Seattle Food You've Never Heard Of: Lao Burgers, Hand-Pulled Noodles, and Rainier Cherry Ice Cream

Tacos and baby burritos

Get: Street tacos and the baby burrito ($2.75 and $4.75)

Our first stop, and we came in wondering how Washington tacos would stack up against LA's. At $2.75 a taco with well-seasoned meat and good spice, this ended up being one of the cheapest meals of the whole trip. The baby burrito might be the better order though: pork with an adobo flavor and a genuinely big chunk of pineapple, sized so you're not full for the rest of the day like a full-size burrito would leave you. More places should be doing baby burritos.

Lao burger and sausage

Get: The Lao burger and the Lao sausage with sticky rice

Neither of us had heard of a Lao burger before this. It's two smashed patties with provolone, jeow tomato, jeow bong mayo (their house-made sauce), pickled onion, taro stem, and cilantro, more herby than a typical American burger, closer to what we'd call Lao food's whole flavor profile: fresh, bright, not greasy. The Lao sausage came with sticky rice and the same house sauce, sweet, sticky, and genuinely spicy enough that we'd want a warning label next time. Chilled veggies on the side cut through the heat perfectly.

Hand-pulled noodles

Get: A beef noodle soup and the Big Chicken with belt noodles

A newer spot that specializes in hand-pulled noodles, and it's a game-changer. We asked for extra greens, extra scallions and cilantro, no extra charge, and got a soup that was clean and flavorful with just the right kick from their chili oil; the noodles were impossibly long and cooked perfectly chewy. The beef fell right off the bone, and the broth-noodle combo alone made this one of our favorite dishes of the trip. The Big Chicken came with well-seasoned potatoes and tender drumstick meat over thick belt noodles that soaked up all the chicken juice; they were shockingly generous with the portion. We couldn't decide which dish we liked more.

Gyro, open late

Get: A lamb and beef gyro with tzatziki

Recommended to us as having the best gyro in Seattle, and it's a legitimate claim. Lamb and beef with tzatziki, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and pita: the meat looks like a plain brown slab but is packed with flavor and never dries out. It's a late-night spot, open until 2 AM, and our order came out in under three minutes.

Chirashi and donburi bowls

Get: A chirashi bowl and the salmon donburi

A mix of different fish over rice and a "salad" that's really just iceberg lettuce, so don't expect much there, with wasabi on the side. The tuna wasn't fishy, which is the sign of good fish, though the chirashi bowl ran pricier at $18 versus $15 for the salmon donburi. The donburi, just salmon and lettuce over rice, was simpler, but it's the one we'd order again.

Nashville chicken and Rainier cherry ice cream

Get: A Nashville chicken sandwich, chicken tenders with fries, and the Rainier cherry ice cream

Our last stop, and it did double duty. The Nashville-style sandwich came out messy and juicy with slaw and pickles, though it could have used more heat, and the tenders and curly fries reminded us of the seasoned fries at Jack in the Box; the batter on the tenders was a little bland on its own, so we'd get the whipped garlic sauce next time instead of the green aioli we ordered. The chicken itself was high quality, and the sandwich was easily the better order of the two. We closed things out with their take on the local favorite: Rainier cherry ice cream, rich, milky, and shockingly creamy, more cream-forward than fruit-forward compared to something like a Cherry Garcia. Clearly a neighborhood favorite; the whole block seemed to be lined up for a scoop.