Seattle Restaurants & Bars

In the mornings I often hear Mitch in the Morning on KJR radio talk about his love for the Daniel’s Broiler Prime Steaks & Chops.  But even without the advertisements, Daniel’s is well known as one Seattle’s premier steak restaurants.  Probably the best known is Daniel’s on Lake Union or even in Bellevue, but the original is Daniel’s in Leschi.  It was started by Dan Sandal, who family roots took him back in the Seattle food business.  His grandfather, Dan Zido started two separate meat markets in the Pike Place Market.  Dan Zido’s son in-law, and Dan Sandal’s father sold to restaurants, thus Sandal had a great deal of exposure to the food industry.  With his experience, Sandal and partners started Benjamin’s which they later sold to the Schwartz Brothers.  Then in 1980, Sandal decided to open a restaurant bearing his name: Daniel’s.  A year later, he again sold to Schwartz Brothers who continued the tradition of his fine dining steakhouse.  Perfectly located on the shores of Lake Washington in the Leschi Marina it was a very convenient location for Mercer Island and Bellevue until they closed the I-90 entrance and exit on the east side of the tunnels when the second bridge was added.  In 1989 around the time I-90 was being upgraded, Daniel’s opened their Bellevue restaurant and shortly thereafter the restaurants went to exclusively serving USDA prime beef with the goal of becoming a world-class steakhouse.  In 1999, the former Benjamin’s space on South Lake Union became the third Daniel’s location.

Today, all three Daniel’s restaurants are Seattle favorites to eat a great steak and have a good time.