Where to Eat and Drink in Seattle for Lunar New Year 2025

Lunar New Year is here. Also known as Chinese New Year, Tet Nguyen Dan, and Seollal, it’s a holiday celebrated by millions of people throughout Asia and the Asian diaspora. In Washington, Lunar New Year is now recognized as an official state holiday. Some Lunar New Year events have already taken place, but with the Year of the Wood Snake officially kicking off on January 29, there are a bevy of celebrations and food specials to look forward to.

Here’s a guide to some of notable restaurants, bars, and bakeries doing specials and events for Lunar New Year 2025 in the Seattle area:

• At the new Capitol Hill Vietnamese restaurant Ramie, Tet comes with an array of special menu items, including banh beo (rice cakes) with crab stew and chicharrones, a head cheese wrap, and che troi nuoc (rice balls filled with mung bean paste served in ginger syrup). On February 2, Ramie will host a Lion Dance, a traditional way of welcoming the Lunar New Year. Sibling restaurant Ba Sa on Bainbridge Island will be serving some of the same specials and also hosting a February 2 Lion Dance.
• Monsoon, one of Seattle’s most well-known Vietnamese restaurants, is also featuring a number of Tet specials, including the traditional banh tet (filled rice cakes boiled in banana leaves) and pork braised in a clay pot. These specials will run until February 2.
• The Asian American brewery Lucky Envelope always goes big for Lunar New Year and this year is no exception. The Ballard beer-maker will be releasing four new beers — including a sesame chili cream stout and an imperial stout brewed with tea — at a Lunar New Year party on February 1. There will be red envelope giveaways and food truck Panda Dim Sum will be on site from 3 to 8:30 p.m.

• Recently opened Peruvian restaurant La Mar Bellevue is serving a special Lunar New Year menu from January 29 to February 2. This may sound like an odd combination, but Peru is home to a large Chinese community and there is even a culinary style, called Chifa, that fuses Cantonese and Peruvian traditions. The La Mar menu will include items like aji relleno — crispy sweet peppers stuff with crab and glazed with a chili and condensed milk sauce.
• From January 29 to February 12, the Smith Tower’s Observatory Bar — home to some of the best views in all downtown — will be serving three Chinese-inspired cocktails, like the Empress’s Elixir, which has Szechuan-infused gin, lemon juice, honey. What’s the deal here? The Smith Tower has “deep ties to China,” according to a press release, and the Chinese Room (where the bar is located) has a bunch of furniture and decor gifted by Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi.
• Fremont dessert destination Paper Cake Shop — run by Joule’s Rachel Yang and pastry chef Gabby Park — is serving a special cake, the Good Fortune Cake, until the end of January. It has gluten-free chocolate sponge, mandarin orange caramel, walnut praline buttercream filling, walnut praline frosting, and slices of kumquat on top.
• Another sweet option can be found at the Central District doughnut shop Raised, which from January 30 to February 2 will be featuring red and gold mochi doughnuts and furikake (!) mochi doughnuts.

• Finally, the mega popular Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung is celebrating Lunar New Year by collaborating with Taiwanese American artist James Jean. While supplies last, guests to any DTF location (including the four in the Seattle metro area) get a gift card with Jean’s art on it that can be redeemed for a seaweed and bean curd salad appetizer. Anyone who spends more than $175 on a takeout order gets a limited edition James Jean tote.