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This region has a good range of dining options, from American pub fare to fine dining, and many incorporate locally grown and produced ingredients, including organic produce, beef, chicken, eggs, and artisanal breads and cheeses. Around the region, there are low-key, affordable, and unpretentious eateries—coffee shops, bakeries, brewpubs, diners, and restaurants.
Wenatchee is the largest city in the North Cascades and features the most variety when it comes to dining. It’s home to the most ethnically diverse cuisine in the region, including several Mexican restaurants as well as Italian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and others. The self-proclaimed "Apple Capital of Washington," this is the place to try to the fruit in a variety of forms, sweet and savory.
Bavarian-themed Leavenworth offers a number of restaurants specializing in traditional German fare as well as Southern barbecue and American pub fare. Wine enthusiasts might want to make a stop in the Lake Chelan region, home to some two-dozen wineries. Craft-beer lovers won’t want to miss the riverfront breweries in both Winthrop and Twisp.
Tucked beside the popular Glover Street Market, this bakery is justly renowned for both savory and sweet treats, including—most famously—cinnamon "twisps" (the bakery's own decadent version of cinnamon rolls). Note that they often sell out by late morning, so arrive early if you want to get one. There are also smoothies, milk shakes, and build-your-own sandwiches.
The cheerful café at this budget-minded downtown inn is open only seasonally, but it's one of the very best spots in the area for lunch and, especially, breakfast. Bagel sandwiches, smashed avocado on desem bread (a mild sourdough bread), a choice of four scrambles, and several kinds of burrito wraps are the perfect sustenance for a day of hiking, boating, or wine touring.
Prodigious breakfast sandwiches with delicious fillings—such as the "monster biscuit" with ham, bacon, cheddar, egg, herbed cream cheese, and Mama Lil's peppers—are the specialty of this bright, contemporary bakery on the north side of downtown Wenatchee. You'll also find an array of fresh-baked breads, plus cookies, cinnamon rolls, and other sweet treats.
