Visiting Seattle

This guide is designed for foodnerds who make the trip to Seattle and still want good chow. Obviously, this site is geared toward those visiting from Portland, but truly this guide should help vistors from anywhere, and maybe even for locals. There are a lot of options available, so I wanted to outline some of them. This is far from a complete list, so think of this as a primer, really, as I myself have only started to explore Seattle with any great detail.

Pike Place Market

One of the city's biggest tourist draws, it's still a fun place to visit for a reason. My favorite vendors are actually in the floor below, especially the one selling vintage posters. Some great food options here, ranging from Uli's Famous Sausage for a quick beer and brat, Piroshky, Piroshky for Russian baked goods, or perhaps the venerable Matt's In The Market. You can even visit the first Starbucks.

Coffee

Speaking of which, the town that brought us that coffee behemoth has many other caffeination stops. Cherry Street Coffee has many locations in the downtown area, offering a comfortable place to sit and sip. Free wifi, too. Up in the Space Needle's neighborhood is Uptown Espresso, and is a great place to people watch, especially on the sidewalk. And one of my favorites is Espresso Vivace. The city's coffee habit is definitely espresso-centric, so go local and grab a latte. (The latte art at Espresso Vivace is particularly noteworthy.) If you really want drip coffee, then you'll have to go to the Capitol Hill neighborhood for Stumptown.

Cocktails

Cocktail culture is strong in Seattle. Boozehounds should seek out Zig Zag Cafe, located just below Pike Place Market on Western Ave along the staircases. Vessel and Tini Bigs are also nearby, and if you're a bit further afield, there's Oliver's Twist to the north as well as Naga in Bellevue. The gastropubs are also a good place to get a cocktail, so you can get great drinks and great food at places like Spur and Quinn's Pub.

Japanese

Geoduck and Leeks at Chiso Kappo

The strength of the Japanese food here can't be denied. The sushi here is exceptional, with two of the best being Shiro's in Belltown as well as Chiso in Fremont. Chiso itself is two restaurants, the downstairs featuring a more typical sushi lineup, but with the upstairs (Chiso Kappo) offering only omakase. At Kappo's price point, it's the finest sushi anywhere, better than Mori in LA or Yasuda in NYC.

There are numerous izakayas around Seattle as well, ranging from the trendy Kushibar in Belltown to the more traditional Maekawa in the International District. There are good ramen options abound as well, and while Seattle's noodle-junkies mourn the closure of Takehashi Ramen (the "re-opened" spot in the Bellevue Uwajimaya isn't quite the same) there's still Samurai Noodle for some great Hakata-style ramen, located in the Uwajimaya complex in the International District.

Ethnic Enclaves

Bengali Fish Curry at Kanishka

Japanese isn't the only ethnicity represented here in great numbers. Korean restaurants are abundant north of Seattle in the neighborhood of Lynnwood (as well as south of Tacoma in Federal Way). The International District itself is predominantly Asian, so you'll find spots like Green Leaf for Vietnamese. Thai and Lao restaurants can be found, too, like Thai Palms in the neighborhood of Brighton or Chantanee in Bellevue. The eastside also features many Indian restaurants also like Kanishka in Redmond. There's Meskel and Dahlak for Ethiopian/Eritrean cuisine. Mawadda Cafe for Iraqi cuisine. And many many more.

And still more...

Small plates are abound at tapas joints like Harvest Vine and its sister restaurant Txori. You can also go the small plates route at Lark or How To Cook A Wolf. You can have an upscale dinner at Cafe Juanita or Earth & Ocean. You can go for a casual French bistro like Presse or Le Pichet. There's also Salumi!!! ... and Paseo!!! ... and Crush!!! ... and Skillet!!! ...

Suggested Itineraries

Braised Oxtail at Txori

If you only have time for one stop only, consider either Matt's In The Market for a casual meal overlooking Pike Place Market, or Quinn's Pub for a British-style gastropub in the middle of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. For something downscale, go to the International District for either Green Leaf or Samurai Noodle. For something more upscale, dinner at Cafe Juanita or omakase at Chiso Kappo would be the way to go.

If you've got time for a few stops in one day, Matt's is great for lunch as is Txori. If you want to head to Fremont to hit Paseo, you better get there early as it's quite popular. Same dinner suggestions as before. For after-dinner drinks, head to Zig Zag Cafe for booze, or perhaps Espresso Vivace for caffeine.

Or if you really wanna do a neighborhood crawl PLATE-style, some combination of Kushibar, Txori, Spur, Le Pichet and Zig Zag Cafe will do you just fine.

On the east side of the lake, Kanishka is a great place for lunch, and Chantanee (and its adjoining bar Naga) is a great spot for dinner and drinks.

Federal Way has many Korean pubs, but keep in mind that most of them don't open until 5pm, even the fried chicken joints like Hanmaum and Cockatoo's. An exception is Tobang, a fairly typical Korean pub (minus the cigarette smoke).

I hope this guide helps anyone visiting the Emerald City. Yeah, the traffic is worse then you remember, yeah, those are some steep-ass hills, yeah, these prices are expensive compared to Portland, but overall it's still a wonderful place to dine and drink.