8 Best Restaurants in Washington Wine Country, Washington

Background Illustration for Restaurants

National fast-food chains, local eateries, and some fine-dining restaurants can be found scattered throughout the region, or sometimes right alongside one another. As a huge agricultural area, the Yakima Valley supplies many of its local restaurants with fresh fruits and vegetables in season. Yakima Valley wines are a staple at virtually all the fine-dining establishments. Pacific Northwest seafood (particularly salmon) is another staple of the region. South-central Washington also has a fair share of Mexican food, from taco wagons to fine Mexican restaurants.

Basecamp Books and Bites

$$ Fodor's Choice

Equal parts indie bookstore, bar, and coffee house, this hip hangout set in one of Roslyn's quirky Victorian storefronts turns out creatively prepared American classics morning to night, including elk sausage scrambles, candied-bacon and blue-cheese burgers, apple-maple salads, and turkey potpies. Espresso drinks are brewed using a beautiful teal La Marzocco machine, and craft cocktails are served in the cozy basement tavern. On the adjacent patio, an airstream trailer doles out snacks and is staffed by employees who can recommend local hikes and activities.

Cowiche Canyon Kitchen & Icehouse Bar

$$ Fodor's Choice

Named for one of the region's most famous canyons for hiking, this hip downtown restaurant offers contemporary, elevated comfort fare like tandoori chicken wings, balsamic-braised lamb shank, and butcher's cut steaks with a chimichurri glaze. Notable for its sleek design, the restaurant uses antique ice hooks and smudge pots, which double as light fixtures, to pay homage to the region's past, and the high-ceilinged bar is lined with the wood used to mold the restaurant's board-formed concrete walls.

The Pearl Bar & Grill

$$ Fodor's Choice

In this warmly inviting storefront that morphs into a full-on bar and live music haunt after 9 pm, enjoy gastropub cooking that often features internationally inspired dishes, such as pork belly ramen and mussels in a fragrant Thai red coconut curry. Decked out with deep wooden booths, exposed brick walls, and vintage chandeliers, it's a classy joint, but with an "everybody knows your name" vibe.

402 N. Pearl St., Ellensburg, 98926, USA
509-201–1042
Known For
  • Generous late-afternoon happy hour
  • Hearty burgers, chops, and seafood grills
  • Prohibition era–inspired cocktails

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Recommended Fodor's Video

Yellow Church Café

$$ Fodor's Choice

Set inside a 1923 Lutheran church, this cheery yellow house of culinary worship now serves modern American fare with global accents inside the former nave and choir loft. Standouts at dinner include garam masala–crusted rack of lamb and oven-roasted cedar plank steelhead with lemon caper butter. The gooey bananas Foster waffles are a crowd-pleaser on weekend mornings.

E.Z Tiger

$$

This hip pan-Asian joint with big windows and ample patio seating will satisfy your yearning for flavor-packed dumplings, steamed buns, noodle bowls, steaks, and seafood. Beyond the flavorful fare, which favors regional ingredients, E.Z turns out fun cocktails like the Tiki Tiger, with whiskey, yuzu, grapefruit, pomegranate, honey, and lemon.

222 E. Chestnut Ave., Yakima, 98901, USA
509-571–1977
Known For
  • Great variety of dim sum starters
  • Sesame-ginger rib-eye steaks
  • Japanese-style jasmine milk-bread custard for dessert
Restaurant Details
Closed Sun. and Mon.

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The Palace Cafe

$$

Hungry travelers and townsfolk have been fueling up in this rollicking Old West tavern with period wallpaper and pressed-tin ceilings since 1892, tucking into plates of old-school pub fare. The nachos, fish-and-chips, and steaks are reliably good, and a handful of specialties—especially the sirloin steak with coconut prawns and open-faced chili burgers—keep regulars coming back again and again. Portions are generous, especially at breakfast, and there's a sizable kids' menu. 

Provisions Restaurant and Market

$$

A pantry full of carefully curated groceries, a bar with a notable beer and spirits list, and a chill neighborhood bistro with a postindustrial look and a large patio, Provisions successfully plays multiple roles as a destination for excellent food and drink. The locavore-minded menu changes seasonally, but might feature curried cauliflower with a dill-lemon sauce, grilled kale and Italian sausage pizza, and down-home fried chicken with mashed potatoes, brown gravy, and sautéed corn. It's on the east side, a couple of miles from downtown.

2710 Terrace Heights Dr., Yakima, 98901, USA
509-452–8100
Known For
  • Creative pastas
  • Delectable picnic supplies
  • Desserts featuring local berries
Restaurant Details
Closed Sun. and Mon.

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Sunset Cafe and Loose Wolf Lounge

$$

Since 1936 this family-run Western-theme restaurant has been serving breakfast delectables that include the signature "Texas-size cinnamon rolls," plus boneless pork chops and eggs, corned-beef-hash Benedicts, and astoundingly large pancakes filled with bananas, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. The rest of the day, count on traditional Italian and American fare like burgers and chicken Parmesan.

318 E. 1st St., Cle Elum, 98922, USA
509-674–2241
Known For
  • Colorful people-watching in the saloon
  • Stick-to-your-ribs comfort fare
  • Down-home diner-style vibe
Restaurant Details
Closed Tues.

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