The former Little Market location in Portage Bay is now Joe’z, a counter specializing in excellent Oklahoma-style smashburgers and bodega-style breakfast sandwiches. There are still (slightly scarcer) shelves stocked with artisanal crackers and bottles of wine. But you can also sit down to a really great lunch involving sandwiches and crisp hand-cut fries that’d make In-N-Out jealous. The burgers themselves are reason enough to swing by.

This Tijuana-style taqueria operates out of Fair Isle Brewing’s kitchen Sunday through Tuesday. But judging by the excellent tacos on hand-pressed tortillas, they should be full-time residents. The small-but-mighty menu features juicy chicken tinga and charred adobada spinning on a trompo al pastor. Yet our favorite of the trio might just be the calabacitas, sweet from a long roast and pops of corn drenched in chipotle cream and queso fresco.

In a narrow pocket of 400 Fairview’s food court, this promising al taglio pizza counter serves crunchy Roman-style rectangles worth rerouting SLU lunch plans for. You’ll see the usual tomato-splashed suspects done well—like a basil-brightened margherita or a classic cheese pie polka-dotted with crackly halal pepperoni. But Pizza By Ruffin doesn’t stop at the basics. Punchy green jamaican curry catapults an otherwise monotonous mushroom slice to another lunar plane.

Expensive party restaurants often have bad food—call it correlation, not causation—but La Mar is the Peruvian transplant here to squash that claim. The dining room with furnishings seemingly plucked from a luxury showroom feels right at home on Bellevue’s Old Main, only the menu is stacked with really great stuff. Snacks like flaky chicken empanadas or wonton tacos stuffed with creamy tuna tartare would be demolished at a wedding cocktail hour.

Shomon Kappo is the sister restaurant to sushi institution Shiro's—and it lives up to that pedigree with a fun and fresh experience. Sitting at the light wood counter, you’ll get an eight-course mix of sushi and other Japanese small plates (think buttery Hokkaido scallop nigiri and a deep-fried Dungeness crab nugget). And unlike omakase spots that are more cramped and stuffy, the counter is buzzing with enjoyable energy while still spacious enough to feel like you’re at your own private table.

The newest addition to Southcenter’s growing restaurant lineup is an excellent choice when you need dumplings and buns in the South End. A must-order is the House Special BBQ Pork Bun, which could almost be a dessert. It's got an airy donut-like chew with a sugary crumble top and lots of saucy pork inside. And be sure to get the salt and pepper chicken wings hidden under a pile of crispy fried shallots and tender honey walnut prawns for sharing.

La Chingona Taqueria’s colorful second location in West Seattle has tons of tables, strong margaritas, and even better food than its already excellent Bellevue food truck. The fish tacos are the best in Seattle—flaky cod covered in a crispy golden breading and drizzled with tangy chipotle dressing we could chug on its own. Inside there's papel picado strung overhead, bold murals, and welcoming service at the lively spot that's perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.

Rimini has what Italian restaurants in Seattle don’t. Classic meatballs contain pork, veal, and beef, and no trace of orange zest. Homemade cheese tortellini in a garlic-spiked cream is so silken that it’s tough to stop eating until fullness hits like a parmesan-blasted brick. And there’s a Sicilian fellow named Tony who serenades the dining room with Sinatra standards and asks each table, “Va bene?” approximately six times per course.

Like so many other great sushi spots in this town, Hummingbird Sushi in Queen Anne serves pristine fish in a quiet, wood-paneled room. But what makes this restaurant stand out is that it’s easy-breezy to book a reservation and you can order all of the sushi from the $150 omakase menu for a la carte service. The nigiri, illuminated by tap-to-power library lamps, are petite in size and mighty in quality.

The only problem with this former Mexican takeout window in Green Lake was that you couldn't sit down to an excellent husk-wrapped bundle until you got home—but they fixed that. After opening a sit-down restaurant in Fremont with their brewery operation El Sueñito, the instant gratification of eating a piping hot tamal from Frelard Tamales the second you receive it is now possible. And yeah, it helps that the name makes more sense now.