Hunger GainsThe year’s top rookies brought smiles to our faces with big murals, small cocktails, and creative cooking.ByNaomi TomkyWithAllecia VermillionOctober 8, 2024Opening a new restaurant in Seattle’s current climate of rising rents and a diminishing labor pool requires passion, perseverance, and a sense of humor. Only laughter can carry restaurateurs through their third break-in or seventh dishwasher (who might just be themselves, anyway). That is, perhaps, why this year’s class of restaurants is far easier to sum up in a single sentence than most: These spots are fun.Crunchy tacos, spicy Ghanaian soups, and clarified piña coladas remind diners that the point of eating out is to have a good time. Whether that comes in the form of a fine-dining restaurant serving housemade Cheez-It crackers and comically miniature martinis or a brilliant rainbow of dumplings served from an Aurora motel is up to you.Lupe’s Situ TacosBallardLupe Flores serves up her signature Lebanese-spiced beef, c...
