Updated June 12, 2022.

There is no shortage of restaurants, taverns, cafes, wine bars, and coffee houses in Edmonds, all waiting to serve you. Each offers a one-of-a-kind dining experience, attention to detail, and creative, thoughtful takes on a wide variety of cuisines. Taste-makers arrive to dazzle all the time, with their own spin on what tantalizes your taste buds, from the classics to the trendy, to the truly original. 

Only in Edmonds are they all welcome. So, welcome! The more, the merrier!

We support these newcomers, who we know will become fast faves:

Mai makes everything at her Rise & Shine Bakery (and Deli), 23030 Hwy. 99, from the pastries and banh mi buns, to the summer rolls, macaron, and the meats that go in the French-inspired Vietnamese sandwiches she grills herself. First opened in 2010 as a tiny shop in Shoreline, Rise & Shine Bakery moved and expanded (with indoor seating) to the International District last summer. Try everything, and when her Meatball and Egg Châo dish is on the menu, order it!

Chef/founder Jake Wilson realized a dream Nov. 5th last year when he opened Charcoal in the heart of Edmonds, his hometown. The new modern American restaurant — meats dripping with juicy goodness out of a custom-built charcoal-fired, Argentinian grill — meets all of his and your expectations. Located in the new Graphite Arts Center, downtown, Charcoal features fine, NW dining at its seasonal best: steak and seafood, pork tenderloin and duck leg confit, and all the lovely accompaniments that make life worth living.

Edmonds gets a new, exciting wine bar, right on (201) Main St., up the street from Salt & Iron. Dusted Valley Edmonds Wine Bar opened the first weekend in Dec., offering wine tasting, a nice glass of wine, and quite a bottled selection from their local vineyards. Started in 2003 with a dream and a sense of place — Wisconsin to Walla Walla Valley — co-owners Chad, winegrower, and wife Janet Johnson, national sales, and Corey, winegrower, and his wife Cindy Braunel, wine club mgr./administration, have grown spectacular, sustainable wines from Washington estate vineyards under the Dusted Valley and Boomtown by Dusted Valley labels. “Experience the click of quality and crack that cap! The first two glasses are for your health, the second two for ours! [website]”

The newest Steepologie Teas® store opened in downtown Edmonds (203 5th Ave. S.) in January, next to the Cheesemonger’s Table (soon to be Vinbero, wine and cheese bar). A successful local chain, Steepologie offers a fine alternative to coffee in the coffee-centric Northwest. Teas. Lots of fine-grade, high-quality loose-leaf and bagged teas. Over 250 varieties to sip and savor. Founders Andrea and Joe Raetzer promise a flavor for everyone. Launched in 2016, the NW chain’s doing so well it’s expanding to Texas. Teas range from caffeinated (Earl Grey, chai, Scottish Breakfast) to floral and herbal (guava, lotus lamp, turmeric, rooibos, chamomile), decadent and healthy. Come get yours.

Kahlo’s Cantina (102 Main St.) enjoyed quite an opening April 22, serving up authentic, upscale Mexican cuisine to 400 hungry diners. A grand Cinco de Mayo opening will follow.

Named after Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, the new restaurant is perfectly situated right next to the ferry terminal for picturesque views.

Dining here is a special occasion, every day, even for Happy Hour (Mon.-Sun. 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Sun.-Thurs. 9 p.m.-closing, except holidays). Imagine sharing Cazuelas — tequila citrus soda — family style, or fancy mojitos, while diving into a vanilla-scented Tres Leches Cake, on the outside deck, watching all the action. And that’s just cocktails and dessert! 

The menu is loaded with Mexican specialties you’ll not likely find anywhere else but in prime travel destinations: grilled, goat-cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped jalapenos, Kahlo’s Torta Ahogada, a pork carnitas sandwich happily drowning in tomato achiote sauce, beef birria stew soft tacos and burritos, Pescado Sarandeando, whole marinated, grilled fish brightened with citrus and herbs. Entrees come with a choice of two sides, including roasted, crema-draped elote (corn), Papa Fritas (fries), Mexican rice dotted with pepita seeds, and chile-enhanced black beans. 

Chef Daniela is the creative heart behind the dishes using “original ingredients of the ancestral recipes…but better [website].”

Shore Pine Coffee & Gelato and The Potlatch Bistro opened March 4 at the newly renovated/expanded Edmonds Waterfront Center — restaurants #6 and #7 for entrepreneur Shubert Ho. Both offer delicious picnic takeout options or dine in.

Besides (Middle Fork Roasters) espresso drinks, chai/dirty chai, and affogato, Shore Pine Coffee — open every day 9 a.m.-3 p.m. — also features Gelatiamo Gelato and pastries from Seattle’s famed Macrina Bakery, as well as an actual Surfcam to check out the wave action outside. A walk-up window, the same one you'll find at Ho's The MAR•KET, safely expedites the process for those on the go.

Potlatch Bistro’s claim to fame will surely be Tea by the Sea, high tea with a view — Chef (Trevor Howard’s) choice: sandwiches with the crusts cut off, fresh fruit, pastries, and other decadent, bite-sized snacks. Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Reservations recommended. 

Lunch for all ages, too. Many items (Smash Burger, Chop Salad) from Ho's upscale restaurant, Salt & Iron. For the kids and the kids at heart, go for the grilled cheese sandwich, made with Beecher’s and Tillamook cheddar and caramelized onions, and fancy (San Marzano) tomato soup for dunking.

On 519 Main St., Leftcraft Restaurant & Taproom — open since Aug. 26 last year — serves the kind of cutting edge, comfort food and drink people dream about: scallop bacon sandwiches, kim chi grilled cheese, rotisserie free-range chicken flatbread…and about 26 rotating West Coast drafts on tap, from the Skookum All Yellow IPA (Arlington), Dragon’s Head Russet Cider (Vashon), and Old Schoolhouse Ruud Awakening IPA (Twisp), to the Holy Mtn Bourbon Bonne Nuit (Seattle), E9 Last Truck Cherry Wild (Tacoma), and Humm Mango Passionfruit Kombucha (Bend, OR). 

Everything’s as locally, sustainably sourced and freshly, creatively made (thanks, Chef Andy Walls) as possible, with a well-balanced mix of rib-sticking and healthy delicious. They cook their own rotisserie chicken on-premises with a vertical rotisserie and their own flatbreads in a wood stone pizza oven.

Leftcraft’s the fourth NW craft beer restaurant of friends/business partners Jamie Butler, a longtime Edmonds resident, Travis Eaton from Snohomish, Andy Walls, and GM Jennifer Miller. The restaurant is decked out in rich woods, including a salvaged Douglas fir screen wall in the back, and custom-made modern black, grey furniture, with a UV air purification system to keep the premises safe. Open for takeout/delivery and indoor/outdoor heated, covered dining.

Jaiiya Cafe Coffee + More opened in August 2020 at 10032 Edmonds Way, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Owners and Edmonds residents Chee and Sherlyn Wong have loads of experience in the food service industry, 13 years, so they totally got this. 

Once they opened, the public embraced their out-of-the-box, instantly-signature food and drinks, handcrafted in the Portland style, “very artisanal, and local with fresh ingredients used in our menu,” Chee explains. 

Their coffee drinks are something else. “We are offering the true form of making coffee, to correctly extract coffee from the bean for a more flavorful drink. Many people are used to the bigger chain coffee cafes that push a button for the espresso.” Not them, they go old school, to extract the purest coffee flavor, using Caffé Umbria beans for traditional espresso drinks, as well as offering a rotating menu of single-origin coffees. They also serve their own cold-pressed, fresh fruit juices, rishi teas, and acai bowls. 

The menu celebrates global cuisine, with little-known dishes packed with flavor, like the ever-popular Turkish Eggs and Asian-inspired Buckwheat Noodle Bowl. Check out their kids menu, too, for the grilled cheddar and almond butter, raspberry jam on wheat bread. “Not only are we inspired by cultures from around the world, we would like to incorporate a balance of healthy food in our lives. The circles in our logo represent wholeness and balance in life,” he adds.

Young artisan baker Conor O’Neill of The Cottage, Community Bakery has made quite a name for himself with his Sat. bread pop-up in Perrinville, on the corner of Olympic View Drive and 76th Ave. W. He routinely sells out of his popular, homemade, heritage grain breads, pretzels, pastries, cookies, and specialty baked goods — usually within an hour of opening. 

He’s long dreamed of his own bakery, a place where people can go every day, and he never runs out, a permanent place for community. Well, after starting his pop-up in July 2019, he’s finally ready to open that dream bakery, across the street in an existing space (once American Printing) at Perrinville Village. 

Building plans have been submitted, health department plans are next, and the property owner has been “cleaning up the space for us to begin our construction,” O’Neill says. “If things go as planned, we’re set to break ground in March, with a three-week-slated build-out, and I hope to be baking and selling bread out of that space in April!”

If there’s an award for Life of the Party, it’s gotta go to Kelnero, located at 545 Main St., open since 2019. That’s all on Kris and Kali Kelnero, owners, proprietors, and head mixologists of their first business together. The husband-and-wife team is forever cooking up fantastic new craft cocktails and updates on existing classics (craft Jello shots, slushies, the Black Rose, pistachio punch). 

The secret to their success is a willingness to push the envelope on creative concoctions, meeting community needs, and lending a festive air to their space, whether it’s the holidays or the middle of March. 

When COVID-19 came and ramped up restrictions, the Kelneros pivoted quickly to takeout and seasonal party kits, then outdoor dining, heated for the colder months. 

Their libations and accompanying victuals raise the bar on bar food, relying heavily on farm-to-table, local sourcing, and their wild, wonderful imagination. Who serves roast half-duck with chanterelle gravy, jalapeño-cranberry sauce, and pickled celery sage dressing? Kelnero, and that’s why we love them so much.

Chalk up another successful new eatery to restaurateurs Shubert Ho and partner Andrew Leckie of Feed Me Hospitality and Restaurant Group. Ho returns to his Italian cheffy roots (Piatti) with Fire and The Feast at 526 Main St., not too far from his other baby, The MAR•KET. (Epulo Bistro, where he started out in Edmonds, once occupied the space, but recently moved over to Salish Crossing.) 

Most everything in this heavenly, concept restaurant is made from scratch, as locally sourced as possible, and put together with passion. Fire represents the way they cook their Neapolitan pizzas. Feast is, of course, the way you'll dive into hearty bowls of homemade pasta bathed in redolent, meaty, cheesy sauces, as well as the Bistecca and braised short rib. Kids get their own menu of Caesar salad, cheese, pepperoni, and sausage pizza, chicken penne, and spaghetti.

The buzz surrounding Santa Fe Mexican Grill & Cantina was epic, and rightfully so. In the latter part of 2019, right around the holidays, Santa Fe Edmonds made its debut on the corner of Main St. and 5th Ave. N., offering a full menu of spicy comfort food, a full bar of tropical sunshine, and a full house filled with happy customers basking in the glow of the staff’s warm, warm welcome — all set in a completely redesigned, sleek, decked-out dining room straight out of a magazine. 

Owners Hector Olguín and Javier Bobadilla successfully run three other Santa Fe restaurants out in Bellevue, Renton, and Richmond Beach. The menu throughout all four locations is grand and extensive: Horchata French toast and chorizo sausage, chilaquiles, Pollo Chipotle, Pozole, chimichanga and tacos al carbon, fried ice cream and flan, and the Original Chile Relleno, along with queso dip con jalapeño, seafood fajitas, and Camarones Rancheros.

Keep your eye out for more new restaurants, bars, and cafes to come. Edmonds is one booming town!

Featured photo c/o The Potlatch Bistro | Shore Pine Coffee & Gelato.