Copper Gate

From "Best Restaurants April 2010": It’s shocking that there aren’t more trendy Scandinavian restaurants in Seattle. The Copper Gate, tucked away in Ballard, fills the void well, anchored with tacky-chic vintage pinup pictures and a bar in the shape of a Viking ship’s hull. Everything on the food and cocktails menu is $2 off during happy hour. Must-have dishes—Swedish meatballs with celeriac-potato purée and lingonberry preserve ($6) and the dilled pommes frites with curried ketchup ($4)—taste best washed down with a cucumber cocktail ($5).