Updated 12/23/19

Welcome to my Seattle City Guide, my hold-nothing-back guide for sampling the very best Seattle has to offer. This is eight years of experiences curated just for you.

When to go: July or August if you want to see the sun, or any other month if you don’t mind the rain

Where to stay:

• Inn at the Market
• Four Points By Sheraton Seattle Center
• Willow’s Lodge

Where to eat:

• Via Tribunali – great Neapolitan-style pizza (great happy hour too, smaller pizzas for $5). Many neighborhood locations around Seattle.
• Shiro’s – the best Sushi in town, and best sushi Jake has had outside of Japan. Sit at the sushi counter and order the omakase menu (chef’s choice).
• Paseo – often has a line out the door for their Cuban/Caribbean sandwiches
• Piroshki Piroshki – at Pike Place Market, right down the street from the first Starbucks. Tasty Russian pastries that aren’t overly sweet like their American counterparts
• Revel – super unique Asian fusion restaurant and has a south-facing patio. Great cocktails and house made spritzers too.
• Brouwers – down the street from Revel. Fantastic Belgian brewery with lots of beers on tap, really good pub food, and great fries (with choice of dipping sauces!). Inside has great ambiance but they also have a patio. I always took out of town guests here.
• Joule – by the same chefs as Revel, Joule is more of a Korean steakhouse with a focus on meat, but still some great vegetable side dishes as well. Has a happy hour and an outdoor patio. The Whale Wins is another great option right next door, serving new American small plate style.
• Westward – sitting practically on the beach, Westward offers fantastic views on the north side of Lake Union. During the summer sit in the Adirondack chairs and order the oysters, in winter enjoy their super cute tables inside.
• Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar – the Northwest has the best oysters and Taylor Shellfish is the best place to sample them and get an education at the same time. Three different locations.
• The Walrus and the Carpenter – another stellar place to get oysters and other northwest fare. Great ambiance. Sit at the bar and watch the shucking and activity behind the counter.
• Stateside – SUPER tasty cocktails with an Asian flair and Vietnamese food with a modern twist. You can’t go wrong here. I love the Pineapple Margarita and the Yuzu Daiquiri drinks, and have loved all dishes I’ve ordered. Really cute and cozy inside.
• The Carlile Room – The best of the many restaurants run by famous Seattle chef Tom Douglas. It’s vegetable-focused seasonal dishes are to die for. Order 4-6 of the small plates to share between two people. You never knew vegetables could taste so freaking good and you’ll never look at them the same again. Craft cocktails are amazing as well.
• Tilth – located in a house on the main Wallingford neighborhood strip, Tilth offers up flavorful dishes with a fresh Northwest flair. It’s worth the splurge.
• Rhein Haus – German beer house with a great outdoor patio, cozy ambiance in the bar, and a bocce ball area. Great German beer, food, spätzle, sausages (including a veg version!), and warm pretzels.
• El Chupacabra – great burritos (we like their vegan version), chips and salsa, and margaritas. Three locations – Phinney Ridge, South Lake Union, and West Seattle. Snag a patio spot at the Alki or South Lake Union locations if you can (can you tell I lived on patios whenever it was sunny?! I know all the best ones :) )
• Ray’s Cafe – near Golden Gardens on the water and is a stellar place to get some seafood and watch the sunset. You can sit outside if it’s nice and they’ll give you a blanket if it gets chilly.
• For other seafood options, see this Seattle Met article.

Where to drink:

• Vivace Espresso – Seattle is known for its espresso and this is by far the best espresso in town – and in the world. It’s perfection – don’t leave without going here. Try a cappuccino or “white velvet” – I don’t like flavor in my lattes but THIS I like because it’s so subtle.
• Chateau Ste Michele – a picturesque winery just east of Seattle in Woodinville. Bring a picnic lunch enjoy it on their beautiful grounds with your favorite bottle of wine from your wine tasting (I love their Eroica Reisling). I love this place. If you’re able to plan way ahead, they are legendary for their outdoor summer concert series, and often sell out way in advance.
• Redhook Brewery – Across the street from Chateau St Michele is Seattle’s favorite brewery. Brewery tours for $1 (not a typo and you get to sample their brews)- book ahead. Also have a restaurant with a great patio. They do movie nights on their lawn during the summer.
• Tin Table – go during happy hour and if you only get one thing, get their shoe string truffle fries. To die for.
• Toulouse Petit – New Orleans fare with great ambiance- they light hundreds of candles every night. Good happy hour too, daily 4-6pm and 10pm-1am. Try the shrimp creole, fried green tomatoes, and cauliflower soup with dungeness crab, and wash it all down with the Hemingway or Madame Toulouse cocktail.

What to do in between eating and drinking:

• Theo Chocolate tour– down the street from Revel and Brouwers, Theo is the first bean-to-bar chocolate factory in North America – delicious chocolates in all kinds of flavors. Their factory tour is fun – and popular so make sure to book ahead. Their shop and tasting room is worth a stop to sample all their chocolates, even if you don’t do the tour.
• Discovery Park – big beautiful park with fun hikes through woods and meadows, and there’s a lighthouse on the waterfront.
• Golden Gardens Park – Seattle’s best “beach”. Super busy on weekends in summer, so a weeknight is a better bet.
• Gas Works Park – a popular park on Lake Union with views of downtown.
• Alki Beach – the postcard view of downtown with a great boardwalk for a stroll along the water. Lots of restaurants line the strip (my favorite is El Chupacabra- see above).
• Kerry Park – the other postcard view of downtown. Just a small little park so you can snap a few pictures and then head down the hill to Toulouse Petit for happy hour.
• Bainbridge Ferry – Take the ferry to Bainbridge Island (35 minutes one-way) from Pier 52 on the Seattle downtown waterfront on Alaskan Way. You can drive on, but I recommend just walking on. I’ve taken this trip many times just for the view and the experience, without even getting off at Bainbridge and just going right back to Seattle. But if you want to explore a bit, follow Google maps to Blue Bird Bakery, it’s walking distance from the ferry terminal on Bainbridge. See this link for the ferry schedule.
• Underground tour – quirky little tour you can do that lets you explore underground passageways that used to be street level and Seattle downtown history. In Pioneer Square downtown (also nearby are the super yummy Cow Chip cookies). The tour guides are what make these tours.
• Wing Luke Museum – amazing little museum with a history of Seattle’s Asian immigrants. Also apart of the museum ticket is entrance to the historical building next door where many families first lived when they arrived. My favorite museum in town.
• Museum of Flight – Seattle is home to Boeing and this is a super interesting museum about everything airplanes – from the history of boeing, to aerospace exhibits, to fascinating exhibits on WWI and II, to the outdoor exhibit that lets you go on actual planes – I think they might rotate, but I’ve been in a Concord, and on a former AirForce One that President Kennedy used.
• Snoqualmie Falls – a little ways outside of Seattle to the east is a fantastic falls where you can do little hikes. A great place for a picnic.
• Skydiving Snohomish – see the Seattle area from the most breath-taking vantage point – from the air! Jake and I did this and it’s one of my top five memories of all time. We chose the dive at sunset and the feeling of freedom free falling out of the plane, coupled with the views of the mountains, city, and Puget Sound at the purply pink hues just after sunset made for an unforgettable experience. I still dream of that night. Skydiving Snohomish is the best in the business.