Comfort food in Seattle is a wild culinary world: buttery biscuits, fried chicken crisp enough to make a little noise when the fork hits it, rich chowders, burgers with structural ambitions, and bowls of something hot that can turn a wet, gray afternoon into a much better one. The comfort-food restaurant that Seattle locals head to when the weather gets chilly is a neighborhood joint serving Creole food, and its gumbo should be the first thing you order when the temperature takes a dip.
That restaurant is S/T Hooligans, in the Ballard/Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. The cozy spot opened in 2019, with a menu that moves comfortably between fried chicken, BBQ, burgers, sandwiches, Cajun and Creole cooking, and drinks made with house syrups and bitters.
Why S/T Hooligans Is One of the Best Comfort Food Restaurants in Washington
S/T Hooligans does not seem particularly interested in putting one culinary flag in the ground. The menu wanders, in the best possible way. Southern cooking meets Cajun and Creole flavors, with Filipino influences adding another layer. The result is the kind of place where a table can order fried chicken, gumbo, brisket, shrimp and grits, and something involving an egg without anyone having to explain themselves.
The restaurant has also picked up local attention for its fried chicken. Yelp called S/T Hooligans one of the places to go for fried chicken in Washington state, while Hoodline included the restaurant in its coverage of Seattle’s burger scene. Accolades like these make S/T Hooligans fit in with other comfort food restaurants locals swear by.
Then there are the drinks. The restaurant makes its own syrups and bitters for cocktails and mocktails, which tells you something useful about the rest of the kitchen: somebody here is willing to spend time on the little things.
The Gumbo That Locals Order the Moment It Turns Cold
The Gangster Gumbo is the dish that deserves your attention when the weather gets chilly. It starts with a flour roux and house bacon, then brings in beef brisket, andouille sausage, chicken, bell pepper, celery, onion, okra, and house Cajun spice. Rice and rustic bread round things out.
Read that list again. Brisket and andouille in the same bowl. Chicken joins in. Bacon has already arrived and apparently has no intention of leaving. Okra gets involved. This is not a shy little soup waiting for someone to discover it. It’s hot, steaming, and ready to be devoured…