Best Sushi in Seattle: Omakase Counters and Local Favorites

Sushi Kashiba carries real Seattle sushi history. Chef Shiro Kashiba has been making sushi for more than 50 years, trained under Jiro Ono, and taught many of the city’s best sushi chefs along the way. The room next to Pike Place Market is refined but warm, and a seat at the counter is the one to want.

Good for

Special occasions, first-time visitors who want one iconic meal, and sushi lovers who care about lineage.

Know before you go

Counter seatings are at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. A few counter seats are reservable on OpenTable; the rest are first come, first served, so people line up before the 5 p.m. opening. Parties of five or more pay a 20% service charge.

Shiro’s has the kind of quiet confidence that makes you relax the moment you sit down. It calls itself Seattle’s first Edomae sushi restaurant, and it has been on Second Avenue since 1994. It doesn’t try to overwhelm you with spectacle. It trusts the sushi to do the work, right down to the baked crab hand roll.

Good for

Sushi purists, Belltown date nights, and anyone who wants a meal that feels polished but not overproduced.

Know before you go

Book through Resy. Dinner is set courses only, with no à la carte ordering: Shiro’s Omakase at the sushi bar (four small plates and 15 pieces of nigiri), or chef’s choice nigiri and kaiseki sets in the dining room. Weekday happy hour (Monday to Thursday, 4:30 to 6 p.m.) brings smaller set prices.

Tucked off Broadway on Capitol Hill, chef Hideaki Taneda’s eight-seat counter serves only course meals: omakase sushi woven with kaiseki dishes. The details are the point. The rice is seasoned with a blend of three vinegars built on red vinegar, some fish is aged three to six days, and the rice temperature shifts to suit each fish. There’s ceremony here, but it never feels performative.

Good for

Serious omakase seekers and milestone dinners.

Know before you go

Open Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations are on Tock only, with a waitlist when seats are gone.

Ltd Edition feels intimate even by omakase standards: eight seats at the sushi bar and a few tables, one menu, and a cap of 30 meals a day to keep the fish at its best. The sake pairing is chosen to match each season’s menu and poured generously, and an uni cart makes the rounds. The limits are part of the charm.

Good for

Date nights that need a little magic and omakase with a clear point of view.

Know before you go

Open Monday through Friday evenings. Reservations open on Tock on the 15th of each month for the following month; solo diners join the waitlist.

One of the newer counters in town, Sushi Yoin sits on top of Queen Anne and runs a relaxed, chatty omakase with sake poured throughout. Standouts include silky akami zuke, otoro crowned with uni, and a “cigar” hand roll of negitoro, jalapeño and caviar wrapped in crisp fried nori. The chef comes with Shiro’s on his résumé.

Good for

Neighborhood celebrations and omakase with a lighter touch.

Know before you go

Open Wednesday through Sunday. Counter seatings are at 5 and 7:30 p.m. and table seating at 6:30 p.m., all booked on Resy. The counter is the better experience.

Down a Madison Park alley, chef Yasutaka Suzuki serves a seasonal Edomae omakase at a 10-seat L-shaped counter, with fish from Japan and the Pacific Northwest. The room is sunny and laid-back rather than formal. The menu runs about 20 courses and changes often, but past meals have moved from monkfish liver to three cuts of tuna, with pickled ginger palate cleansers worth noticing.

Good for

Quiet celebrations and a long, unhurried dinner.

Know before you go

Dinner Wednesday through Sunday, plus a Sunday lunch. Book on Tock only; reservations are released on the 15th, and they aren’t taken by phone or email.

Wataru in Ravenna feels intimate in a way that makes the whole dinner more memorable. The restrained design and small sushi bar keep the focus on Edomae-style sushi, and the omakase format asks you to hand the evening over to the chef. It reads like a place for people who love the craft, without feeling exclusive in an icy way.

Good for

Omakase fans, quieter celebrations, and North Seattle diners.

Know before you go

Closed Monday and Tuesday. Sushi bar reservations open online at midnight on the 1st of each month for the following month. Takeout is available on Thursdays by online reservation.

Sushi Kappo Tamura is broader and more social than the tiniest omakase counters, which is a real advantage. Chef and co-owner Taichi Kitamura sources from Northwest farms and fisheries such as Taylor Shellfish and Skagit River Ranch, and a rooftop garden supplies some of the produce. Go omakase or order à la carte; either way, Seattle’s regional food values show up clearly on the plate.

Good for

Group dinners, sushi fans who want range beyond omakase, and sustainability without a lecture.

Know before you go

Serves lunch and dinner, plus brunch on weekends. Reservations are on OpenTable, and tables are usually easier to get than at the counters above.

Umi Sake House is the counterpoint to the quieter counters on this list: energetic, social, and a sushi night that feels like a night out rather than a hushed tasting. The big izakaya-style menu mixes simple nigiri with shareable rolls and small plates, and there are more than 60 Japanese sakes to work through.

Good for

Group dinners, happy hour, and Belltown weekends.

Know before you go

Open daily from 4 p.m., until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Happy hour runs 4 to 6 p.m. and again from 10 p.m. to close. Parties of up to five book on OpenTable; larger groups use the large-party page, and there’s a semi-private tatami room.

Know a spot we missed? Tell us about it.