IL Bistro
Restaurant · Pike Place Market ·
Intimate subterranean Italian trattoria, candlelit setting, craft cocktails
Intimate subterranean Italian trattoria, candlelit setting, craft cocktails
"When people hear legendary Seattle bartender Murray Stenson’s name, they usually associate him with Zig Zag Cafe. That is the bar where he became famous in the craft cocktail renaissance of the early aughts. However, Il Bistro was his longtime proving ground in the ‘90s. It’s where he found his stride — and it’s a historic Seattle place for plenty of reasons beyond that one. Il Bistro is a cocktail bar from a James Bond movie that has been open since 1975. There’s nothing more essentially Seattle than skittering down the cobblestones of Post Alley and ducking into this red-lit respite from a rainy Seattle night. There’s a whole libretto of craft cocktails and mocktails well complemented by a side of arancini, and the scotch collection is unmatched in town. Plus, it’s so unexpectedly sexy down there." - Meg van Huygen
"If you want to have Christmas dinner in an understatedly swanky space with sexy, bordello-dim lighting (you do, don’t you?), this pillar of Old Seattle is the way to go. Il Bistro has been a mainstay for nearly half a century (it celebrates its 50th anniversary in January), with a bar renowned as the spot where the late, great Murray Stenson rose to prominence before going world-famous at Zig Zag Cafe. From 5 til last seating at 10 p.m. on Christmas Day, it will be serving a three-course dinner for $89. It’s a ticketed event (i.e., pre-paid) through Open Table. Reservations will open in early December, so check Il Bistro’s website for bookings to go live." - Mark DeJoy
"If you want to have a grown-up Christmas dinner, look into this tucked-away Pike Place Italian restaurant famed for its cocktails. It is serving a three-course meal for $122 that includes Italian dishes like arancini, gnocchi with wild mushrooms, and tiramisu." - Eater Staff, Harry Cheadle
"I remember late-night amaro at Il Bistro functioning as another informal hub for industry networking and job hunting, where conversations over drinks often led to employment opportunities." - Naomi Tomky
"He served as wine director at Pike Place’s famed Italian restaurant Il Bistro for ten years, a role that informed the wine knowledge he later used to curate Shama’s wine program." - Jade Yamazaki Stewart