"Butcher Kevin Smith's whole-animal English pub on Ballard Avenue - lamb korma pie and Scotch eggs that won Seattle Met's top restaurant prize."
About Little Beast
Little Beast is the English pub and dining room butcher Kevin Smith opened on Ballard Avenue in Seattle in the summer of 2025, the restaurant side of his Beast & Cleaver whole-animal butchery. Smith cooks the food of his London roots with a butcher's command of the whole carcass, and Seattle Met named the room its Restaurant of the Year for 2025, calling it unlike anything else in the city.
This is British pub cooking taken seriously. For more of the neighbourhood's range, compare the oysters at The Walrus and the Carpenter down the street, the Lebanese mezze at Cafe Munir and the fine dining at Canlis. To plan a relaxed evening, see our guide to a great first date.
The Kitchen
The cooking is traditional English fare run through whole-animal butchery, which is the whole point of a restaurant attached to a butcher shop. The star is the lamb korma pie - rich, fatty, cumin-spiced lamb sealed in a sturdy hot-water pastry that holds without turning stodgy. Around it sit Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, hand-raised meat pies, dry-aged steaks cut from the program next door, and Sunday roasts with Yorkshire pudding and the trimmings. The kitchen honours classic technique rather than reinventing it, and the quality of the meat does the heavy lifting. Prices sit at the mid-to-upper end for a pub, fair for the sourcing, and the format rewards a table that orders widely and shares.
The Room
The room is intimate and pub-like, a Ballard Avenue space that runs a hybrid life: three days a week, typically Monday through Wednesday, it works as a production facility for Beast & Cleaver's butchery, and the rest of the week it becomes an English pub and restaurant. That means a short service window - Thursday to Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons - and a room that fills fast. Reservations can be hard to land, but the entire bar is held back for walk-ins, which makes it a friendly option for solo diners or a couple. The address is 5107 Ballard Avenue NW, on the historic Ballard Avenue strip, walkable to the rest of the neighbourhood's bars and tables.
Best for a Relaxed Evening
The pub format, the walk-in bar and the short, meat-led menu make Little Beast an easy first date or a good spot for solo dining at the bar, and a relaxed table for an informal work catch-up over a pie.
Not for
Not for a formal, special-occasion dinner or a quiet table - this is a small, meat-led English pub with a short weekend service window and a lively bar, built for a casual night.
Frequently Asked
What is Little Beast in Seattle known for?
Little Beast is known for traditional English pub fare run through whole-animal butchery - above all its lamb korma pie - plus Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, hand-raised pies, dry-aged steaks and Sunday roasts. Seattle Met named it Restaurant of the Year for 2025.
Who is the chef at Little Beast?
Kevin Smith is the chef and butcher behind Little Beast. He runs the Beast & Cleaver whole-animal butchery and opened Little Beast as its restaurant side in summer 2025, cooking the English food of his London roots.
Where is Little Beast?
Little Beast is at 5107 Ballard Ave NW, on the historic Ballard Avenue strip in Seattle, walkable to the neighbourhood's other bars and restaurants. It shares its space with the Beast & Cleaver butchery program.
Do you need a reservation at Little Beast?
Reservations help and can be hard to land, but the entire bar is held for walk-ins, which suits solo diners and couples. The restaurant keeps a short service window - Thursday to Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons - because the space doubles as a butchery early in the week.
What is the signature dish at Little Beast?
The signature is the lamb korma pie - rich, fatty, cumin-spiced lamb sealed in a sturdy hot-water pastry. It anchors a menu of Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, hand-raised meat pies and dry-aged steaks from the butchery next door.
Reserve a Table
Reserve at Little Beast
Reservations help but the bar is kept for walk-ins; Little Beast serves Thu-Sat evenings and Sun afternoons at 5107 Ballard Ave NW.
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Practical Information
Address5107 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
NeighbourhoodBallard Avenue
CuisineBritish
PriceMid-to-upper pub pricing; pies, Scotch eggs, steaks
Dress CodeCasual
SeatingIntimate Ballard pub room with a walk-in bar
ReservationRecommended (bar walk-ins)
