Papaya at the Landing

Papaya first opened in Bellevue in 1997 and the Vietnamese restaurant took off, expanding to Renton in 2009 and Sammamish in 2020. Each restaurant, which are owned by business partners Jacqueline Nguyen and Gene Sens, has its own unique menu and style of service to fit the locale. However, the Papaya restaurants have a shared goal of creating a casual family dining atmosphere — a place where families and friends can sit down and enjoy a meal together and nurture their relationships and friendships. The recipes have been passed down through the generations, and modified to fit local palates.