Seattle

SALAAMA, a Somali roadhouse near the airport here, serves chicken suqaar, a dish of griddled halal chicken, onions and peppers, popular with cab drivers. Interlopers to this clubhouse restaurant order the dish the way the menu advertises it  as chicken teriyaki.

At 5 Seasons Grill, a Vietnamese restaurant north of the city, a banner promises “The Best Teriyaki in Town.” That would be Item 38, com bo nuong, beef short ribs, marinated with lemon grass and other nontraditional teriyaki ingredients.

“This is just like teriyaki,” said Cat Vo, an owner. “Only it’s much better.”

In Seattle, teriyaki is omnipresent, the closest this city comes to a Chicago dog.

At Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, fans eat chicken teriyaki. Specialty food retailers stock teriyaki sauces, including a triple garlic take from Tom Douglas, perhaps Seattle’s most well-known chef.