going there the first week of august. any ideas on what places to check out, nightlife, good restaurants....thanks in advance
1) Lusty Lady. Bring a shitload of quarters. 2) Eat at "Wild Ginger". 3) Spend a day at Pikes Place. Even an Austinite will say "ths place is freaky". 4) rent a car and drive up to Vancouver BC. Have drinks on the deck at Joe Fortes, and dinner at Brix in yaletown, followed up by lapdances at Brandys When you wake up hungover, have dim sum at Pink Pearl. That is all.
nightlife: Belltown...on the north end of downtown not too far from Space Needle. Equivalent of Warehouse District in Austin. Good places for drinks are Amber, Del Rey, Twist in Queen Anne I really like Peso's. Good mexican (not tex-mex) and solid drinks. If you want a karaoke bar that's actually pretty fun, try Ozzie's. For a more Austin-like experience head to Fremont. More laid back and a few places similar to Crown and Anchor (George and Dragon specifically). Red Door is another Fremont place I like Near Lake Union is a good spot for deck drinking. It's called Joey's. Extremely hot waitresses and decent apps/drinks. Kind of reminds me of Ringers w/o as many tv's. Good atmosphere.Right next to Joey's is Bluwater Bistro which is another great deck spot on the water. Do check out Pike's Market. No need to spend a day there but if you're going to be in Seattle you should watch them throw the fish, etc. Vancouver is beautiful and worth a day/night trip. Go check out Mt Rainier I enjoy Ray's Boathouse in Ballard for dinner. Solid seafood and great atmosphere. Matador in Ballard is another solid mexican food spot.
I'm throwing out info on a wide range of calendar dates....don't know how long you'll be here. A few of my fave restaurants: 10 Mercer - Lower Queen Anne - Pac Northwest The Link Andaluca - Mayflower Hotel - Spanish The Link Flying Fish - Belltown - Seafood - The Link Thaiku - Ballard - Thai - The Link Union - Downtown - New American and very, very good. The Link For clubs, check The Stranger The Link or Seattle Weekly The Link. Hard to advise not knowing your tastes, but nightlife here leans more to pubs and intimate music venues than mega dance palaces. The Triple Door The Link near Benaroya Hall and underneath Wild Ginger is very nice. If chasing young tail is on your agenda, Pioneer Square is like fishing a stock pond as is Tini Bigs near Key Arena The Link. The cool thing about Seattle is that almost every neighborhood has it's own dining/drinking district...you don't have to look far to find a bar/club/pub with a crowd Pike Place is a must, if for nothing more than the people watching, although for pure freak value, Capitol Hill is better. In Pike Place, go to the original Starbuck's, go see the fish throwers and score some of those fresh mini-donuts around the corner from the fish guys. Take your camera and do a round trip ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. Go to Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill and take in the sunset view of downtown and Mount Rainier. Go see some Dale Chihuly glass at the Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum or the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Ride to the top of the Space Needle. Go out to Ballard and see the Chittendon Locks The Link, then go to Ray's Boathouse on the water for dinner and the sunset. Drive across the 520 bridge (longest floating bridge in the world) and go to Cactus Restaurant in Kirkland for Happy Hour (trust me). Seafair will be going full blast. Hang out on Lake Washington and watch the Hydroplane Races The Link The boats are a wild scene. Mariners are playing the A's at Safeco on the 4th, 5th, 6th. If you dig soccer, Real Madrid is playing DC United at Qwest Field on the 9th (I think) Seahawks vs. Cowboys at Qwest August 12. If you get to Vancouver, walk the Capilano Suspension Bridge The Link, take the tram to the top of Grouse Mountain The Link for drinks, if you have a car, cruise up to Whistler on the Sea-To-Sky Highway. PM me if you need more.........
Wow, those last 2 posts are pretty solid. If you can't plan a schedule from that, then I don't know how to help. If you like books, Elliott Bay Book Company in Pioneer Square is a good place to spend an hour or 2. My usual schedule when family comes to visit is a ferry ride to Bainbridge (just walk on), eat at Pete's Pizza on Queen Anne with a side trip to Kerry Park, maybe a Mariner's game, a trip to Mt Rainier (go to Paradise on the south side), breakfast at the Pike Place Market (Lowell's is good), a nice dinner at Elliott's down on the waterfront, a stroll across UW's campus and 'The Ave'.... By the way, go find the thread 'Mt. Rainier.' I think it was there a couple weeks ago that Mullets posted an incredible picture from Kerry Park. It's almost as good as seeing it in person.
Get out on the water every chance you get. Ride the ferries and the tour boat on Lake Union, to see the houseboats. Also, the Wooden Boat Museum is on Lake Union. Free.
I also recommend the day trip to Vancouver. Amazing city. Also, do the underground tour in downtown Seattle.
If you like Italian, when you're down at Pike Market find the Pink Door. The only way you will notice it is a pink door in an alley. If you go in the evening they have entertainment.
I met my wife at Kell's. It is not some hokey "Paddie O'Reilly's Irish Pub 'o' Rama" either. It is a real Irish pub, owned by a genuine Mick. Most of the bartenders are FOB Irish guys. Do NOT get in a fight at Kell's. The bartenders delight in coming over the bar and pounding all combatants. They don't try to sort out who started it. They also used to have a jar to contribute to the IRA/Sein Fein. Most of the restaurants referenced above are decent choices. Wild Ginger isn't as good as it used to be, but it is still damn good. I think Dahlia Lounge is worthy of a visit as well. Tremendous Northwest/Pacific Rim food. On the cheap eats side, Ivar's fish and chips is as good as it gets. There are several locations, but the best one is on Lake Union, right below the I-5 bridge. You get your fish at the window and walk it around where you can eat lunch at picnic tables on a barge that is floating on Lake Union. If the weather is good, there will be tons of boats and kayaks coming by. A few geese will try to come up and get you to feed them. Be careful, they are surly and will try to snatch your food when you aren't looking. Shultzy's Sausage on University Way (the Ave) serves excellent home made grilled sausages on a bun. They also have good chili, beer and burgers. I worked there in college. The owner is an outstanding guy, especially considering he is an Oregon Duck. The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field is a pretty awesome attraction too, if you like planes. They have an amazing assortment of military and civillian aircraft on display. I took my son last summer and we both thought it was awesome.
okay, i went over to Pike's Market for a couple of hours. Picked up a couple lobster tails and some shrimp to grill later in the week. I'm staying in Tukwila (about 10 miles south of Seattle).....TRAFFIC SUCKS!! It took me almost two hours to go from my hotel to downtown seattle, (mapquest estimated the distance to take about 20 minutes). Wiill go checkout some of the other places mentioned on this thread later this week.
It goes without saying: avoid rush hour if you can. Did you see the Blue Angels today? They'll be practicing again tomorrow, with the actual shows Sat & Sun for Seafair. Those guys are so badass. We were watching from our office today.
just got back from Seattle (work). Spent part of the afternoon in West Seattle. Went to the overlook where you can see downtown and caught about 20 min of the Blue Angels. Rather ******* cool.
If you can head south of Tacoma to the Gig Harbor area and boat around the Puget Sound it is amazing. That was my Memorial Day.
Yeah, it'll be over Lake Washington. Pretty much where they practiced yesterday (and today again). You can see them from a ways off, so it's not like you need to brave the Lake W crowds to watch, unless you want to hear the narrator guy. If you haven't heard, they shut down I-90 for the shows and practice, so figure that into your plans if you're going anywhere.
Front page photo from the Seattle Times today. That's the Interstate 90 floating bridge he's buzzing.
That is an amazing picture. I have driven on that many times for work. I'll think about that pic the next time I'm cruising across.
I'm going in September the weekend of tOSU game, for a firm retreat We are staying in Woodinville, which is on the NE side, near Redmond. Any additional suggestions for this area? Thanks.
The Herb Farm serves fabulous 9 course dinners and is now in Woodinville I think. I have only been there when it was actually located at the Herb Farm, but the building burned down so that had to move. I have not been since it moved, but bet it is still good. At the old location, you needed to get a reservation 3 months in advance. I do not know whether it may be easier at the new location. I also think that it is right next to the Red Hook brewery.
last night i went out for a bit.....1st street ain't that bad...most places have a cover but the place was pretty good, went to some spot called AMBER but the bar i like the most was Belltown Billiards, especially the girls dancing on stage in their underwear.........went back to pike's market and ordered some snowcrab to be shipped to my dad in san antonio, and ate dinner at the Crab Pot, the food was alright but the service was ******......also went to the Mariner/A's game, the view of downtown was badass, i wish i had a pic to post but i left my camera in the hotel, oh yeah, i got to see the legacy Huston Street go in and pick up his 24th save.....overall it was good week in seattle, once again thanks to all who gave tips on what to visit and see.......one more thing, we hit up the Lusty Lady but only for a bit, we had to meet other people elsewhere.
Mack Tripper: While I haven't been, I have heard very good things about the Barking Frog from people I know. Citysearch Capsule But, whatever you do, do not go to the Texas Smokehouse BBQ in Woodinville.