What is the Best Food In Seattle?
Seattle is a blessing for all those looking for cultural and natural gems that this American city hides and preserves. Situated on Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, this metropolis is surrounded by a trove of natural treasures, such as thick, evergreen forests, towering mountain peaks and trails and water bodies. The city itself is endowed with acres and acres of parkland that attract people from all over America, be it couples looking for a retreat or families looking for a vacation in the “Emerald City”. We have a couple great articles about Seattle, that are not focused exclusively on discovering the best food in Seattle. Rather, those articles are about finding great day trips from Seattle and if you’re pressed for time, you can click here to discover how you can conquer Seattle in one day. Both are recommended for you to read and enjoy.
What is Seattle Known For?
Seattle is Washington’s largest city and is a central hub of America’s buzzing and booming tech industry. The skyline of this splendid metropolis is lit up at night with numerous high-rise skyscrapers including Seattle’s own iconic and breathtaking futuristic Space Needle which dominates the cityscape since 1962’s World’s Fair. The city of Seattle is situated in a neck between the iconic Elliot Bay and the stunning Lake Washington and is home to more than 600,000 people being the largest urban center in the state of Washington.
Among other icons such as landmarks and its brilliant natural environment offering families and friends’ trips for hiking and exploration opportunities for backpackers and tourists, the city is home to some the most scrumptious delicacies that will surely blow your mind. To hype you up and inspire your next trip to Seattle, we have put together a list of the 3 quintessential foods from the city that are crafted with love and the local tastes and flavors of the city will make you fall in love with the city and with the luscious and sumptuous food options available.
Food Scene in Seattle
Seattle is a city that is famed for its rich and well-established food scene and is blessed with plenty of great and iconic cafes, restaurants and outdoor food stands offering the finest and most delicious food from this side of America. From great coffee to the most unique and tasteful Seattle-style hot dogs, there is something for you to indulge in and make the most of your time in this wonderful city.
The home of Starbucks, Seattle’s coffee scene is a strong cultural experience which complements its other iconic food offerings which are sure to make any foodie fall in love with the many rich and finger-licking good snacks and cuisine. Expect to be greeted by coffee shops and restaurants offering the finest seafood in any street of Seattle as this city boasts its wonderful collection of spots for foodies to relish and enjoy.
Visit the Pike Place Market also known as Seattle’s Farmer’s Market which ever since opening its doors in 1907 greets thousands of tourists each year from America and beyond looking to visit the hub of finest produce and dairy, fresh and handpicked from producers. Seafood lovers can also have their field day every day as they wander and explore Seattle’s live fish stalls offering and selling freshly caught fish from the Pacific Ocean right to your stomach. These varieties include the finest Salmon, Oysters, Squid, Halibut and other diverse and different forms.
If you are a fish lover, Seattle has four fish stalls that sell fresh fish from the Pacific Ocean. The stalls offer all types of aquatic fish including oysters, squid, salmon, and halibut. From enduring and delicious Teriyaki to the most scrumptious delicacies in all flavors, forms and colors of chocolate, Seattle is a dreamland for any foodie looking for a place to treat their taste buds with the city’s unique gastronomical offerings. Relish and revel in the delight of local-produced meat, fruits and vegetables and roadside stall-made iconic Seattle-style hot dogs or enjoy a night of fine dining as you devour different types of Sushi and sashimi, there is something for everyone to fall in love and lose their breath away. At the shoreline of the largest ocean in the world, the Pacific Ocean, this grand and beautiful city will have enough to make sure you keep returning for more of the many scrumptious and delectable offerings it has to bless you with. From Ivar’s on the shores of Lake Union, to the characteristic and iconic original Starbucks, there is everything you need here in one city. That being said, look through our picks of the top three foods that Seattle has to offer.
1. Seafood
The crown jewel of the food offerings that the city of Seattle has to offer, is its amazing and inimitable seafood, which is both the most tasty and fresh in numerous port-side restaurants or cafes. Take an eventful trip down to the docks to fish or get some fish from one of the many guys who sell fish after catching, there is a little something for everyone to try. Apart from these two options, numerous restaurants in Seattle offer the most delicious fish and sea food ranging from shrimps to lobsters and crabs freshly caught and served in the most scrumptious of spices and flavors.
Get a taste of the city’s specialties in oysters, fine sushi and sashimi and chowder that will have you falling in love with the city’s flavors and traditional tastes and seasonings. Although famed in particular for its stunning and scrumptious Salmon, chowder in Seattle is also served to perfection to foodies from all over the city and the country. One of the top places offering the best of Seattle’s chowder and sea food is the Pike Place Chowder Seattle, serving one of the finest chowders. This place has also been one of the only places outside of New England to win the Great Chowder Cook-Off in Newport in Rhode Island numerous times.
Another stunning option for seafood in Belltown which offers the finest sea food in Seattle is the No Anchor bar and restaurant. One of Seattle’s top breweries, the No Anchor is an icon in the city which offers not only the finest eclectic seafood but also offers different types of beers for you to sip on and have the time of your life with your friends or significant other as you indulge in the many options this place offers for you to get a taste of the city’s memorable sea food scene. The case for Seattle’s splendid Oysters is also one that is strong. In one of the city’s most iconic and splendid bars, the Walrus and the Carpenter, you will be able to indulge and enjoy the sheer delights of the most precious food pulled straight from the waters of the Pacific Ocean which offers one of the most flavorful delights — the oyster.
From the perfect consistencies to flavors and a stunning backdrop to enjoy the best of Seattle’s food in this magical little corner, you will be making memories devouring your seafood specialties.
Another spot to have the best of the city’s shellfish and Dungeness crab, is at the Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar. Indulge in the rich flavors of oversized bright red crustaceans which are the best that the scrumptious sea food of Northwest America has to offer. Seattle provides you with the fine opportunities to enjoy the rich and tantalizing flavors of cooked, chilled, cracked crabs, made to perfection from the hands of experienced farmers and chefs. Those who have a taste for sushi, can also indulge and consume the city’s finest collection of salmon nigiri. At Maneki or other places and sushi spots in the International District you will have the ability to enjoy first-hand the city’s famed desirable sushi and sashimi. At Maneki, the city’s old-school restaurant enjoys the finesse of giant orange nigiri in rice coatings and coverings. Old-school sushi can also be enjoyed at Taylor Shellfish which offers the best chilled seafood and wasabi flavors in a perfect and exciting oyster bar setting.
2. Seattle Dog
Every city in the United States is blessed with their own characteristic and iconic version of the hot dog. Seattle’s version of the hot dog is also one that gives off the best flavors and vibes of the tasteful climate of Emerald City’s gastronomical culture and food scene. Widely available locally at food stalls on almost every street and square, the Seattle Dog is a delight to consume and a must for all those visiting Seattle and looking to indulge in the finest and most tasty treats that the city has to offer. Best of all, the Seattle Dog can be found widely and at a cheap price. If you’re a meat-eater, then you absolutely have to make it a mission to find one of the best hot dogs in Seattle!
What to expect when indulging in this great street delicacy? When trying it for the first time, you should look forward to enjoying a well-cooked dog mixed and meshed with grilled frankfurter or polish sausage and cut and stuffed in a crispy roll of luscious creamy cheese, grilled onions and sometimes even pickles dressing on the top. Seattle’s very own cream cheese dog is one that is a heavenly mix and comes with extra delicious cream cheese toppings to make sure you are left drooling right in front of the hot-dog stand. Head out as soon as you reach Seattle to your nearest hot dog stand offering the most scrumptious and delicious hot dogs.
Local rumors and culinary legends claim that the Seattle Dog came into being in the late 80’s as a quick and affordable snack for those looking for some elite night-time food and became memorialized soon after into Seattle’s food culture. The most original and worthy tastes of the Seattle Dog can only be experienced from one of the city’s many hot dogs stands and after-hours carts, and trying one out is only rite of passage. Another place which offers an interesting and unique take on the Seattle Dog and perhaps even an extravagant version of the dog, is the hot dog served in the Amazon Spheres bar in the city. This version of the dog offers the most delicious and scrumptious hot dogs topped with pickled jalapenos and grilled red crispy onions and salmon caviar. To taste the flavors of a rich and requisite cream cheese is to have different flavors meld and marry in your mouth and offer you the best cultural connection to Seattle’s food scene.
Spread on a well toasted and warm bun, the cream cheese coupled with the ultimate juicy caramelized onions proves to be a sweet and salty mix to tantalize your taste buds. Add a smear of hot sauce and you will be dying with the number of flavors mixing and melding inside your own mouth. Seattle’s iconic hot dogs and sausages slathered with cream cheese and crisp onion slices offers the finest and most local flavor that you can experience and preserve in your foodie memories.
3. Teriyaki
Seattle is a hub for teriyaki joints offering the finest flavors and tastes and unique mix of takes on the traditional dishes. Teriyaki today has become a fast-food phenomenon in Seattle and joints keep growing and popping up in neighborhoods within the city. A mammoth influx of Asian immigrants in the city especially Koreans in the 80s and 90s led to interest in this dish increasing massively. Koreans are known to have popularized and immortalized Teriyaki experimental takes within the gastronomy of modern Seattle and its thriving Teriyaki food scene.
Experimenting with different flavorful sauces, spices and Korean flavors, Teriyaki is served in different places within the city and loved by people in Seattle and those visiting from other parts of the country. One of the top places in the city which specializes in such comfort food is Toshi’s Teriyaki Grill in the Mill Creek area of Seattle city. This incredible Teriyaki place opened its doors in 1976 and offers the most iconic and delicious offerings in the Lower Queen Anne localities, and has been doing so ever since the original owner, Toshi Kashara, opened the first joint. Hands down, this place offers some of the best food in Seattle.
Toshi’s is now a well-renowned Teriyaki place in modern Seattle and is spread across the city with numerous outlets serving the same unique mix of Chicken Teriyaki. On lucky days, you might even find the master of Teriyaki, Mr. Toshi Kashara himself grilling and toasting tender Teriyaki thighs and topping it over with his secret sauces and mixes to make the real flavors of the juicy and tender meat ooze out. Teriyaki is usually served with a mound of rice and coleslaw to make sure that your appetite is filled, and all your Teriyaki desires fulfilled.
What are other iconic food places where Seattle locals eat?
Seattle is a mix of many different and diverse neighborhoods with each offering some great culinary delicacies to revel and enjoy during lunch, dinner or any odd hunger hour. Most of the neighborhoods on the outskirts are famed for their seafood restaurants and thriving and buzzing bar and dining scenes at night. Places such as the Pike Place Market and Space Needle are the most central and also the most populated spots in Seattle, almost always swarming with locals and hordes of tourists looking for the finest and most fresh produce and dairy options in Seattle. Most days such suburbs are overflowing with traffic and tourists and it is best to avoid such places during rush hours.
Many iconic Asian restaurants in Seattle offering the finest and most authentic food, are located in the splendid International District which offers great food options and flavors from all over the world. Fremont and Ballard are also popular areas that offer great culinary options. West Seattle is also home to a number of fine dining places and great restaurants that offer not just finger-licking and scrumptious mains but are also complemented by gorgeous views of the natural allure of the city.
Although the West Seattle area is quite a bit of a trek from the main center and hub of Seattle, plenty of restaurants are located in the West Seattle area. Such establishments include the iconic Marination Mai Kai and Ma’ono, offering splendid food options with the latter’s fried chicken being popular among tourists and locals. Heading out to South Seattle you will be greeted with a number of local favorites such as Island Soul which offers splendid Caribbean and soul food and Homer restaurant which is known to offer great Mediterranean options. There are also numerous coffee shops offering a great caffeine fix to get you moving and grooving for the day.
Conclusion
The splendid city of Seattle is known to be a hub of delicious and finger-licking delights that make sure that every visitor to the city leaves enthralled and wanting for more of the same unique flavors and tantalizing tastes of the city’s many dishes and cuisine. The city’s iconic setting against the backdrop of natural surroundings and multicultural spirit is reflected in the variety of foods and cuisines available in different areas of the city.
From rich and scrumptious Teriyaki with authentic tastes and textures, to the iconic Seattle Dog with its creamy and caramelized ingredients, there is plenty here to discover, experiment and tantalize your taste buds with. To top it all off, the city is also home to the most fresh and delectable sea food varieties, from oysters to crustaceans, there is a list of foods you must try on your next adventure.
