Best Restaurants Open Sunday in Seattle 2026

Why a Sunday list matters in Seattle

Seattle's most serious kitchens keep restaurant-industry hours. Canlis, the city's benchmark, closes Sunday and Monday, and a long list of Capitol Hill and downtown rooms hold the same closed weekend tail. That leaves a real gap on a Sunday night. The rooms that stay open are mostly the destination compounds that treat the weekend as prime trade, the Ballard oyster bars built around walk-in volume, and a handful of neighbourhood dining rooms that run a Sunday roast or brunch.

The order below leads with the city's most ambitious Sunday rooms, the farm-driven Corson Building and Kristi Brown's Communion, then the oyster bar, the pasta room and the gastropub. Seattle is not a Michelin city, so the credentials here are James Beard wins and local restaurant-of-the-year honours. Hours are checked against each restaurant's published schedule. Every name links to its full review. For the rest of the week, start with the Seattle dining guide.

The Sunday list

The Corson Building

New American / Pacific Northwest · Georgetown, Seattle · from $100 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, from 17:30

The Corson Building occupies a 1910 lantern-lit compound at 5609 Corson Ave S in Georgetown, where the prix fixe does not exist until the farms deliver that morning. The set dinner starts around $100 a head, served communally in a garden-walled room that is the most romantic table in the city. It opens Friday through Sunday from half-five, so Sunday dinner is one of its three weekly services. Book well ahead; the small room and three-night week make Sunday seats genuinely scarce.

Communion R&B

Contemporary Southern / Seattle Soul · Central District, Seattle · $50+ per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, 16:00–21:00 (brunch 10:00–15:00)

Kristi Brown, one of Seattle's most celebrated chefs, cooks what she calls Seattle Soul at 2350 E Union St in the Central District, a sharing-format menu that is among the most vivid new American cooking in town. Most meals run upward of $50 a head. Sunday is a full day here: brunch from ten to three, then dinner four to nine. The Sunday brunch is the signature booking, so reserve the dinner slot if you want the quieter room and the full kitchen.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Oyster bar / PNW seafood · Ballard, Seattle · $31–50 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, 16:00–21:00 (daily)

Renee Erickson won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest in 2016, and her Ballard oyster bar at 4743 Ballard Ave NW is the room that built her reputation: 40 seats, a zinc-topped bar, and a daily-changing raw menu. Plates land between $31 and $50 a head. It opens every day, four to nine, so Sunday is a standing option. There are no reservations, so arrive at opening for the bar or expect a wait; a Sunday early seating is the easiest window.

Cascina Spinasse

Piedmontese Italian · Capitol Hill, Seattle · $$$ · ~$70 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, 17:00–22:00 (daily)

Cascina Spinasse is the room that made Seattle rethink Italian food, a cosy Capitol Hill space at 1531 14th Ave devoted to Piedmont's egg-rich tradition. The tajarin with butter and sage remains one of the city's great dishes; a dinner runs about $70 a head before wine. It opens nightly, five to ten, with Sunday very much included. The room is small and warm rather than grand, which makes a Sunday dinner here a quiet, lingering one rather than an occasion.

Little Beast

British gastropub · Ballard, Seattle · $35–60 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, 12:00–17:30

Little Beast was Seattle Met's Restaurant of the Year for 2025, the Ballard sibling to the butcher shop Beast & Cleaver at 5107 Ballard Ave NW. The Scotch egg, the lamb korma pie and the Sunday roast are the order, with most meals between $35 and $60 a head. Sunday is the day to come, noon to half-five, when the roast is on. It closes Monday through Wednesday, so the weekend is the window, and the Sunday roast sells through, so book or arrive early.

Nue

Global street food · Capitol Hill, Seattle · under $30 per head

Sunday hours: Sunday, 10:00–22:00

Brad Kostelyk has spent more than a decade serving hard-to-find global street food at 1519 14th Ave on Capitol Hill, from Burmese tea-leaf salad to South African bunny chow and Filipino silog, all made from scratch. Most plates keep a meal under $30 a head. Sunday runs long, ten in the morning to ten at night, the widest Sunday window on this list. That all-day stretch and the low bill make Nue the easy, casual Sunday booking when the destination rooms are full.

How to book a Sunday table in Seattle

Seattle is a book-ahead city for its small rooms and a walk-in city for its bars. The Corson Building runs only three nights and seats few, so its Sunday dinner is the scarcest seat here and should be reserved well in advance. Communion's Sunday brunch goes first, so book the dinner slot for the calmer room. The Walrus and the Carpenter takes no reservations, which makes a Sunday opening-time seat at the bar the simplest solo-dining move in the city. For a relaxed Sunday date, the small candlelit room at Cascina Spinasse is the call; book the early seating. Entertaining out-of-town colleagues on a Sunday? Little Beast's roast and long tables suit a Seattle team dinner, and either Ballard room pairs well with a walk along the ship canal first.

Frequently asked questions

Which upscale restaurants are open on Sunday in Seattle?

Several of Seattle's best rooms keep a Sunday service even though the city's benchmark, Canlis, closes Sunday and Monday. The Corson Building in Georgetown opens Friday through Sunday, Kristi Brown's Communion runs Sunday brunch and dinner, and Renee Erickson's Walrus and the Carpenter, Cascina Spinasse and Little Beast all open Sunday. Seattle sits outside the Michelin guide, so these are judged on James Beard and local honours.

Is the Corson Building open on Sunday?

Yes. The Corson Building opens Sunday from 5:30pm, one of only three nights a week it serves, alongside Friday and Saturday. The set menu starts around $100 a head and changes with what the farms deliver that day, served communally in a lantern-lit Georgetown compound. The small room and three-night week make Sunday seats scarce, so reserve well ahead, particularly in summer when the garden is in use.

Where can I get Sunday brunch in a good Seattle restaurant?

Communion in the Central District runs the standout Sunday brunch from 10am to 3pm, with Kristi Brown's Seattle Soul cooking in a sharing format, before switching to dinner from 4pm. Nue on Capitol Hill opens at 10am for global street-food brunch plates under $30. Both take bookings for the prime late-morning slots, which fill first on a Sunday, so reserve a few days out.

Are most fine-dining restaurants in Seattle closed on Sunday?

Many of the city's ambitious kitchens close Sunday and Monday to rest their teams, including Canlis and a long list of Capitol Hill and downtown rooms. The ones that stay open are mostly the destination compounds that treat the weekend as prime trade and the Ballard oyster bars built on walk-in volume. That is why a confirmed Sunday list is worth keeping in a city that quietens down at the start of the week.

What is the best Sunday seafood in Seattle?

The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard is the Sunday seafood pick, Renee Erickson's 40-seat oyster bar with a daily-changing raw menu, open every day from 4pm. Plates run $31 to $50 a head and there are no reservations, so a Sunday opening-time seat at the zinc bar is the move. It is the most reliable upscale raw bar open on a Seattle Sunday, particularly for one or two diners.

Hours verified against each restaurant's published schedule as of May 2026; confirm directly before travelling. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.