4 Best Restaurants in Bellevue, Washington Cascade Mountains and Valleys

Since 2000, connoisseurs of Northern Italian cuisine have made a pilgrimage to this chic, contemporary dining room helmed by James Beard Award–winning chef Holly Smith and offering four multicourse dinner menu options: omnivore, pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan. Even meat lovers sometimes opt for one the plant-based menus, as everything Smith prepares is stunningly plated and delicious. By all accounts, the pescatarian option is often the most interesting—it frequently features sea urchin, as well as local crab and salmon.

Murals of tropical flowers and, of course, massive ferns decorate the softly lighted, sunny dining room of this superb restaurant in the heart of downtown Bellevue, which serves some of the best Thai food in greater Seattle. Specialties include Gai Tod Hat Yai, a deep-fried marinated half-chicken served with a panang curry dipping sauce and roti bread, and salmon grilled and served over a rich coconut curry sauce with eggplant and green beans. 

Drop by this urbane, high-ceilinged gastropub with an industrial-chic vibe for anything from creative cocktails and fine wines with a few snacks to a full dinner. The menu leans toward shareable appetizers—avocado fries, sautéed haloumi cheese with dates, flatbread with crab-artichoke gratin dip—and more substantial large plates, often with Latin American and Asian influences.

With its soaring ceilings and windows, mod lighting, and streamlined wooden booths, the downtown location of a growing Chinese dumpling empire that began in Bellevue in 2014 is as much fun for people-watching as for devouring perfectly formed pan-fried, boiled, soup, and steamed dumplings. Fillings run the gamut from chicken and vegetables with spicy garlic sauce to shrimp and zucchini, and the menu has an extensive array of sides and appetizers—try the braised pig ears or five-spice beef shank.