Chef Kristi Brown — who runs the successful catering operation That Brown Girl Cooks — calls the food at her nationally praised Central District restaurant “Seattle soul.” Brown’s memories of shopping at Chinatown-International District markets results in banh mi-po’ boy hybrids and a dish made with Washington clams, mussels, and Laotian sausage in a coconut milk “roux.” But Brown’s cooking shines most in her more traditional Southern dishes, like the pork neck bone stew, with smoky meat simmered in umami-packed broth with lima beans. After Communion made a couple of national best restaurant lists in 2021 (and nabbed anEater Award), it’s been hard to get a seat at the dining room in the renovated historic Liberty Bank Building (the renovation, completed in 2019, is meant to support Black property ownership in Seattle’s historically Black neighborhood). Make reservations weeks ahead, or show up right when the restaurant opens on a weekday to nab a spot.

Patties at this popular burger destination come topped with ingredients like caramelized onions, blue cheese, and watercress, and they’re served with classic fries or onion rings or seasonal tempura vegetables. The menu is rounded out with a fantastic buffalo fried chicken sandwich, and well constructed salads and vegetable bowls.

The Southern food specialist on Cherry Street draws a line on weekends for good reasons, chief among them the fried chicken, brined in pickle juice and buttermilk. There’s also frito pie, chicken wings, red beans and rice, a honey butter chicken sandwich, and fried green tomatoes, all worth trying (even if it requires multiple visits). The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch.

Ba Bar is the place to fork over a few extra dollars for the finest bowl of pho in town. But the menu goes well beyond beef noodle soup. Bun bowls with vermicelli noodles are popular, as are slow-roasted rotisserie meats such as chicken, duck, and pork belly, though no meal at Ba Bar is complete without the super craveable fish sauce wings and imperial rollls. Housemade pastries include macarons (available daily) and pandan cake (available Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) — perfect with a cup of strong, sweet, Vietnamese coffee. A plus: Ba Bar’s Central District location is open until midnight every day.

Even before walking into L’Oursin, the wall of wine visible from the sidewalk makes it clear that wine (natural, foremost) is a priority. This cozy brasserie serves precise, seafood-focused French cuisine (but also fried sweetbreads with an espelette pepper barbecue sauce) that accentuates wine director Kathryn Olson’s exciting wine list with rare grape varietals, tiny sub-appellations, and dessert wines served by a knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff. The majority of bottles on the menu go for $30-$60, so savoring the selections at L’Oursin won’t break the bank.

The glorious array of baked goods at this bright bakery includes familiar items such as cookies, croissants, Kouign Amann, macarons, and breads, with flavors that are exceptional. Patrons might encounter combinations like black sesame yuzu, Jasmine green tea, and guava cream cheese, and the cruffin (croissant baked into a muffin mold) is a dream, particularly the cinnamon variety.

Owners Matt Davis and James Barrington bring flavors from their Texas and Kansas childhoods to the masses via food truck and this fixed location in the Central District. The meat is hickory-smoked in a custom Texas-built smoker named Brad Pit. Must-have sides include the mac and cheese topped with 12-hour pulled pork and jalapeño cornbread, and the cocktails are top-notch, too.

This Central District restaurant features bold flavors wielded expertly in dishes like roast duck crispy rolls with sambal hoisin, papaya salad, caramelized pork fresh rolls with Hanoi fish sauce, curry vermicelli bowl, and the tingly ma la braised beef noodles. Nothing about this place feels particularly reckless, just plain dialed in — ditto the original cocktails. Open for onsite dining and takeout.

This Black-owned brewery’s new Central District location is one ofthe hottest places to drink in Seattleright now. And since opening in 2018, Woodinville location has been a solid pitstop for Eastside bike riders. Both locations have a great selection of beers, including its award-winning coconut porter Black Stripe, a New Zealand IPA, a hazy orange pale ale called the Trail Blazer, and a newer strawberry gose. The space is kid and dog-friendly, and the presence of both makes it feel like a true community gathering place.

Chuck Shin’s “land of a thousand beers” offers an enormous selection of beer, on tap or from the bottle, at his original location of Chuck’s Hop Shop in the Central District. Beyond beer, the business is a community center in the Central District, home to all kinds of events and a regular host to many of Seattle’s best food trucks. Stay updated on the latest happenings onChuck’s Hop Shop’s Instagram.

在2021年六月節,幾十年的快速偶然favorite Jackson’s Catfish Corner returned to the Central District after leaving its original CD location and having stints in other parts of town. The star of the menu, of course, is the Southern-fried catfish, served in a sandwich or with sides like hushpuppies, cornbread, and fries. If catfish isn’t your thing, you can order similar dishes with fried prawns or snapper instead.