The Best Restaurant in Capitol Hill and the Arboretum, Seattle

Background Illustration for Restaurants

Capitol Hill has become Seattle's major culinary destination. The greatest concentration of restaurants is in and around the Pike–Pine Corridor—Pike and Pine Streets running from Melrose Avenue to 15th Avenue. Überhip gastropubs like Quinn's and all-day cafés like Oddfellows are all the rage, as are smaller, posh new American and Italian-inspired eateries like Lark, Anchovies & Olives, and Cascina Spinasse. On the northern end of Broadway, Poppy is a delicious departure from standard menus, with its Indian-inspired thali (small amounts of different dish preparations served in small compartments on a large platter), while a wide variety of coffeehouses make the Hill downright destination-worthy.

Café Flora

$$$ | Capitol Hill

This upscale vegetarian diner near the Arboretum is a Seattle institution, serving satisfying classics—black-bean burgers, pizzas, salads, polenta, succotash—since the 1990s. Weekend brunch draws lots of families for the tasty pancakes, waffles, and tofu scrambles. Prime seats are in the atrium, which has a stone fountain, skylight, and garden-style café tables.