I will be spending a few short days in Seattle in February for a conference.
In this thread I asked for Vancouver info, and wish I had asked for more Seattle info.
We like good beer and good food. Looking for both cheap and expensive suggestions. As I said in my Vancouver thread, we’re not fancy people, so we don’t want to dress for dinner, but we don’t mind spending money for food & drink.
We’re especially interested in places that reflect the character of the city and also any place that does great things with fish. We’re coming from a seafood culture (Boston) and are always interested in experiencing the seafood areas do with their fish, shellfish, etc.
I already know we’ll be lining up at Salumi one day and ordering whatever’s on the specials board.
For evenings, you get bonus points for recommending a place that has both a good beer selection and a good whiskey selection. We’re staying at the Renaissance on Madison and won’t have a car. I will have 2 or 3 non-dopers in tow so not sure I’d be able to convince them to meet my crazy dope friends.
Since you mentioned you are looking for a good beer and whiskey selection, I would recommend FX McRory’s. They are a steak and oyster place but also have some excellent fish. Plus they have a great beer selection and a huge whiskey bar. Just be careful if your visit lines up with a sporting event, they can get very crowded as they are right across the street from Century Link field.
Oh, oysters! We do love west coast oysters. Oysters in general, but being on the east coast we get east coast oysters all the time. West coast oysters are “exotic.”
Oh hey! I was about to open a Seattle thread too. Thanks for saving me the trouble, Motorgirl. My boyfriend and I are driving up to Seattle in December for four days and we also love beer, whiskey (well, he does), and good food in general.
I’ve been doing some food place research, and if you don’t mind me piggy-backing on your thread, Motorgirl, I was wondering what dopers thought of these places?
You cannot go wrong with any of the Tom Douglas restaurants - Serious Pie is great for lunch or Happy Hour ($6 mini-pies). For martinis, check out Oliver’s - they are perennial winners of best martini in town.
I loved Walrus & Carpenter - great oysters, great cocktails. It’s a busy place - we got there something like a half hour after they opened and were looking at a 90 minute wait - there are plenty of bars in the area to hang out and kill time in though.
Salumi was also great - again super busy, with a line a good way down the block 20 minutes before opening, we were able to sit at one of the family style tables in the back…I’d suggest trying the assorted salami platter rather than a sandwich.
A few other meals I also really enjoyed were at Tamarind Tree (a fairly nice Vietnamese place tucked into the back corner of a nondescript shopping area in the International District), Shiro’s (a well regarded classic Sushi restaurant), and also the pulled pork sandwiches at the Maximus/Minimus trailer at the Fremont Market.
I lived in Seattle for 4 years and these are my suggestions. You already have Salumi so I’ll skip that.
Breakfast/Brunch Portage Bay Cafe has an amazing brunch spread. Cafe Soleil doesn’t have a fancy menu but they have the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had. Lola is a Tom Douglas restaurant. Brunch has dishes with vanilla marscapone cheese which are awesome. The Halumi skewers are good too. Cafe Besalu has Paris-worthy croissants.
Dinner Pair, a small-plates restaurant. Best roasted chicken in Seattle. LaVita e Bella for great calzones. Rogue Brewery is about 15-20 minutes outside of Seattle. The microbeers are good and the Kobe beef burgers are to die for. Seriously.
Dessert Dilettante is open late for sandwiches and great desserts. A romantic hot-spot. Cupcake Royale has trendy cupcakes but it’s low-brow in a hip neighborhood.
I’ve read lots of good things about Serious Pie, jasg. How’s their beer menu? There’s really nothing better than beer and pizza on a nice crisp day.
Thanks for the intel on Walrus and Carpenter and Salumi, zombywoof. We’ll have plenty of time, but I get antsy about waiting when I’m starving.
Your recommendations sound terrific, Deeg. I have Cafe Besalu on my list already and I’ve read many good things about their croissant. If the Rogue brewery you listed is the one in Issaquah, I really want to go and try some of their beer. My boyfriend was raving about the White Frog to me since he knows I love white beers. The Portland area Rogue Breweries had White Frog on draft for a limited amount of time. If they don’t have it by the time I get back to Portland, we might have to consider driving to Issaquah.
Too many choices for too little time. I’m getting excited for our trip. I think I might have to bring an extra stomach.
Can’t speak to the beer but do agree with the Serious Pie recommendation. It is odd for me to think of pizza in Seattle (since when I lived there in the '90s there wasn’t much good pizza around) but it is pretty great. So long as you don’t insist “the only good pizza is <insert some city name> style pizza.”
Bumping just the once in case some Seattle-ites have returned to work Monday morning full of tales of wonderful food & drink they had over the weekend.
Most of the places I know are pretty cheap, but here goes.
I always enjoyed the Stumbling Monk on Cap Hill for beers, or Mac & Jack’s anything. When I get back to Seattle in a couple weeks, a quick Mac & Jacks is the first thing I’m getting.
For a cool place, Bleu at the corner of Broadway & John is my favorite bar that I’ve ever been to. All of the booths are carved into the walls and they have curtains you can pull closed for privacy or open if you want to catch a server. Very intimate place. There’s also a decent Ethiopian restaurant right around the corner, Queen Sheba. I used to go on first dates here, and if it went well, grab some dessert at Crazy Berry (or Crazy Cherry, I forget) which is also near that intersection, south on Broadway. You said you won’t have a car, but from where you’re staying if you walk uphill a few blocks and turn left on broadway, you’ll get there before too long, 15-20 minutes maybe walking.
