What to do in Seattle?

[profkrispy]

My wife and I are heading to Seattle on March 18. Since neither of us have been there before, we're wondering what there is to do. What might be some good restaurants and bars? What to do during the day? I've always received good advice here at the Salon and any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Disturbed]

Mexican restaurant at the north end of the Pike Street Market..... El Puerco Lloron [The Crying Pig]. Real Mexican food, no nachos. Tiny place, not fancy at all with some old lady making tortillas 24/7/365.

[zetroc]

I haven't been to Seattle in years, but Gourmet Dog Japon and Lunchbox Laboratory are on my to-eat list. Might make it up there later this year so this thread will be closely observed.

[Dave Thompson]

A ferry ride across the Puget Sound and back will take only a couple of hours of your time and afford you a great sensory impression of Seattle. The salt air tang and the sights as you head out and back from Seattle will give you a good taste of why Seattlites love Seattle. Food? Seafood all the way. The saying in the area "When the tide is out, your table is set" is very true. The waters of the Puget Sound provide terrific eats. Elliotts, Shuckers, Rays Boathouse are among my favorites, all located in or very near downtown Seattle. To do? Wow, so much. A foodie? Go to Pike Place Market, a very large, year 'round farmers market in downtown to be visually assaulted by a huge variety of local stuff. You can eat there too. A terrific place to be.

I moved from Seattle 15 years age without too many regrets, the traffic is horrible but I do miss the eating there. There are so many ethnic and seafood joints, which are my favorite kinds of places to knosh. I'll be going there this weekend for the Settle Bike Show and rest assured I'll be eating my way through town for a couple of days!

[prcrstn8]

Mae Phim Thai restaurant, dirt cheap, excellent food. The line is out the door by 12:05.

Seattle Central Library, wacko architecture but veerrrrryyyy cool interior.

Pike Place Market.

[bikinchris]

I will have to watch this also, since we are going to be in Seattle around July 4th.

[wheelhouse]

Mae Phim Thai restaurant, dirt cheap, excellent food. The line is out the door by 12:05.

Seattle Central Library, wacko architecture but veerrrrryyyy cool interior.

Pike Place Market.

I'll second Mae Phim, I used to work a couple of blocks away and would go for lunch often.

profkrispy, do you know what part of town you'll be in?

[false_aesthetic]

Go visit SubPop

[Eddie]

Pike's Place is a bit of a tourist trap, but definitely worth checking out the doughnut guy inside, Bleecher's cheese across the street is AWESOME, and Pike Brewery is worth a stop - decent IPA and a good burger. Skip the original Starbucks. It's just Starbucks with an extra long wait. Shuckers down the street for oyster happy hour - I think they go up in price every 15 mins. or so starting at some time (I'm sure Google has the answer).

I really dig the old part of downtown. Cool bookshops and art galleries. There's a bookstore with a cafe/bar in the basement, can't remember the name, I'm sure a local here can help out. Awesome.

Go to Elliot Bay and ask Bob if he has a minute to show you the back. Say hey to Bill Davidson, who builds back there. That place is a museum.

Owl 'n Thistle is a great divey Irish bar in that area. Live music. Last time I was there we were, uh, "forcibly removed."

PM Hampco and/or bigshanty and say "hey bro, if you have a second and don't mind, what are your top-three can't-misses in Seattle?"

[profkrispy]

profkrispy, do you know what part of town you'll be in?

We're staying at The Edgewater Hotel, corner of Wall St. and Alaskan Way.

[scrubadub]

We go up every once in awhile to visit friends. We've had great meals at Art of the Table and Elemental Next Door. We also like to grab some Beecher's cheese down from Pike Place.

Two good dessert options we liked: Molly Moon's Ice Cream and the smoked salt caramels at Fran's Chocolates.

Other fun places: Glass Museum in Tacoma and the Boeing Museum (haven't been but my wife loved it).

[Sasha]

Pike Place and a ferry ride are both excellent suggestions and walkable from where you are. Elliot Bay Bikes, home to Davidson is a few blocks from your hotel. As is the new Olympic sculpture park. That would be a really good afternoon/day.

Pioneer Square (the old town area) is pretty cool during the day. The architecture is great.

If it's the correct weekend, the Center for Wooden Boats has free or low cost sailing. They pilot the boat, so no experience necessary, but the view from Lake Union is pretty cool.

Ray's Boathouse has the best fancy seafood. Make a reservation to coincide with the sunset. (you probably have to have a car to get here.)

If you like beer and/or chocolate, I suggest you visit Fremont. Go to Theo Chocolate and take a tour (or just visit the store) and eat lunch at the Brouwer's Cafe, which has the best list of Belgian/Other beers on tap I've ever seen. It's very good. There are a lot of other places to wander into in Fremont. (bridge, canal, Lenin statue)

PM me if you have specific questions. I actually live here, unlike most of the californians above.

[jamesand]

Bakeman's for lunch, Thai Tom's for dinner. A walk in Ravenna park between meals.

[profkrispy]

Thank you for all the information. Unfortunately there has been a change of plans and we won't be heading to Seattle this weekend.

[bikinchris]

But I will still be going this summer, so I appreciate all the information too.

[dhoff]

I'm due out there april 28 for the weekend. This has been good. thanks all!

[prcrstn8]

36 Hours in Seattle - NYTimes.com