Hai Di Lao Hot Pot in Downtown Bellevue.
The Sichuan hot pot chain famous for its service theatrics landed on 106th Avenue in 2020 — split pots, a sauce bar, a noodle that dances, and a wait worth joining online first.
Hai Di Lao — styled Haidilao by the chain — is the hot pot restaurant people cross the lake for, and it hides in plain sight: the ground level of the Bellevue Pacific Center tower on 106th Avenue, two blocks off Old Bellevue’s Main Street, next to the building’s garage. Inside is a big, bright room of tables with recessed burners, a long sauce bar, and the service the chain is famous for — hot towels, aprons, phone bags, hair ties, and, on request, a cook who stretches a single noodle across the aisle before dropping it in your pot.
DBN found it in a city permit in April 2019, when it would have been only the third Hai Di Lao in the country, and covered the soft opening in October 2020, in the middle of the pandemic year, as Washington’s second location after Pacific Place. Six years on it is a late-night fixture — open past most of downtown’s kitchens — and the anchor of a small Asian-dining cluster along 106th that now includes Tendon Kohaku across the street and Yezi Coconut Dessert next door.
It is not the cheapest hot pot on the Eastside, and it is not trying to be; the price buys the show and the service. For a table of six that wants a long, loud, hands-on dinner it has no downtown rival, which is why it earned its place in our guide to the best restaurants in downtown Bellevue.
What to Order at Hai Di Lao Hot Pot
You build the meal from broths, raw ingredients, and a sauce bar; these are the pieces that make a first visit land.
Classic Spicy Soup Base
The red-oil Sichuan broth — butter, green and red peppercorns, chili — that Hai Di Lao built its name on. Order it as one half of a split pot unless the whole table is committed.
Tomato Soup Base
A stir-fried tomato broth, mild and sweet, that the kitchen recommends for river fish and seafood. The other half of the pot for anyone spice-shy.
Dancing Noodle
A hand-pulled noodle stretched and swung tableside before it goes in the pot — the performance every first-timer should order once.
Hai Di Lao Thousand-Layered Tripe
Beef omasum soaked with onion, ginger, and pepper, cooked in seconds and eaten with the house sauces. The item regulars order first.
Hai Di Lao Special Shrimp Paste
Fresh shrimp paste made at low temperature and dropped into the broth by the spoonful — the dish that makes the tomato half of the pot worth it.
Hai Di Lao Hot Pot Through the Years on DBN
DBN has reported on downtown Bellevue since 2005. This is Hai Di Lao Hot Pot’s story as we covered it, as it happened.
New Hot Pot Hai Di Lao Coming to the Bellevue Pacific Center Building
A city permit put the Sichuan-born hot pot giant at 188 106th Ave NE — at the time, only its third planned U.S. location.
Popular Hot Pot Chain Hai Di Lao Now Open in Downtown Bellevue
The soft opening in the middle of the pandemic year: split pots, the sauce bar, the noodle dance, and Washington’s second Hai Di Lao after Pacific Place.
Coconut Dessert Shop Now Open in Bellevue
Yezi Coconut Dessert opened next door in Bellevue Pacific Center — the after-hot-pot stop, three years into Hai Di Lao’s run.
Browse all Hai Di Lao Hot Pot coverage in the DBN archive.
Getting There & When to Go
Bellevue Pacific Center is in the quiet southern half of downtown, easy on foot and a short hop from the Collection.
Getting There & Parking
- Drive: The Bellevue Pacific Center garage under the building is paid parking; metered street parking runs along 106th Ave NE and NE 2nd St. This is not a Bellevue Collection property, so its free garages and validation rules do not apply here.
- Light rail: 2 Line to Bellevue Downtown Station, then a roughly 10-minute walk south-west along 108th or 106th to NE 2nd St — see our light rail guide
- On foot: From Old Bellevue’s Main Street it is a two-block walk north on 106th; from Bellevue Square, ten minutes south-east across Downtown Park.
Best Times to Go
Friday and Saturday nights are the longest waits, and the late-night hours after other kitchens close are the busiest of all — join the online list before you leave home. Weekday lunch and early weeknight dinners are the calm windows. Rainy winter evenings are peak hot pot season; summer is the easiest time to walk in.
Make It a Night
The 106th Avenue block is a small dining district of its own: pair the pot with a walk through Downtown Park two blocks west, Tendon Kohaku across the street for the next visit, or a Main Street happy hour in Old Bellevue beforehand.
Good to Know
As of August 2026: open late every night, later on Friday and Saturday — check the official store page for the current schedule. Split pots let one table run two or more broths; the sauce bar is self-serve. Tableside shows like the Dancing Noodle are ordered like any other item. Yezi Coconut Dessert next door is the neighborhood’s after-hot-pot stop.
Hai Di Lao Hot Pot FAQ
How does Hai Di Lao work?
You pick a pot: one broth, or a split pot with two or more soup bases, then order raw ingredients to cook at the table and build your own dipping sauce at the sauce bar. Service is the famous part: hot towels, phone bags, aprons, hair ties, and tableside shows like the hand-pulled Dancing Noodle. Plan on a long, social meal.
Does Hai Di Lao Bellevue take reservations?
The Bellevue restaurant runs an online waitlist and reservation system linked from its Google listing, and you can also join the list at the door. Weekend evenings and late nights draw the longest waits, so put your name in before you arrive.
Where do you park for Hai Di Lao in Bellevue?
Hai Di Lao is on the ground level of Bellevue Pacific Center at 188 106th Ave NE. The building’s own garage is paid parking, and there is metered street parking around 106th Ave NE and NE 2nd St. It is not part of the Bellevue Collection, so those free garages and validation rules do not apply.
What should you order at Hai Di Lao?
Split the pot between the Classic Spicy and the Tomato soup bases, order the Dancing Noodle for the show, and get the Thousand-Layered Tripe and the Special Shrimp Paste for the table. Build a sesame-and-garlic sauce at the sauce bar for the meats and a lighter soy-vinegar one for the vegetables.
Is Hai Di Lao Bellevue the first Hai Di Lao in Washington?
No, the second. Hai Di Lao opened at Pacific Place in Seattle first; the Bellevue restaurant opened in October 2020 at Bellevue Pacific Center after a permit surfaced in 2019. The chain itself was founded in Sichuan, China, in 1994.