Seattle: Your favorite things to do or places to go

[KJS]

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