Ursa Minor — Restaurant in Lopez Island

This place deserves more appreciation! Such a beautiful gem on a small island. The food we had here was so much better than most restaurants we’ve been to in Seattle!

Very thoughtfully put together dishes, seasonable, fresh, and well balanced. Not an expansive menu but that makes decision making easier. Also the high quality is guaranteed.

It’s a husband and wife restaurant - we heard the husband is the chef and wife manages the restaurant. Guess you call that “family restaurant” but it’s a more urban, farm style setting than traditional family restaurants.

We had both of the appetizers on the menu: local Barn Owl bread with homemade butter (so delicious) and the shishito peppers in cream (very summery and refreshing).

We ordered 3 shareable plates for 2 of us and were so stuffed we couldn’t order their famous dessert. Our favorite was the beef in the picture. The steak were well seasoned and cooked perfectly for medium rare. They were placed on top of cucumber salad seasoned in yogurt sauce, again refreshing. The other plates were Grilled Snap Peas and Gnocchi. Their Gnocchi was recommended by the host of our cabin, and it didn’t disappoint!

The bartender deserves special recognition! She was so patient and creates beautiful cocktails. We loved the wine and Amaro flight she poured as well.

Such a beautiful place to enjoy dinner. Don’t forget to plan ahead with a reservation if you want to...

What a treat! Came here on a whim while we were moored at Lopez islander, and were very pleased with our experience. The dishes were beautifully simple, and really allowed the flavor of the fresh ingredients to shine.

Barn Owl bread with toasted yeast butter: I’ve never had a butter like this before but I’ll have to try and recreate it, a nice and salty/savory butter that paired well with the fresh bread. I would have eaten it by the spoonful.

Beets and heirloom tomatoes: beautifully plated with fun and flavorful additions like cured egg yolk and ricotta. The tomatoes were so sweet and fresh.

Gnocchi and Chanterelles: another great pairing, the gnocchi were delicate and the sauce was a perfect accompaniment, smooth and creamy.

Chicken and Eggplant: The chicken was the star of the whole evening for me. It’s amazing how they took something simple like roast chicken and just cut it down to its essence and perfected it. I could eat 3 plates of it.

Overall a great demonstration of the amazing ingredients we have around us. For two people, I would go with 4 different plates to share as the portions are a bit small. My wife was satisfied but I was still a bit hungry afterwards (but not at all...

Friendly and very good service. Molly was our main server. I did not get the name of the other. Not overly gushy or cheesy (server, not food, ha) and prompt. Solid A! Each dish quantity is decent for two. The broccoli was average, could've made it at home in minutes with same results. I'd rate it a C minus. Every other dish was good to very good. Our 4 entrees did not come close to "OMG amazing". Most are a solid B to B+. I take that back, the pana cotta was A+ OMG amazing. My old fashioned was a total letdown. Companion's drink was also below average. Very small, $10, not worth revisiting. Grade of F or maybe even "please see me after class to talk about retaking exam."

Note: Many were turned away because they did not know RESERVATIONS ARE MANDATORY on weekends and need to be booked a loooong time in advance.

Overall a nice evening, wasn't blow my socks off amazing, about $160 including MANDATORY 20%...