5 Best Restaurants on Bainbridge Island You Can't Miss

I’ve been on the hunt for the best restaurants on Bainbridge Island since one of my favorite food trucks in Seattle decided to open a permanent location on the island. Over the past decade, a ton of buzzy restaurants have been opening up on this island only a 35-minute ferry ride from Seattle.

Its proximity to Seattle makes Bainbridge Island an easy day trip or excursion for dinner. If you want to expand your palate beyond what’s in the city, make the trip to try one of these best restaurants on Bainbridge Island.

Best Restaurants on Bainbridge Island

These Bainbridge Island restaurants make this one of my favorite islands near Seattle! If you want help exploring more of the island, let me plan you a custom itinerary!

Proper Fish

website | directions | best for: fish and chips

Proper Fish used to be one of the best cheap eats in Seattle. It started as Nosh food truck serving the biggest $10 fish and chips you ever saw at area farmers markets. However, they decided to open up a permanent location on Bainbridge Island, so obviously I followed.

British born co-owner Harvey Wolff makes some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had: Alaskan line-caught cod from the Bering Sea, fried with a local beer batter, and served on a newspaper with house-made tartar sauce and a side of minty mushy peas.

You’ll also find other seafood classics like lobster roll. While the prices are higher than when they operated a food truck, the quality is still top notch. So if you’re craving some low-brow British comfort food, make the trek to this Bainbridge Island restaurant.

Bruciato

website | directions | best for: pizza

Y’all know as an ex-east coaster, I’ve been on the endless hunt for the best pizza in Seattle. Well, if Bruciato was in Seattle proper, it’d definitely be on my list because it made it on my list of restaurants worth the drive from Seattle.

Chef Brendan McGill makes extraordinary Neapolitan-style pizza cooked in a very hot wood-burning oven. The result is dough with the most perfect chew and a few blisters and char to add extra flavor. I’m an extreme purist when it comes to pizza and judge every spot by how well they can execute the classic Margherita, since there’s no hiding behind toppings. McGill’s pizza passes the test. Plus they have meatballs that bring this Italian eatery over the top.

If you can only go to one of the best restaurants on Bainbridge Island, make sure this one is it.

Seabird

website | directions | best for: fancy seafood and an oyster happy hour

Seabird is another Brendan McGill restaurant across the street from Bruciato. While most of his restaurant concepts are casual, this is the fanciest one. The decor is a cool mid century vibe, but the windows that open up to the sidewalk make it feel less stuffy.

The menu changes regularly to flow with what’s in season from their farm and the sea, most of which is sourced from the PNW. However, you’ll often see staples like homemade focaccia with addictive wakame-spiked butter, a light and delicate crab toast “melt” on exceptionally good homemade bread, and zingy ceviche with melt-in-your-mouth albacore tuna.

You’ll also always find a good-valued oyster happy hour with $2 oysters when you order a half or full dozen. It generally runs from about 3-5 pm Thursdays and Fridays and 12-5 pm Saturdays and Sundays.

Other standouts from our meal include the panko-crusted scallops, asparagus salad, and halibut entree with snap peas. If any of these are on the menu, definitely order them!

Cafe Hitchcock

website | directions | best for: all-day, well-executed eats

Seattlelites might recognize the name Hitchock because there used to be a Hitchcock Deli in Georgetown. Brendan McGill closed that offshoot, but Cafe Hitchcock is still kickin’ at its the original Bainbridge Island location and a new spot in downtown Seattle.

Yup, you read the name right. The McGill behind Bruciato is also the one behind the Hitchcock brand. It’s right next door to Seabird and is a fast-casual concept for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I didn’t get a chance to go to Hitchcock before it rebranded to a more casual space during the pandemic, but I’ve had their burger back when it was called Hitchcock Deli and it was phenomenal. It would rival some of the best burgers in Seattle.

As you can see, Alaska-born McGill has a mini empire in Bainbridge Island making some amazing restaurants worth the drive from Seattle. His wife Heidi’s family homesteaded on the island since the 1890s. They decided to continue the legacy by creating a food empire steeped in local resources. As a result, McGill was nominated for a James Beard award in 2014. So you can see, this chef knows his stuff!

Ba Sa Restaurant

website | directions | best for: Vietnamese

Ba Sa is a modern Vietnamese restaurant that uses local ingredients to turn out some really interesting dishes, like fried chicken bao buns and chili prawns with a cult following. But one of the best things about this Bainbridge Island restaurant is the story behind it.

Siblings Trinh and Thai Nguyen opened the restaurant in honor of their parents, who arrived in Seattle in 1998 after living and cooking in refugee camps in Vietnam. Thai was actually born in one of those refugee camps.

When the family made it to the US, they continued their love of cooking. Trinh grew up cooking with her family and Thai helping out in the restaurants. Ba Sa is named after a type of catfish that was their favorite meal made by their mother growing up. They honor her with a recreation of her specialty dish on the restaurant’s menu.

Other restaurants on Bainbridge Island

Here are ones that I’ve either tried and thought were solid or still need to visit next time I’m on the island.

Via Rosa 11 – I came here for pizza once and thought the dough was too mealy, but I really liked the pepperoni on it so I’ll have to give it another try.
Blackbird Bakery – Everyone recommends this place for solid baked goods.
Pegasus Coffee – Good coffee from a dreamy building covered in ivy.
Jake’s Pickup – I hear they make dope sandwiches out of a Chevron.
Hi-Life – Poke near the ferry by the people behind Tamari in Seattle.
Sauce Nouvelle – Another spot that I hear makes great sandwiches.

Map of Bainbridge Island restaurants

Here’s my map of things to do on Bainbridge Island, which includes restaurants. Hopefully this gives you a sense of where the restaurants are in comparison to other activities to do between eats.