Sustainable sushi is at the core of this West Seattle spot. Although founding chef Hajime Sato stepped away from the restaurant in 2019, he left it in good hands, with a staff that carries on the ethos of carefully sourced fish, emphasizing traceability and responsible farming practices. The seasonal menu offers a top-notch selection of sushi, sashimi, and nigiri, with sometimes unconventional offerings like boar.

Star sushi chef Ryuichi Nakano opened up this Edmonds spot in 2019, and it quickly gained a loyal following. It’s now offering a wide variety of well-crafted rolls, nigiri, and sashimi for pickup through online preorders or onsite dining (both indoors and outdoors). Nagano also offers omakase nigiri and sashimi platters.

Some may be quick to point out that it’s been a decade since Shiro’s was owned or operated by the man himself. However, Shiro Kashiba’s former Belltown sushi-ya remains a formidable contender in the Seattle sushi Olympics. Today, the flawless Edomae sushi served here is the work of a team led by Masaki Nishioka, and although the line doesn’t trail down the block every night like in the ’90s, there’s no real reason it shouldn’t. Sourced mainly in the Pacific Northwest, the fish here is as fresh as a clean sunrise, and the tuna belly, geoduck, and uni are always standouts. Now, as then, omakase is the thing at Shiro’s, but if you can’t get a seat at the 10-seat bar, the table setting omakase is perfectly lovely, if slightly less deluxe. Either way, you’ll have an unforgettable meal. 

Seattle’s oldest tiki bar, which opened in 1999, serves stiff drinks alongside a sprawling, Spam-infused Hawaiian menu. The sushi list leans opulent and gleefully nontraditional — the specials board is likely to read “stuffed,” “topped,” “fried,” and “drizzled,” all in reference to the same roll — but don’t let the flash distract from the fantastic execution. Some of the best items on this menu are the most understated, like the hamachi sashimi or the tamago (sweet egg omelet) nigiri. Despite the fancy fish work, owner Kyle “Yosh” Yoshimura, of the Yoshimura family behind historic, now-closed Seattle fishmonger Mutual Fish Company, keeps the ambiance friendly and fun with tropical tchotchkes, Christmas lights, and live Hawaiian bands.

Diners have long flocked to the upscale Pike Place restaurant to watch master sushi chef Shiro Kashiba at work. Its meticulous attention to detail remains a big draw, as does chef Kashiba, who is credited for bringing Edomae-style sushi to Seattle and has opened some of the city’s top sushi restaurants. First-timers should choose the omakase option and embrace each seasonal offering, although Kashiba’s popular black cod off the à la carte menu is also stellar.

Few Seattle restaurants can lay more legitimate claim to the title “institution” than Maneki. It opened in Japantown in 1904 and ushered in a new era of Seattle dining with its 1969 debut of the city’s first proper sushi bar. Though omakase demigod Shiro Kashiba no longer mans the historic counter, having long since moved on to launch his local culinary legacy, Maneki still presents impeccable sushi dinners in its homey Nihonmachi dining room, along with a host of Japanese comfort classics like karaage chicken and a miso-marinated black cod collar that’s spoken of by regulars with something bordering on religious fervor. 

In the bustling Pike/Pine corridor, Tamari Bar is one of the most playful izakaya restaurants in town, with Studio Ghibli on the TVs and yuzu in the panna cotta. It’s also poppin’ on weekends, and reservations are sternly advised. The menu includes a lot of stuff that isn’t sushi — cilantro pesto ramen, fried chicken bao, inventive desserts and cocktails — and the sushi menu is brief but fabulous, in the form of rolls, bowls, and sashimi in various fish permutations. If you want to be dazzled at Tamari Bar, go for the 7 Kinds Sashimi: seven omakase selections fanned out on a mini spiral staircase. And don’t miss the soft-serve with housemade syrups, imported from sister restaurant Baiten next door. 

Renowned chef Taichi Kitamura (a 2018 James Beard Award semifinalist) provides a wide variety of fantastic meal options at his Eastlake destination restaurant. It has a full sushi menu, and a nigiri omakase option and brunch on the weekends. Sushi Kappo Tamura sources its seafood from Pacific Northwest producers like Taylor Shellfish and Skagit River Ranch and has a rooftop garden that provides produce for some of its dishes. Of all the sushi chefs in Seattle, Kitamura may know the most about local fish, which could be ascribed to his side hobby as a fly fisherman. All these elements make for a decidedly PNW sushi experience that couldn’t be replicated in any other part of the country. 

This 10-seat Capitol Hill sushi counter, which opened during the height of the pandemic, offers an exquisite omakase experience ($120 when seated at a table and $140 at the sushi counter) with an optional $48 sake pairing. Seattle Times food critic Bethany Jean Clement once described chef Keiji Tsukasaki’s sushi as “incredible,” and said that the otoro made her cry (in a good way, not the wrong way).

Opened by the Nakamura family in 1992, this Georgetown grocery has a rep for its broad sake selection, beautiful bentos, and brisk sushi business, which sells about as quickly as it is made. There are grab-and-go boxes that far transcend expectations of grocery store sushi in freshness, variety, and portion size. Fan faves include the fried ebi roll, the vivid nigiri and chirashi boxes, and the thick slabs of salmon and hamachi sashimi.

Another option for a chill sushi hour is Village Sushi on the Ave. For decades, this place was in a little Craftsman house around the corner on 12th NE, but it moved into the hallowed old Last Exit space in 2016 — and retained every speck of cozy ambiance, including the sweet, very attentive service. The scallop (hotate) nigiri is your first stop in the Village, followed by the Fire on the Mountain roll (tempura shrimp and avocado, topped with spicy tuna, tobiko, fiery mayo, green onions, and housemade hot sauce). It’s spicy! Or you can sit at the counter and have the chef pick ‘em out for you. Village Sushi is more casual than the downtown destination spots for sure, but it’s serving super fresh fish no less correctly and beautifully; it’s a date-night spot straight out of Central Casting, and the staff is just so nice.

The wood-panel-and-floral interior, Madison Park setting, and relaxing lo-fi beats make Sushi Suzuki seem like a spa for the Lululemon set. Watching chef Yasutaka Suzuki and his team slice fish and craft each piece of nigiri does have an ASMR quality. Suzuki cultivates a chill, relaxed air, joking with customers around the L-shaped sushi bar and encouraging them to take photos of bizarrely long cornet fish heads and still-alive prawns. But this is no-joke, fly-the-fish-in-from-Japan omakase; Suzuki worked for sushi master Shiro Kashiba at Shiro’s and was a partner at Sushi Kashiba. In 20 or so courses (you’ll lose count), you get an education on how subtle changes in rice temperature impact flavor and the dramatic difference between cuts of tuna. It’s more expensive than a spa day, but you’ll leave feeling even more refreshed and alive.

Owner Sean Hyun was born in South Korea and formerly owned Korean-leaning Urban Sushi Kitchen in SLU, and the hints about his heritage are there at his newish spot in Kent, e.g., the K-pop soundtrack. Creative rolls abound on the menu, like the Baked Baby Lobster Roll, with langoustine, red shrimp, and parmesan aioli served on top of a California roll with unagi sauce. The 13-piece nigiri omakase with crudo and rolls is all premium fish, as is the sashimi donburi — the gorgeous Kaisen Don is absolutely loaded up with hamachi, scallop, shrimp, and two kinds apiece of tuna and salmon, all as fresh as anything.