The Room
Jason Stratton opened Mbar on the sixteenth floor of a South Lake Union office tower in 2017 — a Mediterranean rooftop dining room with a wraparound terrace that looks across the city to the Olympic Mountains. The dining room is intentionally polished: a long marble bar, brass detailing, a wood-burning oven at the back, and the kind of careful design that rooftop dining rooms achieve only with deliberate construction.
The Seattle Times review held Mbar among the year's best new restaurants in 2018. Eater Seattle has held the room on its top-rooftop rankings every year since opening. The Amazon-and-tech-corridor crowd has made the room a regular working-dinner address.
The Food
The mezze programme — hummus, muhammara, baba ghanoush, marinated vegetables — runs the small-plate opening. The wood-fired flatbreads, the seasonal-rotating Mediterranean grilled meats, and the seafood programme handle the menu's wider draws.
Wine programme is heavily Mediterranean. Cocktails are aperitivi-led with a serious Mediterranean-spirit bench. Service is informed and warm.
Best Occasion Fit
Birthday: Birthdays at Mbar are theatrical without being theatrical — the sixteenth-floor view, the wraparound terrace do the work. The corner terrace table at sunset is the seat to request.
First Date: The terrace at Mbar is one of South Lake Union's most-reliable first-date seats. The view is the conversation, the mezze programme shares well, and the rooftop ambient handles the silences.
Close a Deal: Mbar is the South Lake Union deal-dinner address for the meeting that wants the room to read as architecturally distinct rather than steakhouse-classic.