Best New Restaurant

We'll risk getting a little flak for picking a restaurant that's part of a national chain over a more homegrown new eatery. The fact of the matter is that the Plaza's newest "see and be seen" space has consistently creative seafood, slick and attentive service, and two really beautiful dining rooms. McCormick & Schmick's also has one of the most personable managers in the city's hospitality business, Mary Montgomery Shatz, who brings the skills she learned at the beloved old Bristol to a restaurant that not only has the energy and joie de vivre of the original Plaza Bristol but sort of looks like it too, with that giant, stained-glass dome. The menu changes daily, with a few standards always available, and the seafood is always fresh, luscious, and appealingly presented. On weekends, the bar area is noisy and packed with young hipsters showing off their groovy clothes and cell phones. Now there's a fish story waiting to be told.