Too often, openings that happen in December or early January get obscured amid the holiday madness. Omicron, of course, added its own challenges for diners, but also for the restaurants that endure an additional spate of challenges to bring us Hakka clay pots and honey apple cake, nachos and Nikkei cuisine. The entries below come with some takeout-specific intel, plus plenty of other details for present or future reference.

Dick’s Crossroads

Bellevue

The final weeks of 2021 treated our region to a double dose of Dick’s developments: The burger favorite opened its first Eastside location at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, while the Broadway outpost closed for renovations.
The takeout situation: Pretty much mandatory.

Jackalope Tex-Mex and Cantina

Columbia City

The mezcal is flowing and the smoked beef rib fajitas sizzling at this new Columbia City Tex-Mex spot that’s kin to Jack’s BBQ. Smoked meat makes its share of cameos (why hello, brisket enchiladas) but owner and native Texan Jack Timmons applies equal care to other aspects of the Tex-Mex canon, like ceviche tostadas, chili gravy, and Texas-style nachos. The takeout situation: Right now it’s dine-in only, open for lunch and dinner.

Persephone

Columbia City

You go, Columbia City. La Medusa owner Meredith Molli has opened an adjacent bar and grocery next door to her longtime, gently Sicilian restaurant. Persephone stocks its many shelves with items from Molli's own Goose and Gander farm (plus her farm neighbors) plus pantry items, locally made kitchen sundries, and wine aplenty. The bar itself has a snack-ish menu, cocktails, and loads of amaro and aperitivi. The takeout situation: La Medusa accepts takeout orders by phone, but Persephone has lots of items to aid in cooking your own dinner.

Señor Carbón

Pioneer Square

Popup veterans Joe Tuesta and Imelda Diez-Tipa have set up permanent shop in Pioneer Square with a menu that celebrates multiple facets of Peruvian food culture. Tuesta’s kitchen serves traditional dishes like lomo saltado and puckering ceviche, plus a menu of Nikkei cuisine—the delightful results of Japanese immigrants and their descendants applying their own techniques to local Peruvian ingredients (here in the form of maki and nigiri). The menu’s expansive and sounds exciting as all get-out. The takeout situation: Order online for takeout lunch or dinner.

Dough Zone Kirkland

Uh, Kirkland

The Puget Sound’s homegrown dumpling juggernaut just added a location at Kirkland Urban. It’s the eighth Washington location (10th overall) and already a busy spot for xiao long bao, dan dan noodles, and the house Q-bao. The takeout situation: Soup dumplings aren’t known for traveling well, but online ordering is live and the menu is vast and reliable.

Bar at Reckless Noodle House

Central District

This wok- and noodle-driven spot on Jackson—a destination restaurant masquerading as a neighborly hangout—just added a next-door bar. The former Broadcast Coffee space now boasts cocktails, beer, bar snacks, darts, and shuffleboard. Like its restaurant mothership, the space is very atmospheric (but still packs a few TVs). The takeout situation: That’s better suited to the broader restaurant, which will reopen January 15.

Hakka House

Bellevue

A strip mall address across the parking lot from Uwajimaya serves dim sum, but also the cuisine of the Hakka people, a Chinese ethnic group that has become a diaspora of sorts, picking up a notable and varied food culture along the way. The non-English website feels a promising sign. Cofounder Charley Lee used to own Eastern Pearl in Redmond. The takeout situation: Presumably present.

Neon Taco

West Seattle

Monica Dimas’s taqueria rides again, this time with online orders, Thursday through Saturday, out of a Delridge commissary. The tacos, tortas, queso, and posole should look familiar to fans of the former Little Neon Taco on First Hill. The takeout situation: Your only option, unless you opt for delivery.

Bake Shop

Queen Anne

Erstwhile cookie mix maven (and Hot Cakes alum) Krista Nelson has opened a full-on bakery and cafe barely two blocks from Climate Pledge Arena. Though this menu is less about pre-hockey pitchers and more about roasted shallot scones, honey apple or chocolate tahini cake, and a cinnamon roll made with Yukon gold potatoes. A menu of toasts and sandwiches (and salads) draws on housemade bread. Bake Shop is open until 7 and some beer and glass wines join the espresso menu, making it one of the classier pre-game stops around. The takeout situation: It’s a bakery, so takeout is implied; online ordering makes it especially easy.