"What were your first impressions when you arrived? Tucked into a mostly residential Seattle neighborhood, this restaurant oozes welcome with homey touches like cushioned benches and worn wooden floors. While the red plaid curtains and mint green touches of paint reflect its previous life as a French-ish neighborhood bistro, it fades into the background in the face of the warm service and impeccable Mexican cuisine. What’s the crowd like? Nobody accidentally stumbles on this spot, so anyone sitting down to an albacore tostada knows their pollo from their pescado and is focused hard the magic chef Janet Becerra makes with masa. The noise level reflects the bistro setting, so it stays pretty quiet, save for spontaneous exclamations of excellence. What should we be drinking? As chef Janet Becerra transitioned the restaurant to innovative Mexican food, owner Sarah Penn dove headfirst into bringing in matching drinks, starting with the mezcal-loaded cocktail list and curating a short-but-excellent list of mostly Mexican wines by the (rather cheap) glass. Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss. Janet Becerra's skills in the kitchen make Pancita destination-worthy, as she brings together the home cooking of her heritage with the professional training of the fine-dining kitchen. She nixtamalizes heirloom corn in-house, pairing it with presentations and proteins that match the flavors. She draws inspiration from the top kitchens in Mexico City and the ingredients, particularly seafood, of the Pacific Northwest. Layers of flavors, precisely chosen herbs, and surprising touches like serrano-spiked Caesar salad lift the cooking here to the highest level. And how did the front-of-house folks treat you? Effusive warmth and enthusiastic attitudes at every interaction makes it easy to gloss over the sometimes slow or sidetracked service. This is not a place to come for a fast taco, so pack patience and lean into the Mexican idea of sobremesa by simply relaxing and chatting around the table. What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here? The casual atmosphere and superlative food mean Pancita works for a casual date or celebration-level meal. Just make sure to only bring people who care deeply about food: this is not the place for the eat-to-live or quantity-over-quality crowds." - Naomi Tomky
