The Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings in Seattle for Summer 2025

When we look ahead to this summer of restaurant openings, there's something for everyone. For the meat lovers, Beast and Cleaver owner Kevin Smith is opening an English pub in Ballard that will be dishing out meat pies and sausage rolls. For Southern meat lovers, there's Jax Eat 'N Three, a takeout spot on Aurora. If you love Cajun-style seafood boils and hand-pulled noodles (a very particular type of person), there's the new Happy Crab on the Ballard waterfront. And if you love chocolate, Spinnaker in Fremont is set to unveil some rich new drinks.
Here's our list of the most anticipated restaurants coming to Seattle this season:
Where: 3509 Stone Way, in Fremont
Who: Owner Kelly and Chris Van Arsdale
You likely know about Spinnaker's chocolates — this craft bean-to-bar chocolate maker has been charming the city's tastemakers and appearing on local shelves for years. But did you know that the Arsdale brothers are opening a cafe inside their new Fremont chocolate factory? Expect drinks featuring Spinnaker's single-origin chocolate, plus the opportunity buy chocolates to take home and tour the factory. (The store and factory tours are already open; the cafe opens on the 28th.)
Where: 5107 Ballard Avenue, in Ballard
There's no great English food in Seattle. That's not according to us — that's according to London native Kevin Smith, who should know. Smith is the chef and butcher behind the acclaimed Beast and Cleaver, and his next project is a classic English pub with classic English pub food. Think sausage rolls, meat pies, Sunday roasts, various puddings, and Scotch eggs, all incorporating fat from freshly butchered animals. If you know Smith's work, you know these are all going to be executed with plenty of flair.
Where: 7815 Aurora Avenue, in Green Lake
Who: Owners Zach and Kali Lester
Speaking of cuisines Seattle doesn't have much of, here's a rare-in-this-city of a Southern restaurant that isn't centered around barbecue. Jax Eat N Three (the name is a play on 'meat and three') features entrees like smoked chicken with Alabama white sauce (a horseradish-based sauce) and a bunch of veggie sides. For dessert, there'll be ice box cakes.
Where: Fisherman's Terminal, in Interbay
Who: Founders Seth and Zach Pacleb
After years of bouncing around the Seattle restaurant scene and feeding farmers market customers at their Ramen and Tacos stand, the Pacleb brothers are launching a brick-and-mortar restaurant — with a little help from their friends. Pidgin Cooperative is one of Seattle's few worker-owned restaurants, meaning that employees can become member-owners (there are five so far, including the brothers). After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Pidgin is being built out in the former Highliner Public House and should open sometime this summer. The menu is still not set, but there will definitely be ramen, along with 'tavern/pub standards (fried chicken sandwich, smash burger, fish & chips) with our signature twist of prioritizing seasonal and hyper local ingredients,' according to a Pidgin spokesperson.
Where: 6135 Seaview Ave, Seattle, WA 98107, in Ballard
Lily Wu is the owner of Xi'an Noodles, which in the past decade has blossomed into a three-restaurant chain. She also owns Happy Crab, a restaurant in Auburn that combines hand-pulled noodles with Asian-Cajun seafood boils. Now Happy Crab is set to open a big flagship restaurant on the Ballard waterfront, right next to Ray's Boathouse. Sounds like the ideal way to close out summer.
Where: 2336 Cherry Street in the Central District
Who: Owner Tarik Abdullah
This long-awaited restaurant is from chef Tarik Abdullah, who is maybe best known from his work with Feed the People, a community kitchen that has been providing food to those in need and training to young people for years. Amin will be a halal walk-up window serving flatbreads and small plates that draw on the rich melange of cultures Abdullah grew up among in South Seattle. See More: Coming Attractions
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