The Wayland Mill Is One of Seattle’s Best New All-Day Cafes | Eater Seattle

"A chilled-out, all-day cafe next to the Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle’s sleepy Northlake neighborhood, this yoshoku-influenced spot serves exceptional pastries and light dishes in the tradition of Japanese food with Western influences. The peanut butter chocolate icebox pie isn’t always available—the menu rotates quite a bit—but if it’s here, get it: you don’t want to miss the delightfully light and fluffy filling, the sufficiently sturdy graham cracker–esque crust, and candied peanuts that are roasted and rich but not too sweet. Biscuits and gravy, usually heavy, arrive as a small plate; the biscuits are flaky and even a bit dainty—some of the best in Seattle—and the miso-chasu gravy, with strong soy sauce notes, is loaded with umami. The Wayland Mill defies categorization: you can have full meals (dinner service started a few months after opening), but the small portions and creative baked goods (miso-honey cookies, hojicha caneles) make it sort of a coffee shop. It hasn’t attracted a big laptop crowd, yet there’s wifi and it’s an ideal remote work spot—quiet, a variety of snack-sized dishes, and reliable coffee. It got a lot of hype when it opened in the summer of 2025 because it’s owned by Yasuaki Saito, and on weekends—especially sunny ones—the line often snakes out the door and onto the patio, so come on a weekday when it’s more chill." - Harry Cheadle