3 Best Restaurants in Ballard, Seattle

Nestled on the ground floor of an inconspicuous apartment building between Ballard Ave. and the National Nordic Museum, this little café is a one-of-a-kind hybrid. The co-owners are German and Chinese, and the menu mixes those two cultures in unique, surprising ways. Along with familiar espresso drinks and five varieties of Chinese tea, there are specialty drinks that border on the surreal: seaweed latte (with soy sauce caramel) and yuzu vanilla espresso tonic are prime examples. The food choices—mainly pastries and breakfast bites—are equally daring.

Autumn Martin specializes in creative, high-quality desserts (including vegan options) such as a s'mores molten chocolate cake with house-made marshmallows and caramel, and cookies with house-smoked chocolate chips. Thick, rich milkshakes come in gourmet seasonal flavors like Meyer lemon with lavender, or grownup boozy shakes like smoked chocolate and scotch. Hot Cakes is open late night, too. A few long communal tables make for casual dining. The company's take-and-bake mason-jar desserts make a great gift. For a lighter bite, head north to Martin's plant-based ice cream shop, Frankie & Jo's ( 1411 NW 70th St.).

A sibling spot to the Mexican steakhouse next door, this ode to Mexican coffee uses a single-origin beans grown by a cooperative in Oaxaca and roasted locally by Fulcrum. Fresh-squeezed orange juice and tres leches cakes complete the feel of a contemporary Mexico City café, but a few touches keep it Seattle, including the assortment of locally baked pastries.