Gaff's Guide to Seattle

[gafftaper]

I will be posting tips about things to do and not to do in Seattle. We kick it off with the Pike Place Market. If there's one thing you need to do in Seattle, it's go to Pike Place Market.

Important Safety Note: Do NOT walk from the Convention Center to the Pike Place Market or the Waterfront. It’s tempting to walk right down Pine. It’s not very far, but you DO not want to be anywhere near 2nd and 3rd Avenue between Pike and Pine. Armed robbery, pick pockets, drug dealers, selling stolen goods, everything bad is going on in this area. The area around the Pike Place Market on 1st Avenue is okay. The area around Westlake Mall on 4th and 5th is fine too. But you don’t want to walk between those two area.

-Stand around and watch them throw the salmon at Pike Place Fish. Buy one and have it shipped home.

-Marekesh Leather, around the corner from the fish throwing guys is a great little stall that sells really nice quality hand made leather products.

-Do you love tea? Market Spice is also right by the fish throwers. They have been selling tea in the Market for over 100 years. They also have lots of spices. I hate tea, but I love to go smell this store!

-Skip the “1st Starbucks” the line to get in gets insanely long. It is just a Starbucks. It isn’t the actual first Starbucks store. The truly original location was a few blocks away and they moved the store to this location. So this is the second location

-Don't miss the lower levels of the Market. If you enjoy anything from nerd culture don’t miss Golden Age Collectibles on the lower level of Pike Place Market. https://goldenagecollectables.com They claim to be the world's oldest comic shop. But it's so much more, vintage action figures, collectibles, movie scripts, games, CCGs, replica props, there’s a little bit of everything for every fandom. It’s my favorite part of the Market.

-The gum wall. It’s a wall covered in gum. Yeah it’s gross, but you know you want to see it.

-Next to the gum wall is Unexpected Productions who have been doing Theater Sports and Improv since the 1980’s. Catch a show! https://www.unexpectedproductions.org/ Bored audience members started the gum wall.

-It’s a short walk down to the Seattle Art Museum. I’ve been a couple of times, art museums are not really my thing, but I still enjoyed it.

Food at Pike Place:

Three Girls Bakery. Lots of great little cookies and things like that.

Crepe de France. Sweet and savory options are available.

Get yourself some hot fresh cinnamon doughnuts at “Daily dozen Doughnuts”

The Pink door is a nice Italian dinner with a dash of speak easy, cabaret. You will probably need to ask for help finding it. Sometimes they have live entertainment and you never know if it’ll be some sort of trapeze or music, tarot… it’s a little bit of everything. If you are looking for a nice meal and a bit of an adventure go to the Pink Door. https://www.thepinkdoor.net/welcome/

Honest Biscuits. I haven't been there yet, it's fairly new, but I hear it's amazing.

Jack’s Fish and Chips at Jack’s Fish Spot. It’s a tiny counter, covered but there are no walls in this area so it gets cold, located on the back side of a fish stall, and think they only clean the counter once a month. But the halibut fish and chips are fantastic. Fish doesn't get much fresher or better.

Cutter's Crab House is a long time Seattle favorite for a fine seafood meal with a view. https://www.cutterscrabhouse.com/

Gaff’s walking lunch. My three favorite foods at Pike Place Market are all counter service foods to eat as you walk. They are all located fairly close to each other on the side of the Pike Place cobble stone street opposite of the water. If you are near the Fish throwing guys it's on the other side of the road.
1st) Stop is Mee Sum Pastry for a BBQ pork hum bow. You are allowed to get the Curry Beef if you must. But the BBQ Pork is my jam.

2nd) A short distance away is Beechers Cheese. You can watch them making cheese in the window. Get a Mac and Cheese. It's the best I've ever had.

3rd) For dessert hit up Piroshky Piroshky for an apple cinnamon roll. https://piroshkybakery.com The savory menu is awesome too, but the cinnamon roll is why I go there.

 

[gafftaper]

Take a Ferry Ride! Go down to the water front and walk on the ferry to Bremerton. There are two destinations from the Seattle Waterfront. Bremerton is a bit longer and prettier ride. Plus there's a nice restaurant right by the dock. The Bainbridge ferry has a nice little downtown area about 15 minutes walk from the dock. There is nothing right at the dock. If the weather is nice it's an unbelievably gorgeous trip, you'll see the mountains and the best view of Seattle. It takes about an hour each direction. A very short walk from the dock is Anthony's, a local chain of Seafood restaurants (I will be recommending the location on the waterfront too). https://www.anthonys.com/restaurant/anthonys-at-sinclair-inlet/

There isn't much more to do in the area but there are a few other shops and restaurants.
Also nearby is the USS Turner Joy, a Navy Destroyer you can tour. https://ussturnerjoy.org/
And the Puget Sound Navy Museum. https://pugetsoundnavymuseum.org/

If you have access to a car, go North to Edmonds and ride the ferry to Kingston. Edmonds is a great little cute town with lots of shops and restaurants and so is Kingston.

If you have a day to kill and a car, go north to Mukilteo and ride the ferry to Clinton and then drive north on Whidbey Island all the way around up to Deception Pass, Anacortes, Mount Vernon and back to Seattle via I-5. Stop at Langley, Fort Casey, Coupeville, Deception Pass and LaConner That's a great day trip.

 

[gafftaper]

Some of you will be looking for somewhere to have a high end meal with coworkers, friends, or clients. Here are my recommendations:

I mentioned the Pink Door above in the Pike Place Market. It's a top choice in the summer when you can eat outside on the deck. But it's still a really good option inside, it just doesn't have a view in the winter. I also mentioned Cutters above in the Pike Place market it's a great option.

Anthony's Pier 66 is a great option right on the waterfront with a nice view. https://www.anthonys.com/restaurant/anthonys-pier-66/
They also have a fish bar that gives you a similar menu, in a casual atmosphere.

If I am looking to impress Mrs. Gaff with a truly high end dining experience, my top choice is Palisade. Fantastic food. Beautiful view. All very high end. There's nothing nicer in Seattle than Palisade. https://www.palisaderestaurant.com/ It's not right in the downtown core, but less than 10 minutes from downtown in a cab.

If the view is a priority, Salty's on Alki Beach wins. It's around the corner of the bay and looks back at downtown Seattle from across the water. https://www.saltys.com/ But it's only a 10-15 minute drive to get there.

If I have someone coming to town and I want them to give them a bit of Northwest history and traditional native flavors with their meal, my choice is Ivar's Salmon House. The building is inspired by a Pacific Northwest Native American long house. They have an alder fire grill for cooking and smoking fish in a traditional northwest native style. It's full of native artifacts and photographs (which hopefully were obtained ethically). Excellent food. On the water with a view that is close to the "Sleepless in Seattle View" of the city. https://www.ivars.com/salmon-house It's about 15 minutes drive from the downtown core but worth it. I will definitely be taking @dvsDave there at some point.

Ivar's Acres of Clams is on an old pier at the waterfront by the ferry terminal. Ivar's is a Seattle Tradition going back to 1938. https://www.ivars.com/acres

Daniel's Broiler is probably the best steak in Seattle https://danielsbroiler.com The Leschi and Lake Union locations probably have the best views.

Elliott's Oyster house is another great one on the water https://www.elliottsoysterhouse.com/

A 10 minute drive from downtown, Ray's Boathouse is on the water and fantastic. https://www.rays.com/
You can also check out the Ballard Locks nearby that separate our lake system from the salt water of Puget Sound.

Want to try the Seattle version of a Seafood Boil? Dungeness Crab, Pacific Mussels, Snow Crab, steamer clams and maybe add on a King Crab leg all dumped in a pile on your table? Check out The Crab Pot on the Waterfront https://www.thecrabpotseattle.com/

 

[gafftaper]

Try Teriyaki!!!
The most Seattle thing you can do (besides opening a coffee shop on the same corner as the three other coffee shops and not owning an umbrella) is to get some Chicken Teriyaki! Cincinnati has their Chili. Philadelphia has their Cheese Steak. Seattle has Teriyaki. It's a hybrid of a traditional Japanese cooking technique with Korean flavors born in Seattle in the mid 1970's, there are now over 500 Teriyaki shops in the Seattle area. I've been looking on a map and I believe there are 15 Teriyaki shops within 5 minutes drive of my house. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of Teriyaki joints in the downtown core area near the convention center and I don't have any to recommend to you. A quick Google search says to try Okinawa Teriyaki, BB's Teriyaki, Yoshino Teriyaki, or Asia Ginger Teriyaki, but I've never been to any of them. Out in the suburbs there is a Teriyaki shop in every strip mall. It's counter service. The tables and chairs are likely to not match. A nice Teriyaki Joint doesn't have tape covering the ripped seams on the chairs. But like good barbecue, a well maintained teriyaki shop usually means the food is not as good as the one that leaves you questioning things.

Your classic Teriyaki meal comes with a large portion of grilled chicken covered with a sweet sauce with two scoops of white rice and a salad with ranch, poppy seed, or some other vaguely cream based dressing (You don't get to choose it just comes that way). These days it should cost you around $13. You also have the options of beef, pork, or all white meat chicken. Just go with the basic chicken to start. It's the classic. Sometimes you can get a combo with Gyoza. That's an approved upgrade as is spicy chicken teriyaki. 99% of Teriyaki shops are small Korean American family owned businesses and they all close on Sunday so they can go to church together. Personally I will do anything to keep the Teriyaki Mafia happy, please don't cut me off!

 

[gafftaper]

The Friday night USITT Party is at MOPOP, The Museum of Popular Culture. Why would you want to go? There's an exhibit on Nirvana, one on Jimi Hendrix both with lots of original instruments, pictures, and clothes. Plus a nice collection of famous guitars.
Personally, I'm a fan of the original guitar Jimi played at Woodstock.


The custom mixer from Jimi's studio

There's an amazing exhibit on Laika Studios, the stop motion photography people responsible for Caroline, Box Trolls, Kubo, and more. Stop motion photography with 3d printed interchangeable headpieces so they can get 200,000 different facial expressions out of one puppet. The details of the sets, costumes, and props are so amazing that small. Plus there's a 15-foot-tall skeleton, stop motion puppet. Yeah. Crazy!

There's an exhibit on Indie Video Game developers with lots of weird games to try out.

And there are the exhibits on Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror. There are lots of amazing props and costumes like these.

 

[chawalang]

What are the best places for local ice cream in the Seattle area? Ideally not far from the convention.

 

[Lextech]

Some of you will be looking for somewhere to have a high end meal with coworkers, friends, or clients. Here are my recommendations:

Great help but might be a hair pricey, any suggestions that might fit with a university per diem?

 

[gafftaper]

What are the best places for local ice cream in the Seattle area? Ideally not far from the convention.

Molly Moon is the best Ice Cream in town. Small batch. Locally hand made. It's so creamy and good! I recomend their Yetti Ice Cream. Imagine a chewy oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips, now add caramel and blend it all into vanilla ice cream. So good. My second choice is "Scout Mint" which is actual girl scout thin mint cookies blended into peppermint ice cream. Their Capitol Hill location is about a mile from the convention center. https://www.mollymoon.com/locations/capitol-hill

 

[gafftaper]

Great help but might be a hair pricey, any suggestions that might fit with a university per diem?

Stand by John. I've got you. I'm planning on doing one of these on food near the convention center and one on $20 meals that are in the greater downtown area.

 

[soundman]

Food at Pike Place:

Three Girls Bakery. Lots of great little cookies and things like that.

I once had a production manager send me to Three Girls Bakery for a meat loaf sandwich, except he couldn't remember the exact name "maybe its three sisters, or three ladies, just get me a meatloaf sandwich" so I walked around the market sending him photos of all the options. We were on the way to the airport and he ended up holding the bus for me (and his sandwich). I still get one whenever I am in town.

 

[gafftaper]

I once had a production manager send me to Three Girls Bakery for a meat loaf sandwich, except he couldn't remember the exact name "maybe its three sisters, or three ladies, just get me a meatloaf sandwich" so I walked around the market sending him photos of all the options. We were on the way to the airport and he ended up holding the bus for me (and his sandwich). I still get one whenever I am in town.

Yeah Three Girls has been around over 100 years if I remember correctly. I think it was the first business in seattle owned by women. It's all good. Sandwiches, Muffins, Croissants... Just get a loaf of bread you won't regret it.

 

[gafftaper]

Food Near the Convention Center:
Taco Del Mar: Located in the convention center. TDM is not authentic mexican, it's their take on the San Francisco "Mission Style". If you are a fan of Chipotle you should check TDM out. It's similar in that you work your way down the line as they build it for you. I would say their most popular item, or at least the most unique, is the fish tacos. Can't go wrong at TDM. https://tacodelmar.com/menu/

Piroshky Piroshky: Located in the Convention center. If you follow my walking lunch tour of the Pike Place market above you'll be eating an apple cinnamon roll at their other location. But their savory products are excellent too. An excellent choice for a quick quality meal without having to go far from the convention center.

Mod Pizza: About 3 blocks from the convention center. Mod is a chain located in about half of the states. If you don't know Mod it's great. You pay a flat rate $12 for an 11" pizza and then work your way down the line and can put anything you want on it. Try one with white sauce AND pesto sauce! It's so good! Or for $12 you can get a huge salad with all of the pizza toppings you want on it.

Cheesecake Factory. Located across the street from the convention center.

Dough Zone: There's a great Asian Dumpling and Noodle chain about a block from the convention center. It's really popular https://www.doughzonedumplinghouse.com/

Marination was a very popular Hawaiian style food truck that now has a couple of restaurants. Very popular and reasonably priced. Only negative is it's about a 10 minute walk. https://marinationmobile.com/

Evergreens is near Mod about 3 blocks away. It's a health food focused, high quality, Salad and Wrap restaurant. https://evergreens.com/

Pacific Place Mall: https://pacificplaceseattle.com About two blocks from the convention center is Pacific Place Mall. There are several Restaurants here:
Johnny Rockets, a fairly large chain burger joint you probably have seen before. https://www.johnnyrockets.com/menu/
Pike Place Chowder. I've never eaten there but it's popular. Fish and Chips and Chowder. They also have a location at the Pike Place Market. https://www.pikeplacechowder.com/
Thai Ginger is an excellent local Thai food chain. Prices are a couple bucks more than your standard suburban Thai place, but ridiculous https://thaiginger.com/
Finally there's a Din Tai Fung here. It's a very well reviewed chain of Taiwanese style restaurants. Very highly reviewed. A little more expensive than the other options here. https://dintaifungusa.com/us/menu.html

There is a second mall nearby called Westlake Center. https://www.westlakecenter.com/en/dining.html It's older and is sort of in the middle of redevelopment. It used to be a traditional mall with a food court, but all of those things have gone out of business. The food court is gone. There are a few new restaurants here now. I don't know much about how things are going in this place these days. It looks like the have replaced the classic food court with a new place called "Asean Street Food Hall" I had never heard of it before doing this research but it looks like it would be worth checking out. https://aseanstreat.com/

Across the street in Westlake Park they have 2 or 3 food trucks from 11am to 2pm on week days. Here's the schedule. https://www.seattlefoodtruck.com/schedule/westlake-park

Activities near the convention center:
There's a pingpong bar and restaurant called Spin a couple of blocks from the convention center. I've never been there but looks fun. https://wearespin.com/location/seattle/

Gameworks is also close by. It's a big arcade with a really nice esports area. They have a restaurant as well. They recently have new ownership and I haven't been there since the new restaurant opened. It was always a decent meal in the past. Don't know the current situation. https://www.gameworks.com/

The Regal Meridian Theater and AMC Pacific Place 11 are both very close.

 

[JChenault]

A quibble with gafftaper

i have no issues with walking from the convention center to pikes place market. I might not do it at night, but I have walked it frequently with no issues. YMMV. ( and how else are you going to get there? Wait for a bus to go four blocks? )

To add to Pike place market restaurants. Market Grill is a hole in the wall that does grilled fish and salad plate that are phenomenal. They are across the street from 3 girls.

Near Market Grill is my favorite fish monger. Pure Seafood. I find their quality better than the fish throwing guys, and their smoked salmon is to die for.

one other place I would recommend for fine dining is Matt’s in the Market. In Pikes place market, pricey but very good.

 

[gafftaper]

i have no issues with walking from the convention center to pikes place market. I might not do it at night, but I have walked it frequently with no issues. YMMV. ( and how else are you going to get there? Wait for a bus to go four blocks? )

I have to admit I haven't walked through there recently. But when anyone talks about the crime in Seattle they always talk about that area. Perhaps my warning should be revised to don't walk through there alone.

 

[Van]

Umm, Monorail? You didn't mention the Monorail!
I will never forget, from my childhood seeing a film <yes FILM, children> in school or Scouts or something and it was all about the Worlds Fair and I will never forget the Monorail. First time I went to Seattle I was staying at a Motel Six about 4-5 blocks from where the Space Needle is. There it was, THE Monorail. I forced my Production Manager to ride it with me downtown then we walked over to ACT to meet with the Production team on "Lt. of Inishmore". I was giddy, yes, Giddy!
I always wanted to do the Space Needle, but figured my wife would kill me if I spent $20 to ride and elevator.
Going to go on a trip up the coast on the Starlight train, and this time I want to hit the Music Experience and the Sci-fi museum.

Oh and this is a Second and Third, and Fourth for The Crab Pot.

 

[gafftaper]

Dinner on a budget. Unfortunately this list was surprisingly hard to work on and even these "reasonably" priced meals tend to get a bit on the expensive side. The cost of living in Seattle is high and small businesses in the downtown core really took a hit from people working from home. Many of my favorite $20 dinners no longer exist. But here's a pretty solid list for you.

Skillet. Skillet is one of Seattle's most loved food trucks. They have several restaurants now.
There's one near Pike Place Market and the Water front. It's currently closed but is set to reopen in March. There's one at Sea-Tac Airport. There's one about 6 blocks from the convention center at 6th and Virginia. https://skilletfood.com/restaurant/regrade/

Gourmet Pizza anyone? This is not "normal" pizza, we're talking about ingredients like local Penn Cove clams and truffle cheese. https://www.seriouspieseattle.com/serious-pie-downtown/

Just want a good Normal Pizza? Mad Pizza is an old favorite of mine. It used to be a once a month stop for Mrs. Gaff and I until they closed the shop near our house. It's been a few years since I've been there as going downtown is a hassle. We always felt like of all our local pizza places they had the best quality of toppings. If you are a fan of the Canadian Bacon and Pineapple, they use smoked black forest ham and fresh cut pineapple, it's surprisingly different. They have some great salads too. https://www.madpizza.com/

Tai Tung. This restaurant is OLD SKOOL Seattle. It's Seattle's oldest Chinese Restaurant since 1935 and it looks like they haven't remodeled in all those years. Don't dress up to go here. Don't expect fine dining. The rest room feels like you might get abducted. The neighborhood can occasionally get sketchy but mostly that's more of a late night thing. Just don't wander around alone anywhere in Downtown Seattle at 2am and you should be fine. There are Christmas wreaths on the wall in one room that have been there for at least a decade and are likely to burst into flame if you stare at them too long. Ignore all that and taste the food! This place was Bruce Lee's favorite restaurant and they still have his table set up in the back. He would come here all the time after training and some of the waiters trained with him. There are a couple of waiters here who appear to be in their 90's and still working. It is SOOO GOOD! Anyone who knows old Seattle will tell you this has always been the place to go. You MUST order the sweet and sour spare ribs... they are like candy! If you go with me, I'm not sharing my spare ribs. I don't like mushrooms but my family has always been obsessed over the Black Chineses Mushrooms. https://www.taitungrestaurant.com/

13 Coins is another Seattle institution. https://www.13coins.com Go to the Pioneer Square location. It's a blend of Diner and Steak house. There are $60 steaks but you can also get Breakfast all day, Sandwiches and Burgers all for about $18-$20 and there are dinners options for $25-$30. So somethings are higher priced and some aren't.

Cactus isn't too far away. It's a good Southwest/Tex-Mex sort of place. https://www.cactusrestaurants.com/location/south-lake-union

Elephant and Castle is a good restaurant and pub. https://www.elephantcastle.com/en/locations/wa/seattle/1415-fifth-avenue

The Owl and Thistle is a great Irish Pub with Irish food. https://owlnthistle.com/

Merchant's Cafe and Saloon is Seattle's oldest restaurant. I haven't eaten there in a long time but it's got a really cool vibe that feels like the place really has been open for 130 years without being worn out. https://merchantscafeandsaloon.com/#

Above I talked about Ivar's Acres of Clams on the waterfront on Pier 54. Connected to that is one of the Ivar's Fish bars. Ivar was a legendary Seattle character and there is a whole chain of fish bars. Get a Chowder sourdough bowl (order a cup of chowder to go with it for a refill and eat your bowl!) or an order of the cod fish and chips. Eat outside and throw your fries at the seagulls while you watch the ferry's come and go. It's almost all outdoor seating so maybe not the best for night in March. https://www.ivars.com/fb-menupier-54

The Wingdome on the waterfront on Pier 56. Wingdome is a local chain offering wings and tenders in your choice of about a dozen sauces. I love the Thai Sweet Chili. https://thewingdome.com/menu/pier-56/

I mentioned The Crab Pot on Pier 57 (Miner's Landing) on my fancy dinner list above for the giant seafood boil. It's on the water front, it comes in on the high end of this list but they have a lot of options in the $20-$25 range. And the seafood boils which run around $50-$60 are meant for two people to share. So it's on the high end of this list, but it's not too far off. https://www.thecrabpotseattle.com/our-menu



Anthony's is a fantastic premium seafood restaurant on the waterfront. On the ground floor they have their fish bar. It's currently closed for the season, but maybe by March it will be open again. IT's my favorite waterfront seafood without paying a premium price. https://www.anthonys.com/restaurant/anthonys-fish-bar/

 

[gafftaper]

Umm, Monorail? You didn't mention the Monorail!
I will never forget, from my childhood seeing a film <yes FILM, children> in school or Scouts or something and it was all about the Worlds Fair and I will never forget the Monorail. First time I went to Seattle I was staying at a Motel Six about 4-5 blocks from where the Space Needle is. There it was, THE Monorail. I forced my Production Manager to ride it with me downtown then we walked over to ACT to meet with the Production team on "Lt. of Inishmore". I was giddy, yes, Giddy!
I always wanted to do the Space Needle, but figured my wife would kill me if I spent $20 to ride and elevator.
Going to go on a trip up the coast on the Starlight train, and this time I want to hit the Music Experience and the Sci-fi museum.

Oh and this is a Second and Third, and Fourth for The Crab Pot.

I'lll do a Seattle Center and Monorail post. The Space Needle is now $35-$39 depending on when you go.

 

[gafftaper]

Capitol Hill/Broadway: The Capitol Hill Neighborhood is a several block area sort of centered around the intersection of Pike and Broadway. On the North Edge of this is Cal Anderson Park and Seattle Central College. On the North side of those is the "Broadway area" which is centered about Harrison and Broadway. I'm too old to be a bar crawler myself, but these are two of the more popular nightlife areas in the city. There are several small theaters in this area too. I got a few recommendations from a friend of mine for places to check out in this area.

Bars:
Ray Gun Lounge - Aracade, Bar, and Tabletop Games what more do us nerds need!?!? https://www.raygunlounge.com/
Blade and Timber: Axe Throwing and Alcohol. What could go wrong? https://www.bladeandtimber.com/locations/seattle-capitol-hill
Rock Box- A Japanese style Karaoke bar. Rent a private room by the hour for you and your friends to sing. https://rockboxseattle.com/

There are several LGBTQ Bars in this area:
Neighbors Night Club: I'm not gay and I'm not a night club guy but even I know about Neighbors. It's been around forever. (They are apparently so old school they don't have a website. Looks like you can find them on IG and FB)
Q Nightclub https://qnightclub.com/
The Cuff Complex https://www.cuffcomplex.com/

Restaurants
The Annapurna Cafe, no Bar just very popular with food from India, Tibet, and Nepal https://annapurnacafe.com/
Skillet Capitol Hill: I mentioned their downtown location in my last post, they are here on Capitol Hill too. https://skilletfood.com/restaurant/capitol-hill/

My friend's top recommendations in this area:
The Pinebox Bar https://www.pineboxbar.com/
Pel Meni Dumpling Tzar is sort of a dumpling fusion joint: http://dumplingtzar.com/
Lindas Tavern- Very Popular and can be hard to get into https://www.lindastavern.com/

 

[egilson1]

I’m bummed that the Seattle location of the old spaghetti factory is closed.

 

[darinlwebb]

My favorite spot when visiting Capitol Hill is Unicorn.

Three words: Veggie Corn Dog