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New Orleans Creole Restaurant
Enjoy some live Dixieland jazz with your homemade gumbo or jambalaya in one of the coolest spaces in Pioneer Square. This bourbon-heavy institution serves unpretentious food in an attractive space (warm lighting, exposed brick walls decorated with portraits of jazz greats) that's kid-friendly until . There's live music most nights.
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Noodle Ranch
In the same block as Mama's, this old standby looks like a modernized greasy diner but serves pan-Asian noodle dishes, many of them vegetarian. The tofu spring rolls, green curries and pad Thai are worth trying if you need some cheap, effective stomach-padding before (or after) your bar crawl.
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Old Town Ale House
This cavernous and warmly lit red-brick pub serves humongous sandwich 'wedges,' stacks of delicious fries and microbrewed beer in a convivial atmosphere.
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Orange King
At this old-fashioned greasy spoon, miraculously, you can still get a burger and fries for less than around US$4 . It's not gourmet, but it's fast and cheap.
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Paragon Bar & Grill
The Paragon is a bastion of American regional cooking, with a specialty in grilled fish and updated classics. Try the avocado shrimp cakes, either as a starter or in a sandwich, or go with a classic cheeseburger. There's an open fireplace, a lively bar scene (the bar's open until ) and live music most nights.
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Pho Bac
You can get three sizes of pho at this well-established restaurant on the edge of 14th Ave and Jackson St, with its huge windows gazing onto Little Saigon, as well as excellent spring rolls wrapped in fresh herbs and other classic Vietnamese dishes.
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Phoenicia At Alki
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food is the focus at Phoenicia. The owner is Lebanese, but the flavors are pulled from as far afield as Italy and Morocco and combined with a bounty of fresh local seafood.
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Pink Door Ristorante
Beloved for its atmosphere at least as much as for its food, the Pink Door is an old-school favorite - on a nice evening, stopping for dinner and drinks on the deck overlooking the market is hard to beat. The menu is traditional Italian; the vegetarian lasagne comes highly recommended.
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Procopio Gelati
If the Pike Place Hillclimb wears you out - or even if it doesn't - stop for an authentic Italian-style gelato. The owner learned his trade from a Milanese gelato maker, and he uses only super-fresh ingredients for completely undiluted flavors.
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Purple Dot Café
The Purple Dot looks like the inside of an '80s videogame (it is actually purple) and draws a late-night drunken-disco crowd on weekends, but most of the time it's a calm, quiet place to get dim sum and Macao-style specialties (meaning you can feast on spaghetti and toast along with your Hong Kong favorites).
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Queen Anne Café
Locals flock to this trendy neighborhood spot for traditional comfort food, including broiled pork chops and various sandwiches, but the place really shines at breakfast. Expect a bit of a wait for weekend brunch.
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Queen City Grill
This longtime Belltown favorite specializes in grilled seafood from its daily menu and a solid selection of meats and chicken from its seasonal menu. The goat-cheese appetizer and the grilled ahi with red-pepper sauce are divine, service is all class, and warm lighting makes the room feel cozy yet sophisticated. Reservations are recommended.
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R & L Home Of Good Bar-B-Que
You can't get within a block of this little neighborhood joint without drooling from the smell of barbecue. The storefront looks a little unpromising, but inside there's a wood-paneled cafeteria with curtained windows, a few tables and a counter for takeout orders.
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Rancho Bravo
A taco stand in the parking lot of Winchell's Donuts, Rancho Bravo serves cheap, filling tacos and burritos that are pretty good anytime and awesome at .
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Ray's Boathouse
OK, so it's a cliché, but Ray's offers views over the Olympics, nautical decor and an exhaustive fresh-fish menu. It offers tourists everything they imagine when they think about a nice dinner out in Seattle. Reservations are required; if you can't get in for dinner, at least come for a drink on the sundeck: the bar's open until midnight. Ray's is about a mile west of the Ballard Locks.
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Red Mill Burgers
This place is constantly collecting accolades for grilling up the best burger in town, and it also fries up the fattest, yummiest onion rings. There's usually a line out the door but it moves along quickly.
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Restaurant Zoe
Chef-owner Scott Staples' sleek, attractive restaurant still has people lining up for dinner. The menu depends on the freshness of the ingredients; there's a lot of barely seared fish and seasonal vegetables. Starters include a rabbit and foie gras 'mosaic' with Granny Smith apples, beet risotto and a horseradishy tuna tartare, and the mains - wild boar, sea scallops - reveal a knack for doing interesting things to meat. Reservations recommended.
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Rover's
Many locals consider this Seattle's best restaurant. Chef Thierry Rautureau ('the Chef in the Hat') offers three prix-fixe menus a day (one vegetarian), as well as á-la-carte items. The food is upscale French with a Northwest twist - Oregon quail, for example, or Copper River salmon with morels. The cozy space is one of the few in Seattle where you'll want to dress up, and reservations are definitely advised.
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Ruby
The menu at this attractive space next to Flowers reflects the room's Casablanca feel, with fragrant jasmine rice bowls (around US$8 to around US$9 ), a ginger-onion-chili breakfast omelet (around US$6 ) and soups like yellow dhal with tofu, spinach, lemon, garlic and ginger, or lemongrass miso with shiitake mushrooms. The bar is hopping at night, and drinks are large and well-crafted.
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Salty's On Alki
While many restaurants afford views onto Alki Beach and its strutting revelers, most people drive to West Seattle for the view at Salty's on Alki. This steak and seafood house looks across Elliott Bay onto downtown Seattle; at sunset, the spectacle of lights, shining towers and the rising moon is amazing. The food is secondary, but still good.
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Salumi
Sure, you'll have to wait in line - this is Mario Batali's dad's place, after all. But the line to get a Salumi sandwich is like its own little community. People chat, compare notes, talk about sandwiches they've had and loved...it's nice. Sandwiches come with any of a dozen types of cured meat and a handful of fresh cheese on a hunk of bread - you can't go wrong. There's only a couple of seats, so be prepared to picnic. On Tuesdays, 'Aunt Izzy' makes gnocchi in the window.
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Sapphire Kitchen & Bar
A groovy spot for nightlife in Upper Queen Anne, the Sapphire has a well-stocked bar and serves Spanish-influenced Mediterranean fare in a chic dining room with sapphire, red and purple walls. The black-painted facade and the neon sign outside might not fit with Queen Anne's style, but don't let it turn you off.
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Schultzy's Sausages
This former hole-in-the-wall has doubled in size, which serves as a warning to all who overindulge in Schultzy's meaty goodness. Its claim to fame is straightforward and simple: bratwurst, burgers and beer. There are also veggie dogs, but come on, seriously.
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Serafina
This lovely neighborhood restaurant in Eastlake specializes in Tuscan-style cooking, with simply prepared meat and fish as well as pastas that can be ordered as a first or a main course. Reservations are recommended.
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Shanghai Garden
Hand-shaved green barley noodles are the specialty of Shanghai Garden, and the sugar-pea vines are also a favorite. If you're used to heavy, greasy Chinese food, you're in for a revelation.
