Where to Get the Best Ceviche in Seattle

I’ve become obsessed with finding the best ceviche in Seattle ever since I went to a poke bar-style place in Spokane serving ceviche. I’m just sitting here waiting for this to be the next fast casual restaurant craze in Seattle, sometimes pinging the chef at that Spokane restaurant begging him to open a location in Seattle.

Until he does, I need to get my ceviche fix elsewhere. I’ve searched high and low for the best Seattle ceviche, trying Peruvian, Mexican, Latin, and even Japanese-style ceviches to find the best of the best.

If you also love this dish, let me save you some trouble. There unfortunately aren’t many places serving great ceviche in Seattle, but I’ve had a handful that do. So if you love this marinated fish dish, get ready. Here are the best ceviche in Seattle you need to add to your list.

What is ceviche?

If you’re not familiar with ceviche, let me break it down. Ceviche is a fish dish served cold. Some people think it’s raw, but it’s actually cooked in a citrus marinade. The citrus acid cooks the fish through a chemical reaction, so while it’s cold and can appear raw it isn’t when marinaded long enough.

The dish originated in Peru and is traditionally made with firm white fish like bass or rockfish, lime, aji amarillo pepper, sweet potato, corn nuts, and red onions. Some people think it has dairy because of its sometimes milky white appearance and the “leche del tigre” (tiger’s milk) ingredient listed on some menus. However, there is no actual milk in it. This is just what Peruvians call the citrus marinade.

person squeezing lime over Mexican ceviche

Ceviche is popular in many coastal areas of Latin American and Mexico, so you may see variations. For example, Mexican ceviche is often made with shrimp or octopus and served with tortilla chips. I’ve denoted which type of ceviche each restaurant serves below.

Best Ceviche in Seattle

Here are my favorite ceviches in Seattle (or “say-beach-chays” if you want to pronounce it correctly), in order of preference. Happy eating!

Fogón Cocina Mexicana

website | 600 E Pine St (Capitol Hill) | style: Mexican

Fogón is that lively Mexican restaurant in the heart of Capitol Hill that you probably passed a million times. They make excellent food and are always crowded. While many people rave about their nachos or tacos, I’m all about their shrimp ceviche.

Even though it’s an appetizer, you’ll get a heaping portion of it served with tortilla chips. It’s an excellent balance of acidic and spicy, plus it’s perfectly seasoned. One thing I found during my best ceviche in Seattle research is that many places under-salt their fish. It’s especially common for Mexican-style ceviche, I’m assuming because they think the salty chips will provide seasoning. Fogón doesn’t make that mistake, making it the only Mexican-style ceviche in Seattle on this list so far.

San Fernando Roasted Chicken

website | 900 Rainier Ave S (Central District) | style: Peruvian

This Peruvian restaurant has locations in both Seattle and Lynnwood. The Seattle location is a hole-in-the-wall style place loved by locals. You’ll often find people zipping in and out to pick up takeout orders, many looking as if they walked there from their home down the street.

I unfortunately didn’t like most of the dishes I ordered the one time I went here, but the ceviche was excellent. Out of the 3 restaurants on this list serving authentic Peruvian ceviche, this one is hands down the best. It’s perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of heat. I also loved how they used white sweet potatoes. The only thing I liked better at the other traditional Seattle ceviche spots were the corn nuts. I found Fernando’s a bit too crunchy.

You can get just “pescado” (fish) or “mixto” with a mix of seafood like octopus and shrimp. And in true Peruvian style, this is served as a main entree so the portion is quite large. Be ready!

Don Lucho’s

website | 7919 Roosevelt Way NE (Maple Leaf) | style: Peruvian

Don Lucho’s is a neighborhood gem. They have a large semi-covered outdoor patio with astroturf, string lights, and bumping music. The Peruvian food here is excellent. Just about everything I’ve eaten here I loved. The fried plantains and empanadas are heaven. The pollo a la parrilla sort of changed my life with its creamy, garlicky goodness. I loved the causa de pulpo, which reminded me of a more creative French niçoise salad.

Peruvian ceviche from a Seattle restaurant

If I’m being honest, the food was so good I’d say the ceviche is one of my least favorite items on their menu. But luckily it’s a worst of the best situation…make no mistake, their authentic rockfish ceviche is quite good. It’s unpretentious, served borderline messily in a large bowl. The portion is large and it’s quite zingy, tempered by a perfectly cooked sweet potato.

Pink Salt

website | 3321 W McGraw St (Magnolia) | style: Peruvian and Japanese

Pink Salt is in my old stomping ground, so it makes me nostalgic for the days when I lived in Magnolia. This neighborhood spot is rarely talked about in food media, but it’s loved by locals. The owners are the same people behind the Italian restaurant, Mondello, down the street. One of the owners is Italian and so opened that restaurant first, but his wife is Peruvian so they opened Pink Salt a few years later.

They have modern decor inside, but outside is a more casual-feeling patio perfect for people watching as people mill around downtown Magnolia. Here you’ll find two styles of ceviche, a classic version with rockfish marinated in leche de tigre and a citrus marinade, served with cancha (corn nuts), and sweet potato. Or you can get the ceviche nikkei, a Peruvian-Japanese style ceviche using yellowfin tuna, avocado, soy, and citrus marinade.

Both are served as hefty entree portions, but unlike Fernando and Don Lucho’s they are plated beautifully. The classic ceviche is much spicier than the others on this list, but the creamy sweet potato helps cool things down. They also take care to provide great texture with the corn nuts and knife work of the other ingredients. The only thing I think could have been improved was that it was a tad under seasoned when I visit.

The nikkei version was probably my favorite of the two ceviches served here. It was also spicy, but not as much, and it had those irresistible poke/sushi flavors that you don’t often see reimagined as a ceviche.

More Seattle Ceviche to Try

There are a few ceviche places in Seattle on my list to try. I’ll update this guide to the best ceviche in Seattle once I do!

Mojito (Lake City) – I’ve been to this Latin restaurant, but never had their white fish ceviche.
Shark Bite Ceviches (Beacon Hill) – This small ceviche stand is open weekdays and also offers delivery. They make all types of ceviches.
Gabby’s Ceviche (Kirkland) – They make shrimp ceviche sold out of The Box & Burger Eatery. Gabby unfortunately passed away in 2020, but his wife is making his famous recipes.
Cevicheria las Plebes (Lynnwood) – a small operation making Mexican-style ceviche only available on weekends and at select popups.