Top Seattle Foods You Must Try!
Looking for the Top Seattle Foods to try when visiting? Take a look at this post on my favorite food experiences in Seattle. This city is known for locally sourced, farm-to-table food and fresh brewed coffee. It is also known for delectable wines made from nearby vineyards in the Pacific Northwest region. In no particular order, check out my list of Top Seattle Foods!
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Smoked Salmon – Pike Place Fish Company
Of course the famous Pike Place Fish Company is #1 for Top Seattle Foods! Located in Seattle’s Pike Place Market since 1930, Pike Place Fish Market has endured as the local favorite for fresh, wild, premium Pacific seafood. In 1986, longtime owner John Yokoyama and his crew made a commitment to become “World Famous.” By sourcing the highest quality seafood, providing excellent customer service, and committing to making a difference in their community, they have succeeded. Now, internationally esteemed for its fresh seafood and in-person “fish throwing,” Pike Place Fish Market passionately stands by its pillars of excellence, committed to providing you with the world’s best seafood no matter where you are in the US.
Here, you can sample fresh smoked salmon – delicious! The fishermen and staff were all friendly and easy going. They didn’t mind cameras as they were conducting routine business of selling fish.
Pike Place Market Tour – fish throwing Video!
CHECK OUT MY FULL PIKE PLACE MARKET TOUR REVIEW!
Marionberry Greek Yogurt – Ellenos
Known as “The Yogurt that Makes Ice Cream Jealous,” Ellenos serves authentic Greek yogurt. This was one of the stops on my Pike Place Market tour. We sampled the Marionberry. The marionberry is a cultivar of blackberry developed by the USDA ARS breeding program in cooperation with Oregon State University. It’s the most common form of blackberry cultivated. Because they were bred more for flavor than durability, these berries don’t travel well outside the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, marionberries aren’t grown outside of the Pacific Northwest because it’s one of the few regions in the world that specializes in this type of berry harvesting and processing.
Not interested in trying Marionberry? Additional flavors include: coconut cream pie, lemon curd, mango, passion fruit, vanilla bean, apple crisp, and brownie batter.
Raspberry Bar – Three Girls Bakery
Another one of our stops along the Pike Place Market Food tour was Three Girls Bakery. The reason for the name: this is the first business licensed to women in the city of Seattle! Founded in 1912,Three Girls Bakery is the oldest continuously operating business in the Historic Pike Place Market. Here you can enjoy various sweet & savory items of bread like pastries and desserts. We sampled a raspberry crumble. Even though it was a sample size, it was very rich. They sold both sweet and savory bread options.
Branzino Style Fish – The Pink Door
If you’re heading to Seattle and frequent TripAdvisor, I’m sure you’ve heard of The Pink Door. At the time of this post, it’s currently ranked #3 on Seattle’s TripAdvisor. This Italian restaurant is perfectly located in the quaint Post Alley in the heart of Pike Place Market. After resting up at the hotel after a full day of touring, it was the perfect restaurant to unwind. The ambiance is warm and cozy, the food is delicious. I split the Salumi Platter with my other two friends. It included soppresata, prosciutto, salami nostrano, farmer’s cheese, tomato jam, gnocco fritto. After the appetizer, I enjoyed “Branzino Style” whole white fish of the day served with green sauce (amazing!) and cranberry beans. Washed it down with an Aperol Spritz! Try out The Pink Door for your next trip to Seattle – you won’t regret it. Bon Appétit!
Honest Biscuits & Beecher’s Handmade Cheese
The biscuits made by Honest Biscuits are heavenly. The team here bakes their biscuits fresh each workday. They’re made from local ingredients, the primary ingredient being Washington’s Shepherd’s Grain flour. This is the same premium quality, sustainably grown flour used in some of the best local bakeries.
Taking it to the next level, they add other local ingredients such as Theo Chocolate, Beecher’s Cheese, Bavarian Meat’s Bacon, and local fruit for uniquely flavored biscuits. Beecher’s Handmade Cheese is actually across the street and from what I hear… delicious! May be worth a stop for some of their famous macaroni & cheese.
Cinnamon Orange Tea – MarketSpice
After spending some time in the chilly gray outdoors, what better way to warm up than with hot tea? Head to MarketSpice within Pike Place Market and sample their tea of the day. I sampled their Cinnamon-Orange tea. In addition to teas and coffee beans, MarketSpice also sells (you guessed it!) spices! From Hawaiian black lava salt to French herb de Provence, you can find many options.
Mussels and Fish & Chips – The Crab Pot
Any trip to Seattle isn’t complete without a stop at Pier 57 known as Miner’s Landing. Here, you can ride The Seattle Great Wheel for great views of the city and munch on some delicious seafood. There are a number of restaurants here including The Fisherman’s Restaurant & Bar, The Crab Pot, Elliott’s Oyster House, Alaskan Sourdough Bakery. After searching through reviews, I decided to go with The Crab Pot! You can enjoy no fuss seafood dishes like:
- Wild Alaskan Salmon Steak
- Prawn Skewers
- Fish & Chips
- Dungeness and Snow Crab
- Shrimp
- Lobster
- Pacific Mussels
My friends and I decided to split the Sourdough Loaf & Butter, Fish & Chips, and Mussels. It was all delicious!
Cherries – Chukar Cherries
After enjoying our taco, walk past Sosio’s Produce selling various fruits and veggies. Sosio’s is located right in the center of the Market. Immediately north of Lowell’s Restaurant and right next to Chukar Cherries. They offer high quality fruit and produce from all over the world. They deal with independent local farms for seasonal items. So getting a good field of the local produce, we were able to sample Chukar Cherries. These cherries are grown in Washington state. We sampled their award-winning chocolate cherries, no sugar added dried cherries, and a few other goodies. While sampling cherries, we took in some views of the pier. For inspiration how to use their cherries, check out recipes here!
Tacos – Los Agaves
Tacos might not be the first thing that comes to mind when discussing Top Seattle Foods! But I must say, tacos at Los Agaves was the real deal. After spending 4 nights in Mexico City, I can confirm these tasted authentic! I enjoyed the taco al pastor. Nearby Los Agaves is a market selling fresh fruits and veggies. The market there was even reminiscent of the Coyoacan Market in Mexico City (just much smaller).
Chocolate – Indi Chocolate
Indi Chocolate works directly with cacao farmers around the world to provide a higher income to farmers. Cacao farmers at the country of origin grow cacao interspersed with hardwood trees, medicinal plants and crops that provide food for the families. Plants on their farms include plantains, corn, pineapple, guava, yucca and so much more. The biodiversity of the farms provide nutrient rich soil that contribute to the flavor of the cacao itself and provides a sustainable method of growing cacao. Indi Chocolate use that same cacao to make our spice rubs, teas, mixology kits and more.
They source cacao beans directly from farmers and cooperatives to make small batch, single origin, dark chocolate. They make a wide range of cacao based products including teas, spice rubs, mixology kits and body care products made from cocoa butter. Indi Chocolate is also great for coffee lovers! They serve specialty coffee drinks in their café in addition to single origin drinking chocolate.
Smoked Salmon Scramble & Doughnuts – Lola
Staying at Hotel Andra, it was convenient to grab breakfast one morning at the onsite restaurant Lola. I highly recommend the made to order doughnuts made with vanilla mascarpone and house made jam made from the nearby Dahlia Bakery. I also recommend the smoked salmon scramble with toast and garlic fried potatoes. The smoked salmon scramble included goat cheese and chives. Wash it down with some mimosas of course!
Coffee & Salmon Cream Cheese Croissant – Starbucks
The Top Seattle Foods blog post has to include Starbucks, given that Seattle is where this famous caffeine supplier got its start. While you will be spoiled for choice when selecting coffee in Seattle, the Seattle Reserve Roastery is a nice ambiance and offers different pastries and sandwiches if you need a little something more than just coffee. Try the salmon and cream cheese croissant – delicious! Plus, when you think of Seattle, Starbucks is one of the first things that come to mind. It’s a tradition.
Blistered Shishito Peppers – Black Bottle Gastrotavern
Located in the upscale Bellevue neighborhood of Seattle, you’ll find the Black Bottle Gastrotavern. This 21+ minimum age restaurant had a nice atmosphere. It had a hipster vibe to it, and the service was fantastic. This probably isn’t one of the more obvious Seattle Top Foods, but I wanted to mention it if you were looking for a restaurant that offered a little something different. Shishito peppers are a Japanese heirloom pepper variety with a crisp fruity sweet pepper flavor and just a tiny hint of heat. Brings out the smokiness when you cook them! These locally-grown blistered shishito peppers were made with simple oil and sea salt.
Grilled Halloumi Cheese & Pepper Sauté – Black Bottle Gastrotavern
This restaurant has unfussy dishes that are built to be shared and change up seasonally from a deep bench of cherished recipes, old and new. In the same manner you’d enjoy tapas (sampling family style) is the same way I recommend you try different dishes here. They offer a variety of fish, veggie, and meat dishes. This dish includes Halloumi cheese (a squeaky fryable cheese from Cyprus) with a madeira wine sauce. After trying the halloumi cheese, I also sampled Malbec demi-glazed Pacific Northwest Beef Short Ribs with new potatoes. Everything here was delicious. My only caveat here is that the portions here are small, so this restaurant isn’t recommended if you’re starving.
Cioppino 54 – Ivar’s Acres of Clams
Pier 54 is a tourist pier in Seattle. Located on the famous Alaskan Way. Pier 54 was known as Pier 3 until it was renumbered during World War II. Today on this pier, you will find waterfront restaurants, shops, and attractions. The most famous attractions here include Ivar’s Acres of Clams and Ivar’s Fish Bar, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Simply Seattle (one-stop shop for Seattle sports apparel), Premier Meat Pies, and Argosy Cruises. I chose to eat at Ivar’s Acres of Clams because of their long-standing history and reputation.
Overlooking Elliott Bay, Ivar’s looked like the perfect spot to enjoy seafood. To satisfy your craving for Northwest seafood, their chefs created award-winning preparations to reflect the season’s bounty. Yet they still showcase Ivar Haglund’s world-famous original recipes. Choose from wild Alaska salmon, deep-water halibut, Alaska King crab, and Dungeness crab, to name a few. I went with the Pier 54 Cioppino. It consisted of salmon, halibut, cod, prawns, clams, mussels, and bread. Could’ve used more flavor (tasted watered down a little). But I’d give it an 8/10.
Local Wine – Argosy Cruises (Around Puget Sound)
Oregon and Washington are home to some of the best wineries in the Pacific Northwest. There are micro producers making as little as ~100 bottles of wine to large, globally-recognized wine brands producing 8 million cases a year (SOURCE). That’s a lot of wine. You can find wine at any of the restaurants and bars.
For me, I booked a Puget Sound Cruise with Argosy Cruises and sampled some local red wine (pictured below). The cruise offered local brands like Ryan Patrick – Redhead Red (Columbia Valley, Washington) and Canoe Ridge Vineyard (Washington state based).
CHECK OUT MY PUGET SOUND CRUISE REVIEW HERE!
Fried Cheese Curds & BLT – Capitol Cider
Next on this Top Seattle Foods blog post is Capitol Cider, located on Capitol Hill! Capitol Hill is a nice residential area that has a community feel and very much a popular area with the LGBTQ+ population. I enjoyed walking around this area and looking at the eclectic shops. Capitol Cider is a gluten-free scratch kitchen with over 200 tap and bottled ciders. I really enjoyed D’s Wicked Baked Apple cider. Off-dry with a hint of spice, Baked Apple hosts the flavors of Red Delicious and Honey Crisp apples, finishing with a perfect touch of cinnamon. All of D’s Wicked ciders are locally crafted in Washington state.
After washing down a cider, it was time to enjoy dinner! I recommend starting with the fried cheese curds that come paired with savory apple butter and finishing with a BLT. The atmosphere here is very loud (typical bar experience) but fun. Our server was so friendly. She didn’t write a thing down but got all of our orders right – very good at what she does!
Salmon & Macaroni and Cheese – Currant Bistro
Because I can never get enough salmon in Seattle, here’s another one for the list of Top Seattle Foods. Currant Bistro is a cozy restaurant located inside of The Sound Hotel. They offer fresh and regionally sourced menu items. They pride themselves in simple and approachable dishes paired with Seattle’s best craft beer and Washington wines. I ordered the pan-seared Atlantic salmon and broccoli – substituted the fingerling potatoes with their macaroni and cheese. Their macaroni and cheese contains the local Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.
Overall, my first time in Seattle was a delicious one! I hope you enjoyed this post and find it helpful. Planning your trip to Seattle? Email me at cassandra@accent-on-travel.net. I’m happy to help you plan your trip at no cost to you.
