A hot Turkish spot leads our list of 31 new restaurants in Seattle

Hamdi, the Turkish restaurant in Frelard, is booked up for the rest of the year. But we have the lowdown on how to score a seat to the hottest new restaurant in Seattle. Plus, our latest roundup includes a dozen new cafes and coffee shops around downtown, Pioneer Square and South Lake Union, with most opening for lunch — a sign that office workers are returning to their cubicles, maybe?

Our roll call of new openings around Seattle continues below.

One of the most talked-about pop-ups to debut during the pandemic, Hamdi now runs a 50-seat dining room in the old Tarsan i Jane space. Reservations are released about a month in advance and get snatched up within minutes. Psst, the Turkish grill sets aside 10 seats for walk-ins. Come at 4:30 p.m. when doors open to avoid a long wait.

The buzz around this Turkish restaurant is partly due to the impressive pedigrees of the owners; chef Berk Güldal has worked in the kitchens of big New York City names such as Café Boulud and Eleven Madison Park, and his wife Katrina Schult has worked at the front of the house for the vaunted The French Laundry in Napa Valley. Hamdi is Güldal’s love letter to his Istanbul roots. And his lamb kebabs are the must-order on the 10-item menu that includes small plates and four entrees, with many dishes including marbled slabs of beef, fish and — for vegans — eggplant either grilled on the almond-wood-fired oven or over the charcoal grill.

In Pioneer Square, the Indigenous restaurant ʔálʔal Café opens in the Chief Seattle Club. The name means “home” in Lushootseed. Lunch specials include barbacoa tacos with meat from Cheyenne River Sioux bison and as we reported earlier this month, “the menu is an ode to Native cuisines, honoring first foods like salmon and bison and corn, beans and squash.”

Five blocks north of that sits Bar Solea, chef Brendan McGill’s reboot of his pizzeria Bar Taglio. Instead of focusing on Roman square pizza, McGill now flips Neapolitan-style pies in this space. It’s similar to his Bainbridge Island hot spot Bruciato.

Also in Pioneer Square, OHSUN Banchan Deli & Cafe does Korean comfort food with lots of fermented noshes and vegan dishes, though the owner Sarah Upshaw tells The Seattle Times she thinks the “pot roast stew with fluffy rice and chonggak (ponytail radish) kimchi” may end up being the cafe’s calling card.

Another Korean spot, Mini Bar Seattle, sits across from the Fremont Brewing beer garden, a tapas-style menu of Asian fusion and Korean comfort food such as mandu dumplings and bulgogi-topped fries. Despite its name, the restaurant is family-friendly.

The Boat is the latest from the Seattle family behind the Pho Bac franchise. Under the helm of second-generation owners Yenvy and Quynh-Vy Pham, Pho Bac has expanded its brand to target the young and hip. In recent years, the sisters have opened a Vietnamese gourmet coffee house, a speak-easy-inspired Asian cocktail bar and now a cafe called The Boat that specializes in one dish, com ga mam toi or garlicky chicken rice.

For those fretting about the lack of interesting lunch options around the Pike/Pine corridor, here are two new counters: Osteria La Spiga’s executive chef Sabrina Tinsley has set up an Italian deli, La Dispensa in Chophouse Row, doing panini sandwiches along with lasagna, rotisserie meats, roasted vegetables and fresh pasta dinner kits to-go. About a block west from that sandwich shop sits the West Coast chain Ben & Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli with bagels, Rueben sandwiches and staples such as kugel and lox. The vegan whitefish salad made from palm of hearts is as good as advertised. This deli also does one of the better faux-brisket sandwiches around with plant-based meat, though the secret is the layer of grilled mushrooms that adds a meaty, umami oomph.

Other openings around the Hill include The Grain House with banh mis and noodle bowls, Fern Thai Eatery & Bar with gai tod hat yai, a southern fried chicken dish with panang curry, and Portland chain Wasabi Sushi SEA with udon, teriyaki and rolls.

Restaurateurs Goldy Singh and MP Singh appear to be bullish on office workers returning. The two owners of Roti in Uptown will debut their swanky Mint Progressive Indian bistro the week of Dec. 18 in the former Hardwood Provisions space in downtown and next month will launch an Indian street-style cafe called Food Junction in South Lake Union.

Speaking of Amazon, tech workers seem to be back to their cubicles around South Lake Union as lunch and happy hour have picked up in recent months, according to several owners. The latest opening is the dumpling house Kathmandu Momocha along the restaurant row of Terry Avenue North. Kathmandu made our “best-of list” from our 1,000 dumpling roundup two years ago when this modest business was just a food truck. The dumpling counter has an expanded menu with noodles and other Nepalese street food. Other recent arrivals along the drag include manna, the rooftop bar ALTITUDE Sky Lounge and Otium Grill & Greens.

Asean Streat Food Hall offers Southeast Asian-inspired comfort food from 10 different countries under one roof in Westlake. On the menu are stinky tofu, Hainanese chicken rice and Laksa spicy noodle.

Lai Rai Restaurant & Bar in Belltown does high-end Vietnamese food with steak and seafood. But like every restaurant in this barhopping ‘hood, Lai Rai also runs a big happy hour menu with spring rolls, banh mis and other beer bites.

A local chain that specializes in Guadalajara cuisine, Santa Fe Mexican Grill & Cantina opens its sixth branch in the Crown Hill area. A half-mile northeast sits the Ethiopian and Eritrean cafe Adulis.

North of the Othello light-rail station sits the Mediterranean Al Azayem cafe with kebabs, falafel and shawarma.

The University District remains the undisputed bubble tea capital of Seattle. The latest openings are mainland China-based chain Möge Tee and the California- based Sunright Tea Studio. Also, the U District boba hot spot with the whimsical name Dont Yell At Me expands to Capitol Hill.

Just in time for these damp, dark days, more cups of joe: Artly Coffee, which relies on a robotic arm instead of a barista to make lattes, opens near Pike Place Market. Speaking of the market, if you love Bacco Cafe, check out Spruce Cafe in the Paramount Hotel. Both are from the same owner who runs nearly identical menus at both spots including those popular Dutch baby brunch dishes. The Scandinavian Café Hagen opens its third branch in Upper Queen Anne. Distant Worlds Coffeehouse moves a block west of the Roosevelt light-rail station. Heard Coffee and Lune Cafe open in Pioneer Square. Mitten Sweets & Coffee debuts a block from L’Oursin in the Central District. Evoke Cafe Bar relocates into an Amazon building in South Lake Union. And the all-day cafe and bar The Gemini Room opens in the historic Baker Linen building, next door to Chophouse Row.

In related news, Chef Tom Douglas opens Etta’s Big Mountain BBQ, a reboot of his seafood cafe near Pike Place Market. Also, Bang Bang Cafe in Belltown, Coastal Kitchen on Capitol Hill and SPUD Fish & Chips in Green Lake have reopened after a hiatus.