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2013 Restaurant/Bar Discussion
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I do recommend any of the savor seattle food tours for those interested. I have done a few and liked all of them.
I thought I might not be the only one with this issue, so I thought I'd help out in case someone else is worried about being able to eat. The hardest meal in the area is going to be breakfast - if you're gluten-free you know you can't eat much "quick" food, and breakfast around the convention area tends to be Starbucks and McDonald's. So, I'd recommend just bringing some GF Oatmeal and plastic bowls and using a coffee machine to make hot water in the mornings. (It's what I plan on doing!) Obviously, your mileage may vary and if you DO get sick at one of these places, don't yell at me! These are just places that in my experience serve decent enough food and haven't made me sick.
The Daily Grill nearby is decent enough and even serves GF sit-down breakfast if you have the time (obviously also lunch and dinner). You can find the menus at the link. I've never gotten sick there and the staff is trained well.
The Tap House Grill also has a gluten-free menu. They also have a bunch of ciders that GF folk can try too. Last time I was there, they didn't have any GF beer. They do occasionally, but I'm not sure how clean the tap lines would be so... up to you.
Chipotle is cheap, quick, and everything except flour tortillas are gluten-free. I've never gotten sick at a Chipotle, ever.
I haven't tried this personally but I've heard great things about Romio's Pizza if you want to order one. I believe they have GF pizza and breadsticks.
Also for pizza, there's a zpizza a little under a mile away for ordering to your room. I've not tried the one in Seattle, but the location in San Francisco was good and I enjoyed the crust.
About a half mile away there is a Whole Foods, for those who didn't know. Either for eating or stocking up on food for your hotel room.
A half mile away they also have a Red Robin, and Red Robin now serves hamburgers on UDI's buns if you don't want to wrap yours in lettuce. My disclaimer: fries have made me sick at a different Red Robin before. They say they have a dedicated fryer, but I think when they clean the oil they might mix it all together and then re-distribute it. May want to ask before eating the fries (which are otherwise gluten-free). I know personally I'll stick to a side salad with my burger from now on.
Hopefully that helps someone other than myself!
Awesome. Thanks for sharing! I've heard quite a bit about the Daily Grill. I must check it out this year.
Really? I'mma have to check that out, then!
2) Half of the seafood that is sold/eaten in North America comes through Seattle first. Of course the sushi here is good. It's the best in the nation
3) Last year I built up a big Excel spreadsheet of the high points of the Emerald City in terms of dining. I'll dig it up and re-post it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqMQiLE417ZHdG5rYlZWU3dMY1gzcVBEVU1MRk9LaFE
I'll try to update it and refine it a bit more this year. A take on the best the city has to offer from a local that loooooves food
1) Genghis Khan Chinese, Across from Pike Place Market gkseattle.com/
2) Kushibar Kind of a walk but WORTH IT
kushibar.com/
Both are pretty cheap for a lot of food of pretty decent quality
Sorry, Seattle, but Blue C Sushi is definitely not comparable to Vancouver's. Especially with the AYCE sushi available here.
I would put Nishino, Taka, and even Shiro's up against anything - ANYTHING - Vancouver has to offer. And I will win that bet every time. BTW, Blue-C is cheap conveyor belt sushi, not high quality sushi.
Pike's Place brewery is a bunch of hop heads if you're into that. They do a nitro IPA occasionally that is totally worth it, again, if you are into that kind of thing.
Mac n Jacks will be on several menus and is a nice inoffensive brew. This was pretty much a local staple but I totally burned out on it during a friends Saint Patricks Day celebration.
Black Raven shows up on a few menus but if you can find a place downtown that serves it, I totally recommend it. I like their Scotch Ale but their Trickster IPA(inoffensively hoppy, comes at the end, sweet and crisp up front) and the Tamerlane Brown(nice middle of the road brown ale) is also very good. This is my favorite local brewery. If you have the time, go to their pub in redmond. Totally worth the trip and you can order flying saucer pizza from your table and have it delivered.
Lazy Boy is another local brewery that I've not tried but I've heard good things about.
If you get here early, you could do worse than the redhook brewery tour. It's been a long time since I took it, but you can get a 24 pack for a dollar a bottle anyway you want it there and free beer through the tour, plus a decent restaurant. Not great but nothing to turn your nose up to.
Beer is kind of a thing here.
Another thing that we do well here, is coffee. Up the hill a couple of blocks is Victrola. It is my favorite coffee in the world and I mourn not having it more. Grab a bag of the Empire Blend. Soooo good. Great latte's. They won't over sweeten it. Espresso is so good there. Also, in pikes place market is the original starbucks. It's usually super crowded, be warned.
Also, we have a ton of wineries and wine tours if you have the time. We get a lot of rain here and that makes for some really nice wines.
As for food, I can recommend a few places that I enjoy. First off, the crumpet place in pike's place makes a stellar breakfast. It's usually pretty crowded during pax though. Or it was in 2007 the last time I went. If you head downhill from pax, you should see it right before you hit the market proper.
Inside the market are some awesome choices. In the mornings getting fresh cinnamon mini donuts from the mini donut vendor in pikes place is always awesome. Also, Piroshky, Piroshky a little further down has basically pocket sandwiches for on the go. Plenty of bakeries for nice breads available. Lots of fruits and vegetables. Oh and the sausage place close to the front entrance a little further in. They'll cook em up for you and have a good selection.
For foodies, thursday if you are in early and friday are your only chance to pick up salumi from Salumi between 11 and 3:30 or 4. This is Mario Batali's father. He was boeing guy and when retired he traveled to Italy to train with this mad butcher. You can read about another fella's trip to this guy in Heat. It's a good book. I want to say it was mentioned in Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie, but maybe not. However, Le Pichet, was mentioned there. It's a great little bistro and completely no pretentious. I love breakfasts there. A little bit of baguette with butter and a rich hot chocolate make for an awesome start to the morning. They also do a baked egg with gruyere and ham that is to die for. Their other food is really good and they've gotten national attention for their charcuterie but the guy who did that originally left some time ago. They may still work with his recipes and techniques.
Another foodie point of interest would be World Spice. It was featured in a spice episode of Good Eats and I have never found a better black pepper. I get several ounces at a time and go back whenever I need more. It's the only one I've found that allows me to cake on the pepper without it being overpoweringly hot and people up here do not do the spicy well. Also, they have some great dutch process cocoa powder that is super dark and flavorful. A french brand called, Valrone. At $1.50 an ounce, it isn't cheap but it makes the best cookies ever. They also have a great selection of tea and spice blends. I get the english spice rub and a new york strip roast and rub it down with that, salt, and oil and grill until it's medium rare. Soooooo good. If you go into the market and find the elevator down, take it all the way down, cross the street, turn right and go to the end of the building and you should be there.
We have a few local celebrity chefs. Chief among them in the area is Tom Douglas, you might have seen him in Top Chef. He's a good chef and I can't recommend Lola highly enough. My wife and I were wandering around hand in hand on an anniversary night trying to figure out what to do and the guy working the sidewalk portion of lola's called us over. He was super nice and when he found out that it was our anniversary, they not only congratulated us but gave us free drinks. This was well before seattle had legalized gay marriage so I have been forever ingratiated by the crew there.
For oysters, I don't think you can beat the Brooklyn. You can get them cheaper but I don't think you can get them better. They have a flight of oysters, caviar and vodka for 12 or 14 dollars and it's a really good diversion. They are a few blocks from pax. They are fairly nice restaurant and may have trouble with a walk in that wants more than a bar seat. That said, some of my favorite food comes from here and if you can get a bar seat next to the chefs, you can spend a few hours talking their ears off. Especially the desert chef in the back.
My favorite downtown spot for fish and chips is a little ways away. Head all the way down tot he peers, take a right and go... well quite aways, but totally walkable. You'll see an Anthony's on peer 66. I don't care for their main restaurant, but their fish and chips is awesome and good beers. If it's a warm sunshiney day, that is the place to be. Another option is to go up cap hill and keep going until you pass broadway. It is totally walkable but much of it is up hill and really not for the faint of heart, about 3/4's of a mile. Pike Street fish fry. It's super easy to miss as it's attached to a club and the sign doesn't face Pike but rather the side streets. This area by the way is capital hill.
A block over on pine is Molly Moons Ice Cream. The Salted Caramel is one of my death row choices. And even better, they sell a cookbook so you can make it home.
A little further down broadway, past the university, is Dick's. It's like if McDonalds used 100% fresh real beef and paid competitive wages and didn't take custom orders or checks or credit cards.
Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to Antoine at Marcella's down a few blocks in pioneer square. Great po-boys but only served at lunch. Prices are a little high for dinner but if you are taking your husband or wife out somewhere fun and not too dress up, they do some good food and do cherry jubilee and banana's foster at the table. Fire good. He was displaced by Katrina and doesn't do the cooking but he worked for years in New Orleans as a waiter. He's an awesome guy and if you can make the trip do. Combine it with the underground tour, he's right around the corner.
We go to the Crab Pot every year, it's not the best, but it's good and a PAX tradition.
For a cool place to drink, find The Diller Room
Yeah when I had them, I knew they were. It was good, but I could taste the difference. Their chili is amazing, though!
"Pictochat? No. Dicktochat!"
Also, a few blocks up Pine past the interstate are Bauhaus Coffee and Lil Woody's burgers. Bauhaus is, IMO, one of the best coffee places in Seattle, and Lil Woody's serves a damn fine burger.
I missed the Owl and Thistle downtown as well. There are a couple of good bars in the area. White horse in post alley near pikes place is a tiny little place with a tiny little menu but for comraderie, books, and pimm's cup it cannot be beaten. But owl and thistle is an easy to miss almost dive bar behind the main thoroughfare of downtown. It is super easy to miss but check this out. For $8 you can get an entire wheel of brie, battered and deep fried, and served with fruit and bread. Walking in, you'd never know the quality of the food, but it's very tasty and, compared with much of downtown seattle, relatively cheap.
Electronic composer for hire.
Pike Place Market: A couple blocks from the convention center.
Piroshky Piroshky-- A pike place favorite. Quick bite. Always a line. but it shouldn't take you longer than 15 minutes even during cruise boat season.
Michou Deli-- also in Pike Place, small deli close to the Starbucks. Italian sandwiches and pastas. My absolute favorite place to eat when I don't want to sit down.
Beecher's Cheese-- Famous cheese place. Cheese related foods like mac and cheese and grilled cheese. lol.
Pink Door-- Sit down italian. Considered a staple of the Seattle restaurant scene. Doubles as a burlesque show during the late hours.
Seatown Snack Bar-- I really like the ambience to this place right in the Pike marketplace. Tom Douglas runs it. Celebrity chef. Seafood, a bit pricier and smaller portions. But fancy.
Athenian-- Seattle seafood. Was in Sleepless in Seattle. Can't go wrong.
Pike Place Chowder--- It's the heavily trafficked chowder joint in Pike. Yay!
Cafe Campagne- Fancy french food. Pricey. Has a line. But i love it so.
The Crumpet shop--Great crumpets. Get some tea too.
Tbh, anything in pike place is solid. They must be to survive in such a tourist heavy environment with such stiff competition.
Downtown/Belltown
Lolas-- Tom Douglas owns it. Greek Food. My favorite of his restaurants. Expect a line.
Palace Kitchen-- My brother's favorite tom douglas. More neo-american. Expect a line.
Dahlia Lounge-- Perfect for brunch. Tom Douglas again. Expect a line.
Serious Pie-- handmade pizza pies. Pork belly appetizers are to die for. Tom Douglas, Expect a line.
Local 360: A bit farther but I recently discovered this place. Rabbit pie is delish.
Umi Sake House: Also a bit farther, located in belltown. It's good sushi. Actually great. But it's not my favorite since it caters to the young hipster crowd. I much prefer more traditional nigiri. But their nigiri is also good.
Shiros--Belltown. If you get a table here somehow, you made a deal with the devil. He's an apprentice of Jiro, who you may have seen on Dreams of Sushi documentary. Go netflix it. Best sushi I ever had (on the west coast). And i been to vancouver.
Cheesecake Factory-- If you live in Seattle, you seen a few of these around. Casual chain restaurant right across from the convention center. It's good. It's affordable. They got cheesecake.
Daily Grill-- simple American food. It's popular during PAX since its right next to the convention center. I always make a trip during the event since I never go otherwise.
)'Asian-- Chinese dim sum restaurant. A little farther away from the convention center. Still delicious.
Chinatown:
If you venture this far.....
Mike's Noodle House-- Best congee and wonton in Seattle.
Hong Kong Bistro-- Hong Kong style Chinese food. I go here like every two weeks. Get the Lai Chai hot instead of cold.
Jade Garden-- My favorite dim sum place but you really can't go wrong.
Samurai Noodle-- some people will skewer me for this, but I straight up believe this is the best ramen in the downtown area.
One of the first places we went was Kell's Irish Pub down at Pike Place Market. It was good- I don't remember what I had or how standout it was, but we enjoyed ourselves.
Also down around Pike Place Market, we went to Seatown Seabar. That was my "fancy" dinner on the trip. I'm from Missouri, nowhere near the ocean, so I was ridiculously excited about eating a whole crab for the first time. It's the little things. I liked it, but I may have been hyping it up a bit, not really sure.
I will say that I think the crepe place wasn't really worth the wait. My crepe was kind of bland (though maybe it was just the type I ordered, so I can look past that) and the wait in line was ridiculously long. Probably 45 minutes at least. Since they make the crepes right there (which is cool), the wait is a lot longer than you think when looking at the line (not cool). I was a bit deceived by how few people were in line and after standing in it for so long, I resolved that I wasn't leaving without my crepe, dammit. Maybe I hit a bad time, I don't know.
I did like the pizza place on the first floor of the convention center, near the main entrance. I don't remember much of a wait at the end of the day and it was just good, solid pizza. After a day of floor walking, it was desperately needed.
Jimmy Johns - YES. I love Jimmy Johns anyway- enough that I ate it tonight- and they are really fast. The line looked really long and we kind of got lost in the building trying to find it, but once we did, we were in and out. Fast, good- perfect for a quick PAX lunch.
Last, but not least, there are coffee places on every corner. I know being Seattle, it goes without saying. On the way to the convention center from the Westin (six blocks), I passed at least two or three Starbucks and at least one Tully's Coffee, among other smaller names. I even went the wrong way out of my hotel on the first night and found the Lewis-Black-famed "Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks". This was great for a quick breakfast, to grab a drink and a pastry.
So, there's my two cents.
Taphouse right next to it is also great for drinks. Something like 140+ beers on tap? Great happy hour too. They're both on 6th, between pike and pine
A Yard House opened up at the end of March on 4th between pike and pine. Not as many taps as Taphouse (more like 90 here) but you will find the two selections vary.
My favorite little secret though for downtown food, if you like Vietnamese food (and I mean cuisine, not just pho and bun!) is Long provinical cuisine. It looks like a club on the outside, but once you go in it's so bright and airy, and the food is great with reasonable prices. They're on 2nd and stewart.
Sadly watching from work since 2008
Other web handles: meemoez/meemoez.lp
My top spots for a quick bite or libation only a few blocks up the hill
- Lil Woody's - Awesome burgers, plus they serve Crack, which is fries with a little bit of Molly Moon's milkshake to dip them in.
- Sun Liquor - Micro-distilled liquor and awesome cocktails, plus surprisingly good food.
- Honey Hole - Hearty bbq sandwiches and usually a great beer selection to boot. This is my go to sandwich place on the hill.
- Pine Box - Decent food; Great beer selection, including sometimes a beer that's been filtered through fresh hops, or fruit, or something crazy like that.
Or if you are looking for something more "sophisticated" and your dollars flow freely, try Terra Plata or Melrose Market for some tasty, locally sourced vittles.
Oh my Dayum
Oh my goodness
They goin' Ham
Also: chocolate popcorn.
If you venture up into Capitol Hill, there's an amazing Lebanese/Syrian restaurant called Mamnoon that opened at the end of last year, directly across from Melrose Market (pretty easy walk from the con). It's a really great place for group dining, and has maybe the best fresh pita I've ever tasted. Also, it's only one letter away from sharing a name with a city in Ni No Kuni, so it's got that going for it.
Sticking near the convention center, if you're looking to get on bad terms with your colon, there's a Philly cheesesteak shop called Calozzi's that recently relocated a handful of blocks away (it's near 4th and Union). It's a traditional east coast cheesesteak (no hoagies), created by a traditional east coast transplant, and they're massive enough to be shared.
If you're looking for a wider variety of sandwiches, I'd personally skip Jimmy John's or Subway, and make the walk up the hill to Other Coast, Honey Hole or Homegrown. Homegrown is located in Madison Market and has gluten-free options for people who are celiac/gluten intolerant.
Typo? I tried to search for that as a name but didn't come up with much.