Finding great hidden gem restaurants in Olympia isn’t always about chasing the newest opening or the busiest dining room.
Sometimes the best meals come from the places locals quietly recommend to friends—the family-owned taco shop tucked inside a gas station, the food truck with a loyal following, or the neighborhood restaurant you’ve driven past dozens of times without noticing.
So when Olympia-area residents were recently asked to name their favorite hidden gem restaurants on Reddit, dozens of suggestions poured in.
While plenty of eateries earned a mention, a handful consistently rose to the top through repeat recommendations and enthusiastic praise from people who know the local food scene best.
These aren’t necessarily the “best” restaurants in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater. Instead, they’re the hidden gems locals say are well worth seeking out the next time you’re wondering where to eat.
1. Huicholitos
Huicholitos received the most heavily upvoted recommendation in the discussion, collecting dozens of upvotes and supportive replies.
The family-owned Mexican counter is tucked inside a gas station near the Olympia-Tumwater border. Its convenience-store setting is part of its hidden-gem appeal, but locals say the food is the real reason people keep coming back.
The menu includes birria tacos, quesabirrias, ceviche and fresh horchata. Other choices include carne asada fries, street tacos and crispy tacos filled with potato and chorizo.
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
2. Arepa Latin Street Food
Arepa Latin Street Food brings Venezuelan street food to the 4th and Plum food truck court in downtown Olympia.
Husband-and-wife team Marianne Socorro and Chef Luis Amengual created the truck after emigrating from Venezuela. Amengual previously worked as a corporate chef before turning his attention toward the food of his home country.
Arepas are grilled corn flour pockets that are crisp outside and soft inside. Customers can order versions filled with shredded beef and cheese, chicken salad and avocado, or black beans, plantains and caramelized onions.
The truck also serves patacones made with fried green plantains, loaded rice bowls and crispy yuca fries with house green sauce. Much of the menu is naturally gluten-free, with several vegetarian and vegan choices.
“Great food at a fair price,” one customer wrote. Another said the owners have worked to keep prices down “without shrinking the portion.”
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
3. El Pulgarcito
El Pulgarcito is an unassuming Salvadoran restaurant and pupusería tucked into a strip mall along Lacey Boulevard.
The family-run restaurant specializes in food made from scratch, with each order prepared fresh. That can mean a slightly longer wait, but regulars say the result is worth it.
Pupusas anchor the menu. The thick corn tortillas come stuffed with combinations such as pork, beans and cheese or loroco and cheese. They are traditionally served with curtido, a tangy pickled cabbage slaw, and tomato salsa.
The restaurant also offers slow-cooked beef soups, fried plantains, burritos and a Salvadoran-style horchata made with ground morro seeds.
“Unassuming, but always delicious,” one fan wrote. Another said, “Everything I’ve had there is fantastic.”
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
4. Nineveh Assyrian
Nineveh Assyrian began as a food truck before expanding into a full-service restaurant and lounge in downtown Olympia.
Siblings Lisa and Jacob David launched the truck in 2011, drawing on the Assyrian heritage they learned through their father and their childhood experience working in their parents’ restaurant.
The menu focuses on Assyrian food rather than offering a generalized version of Middle Eastern cuisine. It combines regional traditions with Washington-grown produce and chickpeas.
Popular dishes include slow-roasted shawarma, fried cauliflower with za’atar aioli, hand-rolled dolmas and bourek, a crisp pastry roll filled with savory ingredients. The menu also includes plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
The sit-down restaurant offers a more polished experience than the original food truck, including cocktails and a lounge area.
“It’s amazing,” one resident wrote. Another described the higher price point as “150% worth it” and added, “Amazing cocktails, too!”
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
5. K-Kitchen
K-Kitchen earned repeated praise from residents looking for Korean comfort food in Lacey.
The family-owned restaurant prepares its meals fresh to order, serving everything from sizzling marinated meats to rice bowls, noodles and bubbling soups.
Its Korean fried chicken is double-fried for a crisp exterior and comes plain or coated in a sweet and spicy glaze. Other favorites include hot stone bibimbap, bulgogi, japchae and kimbap.
Dine-in customers also receive a rotating selection of banchan, including kimchi and pickled vegetables. The dining room is bright and comfortable, although the restaurant also does a strong takeout business.
One customer called it the “best Korean fried chicken I’ve ever had,” while another praised its “damn good bibimbap.”
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
6. Taqueria La Esquinita
Taqueria La Esquinita grew from a food truck launched in 2014 into a small network of restaurants and bright-orange taco trucks across Thurston County.
The Mexican eatery is known for house-made corn tortillas, large portions and street food inspired by the cooking of Michoacán and Jalisco.
The jumbo burrito lives up to its name, packing meat, rice, beans, cheese, avocado and salsa into a 14-inch tortilla. Other popular choices include carne asada tacos, carnitas tacos, fajita fries and loaded nachos.
The Legion Way restaurant offers casual counter service, simple booth seating and outdoor tables. Its truck locations provide a faster street-food experience with nearby picnic seating.
Fans praised the “incredible portions,” “lovely staff” and “INCREDIBLE guacamole,” calling it a favorite sit-down Mexican restaurant.
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
7. Far East Restaurant
Far East Restaurant has quietly served downtown Olympia for years, earning a loyal following as a true mom-and-pop operation.
The husband-and-wife team divides the work between them, with one handling the kitchen and the other managing the dining room. Every entrée is cooked to order rather than prepared in large batches.
The menu mixes Chinese-American comfort food with Thai dishes. Customer favorites include green and yellow curries, Singapore fried rice, orange chicken, seafood with vegetables in black bean sauce and cream cheese wontons.
Far East also offers affordable all-day specials, and customers can substitute brown rice without paying extra.
“These folks are really great, as is the food,” one longtime customer wrote. Another said “Far East is the best hidden gem.”
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
8. Stone Creek Wood Fired Pizza
Stone Creek Wood Fired Pizza pairs scratch-made food with one of West Olympia’s more distinctive outdoor dining spaces.
Randy and Suzanne Murray started the business as a food truck in 2011 before opening a permanent restaurant in 2018. Randy used his decorative concrete experience to help build the restaurant’s wood-fired ovens and also crafted its indoor tables.
The pizza dough is mixed by hand and aged for three days before being baked over a real wood fire. Customers can expect a thin, charred crust with crisp edges and creative topping combinations.
Specialty pies include the Mountain Dude, topped with Canadian bacon, bacon, pepperoni and pineapple. The restaurant also offers gluten-free crusts and vegetarian combinations.
Do not overlook the cinnamon rolls. They are baked in the wood-fired oven and covered with cream cheese frosting.
“Their cinnamon rolls are dangerously good,” one resident wrote, adding they were “probably the best I’ve ever had.”
The restaurant’s large lawn and covered outdoor area also host live music and community events. Families, groups and customers with dogs often gravitate toward the backyard space.
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
9. Ilk Lodge
Ilk Lodge began as a smash burger pop-up during the COVID-19 pandemic before moving into the former Fish Tale Brew Pub building in downtown Olympia in 2024.
The all-ages brewpub focuses on local sourcing, with roughly 80% of its kitchen ingredients coming from Washington farms. Its grass-fed beef comes from Colvin Ranch in nearby Tenino.
The fried onion burger features two patties smashed into onions and topped with cheese, pickles and house sauce. Other choices include bacon jam fries, a panko-breaded fish sandwich and rotating specials featuring meats smoked in-house.
Ilk Lodge also makes its own beer, including lower-alcohol selections designed to pair with food. Non-drinkers and younger guests can order locally made root beer.
“I feel like everyone is sleeping on that place,” one resident wrote.
Another called it a downtown go-to with “good prices for some of the best food in town,” while a third said Ilk Lodge has “the best smash burgers.”
The counter-service restaurant also features board games, a kids’ chalkboard wall, trivia nights, live music and a dog-friendly patio.
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
10. Wicked Pies
Wicked Pies serves New York-style pizza by the slice or by the whole pie from its downtown Olympia shop.
The business began as a Seattle food truck in 2014 before its owners moved to Olympia and opened a permanent restaurant in 2018.
Its pizzas use hand-stretched dough baked into a thin crust that remains crisp enough to hold but flexible enough to fold. The shop offers traditional slices alongside rotating toppings and a sizable selection of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
Popular choices include the Mad Pepperoni, topped with crisp pepperoni cups, and the White Lodge, made with rosemary potatoes, mushrooms and white garlic sauce.
Several commenters focused just as much attention on the Log Lady Breadstyx, which come covered in mozzarella, garlic and basil pesto.
One resident called Wicked Pies “the BEST pizza I’ve ever tried” and said its seasonal toppings were fun.
“The breadsticks are to die for,” the customer added.
Although the front can resemble a small takeout counter, the restaurant opens into a larger dining room in the back.
Planning a visit? Check out their menu and current hours before you go.
Which Olympia Hidden Gem Did We Miss?
Every city has restaurants that locals quietly swear by, even when they do not receive the same attention as larger or trendier establishments.
Judging by the Olympia discussion, these are some of the places residents return to again and again for everything from birria and pupusas to Korean fried chicken and wood-fired pizza.
Share your favorite hidden gem restaurant in Olympia, Lacey or Tumwater in the comments.
