Seattle recommendations

[jane6672]

I’m traveling to Seattle soon for work, staying downtown.

I tacked on a couple extra days for myself, staying in Columbia City (convenient to a friend I want to visit).

First time!
Recommendations for FOOD, more food, favorite coffee shops, and shopping (especially thrift stores, bookstores), appreciated!

[AdaraMarie]

I have no advice but I'm glad you posted this. I decided last night to take a solo trip to Seattle and would love recs too.

[sugarbear1]

Well my favorite bookstore, Third Place Books, has an awesome cafe and coffee shop attached. There are a few around town but the best, IMO, is the Ravenna location. I'm not a great source for restaurants in that area, other than the Corson Building, which is an amazing (and $$) dining experience. 

There's a great consignment shop in Madrona... I'll find the name after school today.

[7costanza]

If you want to combine a bit of sightseeing with shopping, you can walk on the ferry, there’s a cute little town just up the hill from the ferry terminal on Bainbridge Island (Winslow) with a small bookstore and other local shops and I’m sure coffee shops (as they’re everywhere here, lol.) I recommend the ferry to all visitors, it’s cheap and the views are beautiful!

[smock]

Ditto the recommendations for the Bainbridge Island ferry and Third Place Books! But from Columbia City, it should be much easier to hit up the Seward Park location of Third Place Books. And speaking of that, check out Seward Park, which has gorgeous views of Mt. Rainier (on a clear day) and Lake Washington. In Columbia City, Marination is a popular restaurant.

Seattle is very much a city of neighborhoods, so if you're taking light rail, you can consider exploring Capitol Hill (lots of restaurants, bars, nightlight) or the U District (UW campus is gorgeous). Also lots of thrift stores and bookstores in both neighborhoods. Also, head to the International District for amazing food.

[jane6672]

smock 7costanza I love ferries for easy and inexpensive sight-seeing, I will definitely check that out!

[InBetweenDays]

It's not the easiest to get to from Columbia City but Fremont has a great vintage mall. Plus some amazing restaurants and you can visit the iconic Fremont troll.

[picksthemusic]

If you've never done the touristy stuff in downtown, go to Pike Place Market, visit the Space Needle and perhaps the Science Center if you have time. The area around the Needle is nice and fun to walk. You can check to see if anything is going on as they often have festivals and stuff. I'd skip EMP unless there's something there you are interested in seeing. It's a cool building, though!

My brother and his family used to live in Columbia City, but I haven't been there in a while since they moved a couple of years ago. It's pretty gentrified (they lived there over 10 years and it's changed drastically from what it was back then), but there are some good bakeries and restaurants there. I can't remember which, though, so forgive me.

I would make sure to bring a rain jacket with a hood in case the weather isn't great. Hope you have fun!

ETA: Any Tom Douglas restaurant is going to be amazing. My favorites are Lola (Greek-inspired, brunchy), Seatown (cafeteria-style fish fry seafood stuff), Serious Pie (pizza/flatbread), and Dahlia Bakery for some sweet goodies. He pays his staff a living wage, and they have great customer service (usually, haha) on top of great food.

Also in Pike Place, go to Beecher's and watch some cheese be made and have the mac and cheese. Piroshky Piroshky is great, too, and there are lots of cool food vendors. The mini doughnuts are great.

[ellipses84]

Downtown is pretty walkable and anything that isn’t can be connected by the Monorail from the top level of Westlake Center (a mall which is walkable to Pike Place/ Waterfront) to Seattle Center (Space Needle area). If it’s your first time I feel like you need to go so the touristy stuff, at least stand in front of the space needle and get lost exploring Pike Place. Even though it’s touristy, Pike Place, Post Alley and the waterfront piers below have tons of cool little shops. The first ever Starbucks is across the street from the top level of Pike Place although there’s usually a huge line to say you’ve been and get a Seattle themed mug. You can get a quick/cheap Mac n cheese at Beechers a few doors down. The Gum Wall is absolutely disgusting but worth a walk through (down the hill to the left if you are facing the Pike Place sign - take your own gum to leave your mark). My BFF works near there and goes to The Pink Door and Le Panier often. There’s an old Kell’s Irish Pub in Post Alley. There’s so many amazing coffee shops in Seattle so I like to go for atmosphere. I haven’t been but Storyville Coffee looks cool. Basically, stop at every cute coffee shop.

I used to live in lower Queen Anne which is by Seattle Center, but I’m not really up to date on great restaurants and we usually end up at kid friendly places in random neighborhoods. We used to go to 5 Spot (diner in upper Queen Anne), McMenamins (PNW pub although there are way cooler McMenamins locations) and Dick’s Drive In (classic Seattle fast food). There’s lots of other great restaurants along Queen Anne Ave. Kerry Park is halfway up the hill and has great views of the city. My BFF lives near Greenlake (near Ballard and Fremont Troll) which are cool areas too.

For where you will be, it might be more difficult to venture north of Seattle Center unless you are with your friend and a car. You’ll be closer to the International District, Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill. There’s so many amazing Asian food options, from fast food Teriyaki to Sushi to Dim Sum to more fancy and fusion sit down restaurants. Lots of great Seafood too but I don’t eat it, so I can’t rec anything aside from Anthony’s being a local chain with waterfront views.

I used to do my vintage shopping around UW. I personally love the Seattle Underground tour which starts at Pioneer square, south of Pike Place Market. That’s the historic area and there’s lots of good little bars there. There’s a used bookstore in Capitol Hill (and Ballard I think) called Twice Sold Tales with store cats.

I love Bainbridge Island which you could get to by ferry and I highly rec Pegasus Coffee House and one of the waterfront restaurants for a meal. It’s a drive, but there’s a cute little Scandinavian town called Poulsbo with lots of cute shops and a bakery next to Bainbridge.