We love what Homer does with things that grow in the ground. We’re talking about things like squash with tangy fermented poblanos and fried bread in a garlicky almond broth, grilled beets with pomegranate molasses, poppy seeds, and green tahini, and delicious mezze like hummus and labneh. Show up with a group, order a bunch of small plates, and get extra plates of puffy pita—followed by swirls of homemade soft serve in flavors like popcorn or salted date.

Just down the street from another neighborhood favorite, Bar del Corso, is Homer: a Mediterrean-slash-Middle-Eastern focused restaurant named after the beloved dog of owners Logan Cox and Sara Knowles. Shared plates abound here, and post-meal soft serve is sort of a must, which you can score from the soft serve window just outside the restaurant (current flavors include preserved lemon, vegan sweet hibiscus, and the ultimate classic: swirl).

Logan Cox, previously the chef at Sitka and Spruce, has opened a neighborhood restaurant on Beacon Hill that puts out some of the most vivid flavors in the city right now. The rugged ease of dishes large and small belies the deliberate hours of stewing, grinding, and roasting that transform something as humble as meatballs into a kefte-inspired monument amid a pool of sauce—tomato and fried fruits, cinnamon and yoghurt whey, reduced for hours into something so rich it’s more syrup than sauce. Homer dedicates a menu section to things one might spread on saucer-size pitas, which arrive at your table almost too hot to touch, soft interior still puffed up with hot air from the dome oven in the corner of the open kitchen.

Remembering a meal at Homer is more of a sentimental warmth than a keen recollection. The menu is built around shareable Mediterranean mezzes that change all the time and become a big blur of roasted cauliflower and pistachio dip and olive-oiled chickpeas and goat cheese and pickled beets and sardines. You bring four or five of your friends and order all these little dishes, and they bring you a steady stream of slightly charred bread straight out of the wood-fired oven, and you and your pals just go to town.

A mostly-walk-in neighborhood favorite in Beacon Hill, Restaurant Homer emphasizes Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired cuisine and date-night ambiance. The blue exterior and white-washed walls inside serve as a fresh, airy, on-brand twist. The minimal large-party seating makes it easy to converse with your love over large and small plates designed to evoke conversation and sharing, like yogurts, breads and charcuterie made in-house.

website |3013 Beacon Ave S ( get directions) | neighborhood: Beacon Hill | cuisine: Mediterranean/Middle Eastern | Yelp:4.5 stars. Homer serves posh Mediterranean food in Seattle, so it’s hard to get a table here (particularly because they don’t take reservations for parties under 6). The atmosphere feels upscale but casual and the portions are pretty generous.

And the soft serve flavors they're dishing up at Homer on Beacon Hill will certainly do the trick. Take yours to a nearby park or enjoy it curbside at the soon-to-be-set-up patio seating outside. Gotta grab bite: Put the rhubarb soft serve on your to-try list.

3013 Beacon Avenue | Mediterranean, Middle EasternLocated in Beacon Hill, Homer offers Middle Eastern and Mediterranean inspired dishes to please any appetite.