Communion RB

Communion is a celebration of Seattle, community, and frankly, of stewed pork neck. Sure, it’s a difficult restaurant to get into. But from your first step inside to your final mouthful of sticky nutmeg-dusted peach cobbler, it’s an experience and meal that you need to make happen.

Housed in the Liberty Bank Building , this restaurant stands as a pillar to the Black community in a neighborhood that has historically struggled (and still struggles) with displacement and gentrification. It’s a lipstick-stamped love letter to the American south while also taking inspiration from dishes and flavors you can find in the Central District and beyond. Earthy berbere grilled chicken with lemon-twisted lentils nods to the neighborhood’s Ethiopian population, while a fried catfish po’boy/bánh mì hybrid honors the pâté-slathered baguettes of Little Saigon. A surplus of cornmeal-dredged catfish, though, shows that this is a soul food spot through and through.

These culinary snapshots, combined with the location’s history, make Communion one of Seattle’s most important neighborhood restaurants. And as an added bonus, the food’s really damn good.

Their menu walks the tightrope between homestyle comfort dishes and courses you’d see at an upscale dinner party, like sweet potato hoe cakes and crisp pickled vegetables. Or stellar spice-coated chicken wings served with a creamy roasted collard concoction that's better than any ranch on the planet. And then there’s the iconic neck-bone stew, featuring ruby-hued pork and soupy-starchy lima beans brightened up with zaps of cold olive oil and fresh marjoram.

Communion’s celebratory nature stretches way past the soul food. The dining room, with plush cerulean booths, intricate copper ceiling tiles, and a back bar shaking green apple-sweetened mint juleps, has a lively hum that makes you feel good just to be a blip on their timeline. Yeah, it's hard to get a table , and you might have to resort to an off-peak time like 4pm or 9pm just to get in. But this party is worth all the work.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Aimee Rizzo

Unc's Wings

If Communion started frying other chicken parts too, we'd gladly purchase a full bucket of the goods at least once a week. For now, we're more than pleased with their crispy-juicy wings, dredged in a spice blend so punchy that you don't even need to send a bite through the accompanying creamy collard greens dip. But that's fantastic too, so swipe the sucker in there anyway.

Hood Sushi

Soul food meets sushi in this maki roll, and clearly, the two immediately hit it off. The contrast here is admirable—there’s a brittle crispness of cornmeal-breaded catfish and cold pickled vegetables paired with soft and sweet sushi rice, furikake for seaweed saltiness, and a watermelon hot sauce to tie it all together.

photo credit: Jessica Rycheal/Malina Lopez

Fried Catfish Po’Mi

Our favorite dish on the menu, the po’mi is an obviously-named cross between a po’boy and a bánh mì. From the New Orleans side, there’s that amazing fried catfish again, along with tangy remoulade and shredded romaine. And inspired by Vietnam, you’ll find pickled daikon and carrots, grilled jalapeño, and homemade chicken pâté. Combining two already great genres worked for electro swing music, and it works for this sandwich, too.

Neck-Bone Stew

The base of this stunning stew is perfectly cooked lima beans—silky, starchy, and buttery with pops of olive oil and snips of marjoram to freshen it up. There’s not a tremendous amount of pork neck meat involved, but what’s there is smoky-pink with exceptional tenderness. It’s the kind of stick-to-your-ribs dish that laughs in the face of cold weather, but at the same time isn’t too heavy.

Grilled Salmon

Don't close your browser window—this is so much more than just a sizzled brick of pink fish. The middle is a perfect medium rare, the outside has a pristine charred crust, and it's swimming in a tangy creamed corn sauce so outstanding that it could be repurposed as soup.

Fried Cabbage

“Bacon, have you ever wanted to be a part of something bigger than yourself?” Cabbage says as they sit in an open field surrounded by wildflowers. A breeze rolls in, and Bacon turns to them. “I’m afraid that there’s nothing out there for me beyond breakfast sandwiches and cobb salads.” Cabbage wilts. “That’s not true, come with me.” And thus, an alliance was formed on Communion’s watch—a trusty partnership that can only happen when three types of cabbage are simply fried with bacon. Each leaf is charred throughout with a gentle crunch on the thicker pieces, and beyond being the greatest side dish at Communion, it’s our new favorite application of pork fat.

Better Than Yo Grandma’s Mac & Cheese

Depending on how skilled your grandma is, yes, this crock of spiced bubbly macaroni is most likely better than hers. Just note that things trend more cheesy than saucy. It's an overall win for Team Cheese, but we are missing a bit of liquid velvet here.