Sabine Café & Bar
Mediterranean restaurant · Ballard ·
Middle Eastern brunch plates, salads, sandwiches & cocktails
Middle Eastern brunch plates, salads, sandwiches & cocktails
"On quieter weekdays along Ballard Avenue, this is the best remote-work refuge: you can treat it like a coffee shop or a full-blown restaurant, with strong Wi‑Fi and an all-day menu that rewards lingering. The oat pancakes are worth seeking out—crisp on top and more savory than sweet until you spread on date butter and maple syrup—with pistachio dukkah and spices like cinnamon making them feel like adult pancakes. The shakshuka is another standout, a warming tomato-and-chiles dish with surprising depth of flavor and not too much spice. Coffee is taken seriously (co-owner Deming Maclise is also the CEO of Caffe Vita), and espresso shows up in the espresso martini and the affogato. The covered outdoor patio is the chief attraction: light and airy, heated by a fireplace in winter—don’t sit too close or you’ll overheat—and it isn’t usually very crowded. After a long work session, the daily 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. happy hour brings discounted small plates and martinis plus 50 percent off bottles of wine. It’s open for dinner, but Ballard Avenue gets crowded in the evenings and parking is incredibly competitive." - Harry Cheadle
"The Deal: 50% Off Bottles Of Wine (Tuesday-Thursday only), $14 Gin & Tonics, $3 Off Select Dishes Sabine is already a cool place to be in Ballard and serves great small bites like whipped feta with pita. The fact that you can get a half off a nice bottle of Pinot is a bonus—plus there's a mezze hour from 3-4pm every day that features a few other specials separate from their regular happy hour." - aimee rizzo, gabe guarente
"You know things are getting serious when the soft serve is freckled with real vanilla bean. Sabine's mellow, custardy showing is a summer staple—and when swirled with the sidekick of the moment, like creamy chocolate tahini or strawberry sumac, it eats like a frozen peanut butter cup or strawberry shortcake, respectively. It's not too sweet nor too rich, perfect for breaking up an afternoon of shopping up and down Ballard Ave." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley
"The downside here is that parking around Ballard Avenue can be annoying. But once you get here, the possibilities are endless. There’s granola or gluten-free oat pancakes if you want breakfast, a pastrami and egg sandwich if you want something more substantial, meze if you want to snack, and cocktails and beer if you’re not really here to *work*. Sabine turns into a bar around 4 p.m., but you should be logging off by then anyway." - Harry Cheadle
"This Ballard counter service spot serves things like griddled pastrami egg sandwiches, shakshuka, and apple butter oat pancakes with hazelnut dukkah. Pair any of those with a fresh-pressed green juice, or one of the best espresso martinis in town. It’s all done in a bright and airy space complete with a covered patio, high-end pantry staples for sale, and a surplus of calming sky-blue paint. If all of that makes this place sound popular, that's because it is—show up early to avoid a wait." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley, gabe guarente