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Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011
Baguette Box is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

1. Baguette Box

1203 Pine St (at Melrose Ave), Seattle, WA
Sandwich Spot · Capitol Hill · 38 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In two compact storefronts, Eric Banh, one of the geniuses behind the Vietnamese bistro Monsoon, shoves the darnedest things into baguettes. Read more.

Baguette Box is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

2. Baguette Box

626 N 34th St (btwn Fremont & Evanston Ave N), Seattle, WA
Sandwich Spot · Fremont · 12 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In two compact storefronts, Eric Banh, one of the geniuses behind the Vietnamese bistro Monsoon, shoves the darnedest things into baguettes. Read more.

Bai Tong Thai Restaurant is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

3. Bai Tong Thai Restaurant

8.8
14804 NE 24th St, Redmond, WA
Thai Restaurant · Overlake · 106 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: A Thai Airways employee opened Bai Tong near Sea-Tac in 1989, where she created a home away from home for homesick expats with her authentic Siamese dishes. Read more.

Bakery Nouveau is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

4. Bakery Nouveau

9.3
4737 California Ave SW (at SW Alaska St), Seattle, WA
Bakery · West Seattle · 132 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: By 6AM on weekdays, dense baguettes, gooey brown-sugar pecan brioche, and heavenly croissants start issuing from the ovens of Essential Baking Company's former executive pastry chef William Leaman. Read more.

Boom Noodle is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

5. Boom Noodle

1121 E Pike St (at 12th Ave), Seattle, WA
Noodle Restaurant · Capitol Hill · 53 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Tokyo-stylish yet genuinely open-armed to scruffies and families. Affordable yet culinarily stimulating. A drop-in dining room, filled with long tables, alongside a bar full of exotic cocktails. Read more.

Boom Noodle is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

6. Boom Noodle

2675 NE Village Ln (in U Village), Seattle, WA
Noodle Restaurant · 49 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Tokyo-stylish yet genuinely open-armed to scruffies and families. Affordable yet culinarily stimulating. A drop-in dining room, filled with long tables, alongside a bar full of exotic cocktails. Read more.

7. Boom Noodle

504 Bellevue Sq (in Bellevue Square), Bellevue, WA
Noodle Restaurant · Bellevue Square · 43 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Tokyo-stylish yet genuinely open-armed to scruffies and families. Affordable yet culinarily stimulating. A drop-in dining room, filled with long tables, alongside a bar full of exotic cocktails. Read more.

Built Burger is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

8. Built Burger

217 James St (at 2nd Ave.), Seattle, WA
Burger Joint · Pioneer Square · 24 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The latest in the happy boomlet of Pioneer Square luncheries, BuiltBurger is a tidy, minimalist burger joint with a laudable schtick: fixins ground up inside the meat. Read more.

9. Cafe Flora

8.8
2901 E Madison St (at 29th Ave E), Seattle, WA
Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurant · Madison Valley · 99 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Long the vegetarian standard-bearer in town, this beloved Madison Valley dining room can make gluten-free taste good. Read more.

Café Presse is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

10. Café Presse

1117 12th Ave (btwn Madison & Spring), Seattle, WA
French Restaurant · First Hill · 130 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: It's the most come-as-you-are French cafe in town, suffused with a casual dailiness that makes it dangerously easy to become a regular. Read more.

Chiang's Gourmet is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

11. Chiang's Gourmet

7.8
7845 Lake City Way NE (at 12th Ave NE), Seattle, WA
Chinese Restaurant · Roosevelt · 30 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: There’s something for everyone in this converted root beer stand off Lake City Way and its sister in Renton, off menus marked Szechuan, Chinese (heavy on the Taiwanese), Vegetarian, and American. Read more.

12. Chiang's Gourmet

17650 140th Ave SE #B3, Renton, WA
Chinese Restaurant · 2 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: There’s something for everyone in this converted root beer stand off Lake City Way and its sister in Renton, off menus marked Szechuan, Chinese (heavy on the Taiwanese), Vegetarian, and American. Read more.

Din Tai Fung is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

13. Din Tai Fung

9.1
700 Bellevue Way NE (700 Bellevue Way NE #280), Bellevue, WA
Dumpling Restaurant · 339 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The coup represented by Bellevue scoring the only Northwest outpost of the revered Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung cannot be overstated: Quite simply the finest xiao long bao in the universe. Read more.

14. Elliott Bay Brewery and Pub

7.9
4720 California Ave SW (at SW Alaska St), Seattle, WA
Brewery · West Seattle · 64 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Elliott Bay Brewery and Pub has long been West Seattle's best-kept secret for its distinctive brews and thinking-person's pub grub. Read more.

Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

15. Elliott Bay Brewhouse & Pub

8.4
255 SW 152nd St (at 4th Ave SW), Burien, WA
Brewery · 55 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Elliott Bay Brewery and Pub has long been West Seattle's best-kept secret for its distinctive brews and thinking-person's pub grub. It's sister property in Burien is every bit as alluring. Read more.

Facing East is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

16. Facing East

8.3
12736 NE Bel Red Rd (btwn 130th Ave NE & 124th Ave NE), Bellevue, WA
Taiwanese Restaurant · 111 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Walk into this downtown Bellevue bistro and find a well-oiled machine in full thrum, as dozens of servers dance out beautiful renditions of that dazzling cultural hybrid known as Taiwanese cuisine Read more.

Feierabend is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

17. Feierabend

422 Yale Ave N (btwn Harrison & Republican St.), Seattle, WA
German Restaurant · South Lake Union · 74 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: It's an Old World-styled German restaurant and bar in shiny new Cascade, populated by upwardly mobile young condo dwellers from all over the emerging South Lake Union neighborhood. Read more.

Fonté Café & Wine Bar is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

18. Fonté Café & Wine Bar

7.9
1321 1st Ave (btwn Union & University St), Seattle, WA
Coffee Shop · Seattle Central Business District · 82 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: It was only a matter of time before someone in this thirsty town united the boutique coffee roaster with the fine wine bar—and at Fonté, genuinely terrific food is the glue. Read more.

Geraldine's Counter is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

19. Geraldine's Counter

9.1
4872 Rainier Ave S (at S Ferdinand St), Seattle, WA
Diner · Columbia City · 92 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: A swell place for French toast, hash browns, and coffee cakes by morning, chili and hand-formed burgers by night—from folks who value quality, in a room that has become the soul of its neighborhood. Read more.

Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

20. Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant

418 8th Ave S (at S King St), Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · International District · 61 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Here in the thick of the International District the pretty little Green Leaf gives you everything you want in a hole-in-the-wall and nothing you don't. Read more.

Henry's Taiwan is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

21. Henry's Taiwan

502 S King St (btw S 5th Ave & S 6th Ave), Seattle, WA
Taiwanese Restaurant · International District · 12 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Under the Chinatown Gate in the International District sits a cozy eight-table homage to the warming home-style pork dishes, noodles, and stinky tofus of Taiwan. Read more.

Henry's Taiwan is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

22. Henry's Taiwan

549 156th Ave SE (in Lake Hills Shopping Center), Bellevue, WA
Chinese Restaurant · 4 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Under the Chinatown Gate in the International District sits a cozy eight-table homage to the warming home-style pork dishes, noodles, and stinky tofus of Taiwan. Also in a second location in Bellevue. Read more.

Homegrown is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

23. Homegrown

8.8
1531 Melrose Ave, Seattle, WA
Sandwich Spot · Capitol Hill · 79 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: This sustainable sandwich stop's big chalkboard menu features sandwiches, soups, salads, and sides that burst with more than quality and freshness. Read more.

Homegrown is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

24. Homegrown

8.1
2201 Queen Anne Ave N (at Boston St.), Seattle, WA
Sandwich Spot · West Queen Anne · 28 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: This sustainable sandwich stop's big chalkboard menu features sandwiches, soups, salads, and sides that burst with more than quality and freshness. Read more.

Homegrown is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

25. Homegrown

3416 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA
Sandwich Spot · Fremont · 42 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: This sustainable sandwich stop's big chalkboard menu features sandwiches, soups, salads, and sides that burst with more than quality and freshness. Read more.

26. Huong Binh Vietnamese Cuisine

6.2
1207 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · International District · 13 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: This storefront treasure isn’t fancy, but it is revered among Vietnamese for serving unheralded specialties from around the old royal capital of Huê, the epicenter of Vietnamese cuisine. Read more.

Kafé Neo is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

27. Kafé Neo

8.1
21108 Highway 99 (at 212th St SW), Edmonds, WA
Greek Restaurant · 26 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: For two decades, Kafé Neo has served honest, full-flavored, refreshingly nongreasy Greek fare to a clientele that knows the difference Read more.

Kafé Neo Mill Creek is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

28. Kafé Neo Mill Creek

7.7
15130 Main St, Mill Creek, WA
Greek Restaurant · Mill Creek Town Center · 24 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: For two decades, Kafé Neo has served honest, full-flavored, refreshingly nongreasy Greek fare to a clientele that knows the difference Read more.

King's Hardware is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

29. King's Hardware

8.4
5225 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA
Bar · Ballard · 97 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Some joints stay new forever; some are old souls from the moment they blow the foam off the inaugural pint. That's King's Hardware. Credit Linda Derschang and partners for its blazing authenticity. Read more.

Korean Tofu House is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

30. Korean Tofu House

7.7
4142 Brooklyn Ave NE (at University Ave), Seattle, WA
Korean Restaurant · University District · 24 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: You won’t spend much more than $10 for delicacies like kimchi beef sundubu jjigae, a concoction of tofu funked up with fermented cabbage. When the woman comes by to crack a raw egg over it, nod. Read more.

La Carta De Oaxaca is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

31. La Carta De Oaxaca

8.5
5431 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA
Mexican Restaurant · Ballard · 108 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The brick walls of old Ballard meet the terra-cotta tiles of old Mexico in the single most teeming, table-turning, earsplitting, salsa-sloshing sensation in town. Read more.

Mandarin Chef is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

32. Mandarin Chef

5022 University Way NE, Seattle, WA
Chinese Restaurant · University District · 5 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Seattle turns out to be a particular bastion of the hand-shaved noodle. Our favorite is Mandarin Chef, an Ave storefront run by a Szechuan couple with just the skill sets to open a restaurant. Read more.

33. Marination Station

1412 Harvard Ave (at Broadway and Pike), Seattle, WA
Hawaiian Restaurant · First Hill · 80 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Marination Station slings the Spam sliders, kimchi fried rice and ginger-chicken tacos that got a city scratching its head and rubbing its tummy, along with outdoor seating and beer and wine. Read more.

Marination Mobile is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

34. Marination Mobile

7.2
Seattle, WA
Food Truck · 59 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Marination Mobile slings the Spam sliders and kimchi fried rice that got a city scratching its head and rubbing its tummy, and earned Good Morning America‘s Best Food Cart in the Nation award. Read more.

Noodle Boat Thai Restaurant is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

35. Noodle Boat Thai Restaurant

7.7
700 NW Gilman Blvd #E104 (at NW Maple St), Issaquah, WA
Thai Restaurant · 22 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In the finest Thai food, spices all play their positions, each identifiable, all working as a team. Curries and noodle dishes at the color-splashed Noodle Boat are delicious, big league examples. Read more.

Pan Africa Market is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

36. Pan Africa Market

1521 1st Ave, Seattle, WA
African Restaurant · Pike Place · 7 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Ethiopian-born owner Mulugeta Abate wants to enlighten Northwest palates to include Senegalese chicken yassa, South African seafood bobotie, piri-piri chicken from the Portuguese colonies, and more. Read more.

Pan Africa Grill is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

37. Pan Africa Grill

5905 California Ave SW (SW Juneau Street), Seattle, WA
African Restaurant · West Seattle · 4 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Ethiopian-born owner Mulugeta Abate wants to enlighten Northwest palates to include Senegalese chicken yassa, South African seafood bobotie, piri-piri chicken from the Portuguese colonies, and more. Read more.

Paseo Caribbean Food is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

38. Paseo Caribbean Food

8.2
4225 Fremont Ave N (btwn N 42nd & 43rd St), Seattle, WA
Caribbean Restaurant · Fremont · 184 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Lorenzo Lorenzo’s sandwich hut is so popular its addicts endure lines out the door knowing that they must pay cash, they will not get a table, and there will be hell to pay laundry-wise. Read more.

Paseo Caribbean Restaurant is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

39. Paseo Caribbean Restaurant

6226 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA
Caribbean Restaurant · Sunset Hill · 52 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Lorenzo Lorenzo’s sandwich hut is so popular its addicts endure lines out the door knowing that they must pay cash, they will not get a table, and there will be hell to pay laundry-wise. Read more.

40. Phở Bắc

1314 S Jackson St (at Boren Ave S), Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · 29 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In a city veritably drowning in the Vietnamese beef noodle soup known as pho—this funny little institution (and its sister just six blocks away) does a version for the ages. Read more.

Pho Ba is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

41. Pho Ba

7.6
415 7th Ave S (btw S Jackson & S King), Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · International District · 24 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In a city veritably drowning in the Vietnamese beef noodle soup known as pho—this funny little institution (and its sister just six blocks away) does a version for the ages. Read more.

Pho Cyclo Cafe is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

42. Pho Cyclo Cafe

406 Broadway E (at E Harrison St), Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · Capitol Hill · 56 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Pho Cyclo, from the folks who brought us Huong Binh, attracts the trillions with its fragrant noodle bowls, its stir-fries, its cheap-cheap banh mis, and its 12 varieties of pho. Read more.

Pho Cyclo Cafe is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

43. Pho Cyclo Cafe

999 3rd Ave #1 (2nd and Marion), Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · Seattle Central Business District · 9 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Pho Cyclo, from the folks who brought us Huong Binh, attracts the trillions with its fragrant noodle bowls, its stir-fries, its cheap-cheap banh mis, and its 12 varieties of pho. Read more.

Pho Cyclo Cafe is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

44. Pho Cyclo Cafe

7.5
2414 1st Ave S (btw S Lander & S Stacy), Seattle, WA
Vietnamese Restaurant · 18 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Pho Cyclo, from the folks who brought us Huong Binh, attracts the trillions with its fragrant noodle bowls, its stir-fries, its cheap-cheap banh mis, and its 12 varieties of pho. Read more.

Red Lantern is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

45. Red Lantern

520 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA
Chinese Restaurant · International District · 35 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The Jackson Street bistro is the talk of Chinatown with it's sleek interior and red lanterns, where Shanghai favorites are interspersed with Korean rarities like fermented black bean ja jang noodles. Read more.

Red Mill Burgers is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

46. Red Mill Burgers

7.8
1613 W Dravus St (btwn 16th and 17th), Seattle, WA
Burger Joint · Interbay · 64 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: It’s quite simply the best burger in town—an opinion agreed upon by so many groupies, it’s pretty much fact. Veggie burgers, too, along with fish-and-chips at the newest location by the Ballard locks. Read more.

Red Mill Burgers is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

47. Red Mill Burgers

8.3
312 N 67th St (at Phinney Ave. N), Seattle, WA
Burger Joint · Phinney Ridge · 75 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: It’s quite simply the best burger in town—an opinion agreed upon by so many groupies, it’s pretty much fact. Veggie burgers, too, along with fish-and-chips at the newest location by the Ballard locks. Read more.

Red Mill Totem House is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

48. Red Mill Totem House

3058 NW 54th St (at 32nd Ave NW), Seattle, WA
Burger Joint · Ballard · 24 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: It’s quite simply the best burger in town—an opinion agreed upon by so many groupies, it’s pretty much fact. Veggie burgers, too, along with fish-and-chips at the newest location by the Ballard locks. Read more.

Sambar is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

49. Sambar

425 NW Market St (at 6th Ave NW), Seattle, WA
Bar · Ballard · 20 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: This six-table boite serves feisty little Parisian cocktails and a short list of just-the-thing noshes. Sara Naftaly brings a saucier’s understanding of flavor and a locavore’s passion to the drinks Read more.

Samurai Noodle is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

50. Samurai Noodle

6.6
606 5th Ave S (at S Weller St), Seattle, WA
Noodle Restaurant · International District · 50 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: A clothes closet feels spacious by comparison, but this International District ramen-ya (along with its sibling on the Ave) is a near-perfect rendition of the tiny noodle shops of Japan. Read more.

Samurai Noodle is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

51. Samurai Noodle

6.1
4138 University Way NE (42nd St. NE), Seattle, WA
Japanese Restaurant · University District · 25 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: A clothes closet feels spacious by comparison, but this International District ramen-ya (along with its sibling on the Ave) is a near-perfect rendition of the tiny noodle shops of Japan. Read more.

Savatdee Thai & Lao Cuisine is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

52. Savatdee Thai & Lao Cuisine

5801 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA
Thai Restaurant · University District · 14 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The proprietors of this spotless Roosevelt refuge are Lao, but much of the menu is Thai—some of the best in town in fact. And a tip: the V is pronounced like a B in Savatdee, Laotian for “hello.” Read more.

Sea Garden is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

53. Sea Garden

509 7th Ave S, Seattle, WA
Chinese Restaurant · International District · 23 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Get beyond the entry, with its clutter and its crab tanks, and you’re in for some of the most authentic, tightly executed, and clockwork-consistent Cantonese seafood in town. Read more.

Smarty Pants is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

54. Smarty Pants

8.4
6017 Airport Way S (under the I-5 on-ramp), Seattle, WA
Bar · Georgetown · 59 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: For a starving artist, nothin’ says lovin’ like an overstuffed sandwich at an underpriced joint. That’s Smarty Pants, home of monster neohomespun grills and melts. Read more.

Spicy Talk is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

55. Spicy Talk

16650 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA
Chinese Restaurant · Downtown Redmond · 51 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Fine Szechuan food is a thing of rare beauty in these parts, and if it’s spotted at all, it’s likely the doing of chef Cheng Biao Yang, plying his delectable trade at a slick storefront in Redmond Read more.

Tacos El Asadero is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

56. Tacos El Asadero

8.2
3513 Rainier Ave S (at S. Estelle St, Just south of Walden), Mount Baker, WA
Food Truck · 21 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Portions are huge and prices loco-cheap. Best of all, indoor seating (with spinning stools!) and covered outdoor seating supply something akin to comfort. Sort of. Read more.

Seattle Metropolitan Magazine is one of Seattle Met's Best Cheap Eats 2011.

57. Seattle Metropolitan Magazine

1201 Western Ave, Seattle, WA
Office · Seattle Central Business District · 5 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Read Kathryn Robinson's 25 best Seattle restaurants, our favorite cheap eats, a menu guide to the 50 top restaurants, and more, in our November 2011 issue.