There's a fresh energy in Bellevue right now. You can feel it in the rhythm of the city - new buildings, new people, and plenty of new places to eat. Back to office is going strong and lunch is so back. The recent restaurant openings are sizzling with personality and innovative new experiences. It's got that "oh, wow, I'm coming back here" kind of feeling.

"The growth in Bellevue's culinary scene has inspired a wave of creativity in our diverse food culture," said our Executive Director, Brad Jones. "Our acclaimed chefs are collaborating in exciting ways, bringing global influences at our events, culinary trails, and citywide dining weeks. Alongside neighborhood favorites that remain authentic and deeply rooted in the community, we are seeing a remarkable surge of new restaurants and retail experiences opening throughout Bellevue. It’s an exciting time for anyone who loves food and wants to come and experience the many cultures of the Pacific Northwest in Bellevue."

Here's what's new on the menu right now in Bellevue, Washington. 

Shaoshan Impression

📍 14150 NE 20th Street, Ste C

Shaoshan Impression is where you go for tingly, numbing spice flavored dishes from Hunan, China. With traditional dishes such as the refreshing, yet spicy bean jelly noodle, the ever popular preserved egg with pepper in spicy sauce, fried stinky tofu, braised mutton, and braised fish filets, this is quite the hot spot for a wide variety of traditional Hunan dishes. On weekends, be prepared to wait in line to get in due to its popularity.

Shaoshan Ricenoodle

📍 12821 SE 38th St

Shaoshan Ricenoodle dishes out hot, steamy bowls of rice noodle soup, which is totally gluten free. They come in a variety of different flavors, such as spicy beef bone, braised beef brisket, braised pork rib, tomato beef brisket, and more. Based on authentic Hunan cuisine, Shaoshan Ricenoodle focuses on spicy and savory flavor profiles with aromatic spices. They don't have a website, but they do have a menu that will get you hungry if you're reading this near mealtime.

Tang Bar

📍 14603 NE 20th St #4c

Tang Bar is a new malatang spot in the BelRed district, bringing a delicious Sichuan street food to Bellevue. Literally meaning numbing spice soup, malatang is a cozy and comforting meal where guests get to customize their steamy bowls with a wide selection of skewered meats or dipping meats, veggies, noodles, and other hot pot goodies. The ingredients are then cooked in a fragrant and spicy broth and made for individual servings, unlike the communal aspect of a hot pot. It makes for a quick, comforting meal with a tingly sensation. It's located in the Bellevue Marketplace, which is a lively multicultural center with lots of amazing Asian cuisine. 

Mendocino Farms

📍 10667 NE 4th St.

Mendocino Farms has opened in downtown Bellevue with fresh-made sandwiches, emphasizing whole ingredients and mindful sourcing. There are items such as the "Not So Fried" Chicken sandwich, Peruvian Steak sandwich, Tofu Banh Mi, and seasonal salads. The spicy curried couscous and tomato basil soup join other available sides and small bites. 

Facing East Time in Downtown Bellevue

📍 11102 NE 10th St. #101

Facing East has been serving Bellevue since 2006 in the BelRed Arts District, and the beloved family-run Taiwanese restaurant's new downtown location sits in the Brio Apartments building. It was named as one of the 16 best Chinese Restaurants in America by TimeOut. The menu is offered in both Mandarin and in English, with staples like pork chop rice, Taiwanese oyster pancake, five spiced popcorn chicken with basil, beef noodle soup, bao buns, and so much more. They also do grab & go bento boxes. 

Primo's Bellevue

📍 1020 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue

Primo's Bellevue is the latest addition to Bellevue's evolving dining and nightlife scene. This space is what happens when three friends turn a dream into a destination. With plenty of experience in the Seattle nightlife scene, co-founder Chuck brings his passion for food straight to the menu. Chris, another partner and construction pro, oversaw every custom detail from the piano bar custom fit into a massive tree trunk to the selfie mirrors in the ladies room. Live performances run Thursday through Saturday evenings, and the stage behind the bar even rises for DJ nights. Expect themed decorations for holidays and special events. 

Jiang Nan

📍 103 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue

Jiang Nan is giving quiet luxury, richly layered in textures. The Peking Duck is the protagonist, and it's lacquered like a painting and carved with reverence. The grilled fish arrives sizzling, bathing in chiles and aromatics. The high-quality ingredients and elegance surround flavors that are bold and deeply familiar to some, surprising and electric to others. 

Chay Concept

📍 10650 NE 4th St, Bellevue

Chay Concept is an elegant plant-based restaurant, specializing in Vietnamese cuisine. Chef Van Nguyen reimagines classic dishes with texture and flavor, presented as works of art. Salted egg tofu gives crunch on the bite and melts through its silky insides. Sizzling hotplates arrive with mushroom, egg, and fresh baked bread to satisfy. Imitation sesame beef offers surprising texture and impeccable flavor, paired with innovative mocktails.

La Mar Cocina Peruana Bellevue

📍 233 108th Ave NE, Bellevue

La Mar Bellevue is engulfed in light with its large windows and sophisticated ambiance. The Pisco Sour arrives foamy and cold. Peruvian flavors move through the menu with elegance and soul: cebiche coated in rich sauces, arroz chaufa that hums with umami, anticuchos grilled to smoky perfection, delicate causas that somehow feel both artful and nostalgic. If you're seated by the window during Pisco Hour (weekdays, 3:30–6), it’s hard not to feel like the main character.

Pasifika Grill & Bar

📍 625 116th Ave NE, Bellevue

Pasifika Grill & Bar welcomes with a warm embrace at the Coast 116 hotel. Here, the diverse flavors of the Pacific Islands meets fresh, local Pacific Northwest ingredients. Steak moco arrives hot and heavy, drenched in brown gravy. Spam musubi is crispy at the edges, sticky in the center, and deeply satisfying. The ox tail Saimin soup is slow cooked with house beef broth and tender to the taste.

Itadaki Yakiniku

📍 15 Bellevue Way SE, Bellevue

At Itadaki Yakiniku, the experience is the meal. Each table gets a dedicated grillmaster, and the sound of meat searing becomes part of the atmosphere. Course after course, from wagyu and bone marrow to fois gras and oysters, each plate is curated with care. It feels intimate, even if the room is full, and you'll leave with a faint smell of smoke lingering in your hair like a souvenir.

Bellevue’s Food Trucks

If you know, you know: some of Bellevue’s most memorable meals don’t come from a building at all. In partnership with the Washington State Food Truck Association, the city is now home to two rotating food truck locations downtown—bringing sizzling global flavors, street-side energy, and midday magic to the urban core.

At City Hall Plaza (Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.), you’ll find trucks lining 110th Avenue NE with limited seating on the plaza. No visitor parking is available unless you're conducting business at City Hall—so it’s a stroll-up situation.

Just a few blocks away, Compass Plaza (Mondays–Thursdays, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. on 106th Avenue NE) expands the culinary canvas even further. This new Grand Connection “Street Eats” location is all about variety—Latin, Asian fusion, grilled cheese, you name it—and offers more chances to turn a lunch break into something worth remembering.

👉 See food truck lineup here