Our recent trip to Seattle was our first time traveling to the Pacific Northwest, and while we had just come from Vancouver, we didn’t know what to expect with Seattle.
One big surprise was the similarity between Seattle and Chicago—with the majority of surrounding neighborhoods being more our style than downtown. When researching Seattle, of course places like Pike Place Market and the Space Needle pop up on every site, but the local spots outside of downtown were our absolute favorite.
Here were a few of our favorites, including a couple can’t miss neighborhoods you might not think to visit on a short trip.
General Porpoise Doughnuts
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When planning trips, I try to fit in as many restaurants, bars, activities as possible, so hitting a spot a second time is usually not on the agenda. I made a special exception for this place, heading back the morning we left Seattle to pick up half-a-dozen doughnuts to “share” with my family once we arrived in Montana, our next stop.
Everything from the logo, to the décor, the house-made chai and the mind-blowing custard-filled doughnuts was on point and now I’m dreaming about the vanilla custard doughnut I enjoyed both days. Both General Porpoise and Bar Melusine (next) are located in the Pike-Pine Corridor, which is where our Airbnb was located. It was one of our favorite areas of the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
(Photo Credit: Bar Melusine)
Bar Melusine
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Not surprising, this spot is owned by the same Seattle chef as GP, Renee Erickson, who won the 2016 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest. She also owns The Walrus and the Carpenter, which is a popular oyster spot in Old Ballard, an amazing neighborhood I’ll touch on later.
We stopped in without a reservation, so we opted for two seats at the bar. There are two bar seating options, one at the cocktail bar and the other at the oyster bar—they’re right next to each other so you can’t go wrong. Kevin loves sampling a variety of oysters, so he tried one of each on the menu, almost all of them being Washington oysters. Additionally, we both shared the burger, which was small, but absolutely incredible, and the double-fried frites, which are on my top five best fries list (and I consider myself a fry connoisseur) because of their thickness and mix of crispy exterior and creamy interior. I can’t do them justice here, so just please go to Seattle, so you can try them yourself!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t drink because of antibiotics, but the cocktail menu looked amazing and while I wanted the Salina Cruz, a spicy mezcal and st-germain cocktail, I opted for one of the daily shrubs: lavender lemon. One thing I loved about the PNW was the popularity of shrubs, given I couldn’t drink for 14 days (absurd, I know). Most spots will have a custom shrub, a seltzer-based non-alcoholic beverage, that will feel like you’re drinking a cocktail, without having to embarrassingly order a “mocktail” (shudder).
Ballard Avenue in Old Ballard
I couldn’t pick just one spot, as the entire street is chock-full of beautiful, highly-rated restaurants, bars and breweries. If you’ve ever visited or lived in Chicago, I’d compare it to the Fulton Market District, given the number of places in such a small area and the buzz of people walking around.
While we opted for Bitterroot BBQ, which was great, a few others looked excellent, including a few bars we were too tired to hit—one being closed with a busted water-line, womp. The Sexton, The Gerald and Hazlewood were highly recommended by our bar mates at Bar Melusine—a Seattle couple who lived in Ballard for years. San Fermo was recommended for Italian and of course, two Erickson restaurants, Barnacle and The Walrus and the Carpenter, are also highly touted.
I’d recommend visiting the area on a weeknight (if possible) and walking along the street, checking out menus until something catches your fancy. If you’re a planner like me, I’d recommend doing a little research in advance and have a few favorites picked out; the options were almost overwhelming.
Westward
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Located on the North Shores of Lake Union, Westward was the perfect spot for our first night in Seattle. We arrived an hour before sunset, grabbing dinner inside the dining room and heading out to the Adirondack chairs (which you can reserve while you eat) to enjoy dessert while watching the sunset with the view of the Seattle skyline.
I’m not a huge fish fan, but the Rainbow Trout, which arrived as a whole fish, was delicious. For dessert, we indulged with the Butterscotch Pot De Crème, which ended up being one of my favorite desserts of all time. (I also hope reading this post is making you as hungry as it is making me while writing it.)
This place gets packed fairly quickly, so be sure to make a reservation and once you arrive, put your name in for a couple chairs. Luckily, we had just finished our meal when our chairs became available, but they’ll move you out mid-meal if you’re next on the list.
Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge Island is stunning on its own, but I enjoyed the ferry ride over more than our sailing excursion we had done the previous day. Maybe it’s my obsession with Grey’s Anatomy, but the views from the ferry boat were from a better vantage point.
A few of my favorite spots on the island included Petit & Olson and Salt House Mercantile, two shops where I wanted to buy everything, Pegasus Coffee and Doc’s Marina Grill, an unassuming restaurant with a beautiful back deck surrounded by hydrangeas and views of the marina.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room
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While this one might feel touristy, you can’t get this place confused with the OG Starbucks, which is located downtown near Pike Place Market. Over the years, I’ve leaned towards avoiding Starbucks to support small coffee shops with my $6 latte obsession, so my expectations were pretty low when Kevin requested we make a stop here.
In short, I was blown away by this place. I’m tempted to say it’s the Disney World of Starbucks, with multiple pastry bars, tons of fancy merchandise and a cold brew bar, which was a theme park for grown-ups on its own. The pastries looked straight out of an Italian bakery, with upscale ingredients you’d never find in a basic Starbucks, so we opted to share a prosciutto croissant, which melted in my mouth. Over at the cold brew bar, we did a tasting of two nitro-infused varieties (both served straight and with cream) and then decided to try the Emerald City mule—a cold brew mule which was so surprisingly amazing, I wrote down the ingredients in case I ever felt the urge to spend an absurd time making it myself: cold brew, ginger ale, burnt cinnamon syrup, fresh lemon, finished with an apple slice. Sounds perfect for Fall.
I’d love to hear if you have any other Seattle favorites. There were plenty of other gems we stumbled upon, but these were by far our favorites I’ve already been telling fellow visitors about.