Things to do in Seattle
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Pike Place Market
Take a bunch of small-time businesses and sprinkle them liberally around a spatially challenged waterside strip amid crowds of bohemians, restaurateurs, tree-huggers, bolshie students, artists, vinyl lovers and artisans. The result: Pike Place Market, a cavalcade of noise, smells, personalities, banter and urban theater that's almost London-like in its cosmopolitanism. In operation since 1907, Pike Place Market is famous for many things, not least its eye-poppingly fresh fruit and vegetables, its anarchistic shops and its loquacious fish-throwing fishmongers. Improbably, it also spawned the world's first Starbucks, which is still there (if you can get past the tourists)…
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Bizzarro
With a name like Bizzarro you’d never guess that this Wallingford hotbed is an excellent neighborhood Italian cafe. When you learn that it’s actually someone’s garage crammed with kitschy art and weird antiques, the name makes sense. Deliciously buttery pasta dishes, a good wine list and frequent live music add to the experience.
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5 Spot
Top of the hill, top of the morning and top of the pops; the queues outside 5 Spot at 10am on a Sunday testify to a formidable brunch. The crowds mean a great atmosphere and the hearty menu, which has perfected French toast, huevos rancheros and plenty more American standards, will shift even the most stubborn of hangovers.
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74th Street Ale House
A sibling to the Hilltop Ale House in Queen Anne, this is the kind of place that, if you lived nearby, you’d find yourself in several times a week. It’s immediately comfortable, to the point that you feel like an instant regular – plus there are dozens of outstanding beers on tap, and the food is miles above usual pub standards. The goat cheese salad ($9) is rightly famous.
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Salumi
The queue outside Mario Batali's dad's place has long been part of the sidewalk furniture. It's even formed its own community of chatterers, note comparers, Twitter addicts and gourmet sandwich experts. When you get in, the sandwiches come with any of a dozen types of cured meat and fresh cheese. Great for a picnic!
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Black Bottle
This trendy minimalist bar-restaurant showcases the new Belltown of smart condo dwellers and avid wine quaffers. The food is mainly appetizers, but with menu items such as grilled lamb and sumac hummus, and braised artichoke heart and greens, even the nostalgic grunge groupies of yore will find it hard to resist.
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Agua Verde Café
On the shores of Portage Bay at the southern base of University Avenue, Agua Verde Café is a little gem that overlooks the bay and serves fat tacos full of lemony cod, shellfish or portabella mushrooms, plus other Mexican favorites. There’s usually a wait for a table, but you can have a drink and wait on the deck, or order from the walkup window. You can rent kayaks in the same building, in case you want to work off your dinner.
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La Carta De Oaxaca
This lively place serves the cuisine of Oaxaca, particularly black mole sauce – try the mole negro Oaxaqueno, the house specialty. You can sample the same stuff on tamales or go for a combination of various small plates. Seating is mostly picnic-style, and there’s a full bar – handy considering there’s usually a wait for a table.
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Pink Door Ristorante
Beloved for its atmosphere at least as much as 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, and the vegetarian lasagne comes highly recommended.
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Alki Bakery
This is a great place to grab a coffee and pastry, then sit down at a window seat to partake of the bakery’s free wi-fi connection while digging your beach- front view. Cinnamon rolls and cookies reign supreme, but you can also get takeout sandwiches and salads to eat on the beach.
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Spud Fish & Chips
The competition is fierce over which Alki institution has the best fish and chips, here or Sunfish. (Why not try both?) Spud gets the tourist vote, with its crisp, beachy interior, friendly staff and large portions of fried fish, clam strips and oysters.
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Ballard Fish Ladder
On the southern side of the Hiram M Chittenden Locks, the fish ladder was built in 1976 to allow salmon to fight their way to spawning grounds in the Cascade headwaters of the Sammamish River, which feeds Lake Washington. Visitors can watch the fish from underwater glass-sided tanks or from above (there are nets to keep salmon from over-leaping and stranding themselves on the pavement). Sea lions munch on the salmon while the fish attempt to negotiate the ladder. Just what to do about the sea lions has stymied environmentalists, anglers and the local Fish & Wildlife Department. The best time to visit is during spawning season, from mid-June to September.
On the northern…
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Experience Music Project
The Experience Music Project (EMP) is worth a look for the architecture alone. The shimmering, abstract building – designed by Frank Gehry – was inspired by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen’s passion for Jimi Hendrix’s music and was initially intended as a tribute to Hendrix alone. It now houses 80,000 music artifacts, including handwritten lyrics by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and a Fender Stratocaster that Hendrix demolished. There’s also Janis Joplin’s pink feather boa, the world’s first steel guitar and Hendrix’s signed contract to play at Woodstock.
Appropriately, the best exhibits are the Hendrix Gallery, a major tribute to Jimi; the Northwest Passage,…
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Le Pichet
Say bienvenue to Le Pichet just up from Pike Place Market, a très français bistro with pâtés, cheeses, wine, chocolat and a refined Parisian feel.
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Beth’s Café
The best – or at least biggest – hangover breakfast in the world is at Beth’s, and you can get it all day long. Key words: all-you-can-eat hash browns. You can’t smoke in here anymore, which, depending on your view, either ruins everything or makes it possible to enjoy Beth’s infamous 12-egg omelet while breathing. Feel free to contribute a piece of scribbled artwork to the wall, preferably one that’s strongly pro- or anti-pirate.
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Hing Hay Park
If you need a tranquil spot to rest while wandering the ID, Hing Hay Park lends a little green to the otherwise austere district. The traditional Chinese pavilion was a gift from the people of Taipei. On Saturdays in August you can catch a free outdoor movie here beginning at sunset, sponsored by the Seattle Chinatown-International District, which also runs the summer Night Market here; for a full schedule, go to www.cidbia.org.
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Ivar’s Acres Of Clams
Ivar Haglund was a beloved local character famous for silly promotional slogans (‘Keep clam!’), but he sure knew how to fry up fish and chips. Ivar’s is a Seattle institution that started in 1938. Forgo the dining room for the outdoor lunch counter; the chaotic ordering system involves a lot of yelling, but it seems to work, and then you can enjoy your clam strips or fish and chips outdoors on the pier.
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Pacific Science Center
This interactive museum of science and industry once housed the science pavilion of the World’s Fair. Today, the center features virtual-reality exhibits, a tropical butterfly house, laser shows, holograms and other wonders of science, many with hands-on demonstrations. Also on the premises is the vaulted-screen Imax Theater, a laserium and a planetarium.
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Teatro ZinZanni: Love, Chaos and Dinner
by Viator
Enjoy a unique evening of cabaret, comedy and a 5-course dinner at the famous Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle! Set in a turn-of-the-century tent, Teatro ZinZanni is…Not LP reviewed
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Archie McPhee
No longer in Ballard, but still crammed to the gills with all manner of wacky goodies you probably didn’t even know you needed, Archie McPhee is a Seattle tradition and a lot of fun, whether you’re buying or just marveling at the selection. Inflatable meatloaf, anyone? Maybe some Cthulhu mints?
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Macrina
You might have to wait in line, especially if you want to sit at a table, but as soon as you bite into your breakfast roll or lemon lavender coffeecake, you won’t care. Macrina makes some of the city’s best artisan bread and decadent snacks.
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Skycity
Balanced on top of the Space Needle, this revolving restaurant makes a full turn every 47 minutes. The steep prices reflect both the setting (all tables have a full city view) and the fine dining incorporating fresh ecofriendly ingredients.
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Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley
Hidden in an unlikely spot behind a boring-looking office building is Seattle’s most sophisticated and prestigious jazz club. Dimitriou’s hosts the best of the locals and many national acts passing through.
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Downtown Seattle YMCA
- Seattle, USA
- Activities › Gym
The Y is notably traveler-friendly, and this location has clean, classy, updated equipment including a pool, free weights, cardio equipment and child care.
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Seattle Art Museum
Extensively renovated and expanded in 2007, Seattle's world-class art museum now has an extra 118,000 sq ft in area. Some have criticized the newer sections for having a somewhat clinical feel, but it's difficult not to be struck by a sense of excitement once you enter. Above the ticket counter hangs Cai Guo-Qiang's Inopportune: Stage One, a series of white cars exploding with neon. Between the two museum entrances (one in the old building and one in the new) is the 'art ladder,' a free space with installations cascading down a wide stepped hallway. And the galleries themselves are very much improved. The museum's John H Hauberg Collection contains an excellent display of…
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