Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

From EL D's intro to SF thread:

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Feel free to mention both well-known top restaurants and little divey places. Mention tourist attractions that are great plus things to do that are off the beaten path.


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Daytime activities:

Seattle is, IMO, the most beatiful city in America and you can enjoy the myriad of killer views at some of our great parks. My personal favorite is Golden Gardens in Ballard. It is a beachfront park on Puget Sound that has a killer west facing view of the Olympic Mountains. Grab some good food and head down there for an amazing sunset picnic in the summer and you will not be disappointed. I also like Discovery Park and Alki beach for their views of the Sound. Discovery also has great walking trails. For swimming and other fresh (warm in the summer) water activities, head to Magnuson Park or Karkeek Park in the North or Seward Park in the South. Hell, just get on your bike, motorcyle or car and drive down Lake Washington Blvd from Madison St to Renton and back, stopping wherever you find a bench that looks inviting.

Ferry rides have been mentioned in the Clarkmeister thread but I will reiterate here. One of my favorite activities is to find a good lunch or breakfast spot somewhere near a ferry landing (Bainbridge, Bremerton, Vashon, Whidbey) and head out there for a meal. The rides themselves are super enjoyable on a sunny day, the meals are great and you get to go out of town without the hassle of driving. The wife and I ride motorcycles, which get first on-first off priveleges on ferries so this is our preferred way. Ferries are linked well with public transportation too.

Food:

I love good food but am not a fine dining guy. So I will stick with my favorite low-mid range places.

Sushi: Maneki in the International District is the oldest sushi joint in Seattle and my favorite. It is probably not the most incredibly tasty (Nishino or a more high priced place like it probably has that honor) but it is a great atmosphere, the staff is great, the pieces are big without being obnoxious and it does taste amazing. Tip: if you go by yourself or with one other person at dinner time, sit in the bar near the front of the house and you can almost always avoid waiting. Honorable mentions: Saito on 2nd Ave, Toyoda in Lake City, Musashi's in Wallingford for a cheaper but still pretty good option.

Generally awesome: Paseo in Fremont for Cuban food that will rock your world. Their 1/2 chicken dinner is my absolute favorite meal in town. $13 cash out the door and it is more than one meal's worth of food. Also renowned for their pork sandwhiches with killer grilled onions.

The Polish House on Capitol Hill opens a restaurant to the public on Friday nights 7-11 PM and Sunday afternoons. You can get great home style Polish dishes (perogies, kielbasa, pork cutlets, tripe soup, etc..) washed down with Polish beer and Bison Grass Vodka. $1 for non-members to join for the day. Just a big hall with tables set up and lots of Poles eating, drinking and being merry. A great experience, IMO.

Cafe Zum Zum and Bakeman's for quick, inexpensive and super yummy food downtown. I hit both these at least once a week for lunch. They are gems of our city. How could you not love a place (Bakeman's) that roasts turkeys every weeknight to make you $3.65 fresh turkey sandwhiches? It is like the day after Thanksgiving all year long. I also cannot recommend enough Mae Phim on 1st and Columbia downtown. I lived in Thailand and I guarantee this is the best and most authentic Thai food in Seattle. Get the Phad Thai or Basil Chicken "Thai style" and you will know what food in Thailand is really about. Everything is $6 and great.

Best breakfasts: Glo's on Capitol Hill, Peso's in Queen Anne (everything is $6 open-11AM weekdays, that includes crab benedict or chicken fried steak and eggs!), Coastal Kitchen on Capitol Hill. All are ridiculously busy on weekends, so best to stay away.

Honorable mentions for generally awesome food: Boat St. Cafe (French), Tamarind Tree (Vietnamese), Other Coast Cafe (Sandwhiches), Agua Verde (Mexican, killer outdoor patio on Lake Washington).

Nightime Activities:

Shorty's combines two of my favorite things: drinking and retro video games, so I cannot recommend it enough. It is on 2nd Avenue in Belltown. You can drink a cheap beer and play Galaga, Robotron, Joust, Ms. Pac Man, (yes some of these are 50c now which totally blows) and others. And they have a whole room of pinball machines. Thankfully most are Bally/Williams as they should be. If you are lucky they will have someone playing good punk rock or old school heavy metal to accopanying your buzz/gaming. If your non-gaming friends make you leave, go to Lava Lounge or The Rendezvous on the same block to continue drinking.

Go to the People's Pub in Ballard for expertly poured BIG cocktails and a good price without any BS prententiousness that surrounds many of the places that actually know how to make a good drink in Seattle. Go to Zig Zag near Pike Place for that type of attitude but also the best cocktail money can buy in Seattle. Go for happy hour and leave before too many yuppies show up. Go to Pike/Pine (Cha Cha, Kingkora, Linda's, Bus Stop) for lousy drinks and hot hipster chicks on cocaine if that is your thing. If you want to see live rock and roll without too much posing, go to The Funhouse near Seattle Center, The Comet on Capitol Hill or somewhere in Georgetown.

Honorable mentions for bars: College Inn Pub in U District, Moon Temple in Wallingford, Pacific Inn in Fremont, Bit Saloon in Ballard, 9 lb. Hammer in Georgetown.

Things I left out because this is already too long: Safeco Field, great arthouse cinema, trips to just outside the city tourist attractions like Snoqualmie Falls.

KJS

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I have a friends in Seattle that I've visited many times. My favorite memories are:

the Rock n Roll history museum (or whatever it's called - big crazy buliding, you can't miss it)

riding on the Monorail while singing the song from the Simpsons

Gas Works Park on a nice day

Bumbershoot on Labor Day

A cute romantic little place called Bleu Bistro on Broadway. Try to get the crow's nest cubby-hole up in the rafters.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I may not be the king of hotspots or nightlife, but I do know beer. Seattle has a whole host of great brewpubs. My personal favorite is the Elysian brewery on Pike in the Capitol Hill area. The pub atmosphere is nothing special, but their beer is absolutely amazing. Some of the best ESB and porter I've ever had.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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I may not be the king of hotspots or nightlife, but I do know beer. Seattle has a whole host of great brewpubs. My personal favorite is the Elysian brewery on Pike in the Capitol Hill area. The pub atmosphere is nothing special, but their beer is absolutely amazing. Some of the best ESB and porter I've ever had.

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Others:

Maritime Pacific's Jolly Rodger Taproom has great beer and really yummy in a "I'm sure these are bad for me" way mini fried oyster sammies at happy hour. They make a good dish of steamed mussels too. Right near the N end of the Ballard Bridge.

Hale's Brewery has a big pub/restaurant on Leary Way in Fremont. I find the food there to be only OK. Pretty standard pub food but too much of it to specialize in anything and do it well. But their Cream Ale on Nitro is amazing, as are some of their other beers.

Pike Place Brewery in the Market makes good beer. I can't speak to the goodness of their food.

And FYI: The Elysian just opened a new place on 1st Ave just S of King St. Certainly to compete with the Pyramid joint that gets nearly all the pre-game business for Safeco field. Same yummy beer but better food than the Capitol Hill location. Went for some delicious crab cakes for lunch last week.

KJS

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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I may not be the king of hotspots or nightlife, but I do know beer. Seattle has a whole host of great brewpubs. My personal favorite is the Elysian brewery on Pike in the Capitol Hill area. The pub atmosphere is nothing special, but their beer is absolutely amazing. Some of the best ESB and porter I've ever had.

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Iirc, Fremont street is a good place to hang for the micro-brews.

I might've missed it, didn't see it mentioned, but Pioneer Square for nightlife.
Along with various other clubs around downtown. Belltown area. (Frontier Room used to be the best drink in Seattle. Order a double and you're losing money)

b

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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the Rock n Roll history museum (or whatever it's called - big crazy buliding, you can't miss it)


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Many on Queen Anne hill wish they could miss it. It looks like a piece of crap. Lore says Godzilla came out of the sound, ate the Kingdome, and crapped out the EMP(experience music project) before he left.

b

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

Ah, you guys just don't appreciate your cutting-edge architecture. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Speaking of, the Seattle Public Library looks pretty awesome.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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And FYI: The Elysian just opened a new place on 1st Ave just S of King St. Certainly to compete with the Pyramid joint that gets nearly all the pre-game business for Safeco field. Same yummy beer but better food than the Capitol Hill location. Went for some delicious crab cakes for lunch last week.

KJS

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Yeah, I was going to comment on both of those. Pyramid might only have mediocre beer, but they sure are kickin' on game day. Now that the Elysian is down that way, I'll be stoked to be able to swing in there before the game.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

For touristy things - the fish ladder at the Ballard Locks is like one of the coolest things in the world, I love it. You have to go when the Salmon are spawning to see them run up it. I believe it's in the fall when they run up it, like Sept/Oct.

Obv. Pike's Place Market is fun to check out if you're in to farmers markets. I like the Alibi Room right around the corner and Chez Shea is right there too.

Tons of great food & beer & music everywhere in Seattle. I haven't lived there in like 6 years so my info is pretty out of date.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

anything especially good for the young hip hop culture? what about clubs?

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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Ah, you guys just don't appreciate your cutting-edge architecture. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Speaking of, the Seattle Public Library looks pretty awesome.

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The library is awesome. It's one of the best free things to do downtown. Just go in and ride the elevators. Give it a few minutes, and you can even get totally lost, which is not a bad thing. Standing in the main hall under all that glass is pretty impressive.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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anything especially good for the young hip hop culture? what about clubs?

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The music scene is definitely dominated by grunge/indie/alt-country type of stuff. There are tons of great places for that stuff like the Croc, Tractor Tavern, etc.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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I may not be the king of hotspots or nightlife, but I do know beer. Seattle has a whole host of great brewpubs. My personal favorite is the Elysian brewery on Pike in the Capitol Hill area. The pub atmosphere is nothing special, but their beer is absolutely amazing. Some of the best ESB and porter I've ever had.

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God, the Elysian brings back memories. I lived a few blocks from there for a few years, and one of my good friend's girlfriend waited tables there. Spent way too many nights there.

I love Seattle. Can't imagine a better place to live (especially if you have money). Only thing I feel like adding at this point is if you are visiting, find a bar (there are many) that serves Mac and Jack's, order it, and enjoy possibly the finest amber ale you will ever taste.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

One other thing, if you are visiting and have a little extra money to spend, I HIGHLY suggest staying at the Edgewater in a city view room. Unparalleled view and super nice rooms.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I'd agree if this was 1968.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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Ah, you guys just don't appreciate your cutting-edge architecture. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Speaking of, the Seattle Public Library looks pretty awesome.

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The library looks cool.

The EMP doesn't. Just because a name guy built it, and it cost alot of money, it's still a cutting edge piece of crap.

b

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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anything especially good for the young hip hop culture? what about clubs?

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Hip hop clubs tend not to stay open very long.

b

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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Ah, you guys just don't appreciate your cutting-edge architecture. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Speaking of, the Seattle Public Library looks pretty awesome.

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The library looks cool.

The EMP doesn't. Just because a name guy built it, and it cost alot of money, it's still a cutting edge piece of crap.

b

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I realize that, hence the [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]. But it is a pretty cool museum if you're into music. At least when I was there.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I like the EMP a lot just as a building.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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I'd agree if this was 1968.

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I don't get this. What post is it in response to?

KJS

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I don't really do anything especially Seattley. I like to play pool at Dr. Cues and donk up 3/6 at Goldie's once in a while.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

"most beautiful city in America" For me it lost this distinction 30 or so years ago. I should not have posted since I don't really care for any cities. Sorry.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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"most beautiful city in America" For me it lost this distinction 30 or so years ago. I should not have posted since I don't really care for any cities. Sorry.

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What surpassed it, then? I agree that Seattle is the most beautiful city I have been to. The mountains (both the cascades and the olympics), Mt. Rainer, the sound. On a clear summer evening, I really don't think there is a better looking and more pleasant city in the US.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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I don't really do anything especially Seattley. I like to play pool at Dr. Cues and donk up 3/6 at Goldie's once in a while.

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Limit at Goldie's consumed a good year of my life. Won the jacks monte carlo the first time I ever played poker (back when quads could actually get above $1000), and it's been all down hill ever since.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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"most beautiful city in America" For me it lost this distinction 30 or so years ago. I should not have posted since I don't really care for any cities. Sorry.

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What surpassed it, then? I agree that Seattle is the most beautiful city I have been to. The mountains (both the cascades and the olympics), Mt. Rainer, the sound. On a clear summer evening, I really don't think there is a better looking and more pleasant city in the US.

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Ed's remembering the World's fair. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

I agree. Rain aside, it is a beautiful city(and surrounding areas). Especially in the summer. It's one place where during the summer there's alot of greenery instead of everything being yellowed and scorched.

I still like California better overall. 9 months of overcast and drizzle sucks. People seem alot friendlier/happier too.

b

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

People are polite to a fault in Seattle. And on the passive-aggressive scale they make Californians look like Philadelphians.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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People are polite to a fault in Seattle. And on the passive-aggressive scale they make Californians look like Philadelphians.

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But there are plenty of transplants here who don't share this flaw, thankfully.

This thread needs more recommendations of cool places.

KJS

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

Is the premium outlet mall just outside of seattle pretty good value? My girlfriend is pretty excited about it and I'm just wondering if it is any good or not.

Also, if someone is visiting for the first time what would be like 5 must do's. They can involve travelling outside of city limits and could probably be anywhere within a few hour radius.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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Is the premium outlet mall just outside of seattle pretty good value? My girlfriend is pretty excited about it and I'm just wondering if it is any good or not.

Also, if someone is visiting for the first time what would be like 5 must do's. They can involve travelling outside of city limits and could probably be anywhere within a few hour radius.

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Definitely. There are outlets to the South and North I believe. One is definitely loads better than the other. I forget which.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

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Is the premium outlet mall just outside of seattle pretty good value? My girlfriend is pretty excited about it and I'm just wondering if it is any good or not.

Also, if someone is visiting for the first time what would be like 5 must do's. They can involve travelling outside of city limits and could probably be anywhere within a few hour radius.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you go to the one North of Seattle, you'll be right next to Tulalip, which is a pretty good cardroom -- you can let the girl shop while you throw dice. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I'm glad you bumped this thread. Two great things about Seattle that previous posters missed:

1) The Stumbling Monk - an unpretentious beer lover's bar in Capitol Hill.

2) 90.3 KEXP FM - a truly original indie radio station for many reasons. They have live streaming of their broadcast at www.kexp.org and you can also listen to any music from the last 2 weeks. They play a lot of new music and many now-famous bands got their big break on KEXP.

I will add that KEXP plays music diverse enough that some shows/music are bound to turn you off, so you can't just listen to the first song that happens to be playing and decide if you'll like the station or not (which is something you CAN do with most stations). Take that for what it is worth.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

Also Red Mill Burgers (www.redmillburgers.com) for one of the ten burgers you must eat before you die.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

[ QUOTE ]
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Is the premium outlet mall just outside of seattle pretty good value? My girlfriend is pretty excited about it and I'm just wondering if it is any good or not.

Also, if someone is visiting for the first time what would be like 5 must do's. They can involve travelling outside of city limits and could probably be anywhere within a few hour radius.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you go to the one North of Seattle, you'll be right next to Tulalip, which is a pretty good cardroom -- you can let the girl shop while you throw dice. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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These are the better outlets. I remember traffic being a bitch, though, so leave a lot of time.

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

I [censored] love kexp. it is the greatest radio station I've ever come across. sooo much good music. I would still be living in the dark ages and only listening to rock if it weren't for this station. If you work at a job where the radio is on all day (construction or whatever), kexp is the only way to keep your sanity.

Red Mill Burgers are amazing. Def the #1 burger in Seattle. However, if you are drunk after the bars close, the Seattle classic, Dick's is superior (and its also open late).

Hempfest is coming on Aug 18-19. The police are traditionally very lax at this event with very few (any?) arrests. The rocks by the water are the choice location to toke it up.

Lastly, Go Mariners!!!!!

Re: Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ah, you guys just don't appreciate your cutting-edge architecture. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Speaking of, the Seattle Public Library looks pretty awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

The library looks cool.

The EMP doesn't. Just because a name guy built it, and it cost alot of money, it's still a cutting edge piece of crap.

b

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I realize that, hence the [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]. But it is a pretty cool museum if you're into music. At least when I was there.

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Went there last year. Liked it. Would probably visit again. The Hendrix exhibit was pretty damn cool - especially since they were doing some kind of feature on Jimi and the Blues.