kennedy looking out the back of a bus. I was curious, so I asked our server about it, but he didn’t know anything about it.
Your utensils and napkin are placed in mason jars, which are then used as your water glass. You’re also provided a dedicated water bottle, so you don’t have to wait for your server to refill your water. Caffé Vita is served here, so a win there.
My wife got the breakfast burrito, which includes fried chicken, three eggs scrambled, cheddar, hand-cut fries, pico de gallo, flour tortilla. We liked the inclusion of the fried chicken. For normal breakfast burritos you normally get bacon, sausage or sometimes shredded beef. Having fried chicken was a nice change. The hand-cut fries were too over-seasoned and almost impossible to eat because it was too spicy.
I got the Deconstructed Corned Beef Hash, which includes brisket, roasted potatoes and carrots, onions, fennel, two over easy eggs. The pieces of vegetable and meat were a bit large, but tasty. Now, Seattle brunch spots have a strong “hash” game in this town. Portage Bay Cafe‘s Farmer’s Hash, Toulouse Petit‘s Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash, Porkchop & Co.‘s Kimchi & Steak Hash and Roxy’s Diner‘s Pastrami Hash all come to mind. If I’m garding on the curve I would put Skillet Diner’s Deconstructed Corned Beef Hash in the middle of the pack. The Seattle hash game is fierce. It’s sorta like being in the SEC in college football.
Our daughter got the pancakes and fresh fruit from the kids menu, so happy camper in the house!
We’ve also had the fried chicken and waffles which is also quite good.
Service gave us recommendations, came around frequently for coffee refills and chased after us out the door when we forgot our to go box of leftovers.
They also have locations in South Lake Union, the Seattle Center and Seatac Airport. Surprisingly, they closed their Ballard location after the building they were in flooded. Skillet Diner is a bit out of the way for us at the border of Capitol Hill and the Central District, but it’s a good brunch alternative if we are in the area. It’s also nice to know you have a good local option in touristy Seattle Center and Seatac airport.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.00
Bang for the Buck: 4.00
Overall: 4.40
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
Servers customer recommendations to visit in the future: We mentioned to the customer next to us that we were at Skillet early in the morning, because our daughters woke up early. They mentioned that Lost Lake Cafe down the road is actually open 24 hours so if they wake up really early, this could be an option.
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Description on Armistice Coffee’s website:Her dream was big but the journey was long, pulling hundreds of thousands of shots and waking up earlier than the rooster for years, she pushed on and overcame. Now in the role of head roaster, manager, and basically everything else Rebecca Smith has been running Armistice Coffee for 1 year and has two locations in Seattle.
Neighborhood:Roosevelt
Address: 6717 Roosevelt Way NE UNIT A, Seattle, WA 98115
Music Playing: Poison by Brent Faiyaz
What we ate/drank: Cortado, 12 oz Americano, blueberry scone, ham & Swiss croissant, mocha, mighty o sprinkle doughnut
Comments: This is the 2ndlocation for Armistice Coffee in addition to their other location in Eastlake. Some of the observations we made in our review of the Eastlake locations was that we felt it wasn’t really conducive to working on a laptop due to the limited work style seating. The Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt has no such restrictions.
It has a multitude of seating areas and types of seating areas. It has counter seating near the serving area, counter seating looking out on Roosevelt, individual tables, a community table with two separate outdoor seating area, one that includes a fire pit.
Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt is located on the ground floor of the brand new Lucille on Roosevelt apartments, so they probably had complete control of the design, which we really like. We’ve already mentioned the variety of seating, but take a look at our photos and you can see the details. Chic modern lighting, outdoor lighting that from a distance look like fireflies, being surrounded on all four sides by windows, the coffee roasting equipment on display.
My understanding is that as of now, the roaster is not being used. The cashier mentioned that an alteration may need to be made for exhaust purposes but she wasn’t really sure. I think it’s a real treat when you get to witness the roasting process at places like Herkimer Coffee, Elm Coffee Roasters, Lighthouse Coffee Roasters and Victrola Coffee Roasters. I think it’s really a great “Seattle”experience for visitors who come form areas that don’t have local coffee roasters like we do in coffee-centric Seattle.
Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt also sells alcoholic drinks- wine, beer, sipping tequilla, whiskeys(Basil Hayden, Jameson, Glenlivet 12 yr) and a few simple mixed drinks such as gin and tonic, vodka and soda and Irish coffee.
They also have croissants, muffins, scones, quiches, and a few pre-made sandwiches and salads from White Knuckle. Sign say Mon-Fri 6-10 and Sat and Sun 7-10, so open pretty late.
The music they’ve played during our visits are pretty soothing music. Examples – Escape by Kehlani,Tainted by Alina Baraz, Apple Juice by Jessie Reyez.
On a few of my visits the wifi has been a little inconsistent, so take note if you intend to work there and need to Facetime/Skype.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The various seating areas both inside and out.
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.75
Eavedropping Convo: Two guys sitting next to each other on separate tables with their laptops. Seems like they might be acquaintances who see each other at Armistice Coffee – Roosevelt a lot and might recognize each other and make small talk. Both made business calls while we were there, so this might be one of their working spaces.
Guy 1(G1) – Check out this thing I just got on Amazon.
Guy2(G2) – Looks over. Whoa, that’s pretty cool! And wow, it’s a pretty reasonable price.
G1 – Oh, man. It’s not reasonable. This is cheap!
G2 – The next time my mom orders something on Amazon, I’ll ask her to add one to her cart for me. I don’t have an account, so I just use hers and pay her back.
G1- Dude, you gotta get on that! Prime is so cheap and they deliver to your doorstep in one day! Don’t put your poor mom through that – ordering, paying and handing the packages. C’mon.
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Recommended by: When doing some research on Kamonegi I noted that it was named one of the Top 50 New Restaurants in Bon Appetit Magazine in July. Another Seattle restaurant on this list was Junebaby. Not only that but Chef Owner of Junebaby won two James Beard Awards for Best Chef : Northwest, but also Best New Restaurant. This was not Best New Restaurant in Seattle, but in the entire US!
Description on the Junebaby website: Food with Roots – Southern food’s humble beginnings embarked when West Africans were taken from their home and were forced across the middle passage to North America. The term soul food originated during American slavery to not only describe a type of cuisine but also a period of time of oppression and overcoming hardships. It is traditionally cooked and eaten by African Americans of the Southern United States and merges influences from West Africa, Western Europe, and North America. As a result, America’s culinary history was built on corn, rice, peas, and the hog; many of the ingredients associated with Southern food.
Neighborhood/Type: Ravenna
Address: 2122 NE 65th Street, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Chicken Gizzards & buttermilk dressing $9, Pulled Pork with pikliz, Carolina vinegar sauce & aioli $12, Fried Catfish with pickled onion & tartar sauce $12, Chitlins & rice -$7.
Comments: This post should have been written probably a year and a half ago. That’s when the Edouardo Jordan hype was in full effect. Chef Jordan is the owner chef of Junebaby. Salare, his other restaurant had been open since 2015 in a rather odd place, the Ravenna neighborhood which will never be confused with the restaurant-centric neighborhoods of Capitol Hill, SLU or Ballard. Salare had received much acclaim, so when news got out that Chef Jordan was opening another restaurant on the same street, the anticipation was built up.
As soon as Junebaby opened accolades and four star food critic reviews from all over the country started piling up. From the very beginning, lines formed daily.
We don’t really need to go on about the food being good, do we?
Here are some of the reasons that make Junebaby special:
A couple more details about Junebaby
Wednesdays – Turkey Leg
Thursdays – Mac n’ Cheese with Newsom’s Ham
Fridays – Brisket Dinner
Saturdays – BBQ Dinner
Sundays – JuneBaby’s Fried Chicken
2021 Updates: Take out from June Baby
Ratings
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 5.00
Overall: 4.85
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: Waiter talked about going to a restaurant that was $1000 but it was his dream and he saved up to do it.
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Recommended by: After a reader read our post about Kokkaku they suggested another upscale Japanese restaurant, Tamari Bar. Took us a year to get out there, but we finally tried it.
Description on the Tamari Bar’s website: No comments, but their Instagram says, “Capitol Hill’s IZAKAYA, “Japanese Tavern &Eats”
Neighborhood/Type: Capitol Hill
Address: 500 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122
What we ate/drank: Shokado Bento Box, The Rockin’ Wagyu Beef, Sashimi 7 Sampler, Seafood Bibimbap, Sapporo Beers.
Comments: The presentation of the dishes that we ordered at Tamari Bar are so beautiful that it’s almost as if the owner said, “Let’s create some dishes that will be plastered all over Instagram!”
Tamari Bar is right down the street from their sister restaurant, Suika, on Pine Street in Capitol Hill. The space is rather oddly shaped. It has a patio in front, a huge bar area and some tables and a couple seating compartments on a second level.
We started out with the The Rockin’ Wagyu Beef, which is served with a smooth hot rock that you put the pieces of raw thin zabuton on to cook. The thin pieces of wagyu beef cook very quickly, so no worries about the rock cooling down before you can cook all of it. The beef is served with a Japanese bbq sauce, garlic flakes, wasabi. This is a fun dish with the novelty of cooking on a sizzling rock. Be careful not to overcook which will keep the beef tender and tasty.
Next up was the Shoka-do Bento Box, which is limited to a certain count every evening. This was surely the highlight of the night. There are a total of nine squares with each being the perfect size for two bites, making it the perfect date night dish. You get nine different dishes, nine different flavors. It’s fun having so many choices at once and then discussing which are your favorites. Or both of you can try each grid at the same time and discuss after each tasting.
From the top and left to right with scores out of 5:
Each appetizer was beautifully presented and each had at least 5 different ingredients and it was a good mixture of fried and raw. We just really enjoyed this concept.
On the way to our table we saw another table had the Seafood Bibimbap with seared salmon, salmon caviar, salmon flakes, umami soy, sea urchin(uni), butter on rice and knew we had to try it. Like traditional bibimbap, it’s served in a hot stone bowl and was mixed on our behalf by the server. It turned into more of a fried rice than a bibimbap but we were surprised even after all the mixing of the ingredients you could really taste the uni, one of our favorites.
The Sashimi 7 Sampler is the most photogenic of the dishes. It’s presented on a wooden staircase with garnishes of ikura, tobiko, cucumber and onion. What can you say about fresh sushi? You can’t beat it. If I could change one thing, I’d swap out the octopus for another fish sashimi. Just a personal preference.
From bottom to the top -Mackerel, Shrimp(Ama Ebi),Tako, Hamachi, Scallop, Tuna, Salmon.
It appears they put just as much effort into their cocktails, but we just had pints of Sapporo. Their sake list is extensive as you might have guessed.
Our server told us we got 3 of the 4 most popular dishes. The only one we didn’t get was the Aburi Wagyu+Uni Nigiri Sushi, nicknamed the The Best Bite, which we’ll be sure to get on our return visit. Some other interesting dishes we’d like to order on our next trip to Tamari Bar are Crazy Journey, which is their spicy fried chicken and the Dan Dan Ramen, which they call, The Living Legend. Got to give Tamari Bar credit for over-the-top dish names.
The proof is in the pudding when it comes to Tamari Bar dish presentations. Instagram is littered with photos of the 7 Tier Sashimi, the Shoka-Do Bento Box and Rockin’ Marinated Wagyu Beef. But the dishes are just not pretty pictures, there’s substance behind it. All are tasty, the Rockin’ Marinated Wagyu Beef is fun, we love the variety the Shoka-Do Bento Box provides and the 7 Tier Sashimi is memorable for it’s unique presentation.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.25
Overall: 4.40
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
Servers recommendations to visit in the future:
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