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The Dish Cafe Ballard

3.9 (564 reviews)
Closed 8:00 am - 1:45 pm

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THE DISH CAFE BALLARD ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for kids
Dogs allowed

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Roma scramble sub egg whites and chocolate chip pancakes with a side of eggs/bacon/white toast
Kiyara G.

Food was amazing! Very small and cute. Service was very fast and the server took care of anything we needed.

Bathroom

Amazing moulth watering food i ate it amolst instantly side note the bathrooms a bit strange but ofther than that really good

Biscuits and gravy 4/5
Noah B.

* Biscuits and gravy 4/5 * Omelette 4/5 * Scone 4/5 -Biscuits and gravy was pretty dam good. Tons of gravy and it came out hot. Potion was so-so but potions in general here are a little small for breakfast. -Omelette was cooked perfect and i would say they do eggs very well here in general. -Scone is a must! Order it as a app and push them to bring it out early because they run out. This time i was a little dryer then the last time we were here. Otherwise with the homemade jam its a 5/5

Breakfast menu July 2025

We used to come here at least once a month for breakfast. On the weekends you always had to wait for a table and they had a free coffee station outside while you waited. The food back then was delicious. We moved out of state a few years ago and recently came back for a week. The one place we were looking forward to was The Dish Cafe. To say we were underwhelmed is an understatement. We ordered our go-to's and they were both awful. I ordered the Slacker, which had no flavor at all. Hubs ordered Corned Beef Hash and it was swimming in oil. I know places change recipes, but if you have something so successful, why change? Btw, we went at 9:30am on a Saturday and there was no wait and half the restaurant was empty. I could cry how much it went downhill. Sadly we will never go back.

Eggs Benedict
Su-jen Y.

Decent food near my friends place but defo not anything amazing. I liked the potato's and the hollandaise sauce was not tangy sadly.

Charles S.

This place is amazing wonderful people great food prices are not going to break. The host is comical and interactive. They just opened a second location in green lake

Scone from The Dish.
Gus F.

I don't like to leave a bad review. First off the service was good & my coffee cup never got empty. Everyone was friendly & cheerful. The biscuits and gravy were so so at best. The gravy appeared to be straight out of a can without hint of spice or sausage. True it is not listed as sausage gravy, at least a hint of spice would be good. The poached eggs were perfect. What they advertise as a scone comes out looking like a slice of corn bread. While tasty it was a far cry from a scone. The food was not good enough for me to want to go back. A nice place that easily could be great.

Chicken fried steak
Natasha B.

4.5 but rounding up! This is the few places in Seattle that serve proper breakfast. Nothing fancy, just perfect breakfast food. Prices are very reasonable and the food is so good. Their Blood Marys are also top notch. The staff is quick and so sweet.

Breakfast !!! Outstanding!

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10 months ago

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2 years ago

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1 year ago

The vibe is stellar, great service, food is delivered so quickly. Had a variety of options. Will definitely come here again!

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3 years ago

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2 years ago

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6 years ago

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2 years ago

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

The food here was delicious, love the homemade jams, and the people are so nice! My favourite breakfast place.

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2 years ago

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4 years ago

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4 years ago

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3 years ago

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1 year ago

The hash is fantastic-- why isn't everyone seasoning their hash? And the peeps there are great.

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2 years ago

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4 years ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

The food is good, the restaurant itself is adorable, and the staff is incredibly hospitable.

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The Little Beast

The Little Beast

4.3
(40 reviews)
0.8 mi

The next time I was here, I made sure to get here incredibly early to get the lamb neck korma pie…read more I made a reservation at 5:30 to guarantee it. Based on availability, I probably could've walked in around an hour later and been fine, but didn't want to risk it since they only make like 30 in a day. To my great surprise, the dish came out just a couple minutes after ordering. It seems like the pie is already pre-made and they just pour korma over the top before serving. The server assured me that one would be for one person, so we each got one. From the moment it's presented, this looks like nothing you've seen before. The colors of the beige korma washing over the sturdy brown pastry is just a visually striking image. What's even crazier is there's so much that's obscured by this initial plating - things that you find out as you dig into the dish. After the first layer of pastry, the dish descends into a massive layer of lamb neck meat. And when I say massive, I mean the meat is so densely packed together into this pie you're left wondering how they fit so much into what's not a big shell diameter-wise. So, how is everything? It's amazingly good, at least for the first 3/4ths of the meal. I have to start with the pie crust, or the pastry shell, which is just perfect. The way it retains its shape, refusing to break down until real pressure is applied, is ridiculous. The texture is incredibly sturdy, and the taste is phenomenal. No matter what was placed inside this crust I would still enjoy it. It's crunchy, buttery, the inside wall is flaky, and the absolute highlight here. The korma is also very good. While certainly a westernized version of the sauce, lacking any spiciness and turning way more on the sweet side, it's still got enough flavor to be a great complement to the main pie. I do think a more acidic and spicy would've help offset the fattiness of the center item, but this sauce was still delicious on its own. Lastly, the lamb neck was great. Super fatty, of course, but braised to perfection, resulting in meat that's tender and melt in your mouth. Like I mentioned, there's an insane portion of meat here. Of course, this is all great until about 2/3 to 3/4th through the pie, where you begin to really feel the effects of an insane overload of fat. I can eat a lot of food, but this really started to wear on me. Here's where I have some slight issues - I think a) the inability to counteract the fat present and b) the amount of lamb neck needs to be toned down a bit, as ironic as asking for less meat might sound. One might have the attitude that if they're paying so much, might as well give them the most meat possible - but in my opinion, the best dishes are truly about balance. And when you can't expect someone to eat a dish and feel good about it afterwards, that's not the hallmark of a great dish. This could've been avoided if the server had mentioned that one pie could be split between two people, but that's not what she recommended. This resulted both me and my companion not finishing the meal, which I absolutely hate to do, but I was left with no choice in this case. The other part is the price. Each pie cost $50 each, which is a significant amount. Additionally, there was a 22% automatic tip even for a party of two, which is just way too high. The server didn't even tell us about this automatic tip which resulted in unintentionally tipping more on the tip pad. I would not hesitate to refer to this restaurant as overpriced. Overall, it's a truly inventive dish that's one of my favorite things I've eaten in Seattle, but the price and portion complicate things slightly. 9/10

We popped in for the new breakfast service at Little Beast - offered on weekends in the…read moremorning/before noon. There is no online sample menu for LB's breakfast that I was able to track down, so from memory they are currently offering: the English Breakfast (standard size), the Full English (which is 2x the English - pics included in post for comparison), steak and eggs, a biscuit breakfast sandwich, the Scotch egg (same as the one on the dinner menu), and an assortment of smaller plates (Bubble & Squeak, English muffin with rhubarb jam, porridge with fixings, etc.). They are also serving Bloodies and a variety of N/A beverages. Overall, we liked the English options - the standard size is plenty of food for the average appetite. I did not care for how strong the warming spices were in the black sausage; the spices were the predominant flavor - I like to taste the minerally undertones of the other ingredients. That's just a personal preference though! Bubble & Squeak was very tasty - a fun vegetarian option, or a good side for the table to share.

Photos
The Little Beast
Fries
Fries
Lamb Neck Korma Meat Pie & Korma Gravy with Fermented Turnips

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Lamb Neck Korma Meat Pie & Korma Gravy with Fermented Turnips
The Ballard Cut

The Ballard Cut

4.4
(323 reviews)
1.1 mi
$$$

One of the best whiskey bars in Seattle with a huge selection at reasonable prices and a great…read morecustom flight program! Every custom flight is tailored to your specific taste and price point which I love. Hannah, one of their whiskey curators, is super knowledgeable and created one of the most memorable bourbon flights I've ever had with super rare allocated stuff. The service here is extremely friendly. I was speaking with Hannah about what I wanted in my flight and shared my wish list. Based on that, she chose 4 esoteric bottles that each had their own characteristics that would be interesting to compare against one another. My flight consisted of the Pappy Van Winkle 23 years, Colonel EH Taylor Distiller's Council, Very Olde St. Nick Superfreak, and Wild Turkey Austin Nichols 16 years. It was super nice trying all of these rare bottles that I wouldn't even be able to find, and they were all interesting and delicious! The food here is also fantastic. We came during happy hour since the food is a lot cheaper. My favorite things were the Dry Aged Steak Frites and the Crispy Pork Belly. The steak was cooked perfectly and extremely tender with a great beefy flavor. I love a good french fry and these were fresh and crispy. The pork belly was tender and fatty but the fat was nicely rendered so it wasn't chewy. I love the Asian inspired flavors and the kimchi slaw provided the perfect acidity and freshness to complement the fatty pork belly.

Some friends recommended we come here because of how great the steaks are, and I'm so glad we did!…read moreWe were seated almost immediately upon arriving, which was awesome, and ended up enjoying our meal out on the patio area. Our server was friendly, answered all of our questions about the menu, and gave some great recommendations, which made choosing what to order much easier. I ended up getting the Dry Aged Steak Frites from the Happy Hour menu and OMG!! The steak, cooked medium, was incredibly juicy and tender!! I was so sad when I got down to the last bite lol As for the Russet French Fries, they were perfectly seasoned and just the right size. I especially enjoyed dipping them into the Fermented Chili Aioli. To which I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't actually spicy, given that I do have a pretty low spice tolerance lol. Overall, I'd definitely come back again! :)

Photos
Main dining area.  There's outdoor seating.
Main dining area. There's outdoor seating.
Dry Aged Steak Frites
Dry Aged Steak Frites
Outside signage

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Outside signage
Sunny Hill

Sunny Hill

4.4
(187 reviews)
2.6 mi
$$

I visited about a week ago. Food was hit or miss, some excellent, some not executed well. Upon…read morebeing seated I was asked if I would like a drink. I asked for iced tea, the server flatly said "We don't have that". I asked for a coffee, same response, "we don't have that". No offer of a substitute, the interaction felt robotic. I had water. Not having iced tea is or coffee at a restaurant open for lunch on the weekend is weird. Snap Pea and Arugula salad was ok. dressing was understated. I would not order again. Airwaves square pizza tasted great! Different style than any other pizza I have ever had. Crust is essentially focaccia without the good part of focaccia (salty, oily, herb-y) toppings seemed pretty skimpy. The pie was unique and I enjoyed it. I felt that the portions were pretty small, a small pie does not feed 2 people. The food was good, but Sunny Hill is not a good value. I have no problem dropping $50 on a pizza (in Seattle) if it is excellent, but this did not meet the premium price point.

Fresh on our Detroit-style pizza binge, our first since moving away from Detroit, we chose Sunny…read moreHill for our next stop. We walked in right after they opened for a Saturday lunch and were the second group seated. Crunchy Cauliflower ($18) - Amazingly robustly crunchy breading surrounding a tender roasted cauliflower inner core. It's so evenly breaded and adheres so well to the moist interior that it almost seems like a commercially breaded frozen cauliflower. But these have to be homemade, right? They are sprinkled with a chili crisp-esque aleppo oil, which is dry rather than oily, and has a bit of sweetness to complement the heat. It's all on top of a super creamy and thick cashew and cilantro sauce. It's fresh and nutty, and really delicious. (5/5) Now onto the pizza. Taken from another of my reviews: there are several characteristics that define Detroit-style. Firstly, the base must be a thinner and chewier focaccia dough-like crust, pillowy on the interior and with a crispness on the bottom and sides that are somewhat greasy but not overladen*. There must be flavorful Wisconsin brick cheese (or blend), buttery and fatty, melted on top and spread until it spills over the sides of the crust, creating a crisp caramelized frico ring surrounding the pie. The pepperoni must be underneath the cheese**, and the flavorful tomato sauce, typically in several wide lines, is spread atop the cheese. There must not be too many toppings to prevent the crust from compressing and ruining the texture. *Note 1: The fat/grease is very important, both to allow the crust to crisp up and to act as a hydrophobic layer to prevent sogginess. **Note 2: This is the one trait I dislike since it makes the pepperoni limp and soaked with grease. Loyal w/ Pepperoni, 4-Square ($31) - Before I get started, I have to say that the pricing for the 4-Sq vs 8-Sq is bizarre. In no world should an 8-Sq pepperoni pizza be $56. Not to mention it's actually MORE expensive than the 4-Sq on a $ per square inch basis! And you get 4 less corners? People pay a premium at Jet's for their 8 corner pizza! I'm sorry, for a value proposition, this pizza gets a big fat zero. Usually Detroit-style take a while come out, typically 20+ minutes, often over 30 minutes. This one took less than 15, which I found very curious. Surprisingly, the pizza actually comes cut into four slices instead of six, unlike pretty much everywhere else on the West Coast. It looks picture perfect, with the two saucy racing stripes across the top and a superior lacy frico crust along all edges. It's seriously a sight to behold, one of the more perfect Detroit-style pizzas I've seen in a long time. It's after lifting a slice up that things start to unravel, at from a traditional technical perspective. Instead of baking the toppings on raw dough, Sunny Hill seems to either par or fully bake the crust before adding toppings, then bake again. This means the crust doesn't fully meld with the toppings, resulting in a crumb that's extremely airy and light and a taste that's somewhat disparate rather than harmonious. It's more akin to focaccia with toppings rather than pizza. And yet this allows the base to be fully fried on all sides, lending a superior buttery browned flavor. Unfortunately this method of assembly causes an issue - the frico literally slides off the bread. Even before picking up a slice, I could see it separating from the dough and melted cheese bleeding through. The top is a little more forgiving, so the melted mozzarella and brick cheese mixture does manage to mostly adhere. Speaking of the brick cheese, it really does make a huge difference in flavor. This blend is miles better in flavor complexity and fattiness as compared to most Detroit-style places around here that use pure mozzarella or a blend without brick cheese. The sauce is very good as well. It's balanced between sweetness and acidity, spiced just enough to add flavor but still keep the fresh zing of a great tomato sauce. On top of the sauce, the pepperoni is charred and cupped. It seems to be carefully applied so there aren't too many overlapping pieces. This ensures the pizza doesn't become too salty, which is really appreciated. Value-wise this pizza is terrible. $31 is the most I have ever paid for a 4-sq pizza. Heck, it's more than I've paid for many 8-sq pizzas. Luckily for Sunny Hill, I don't usually include value in my ratings, but I was seriously considering dropping the score here. (5/5) I think with this pizza, traditionalists will cry afoul. People who are more open minded will accept that this is a delicious pizza regardless of all the flaws. I'm in the latter group, although with a caveat: What Sunny Hill serves is emphatically not Detroit-style; It's a great Detroit-style-Inspired focaccia with toppings. Bathrooms - Two unisex rooms.

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Seating area
Seating area
Square Pizza
Square Pizza
Meatballs

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Meatballs
Stumbletown

Stumbletown

4.4
(214 reviews)
1.1 mi
$$

I went with friends on a weekend for a late lunch. It was pretty empty so we got a table right…read moreaway. After we were seated, we were told that the menu was out of date. We each ended up getting a sandwich and sharing a large fry. The fries were good especially with the aioli sauce that was included for dipping. I got a chicken parm sandwich. It wasn't mind blowing by any means but it was a good sandwich. This is also one of the sandwiches that was not listed on the old menu. I don't tend to crave sandwiches so I can't give a better review beyond it was good. I would recommend getting the fries though.

I heard about this gin-focused bar and restaurant from a friend and had to check it out as gin is…read moremy favorite spirit. It's not a common favorite for others, and I often find most menus to be lacking in creative gin specials. Stumbletown fixed that problem for me. With a dedicated menu for gin cocktails to an extensive array of different distillers, I was amazed. We enjoyed our cocktails thoroughly and also enjoyed some light bites. The arancini was a special of the evening and came out perfectly hot and crispy. The calamari was also fried very well. I did dock a star because about 80% of the food items on the menu were unavailable even though it wasn't closing yet. We did also get a little lost and ended up at stumbletown's sandwich shop before we found our way here. Luckily they're close by each other!

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Stumbletown
Stumbletown
Chilled Corn bisque with radish, Calabrian chili oil and smoked trout (trout optional but HIGHLY recommend)

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Chilled Corn bisque with radish, Calabrian chili oil and smoked trout (trout optional but HIGHLY recommend)

The Dish Cafe Ballard - tradamerican - Updated July 2026

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