9 places I recommend
These are the nine restaurants, breakfast places and ice cream shops in Seattle I have eaten at myself and would recommend.
Where a section has more than one place, they are numbered from my favourite downwards. 
marks the ones not to be missed.
Don't forget you can take the map with you
The Seattle institution Peter Canlis opened in 1950, in a building by architect Roland Terry that was designed to feel like a house, up on a hillside above Lake Union at the south end of the Aurora Bridge. It's still owned by the Canlis family three generations later, and it's a three-time James Beard Award winner. In 2020 the brothers closed the dining room and turned it into a bagel shed, a burger drive-thru, and a crab shack rather than shut it down, which is the most Canlis thing they could have done. It was a great experience with really delicious food that wasn't too pretentious. They also have a wonderful wine list, and this is where I had the best American Chardonnay I've ever had: Walter Scott Freedom Hill.
Address: 2576 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
A casual seafood spot in Fremont that Victor Steinbrueck opened in August 2020, known for its rockfish banh mi and crab rolls. He's the grandson of the architect who led the fight to save Pike Place Market (the park there is named after him), and he grew up in the market and started this as a pop-up in its atrium kitchen. One of my top three meals in Seattle. Really satisfying and tasty food.
Address: 401 N 36th St Unit 103, Seattle, WA 98103
A small restaurant on the second floor of the Corner Market Building at Pike Place opened in 1996 in what had been a coffee shop called Counter Intelligence, and its old sign still hangs over the bar. It's been run since 2007 by Dan Bugge, who was a fishmonger in the market downstairs, which shows in the cooking. Arched windows look straight out at the Public Market clock and neon sign. Famous for its deep-fried and breaded fish sandwiches. I tried the catfish sandwich.
Address: 94 Pike St #32, Seattle, WA 98101
A little Piedmontese trattoria on 14th Avenue on Capitol Hill that opened in 2008 as Cascina Spinasse, all about handmade pasta like the tajarin. The Food Network once called its tajarin al ragù one of the five best Italian dishes in America. The bar next door, Artusi, is run by the same people. Really delicious and fresh pasta.
Address: 1531 14th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
Shiro Kashiba's sushi counter is in the courtyard of the Inn at the Market, on the edge of Pike Place Market, which he opened in December 2015. He trained under Jiro Ono in Tokyo for six and a half years and opened Seattle's very first sushi bar back in 1970, so he's something of a local legend, and he's been nominated three times for the James Beard Outstanding Chef award. Amazing omakase experience, and if you have space at the end, you can order a few more of your favourites.
Address: 86 Pine St Ste 1, Seattle, WA 98101
An Oaxacan restaurant on Ballard Avenue that the Dominguez family opened in December 2003, the first in Seattle to cook the food of Oaxaca, with the mole made right there in the open kitchen. Three generations of the family run it, and the head chef is the matriarch, Gloria Perez. Felt like home-cooked food.
Address: 5431 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
A meat-focused restaurant that opened in 2016 in the old Antika furniture store on Greenwood Avenue, from Eric Donnelly and Christy Given of RockCreek, with game like bison and elk on the menu. Delicious food and top-quality meat.
Address: 8421 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
A tiny shop at Pike Place Market that has been making crumpets on the griddle since 1976, around 1,000 of them a day, with loose-leaf tea to go with them. It opened under the name The United Metropolitan Improved Crumpet Baking & Punctual Delivery Company, until customers shortened it for them. Crumpets are one of my all-time favourite things to eat. I actually had an idea of opening a crumpet shop myself, so I was super excited when I came across this place by chance. Great place for a quick snack for breakfast.
Address: 1503 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
The Ballard branch of Salt & Straw, the ice cream shop that cousins Kim and Tyler Malek started from a cart on Alberta Street in Portland in 2011. She cashed in her savings to buy the cart, and he had never made ice cream, so he bought a machine from Goodwill and enrolled in culinary school. Known for unusual flavours alongside the classics.
Address: 5420 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
