Seattle’s Most Anticipated Openings, Spring 2019

Seattle’s restaurant scene is continually in expansion mode. Here now is Eater’s guide to the most anticipated restaurants scheduled to open in spring or summer 2018. They’re listed in roughly chronological order of the most recent projected opening date.

Windy City Pie

Location: 5918 Phinney Ave. N
Key Players: Dave Lichterman
Projected Opening: March
The Situation: Windy City Pie, maker of oft-praised Chicago-style deep dish pizza with a crispy cheese edge, is now filling to-go orders at its forthcoming Phinney Ridge restaurant. The full-sized, all-ages restaurant is expected to open any day now. This will be an all-ages place, with a full bar paying homage to Chicago and seating for 63, plus another dozen at tables on the front sidewalk. Owner Dave Lichterman is planning to install booths, for that classic pizzeria feel, and drastically improve the flow of the kitchen for his staff.

Windy City Pie/Facebook

Vinnie’s Raw Bar

Location: 2505 2nd Ave, Suite 102
Key Players: Anu and Chris Elford (Rob Roy, Navy Strength, No Anchor)
Projected Opening: April or May
The Situation: Chris and Anu Elford closed their Navy Strength Coffee and Juice bar in December, but they’ve held onto the space. Instead of daytime pick-me-ups, they’ll open a seafood and natural wine bar called Vinnie’s Raw Bar. The Elfords are keeping the details close to the vest for now, but they’ve at least started an Instagram account for tracking the new business’s progress.

Hannyatou

Location: 1060 N 39th St
Key Players: Mutsuko Soma (Kamonegi)
Projected Opening: March
The Situation: James Beard Award semifinalist Mutsuko Soma is opening a sake bar two doors down from her Fremont soba restaurant, Kamonegi. The new spot, to be called Hannyatou, will sling sake flights, sell retail sake, and serve a menu built around fermentation.

Il Nido

Location: 2717 61st Ave. SW
Key Players: Mike Easton (Il Corvo)
Projected Opening: April
The Situation: James Beard Award-nominated chef Mike Easton has a new Italian restaurant called Il Nido in the works in West Seattle. Easton will offer dinner five nights a week and weekend brunch in a renovated 100-year-old log house, with views of Alki Beach from the back patio. It’s one of Seattle’s most anticipated openings of 2019, given the intense popularity of Easton’s lunch- and weekday-only Pioneer Square pasta place, Il Corvo. At Il Nido, which means “the Nest,” the Italian menu will feature plenty of seasonal produce and, thanks to a bigger kitchen and more time, more “delicate, intensive handmade pastas.” Dishes might include a summertime squid-ink pasta and lighter, Sicilian-inspired fare, while winter could skew to richer dishes from Northern Italy, like stuffed pasta.

Bill Addison/Eater

Schmaltzy’s Delicatessen

Location: 928 NW Leary Way
Key Players: Jonathan Silverberg (Napkin Friends)
Projected Opening: Early June
The Situation: Jonathan Silverberg, owner of the Napkin Friends food truck, is building out his Jewish deli between Fremont and Ballard. He envisions classic deli items like from-scratch pastrami, corned beef, and lox. The deli will double as a prep space for Napkin Friends’ latke press sandwiches, as well as Silverberg’s catering operations.