Restaurant in Seattle, United States
Seattle's most ingredient-focused dinner, no hype.
Altura is chef Nathan Lockwood's sourcing-led New American restaurant on Capitol Hill, ranked consecutively by Opinionated About Dining in 2023, 2024, and 2025. It is the right call for food-focused diners who want a menu built around current Pacific Northwest ingredients. Booking is easy, it is open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner only, and it sits a step below Canlis in formality but above it in culinary focus.
The common misconception about Altura is that it operates as a white-tablecloth special-occasion restaurant in the mold of Canlis — polished, occasion-ready, slightly predictable. It is not. Under chef Nathan Lockwood, Altura runs closer to a chef-driven sourcing project that happens to serve dinner: the menu is built around what ingredients are available, which means what you eat on a Thursday in February will differ meaningfully from what lands in front of you in late September. If you want a room that will tell you what you are eating before you have decided whether to show up, Altura is the wrong call. If you want to eat something that reflects where the Pacific Northwest actually is right now, it is one of the better bets in the city.
Altura's position on the Herbfarm-to-neighborhood-bistro spectrum is worth placing carefully. This is not a farm-to-table concept in the loosely applied sense. Lockwood's approach ties the menu directly to sourcing decisions — what the kitchen can get at peak quality shapes what appears on the plate. For a food-focused diner, that distinction matters: it means the menu has a logic to it beyond novelty, and it means the kitchen is accountable to ingredient quality in a way that prix-fixe-style menus with fixed printing are not. The result, across consecutive years on Opinionated About Dining's North America list (ranked #208 in 2024, #211 in 2025, and Highly Recommended in 2023), is a restaurant that earns its recognition through consistency rather than a single showpiece dish.
For the explorer diner, that track record is the main reason to book. Three consecutive OAD placements at this level in a city with serious fine-dining competition , including Smyth-caliber peers nationally and local pressure from venues across Capitol Hill , signals a kitchen that is not coasting. The 4.6 Google rating across 653 reviews reinforces that the experience lands consistently, not just on prestige nights.
Altura is on Broadway E in Capitol Hill, open Tuesday through Thursday from 6 to 10 pm and Friday through Saturday from 5 to 11 pm. It is closed Sunday and Monday. Booking is rated Easy, so you do not need to plan weeks in advance in the way you would for, say, The French Laundry or Single Thread Farm. Price range is not confirmed in our data, so check current menus directly before booking , New American tasting-format restaurants in this tier in Seattle typically run in the $150–$250 per person range with wine, but verify before you go.
The Capitol Hill location puts it within Seattle's densest dining corridor. If you are also considering stops at 1415 1st Ave or 1744 NW Market St during your visit, the neighborhood proximity makes sequencing easy. For a broader picture of where Altura sits in Seattle's dining calendar, see our full Seattle restaurants guide. You can also explore Seattle hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences for a full-trip picture.
Quick reference: Capitol Hill, Tue–Thu 6–10 pm / Fri–Sat 5–11 pm, closed Sun–Mon, easy to book, price range unconfirmed , check directly.
Yes, with the right expectations. The OAD recognition and consistent quality make it a credible choice for a birthday or anniversary dinner in Seattle. It is less ceremonial than Canlis , which offers more explicit occasion-night production , but if the occasion calls for serious food over tableside theatre, Altura delivers. The ingredient-driven format means the meal will feel considered rather than formulaic.
Canlis is the go-to if you want more ceremony and a longer track record in Seattle fine dining. Joule is the better call if you want creative cooking at a lower formality level. Walrus & Carpenter works if oysters and seafood-focused New American is your priority. For a comparable sourcing-driven format outside Seattle, Lazy Bear in San Francisco and Smyth in Chicago are the closest national peers in terms of ethos and caliber.
Specific dishes are not confirmed in our data and change with sourcing availability, so we will not invent them here. What the OAD ranking and sourcing-led format suggest: trust the kitchen's current menu rather than arriving with a fixed dish in mind. Ask your server what has come in recently , that question will get you a more useful answer at Altura than at most restaurants in this tier.
Altura only serves dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, so the decision is made for you. Friday and Saturday give you the extended 5–11 pm window if you prefer an earlier or later seating. Tuesday through Thursday the kitchen runs 6–10 pm.
No dress code is confirmed in our data. At an OAD-ranked New American restaurant in Capitol Hill, smart casual is a safe default , neither suit-required nor come-as-you-are. Canlis, by comparison, explicitly maintains a dress code; Altura's Capitol Hill positioning suggests a less formal approach, but confirm directly if you are uncertain.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in our data. Given the format and scale typical of Capitol Hill fine-dining rooms, bar or counter options may exist, but call ahead to confirm rather than assuming walk-in bar access on a busy Friday or Saturday.
Group capacity details are not in our confirmed data. For parties larger than four, contact the restaurant directly before booking , sourcing-driven tasting formats often have limitations on large-party configurations that standard reservation systems do not flag. This is worth a direct conversation rather than an online assumption.
No specific policy is confirmed in our data. For a sourcing-led menu that changes with availability, dietary restrictions require a direct conversation with the kitchen ahead of your visit , this is not a venue where a checkbox on a booking form will fully cover a complex restriction. Contact them before you book, not after.
Altura is a small-format restaurant on Broadway E, so large groups are difficult to place. Parties of two to four are the practical sweet spot. If you are planning a group of six or more, check the venue's official channels well in advance — the dining room size and tasting menu format do not lend themselves to last-minute large bookings.
The neighborhood is Capitol Hill, and the restaurant's approach is ingredient-focused rather than ceremony-focused, so rigid formality is not required. A step above casual — think no athletic wear, but you do not need a jacket. The OAD ranking (Top 215 in North America, 2025) signals serious cooking, but the vibe is more focused diner than black-tie affair.
Altura does not serve lunch — the kitchen opens at 6 pm Tuesday through Thursday and at 5 pm Friday and Saturday. Dinner is your only option, so Friday and Saturday are the best bets if you want a fuller evening with the earliest seating available at 5 pm.
Bar seating availability is not confirmed in the venue record, so do not plan around it. For walk-in or counter-style flexibility in Seattle, Walrus & Carpenter is a more reliable option. If sitting at the bar matters to you, call ahead before making the trip to Capitol Hill.
Yes, with the right expectations. Altura's consecutive OAD Top 215 rankings in 2024 and 2025 confirm it as one of the stronger special-occasion options in Seattle, but it reads more like a chef's restaurant than a traditional celebration venue. If you want ceremony and a view, Canlis fits that brief better. If the occasion is about the food itself, Altura makes a strong case.
Canlis is the obvious alternative if occasion and setting are the priority — more polished, more landmark, higher price floor. Joule is the call for Korean-inflected creative cooking with a looser format. Kamonegi is worth considering if you want serious technique at a lower price point. Walrus & Carpenter suits seafood-focused, drop-in dining without the advance planning Altura requires.
Specific menu items are not documented in the venue record and change based on sourcing, so no particular dish can be recommended here without risk of being outdated. Chef Nathan Lockwood's reputation is built on produce-driven, ingredient-led cooking — lean into whatever is seasonal rather than requesting off-menu items. Trust the kitchen's progression rather than arriving with a fixed list.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
