11 New Eastside Eats Swarm Bellevue, Redmond Rail Stops

Grab your ORCA card and your appetite: a fresh crop of 11 restaurants has landed within walking distance of the Bellevue and Redmond light rail stations, serving everything from matcha drinks and French Asian pastries to dim sum and grab-and-go chains. The new spots are clustered around downtown Bellevue, Bellevue Marketplace and Redmond’s downtown core, giving riders, nearby workers and shoppers extra incentive to hop off the train for a bite.

New Line, New Dining Map

A roundup by The Seattle Times counts 11 restaurants that are open or in soft-opening stages near 2 Line stations. The mix includes Pagliacci Pizza in Redmond, Shri Krishna Bhavan in Old Bellevue, Wudu Noodle House by Bellevue Marketplace and Joe & The Juice inside Bellevue Square. Together they represent a blend of national chains, regional favorites and quieter family-run kitchens that have slipped into ground-floor retail along the transit corridor.

Dim Sum and Local Staples

Sum Yee Kae, which took over and rebranded the former Sun Sui Wah space at Bellevue Marketplace, is now pouring out daytime dim sum service alongside a full Cantonese dinner menu. According to the restaurant, the focus is on handcrafted dim sum and seafood standards designed for family meals and larger gatherings. Hours and menu details are posted on Sum Yee Kae.

Pizza, Chains and Neighborhood Expansion

In downtown Redmond, Pagliacci Pizza has opened a location at 16311 Redmond Way, just steps from the light rail platform, extending the long-running Seattle slice chain further into the Eastside. The chain lists the new Redmond address on its locations page, while local coverage has noted plans for indoor seating and a patio as the brand leans harder into neighborhood pickup and delivery near the station. For more, see KIRO.

Retail Counters and Quick Stops

Downtown Bellevue has picked up new counter-service options as well. Joe & The Juice opened inside Bellevue Square in late February, and Paris Baguette launched a bakery at the base of Salesforce Tower a few blocks north of the downtown station. Local listings and retail reporting show national and international brands steadily filling previously empty ground-floor spaces close to transit. Both Visit Bellevue and Downtown Bellevue Network have additional details on those openings.

Small Shops Filling in the Gaps

The Seattle Times roundup also points to smaller, neighborhood-focused spots clustered around Bellevue Marketplace and downtown Redmond, including Oskoo Kitchen & Bakery, Wudu Noodle House and BA Bakehouse. Several of these businesses are still in soft-launch mode, so menus and operating hours may shift as owners hire staff and fine-tune service. The roundup notes which places are fully open and which are still slowly rolling out.

Timing and Transit

All this food activity is arriving just as Sound Transit gets ready to open the Crosslake Connection next Saturday, which will connect Eastside trains to the wider regional light rail network and is expected to bump up foot traffic around the stations. The agency’s schedule and service notes suggest that the additional riders could help the new storefronts build a steady base of weekday commuters and weekend visitors. Sound Transit

Altogether, the new restaurants around Eastside stations are already nudging eating habits closer to the tracks, rewarding quick detours and short walks. As ridership and service continue to grow, riders can expect even more neighborhood dining options to slot in along the line.