This week, the Seattle area is blessed with not one but THREE new places for specialty beverages and banh mi sandwiches, and the longtime vegetarian staple Cafe Flora Like List is ready to open its new bakery, The Flora Bakehouse Like List , in Beacon Hill this Saturday. Plus, a new Detroit-style pizzeria Like List with Filipinx-inspired pies and a hundred-year-old sourdough starter comes to West Seattle, and the much-loved meaty sandwich shop Martino's Like List is back in business. Read on for more exciting culinary updates. For more ideas, check out our food and drink guide.

NEW OPENINGS AND RETURNS

The Boss Tea and Banh Mi Deluxe Like List
This new bubble tea and banh mi spot opened inside the Vietnamese restaurant Rainier Restaurant and BBQ Like List (which is still open for takeout and delivery) on Beacon Hill earlier this month. The drink menu features an extensive selection of beverages, including "hurricane matcha" (a swirled drink), tiramisu and brown sugar lattes, butterfly pea flower drinks, Vietnamese coffee, watermelon jasmine tea, and much more. Toppings include tapioca pearls, cheese foam, egg pudding, aloe vera, lychee jelly, and even Oreo cookies. On the banh mi side of things, there's banh mi stuffed with crispy roasted pork belly, grilled pork, Cantonese barbecue pork, grilled lemongrass chicken, Vietnamese meatballs, beef bulgogi, lemongrass tofu, and more, with an option to create your own custom sandwich.
Beacon Hill
Pickup, delivery, outdoor seating, or drive-through

The Flora Bakehouse Like List
This Saturday, the charming, plant-filled vegetarian haven Cafe Flora Like List is at last debuting its much-anticipated sibling bakery, the Flora Bakehouse, in the space of its former production facility in Beacon Hill. On the menu: Cafe Flora's famed vegan cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting (of course), plus sweet and savory croissants, monkey bread, seasonal Danishes, kouign-amann, scones, muffins, coffee cake, buttermilk biscuits, "unicorn horns," chocolate chunk cookies, passionfruit tartlets, and coconut cake. Vegan and gluten-free options are available. The bakery also has some savory breakfast options, like breakfast sandwiches, hand pies, frittatas, and breakfast burritos, and a menu of tea and espresso drinks, including Stumptown coffee, matcha lattes, lavender oat milk lattes, and London Fogs. The shop also has a rooftop garden to perch on come spring, and space for indoor seating once regulations permit again.
Beacon Hill
Pickup

Hello Banh Mi Like List
Say hello to this new banh mi shop in Kirkland, which had its grand opening on January 18 and is offering 10% off all orders through January 24 to celebrate. Like The Boss Tea and Banh Mi Deluxe Like List above, there's a mix of banh mi sandwiches and bubble tea drinks (including fruit smoothies, slushies, milk tea, fresh fruit tea, and cheese tea), with flavors like butterfly pea flower, matcha, and cocoa Oreo cookie. In addition, there's also a selection of appetizers like chicken wings and bacon cheese fries, plus specialty sandwiches like beef meatloaf and Vietnamese dip.
Kirkland
Pickup or delivery

Hello Em Like List
According to Instagram, Pho Bac co-owner Yenvy Pham will open her new Vietnamese coffee shop Hello Em in Chinatown-International District's Little Saigon at 8 am on Sunday, January 24. Located inside the Friends of Little Saigon Creative space, the shop serves cà phê sữa đá (traditional Vietnamese iced coffee) made with espresso and is also the first Vietnamese roastery in Seattle. You can add a whipped egg coffee cloud made with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk to any drink. To eat, there's "banh-mi-nini" (panini-grilled banh mi sandwiches), with breakfast sandwich, tofu, and hot dog varieties, and baked goods like Chinese doughnuts and durian crepe cakes.
Chinatown-International District
Pickup

Martino's Like List
Carnivores, rejoice: This beloved spot for hearty sandwiches, which closed in 2016 to the dismay of meat lovers everywhere, has re-opened. In 2014, Paul Constant proclaimed it "transcendent" and home to "one of the best sandwiches in town," writing, "This is a sandwich whose complexity rivals the best of Paseo’s, a meaty thrill-ride that balances out all that delicious flesh with the subtlety of fresh vegetables." The new Phinney space features a bar and a patio and is offering dishes like rib dinners and smoked meatloaf in addition to its signature tri-tip steak and Italian sandwiches. 
Phinney
Pickup

Moto Like List
Today, chef Lee Kindell soft-opens this pizzeria serving naturally fermented Detroit-style pies, made with a trusty 100-year-old sourdough starter. In additional to more traditional options like cheese and pepperoni, the menu features creative pizzas like the Mang(Mr) Pig, inspired by Kindell's Filipinx heritage and topped with lechon (pork belly), sausage, calamansi, chimichurri, garlic, onion, and Mang Tomas sauce, and a Pacific Northwest-inspired Dungeness crab pizza with butter, dill, thyme, lemon, and sea salt. Vegan options are also available, and gluten-free options are coming soon. For dessert, there will soon be eight flavors of house-made soft service ice cream with hand-baked cones (not available during the soft opening). The restaurant is currently open only for walk-in takeout orders and will have online orders starting next week.
West Seattle
Pickup

Uncle Pancho's Food Truck Like List
This Mexican food truck opened in Ballard earlier this month, with a menu consisting of tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, tlayudas (a popular Oaxacan dish with a large, crispy tortilla and toppings), nachos, burrito bowls, and various combo plates. You can choose from carne asada, al pastor, carnitas, lengua, chicken, chicken mole, and chorizos for your meat. 
Ballard
Pickup

FUTURE OPENINGS

Shewa-Ber Like List
This upcoming Ethiopian restaurant is headed for the Central District in February. The restaurant will make its own injera (Ethiopian flatbread) from scratch, and an online menu currently suggests that it will serve crispy kitfo rolls (crispy injera rolls filled with ground beef and cooked in Ethiopian herbal butter), qategna (a traditional Ethiopian appetizer with toasted injera filled with berbere and butter), vegetarian sambusas (triangular pastries stuffed with lentils and peppers), doro wat (spicy chicken stew), and other popular Ethiopian dishes. 
Central District

CLOSURES

Oasis Tea Zone
The local bubble tea chain announced in an Instagram post that it will be closing its Capitol Hill location until further notice, due to "the current challenges and unknowns in the near future." Its Chinatown-International District Like List and University District Like List locations remain open.
Capitol Hill

OTHER FOOD NEWS

Chef Edouardo Jordan will host online Soul of Seattle event
James Beard Award-winning chef Edouardo Jordan's Soul of Seattle Past Event Like List event, a series of virtual fundraising events throughout the month of February to benefit local Black chefs and organizations that focus on youth of color, will be hosted virtually this year. The programming includes live cooking demos with local chefs, a live panel discussion with national and local Black culinary leaders, local meal deliveries, gift baskets with items from Black-owned businesses, a DJ party, a weekly silent auction, and more.

Chef Renee Erickson announces upcoming cookbook
Chef Renee Erickson announced on Instagram that her second cookbook, Getaway, will be released on April 27. The book is focused on "food and drink to transport you" (a particularly appealing idea right now) and is available for pre-order via Elliott Bay Books, Book Larder, and other bookstores.

Blue Moon Tavern featured on PBS
On Tuesday, the University District's long-standing dive Blue Moon Tavern Like List was featured in an episode of PBS's docuseries "American Portrait," which is now available to stream online. The episode focuses on owner Emma Hellthaler and her fight to preserve the historical bar, which will turn 87 this year.

POP-UPS AND EVENTS

Beignets and Biere Past Event Like List
Pretend you're in the French Quarter as you sink your teeth into warm, pillowy fried pastries with powdered sugar and chocolate or salted caramel dipping sauce from the street food vendor Jet City Beignet. Wash them down with coffee or beers, like a Radler-style Witbier and the coffee-infused Right Mitten from Lantern Brewing.
Lantern Brewing, Saturday, January 23, 11 am-3 pm

Bagel Bodega Pop-Up Past Event Like List
Inspired by East Coast-style bodega breakfast sandwiches, the bagel pop-up Loxsmith will sling sandwiches, including bacon, egg, and cheese and Taylor pork options, on bagels or challahs. The pop-up's usual bagel offerings will also be available for purchase.
Nacho Borracho, Sunday, January 24, 10 am

Smoky Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf: The King of Comfort Past Event Like List
Tom Douglas will highlight the ultimate American comfort food—bacon-wrapped meatloaf—in a cozy, stick-to-your-ribs meal that includes Beecher's cheddar and chive mashed potatoes, sweet onion gravy, roasted broccoli, and Kozy Shack-inspired chocolate pudding cups. Add on a Negroni or a bottle of Sangiovese or Pinot Grigio.
Serious Takeout, January 22-24

Cookie's Country Chicken x Bootleg Barbecue Pop-Up Past Event Like List
Two of the city's most sought-after pop-ups, the fried chicken joint Cookie's Country Chicken and the oak-smoked, "Texas-ish style" barbecue pop-up Bootleg Barbecue, will join forces for a dream-team collaboration hosted from Cookie's new home in Quality Athletics. The menu will include brisket, smoked bacon, a collab fried chicken sandwich sandwich with Bootleg barbecue sauce, Nashville hot chicken-inspired sausage, baskets of fried catfish with hatch chile grits, and more.
Quality Athletics, Saturday, January 23, noon

SPECIALS

Addo Like List
Eric Rivera's ever-evolving, experimental pop-up restaurant has revealed a new wing special, featuring a dozen wings in hot sauce with puffed pork skin, plantain chips, sazón, and adobo. There's also lechoncito ramen (a Puerto Rican-inspired ramen with crispy sazón pork belly and pork shoulder, Puerto Rican pork broth, noodles, chicharrones, achiote oil, and a soft-boiled egg), guava barbecue sauce fried chicken, and more.
Ballard
Pickup or delivery

Frankie & Jo's
The popular plant-based creamery's current seasonal flavors include banana bread (a coconut oat milk ice blended with roasted bananas and swirled with roasted date caramel), chocolate supercake (a chocolate ice cream with chunks of chocolate "supercake" made with superfoods chaga and maca and plant-based chocolate buttercream frosting), and tococcino (a coffee ice cream with dulce de leche, tocos powder, and ground espresso bean chocolate bar pieces).
Ballard, Capitol Hill, University District
Pickup or delivery

Little Tin Goods & Apothecary Cabinet Like List
This intimate, charming "goods and apothecary cabinet" and cocktail lounge is offering a menu of tropical "aloha weekend" drinks and bites, including the "Taro Card Colada," the "Naked and Famous," and manini teri (a house-made beef patty with Hawaiian sweet bread, cheddar, pineapple aioli, and teriyaki, served with shoestring cilantro parmesan fries).
Ballard
Outdoor seating