Here is the short version: come hungry for salmon, crab, oysters and chowder, start each morning with a proper espresso, save room for teriyaki and fish and chips, and do not leave town without a Seattle Dog or a Dick's order. Read on to find where each one shines.
Wild Salmon, the Northwest Signature
Start your salmon hunt at Pike Place Fish Market, the stall famous for tossing fish, which sells wild Alaskan salmon including king salmon fillets and alderwood-smoked sockeye, and ships seafood overnight anywhere in the country if you want to take some home. For a plated version, browse the salmon picks in our Seattle seafood guide.
To see the fish in the wild, head to the Ballard Locks, where windows in the fish ladder let you watch salmon swim upstream; viewing peaks from about early July to mid-August.
Chowder, the Unofficial City Soup
Chowder is the dish visitors ask about most, and a warm bowl feels especially welcome in the cooler, damper months. Seattle cooks treat it as a canvas, so expect classic versions served right alongside some genuinely playful ones.
Award-Winning Bowls at Pike Place
Head inside Pike Place Market and look for Pike Place Chowder, the name to know. Chef Larry Mellum's New England-style white clam chowder won the Great Chowder Cook-Off three years running, earning a spot in the event's hall of fame and retiring it from competition for a decade. Order it in a bread bowl, or branch out to a tomato-based Manhattan style or a lime and coconut version.
While you are in the market, stop at The Pike Pub from Pike Brewing Company for a Dungeness crab chowder with a gentle warmth of spice. The kitchen cooks it with Pike Place Ale, brewed in the same building, so a pint on the side is the natural pairing.
Waterfront Classics and Creative Twists
Settle in at Ivar's Acres of Clams, which has served the waterfront with views across Elliott Bay since 1938. Browse the photo history on the walls, which celebrates founder Ivar Haglund, a famously entertaining local figure, then dig into the signature bacon-infused clam chowder. Shrimp and halibut or smoked salmon and corn versions make tasty alternatives.
Duke's Seafood, with several locations, ladles out its own prize-winning New England style plus spins like a lobster chowder touched with Pernod. For something truly local, head to White Swan Public House on Lake Union, where crisp fries come topped with thick seafood chowder, bacon, scallions and steamed clams. This Northwest riff on poutine is best eaten dockside as seaplanes land nearby.
Dungeness Crab and Oysters
Crack into Dungeness crab, a sweet Pacific crab that takes its name from the Dungeness Spit on Washington's Strait of Juan de Fuca. The crabbing season generally runs from late fall or winter into late summer, with a fall closure to protect soft-shelled crabs, so what you find fresh depends on when you visit. Pike Place Fish Market sells Dungeness crab alongside its salmon, and many seafood counters around the market serve it in dishes like crab chowder.
Pair the crab with oysters grown in the waters around Puget Sound. Taylor Shellfish, a family-owned farm that has grown shellfish since the 1890s, runs three Seattle oyster bars, on Queen Anne at 124 Republican Street, on Capitol Hill at 1521 Melrose Avenue and in Pioneer Square at 410 Occidental Avenue, according to its locations page, so you can taste its oysters close to where they were farmed.
Crab, Prawns and Fish and Chips
A Market Counter with a Movie Past
Follow the bright neon sign to an unfussy spot inside Pike Place Market, loved for wild prawn cocktails, Dungeness crab fettuccine and very cold mugs of beer. Grab a seat by the windows overlooking Elliott Bay, and if you are a fan of the 1990s romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, you will recognize the room from the film.
The Lockspot by the Ballard Locks
For fish and chips, make your way to the Lockspot, a neighborhood fixture that has sat beside the Ballard Locks for decades in a building around a century old. Its wild Alaskan cod is cut, breaded and fried by hand when you order, and it is easily the most requested item on the menu. The owners embrace the place's weathered, boat-like character, and one longtime bartender has been mixing strong drinks here for 25 years.
Sushi with Deep Roots
Spend an evening in the Chinatown-International District at Seattle's very first sushi bar, which is still going strong. The kitchen stays faithful to traditional Japanese cooking, serving sushi, sashimi, sukiyaki and sake in a cozy, homey room. Expect a busy dining room, a sure sign of its staying power.
Coffee and Espresso Culture
Coffee is part of how Seattle sees itself; the city's coffeehouse scene grew out of espresso, music and gathering spots in the late 1950s and 1960s, and Starbucks opened its first store near Pike Place in 1971, as the history of coffee in Seattle explains. Espresso Vivace, founded in 1988 by former Boeing engineer David Schomer, helped push a precise, technical approach to pulling shots.
Make a pilgrimage to the original Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place, then spend the rest of your trip at independent cafes. Our Seattle coffee guide and neighborhood picks in the coffee section point you to the best cups by area.
Teriyaki, the Everyday Seattle Lunch
Order a plate of chicken teriyaki with rice and slaw, a staple of the city's fast-food scene. Seattle's style traces back to Toshi's Teriyaki, the first standalone teriyaki restaurant, which opened in Lower Queen Anne in 1976 and sold low-cost skewers in a sweet teriyaki sauce, and by 2010 more than 83 restaurants in the city had "teriyaki" in their name, according to the history of Seattle-style teriyaki. Look for a neighborhood teriyaki shop wherever you are staying, since they are spread across the city.
The Seattle Dog
Grab a Seattle Dog after a game or a show: a split, grilled sausage in a toasted bun spread with cream cheese, usually topped with caramelized onions and sometimes jalapenos. The combo was invented in 1989 in Pioneer Square by Hadley Long, who sold bagels with cream cheese from a cart and added hot dogs for the late-night crowd, according to the history of the Seattle-style hot dog. Today you will find it at food carts outside the stadiums on game days and outside bars and music venues late at night.
Dick's Drive-In, the Burger Locals Defend
Dick's Drive-In has been a Seattle staple for about 70 years, turning out simple burgers, greasy fries and thick shakes. Stop by for a casual lunch, or join the legendary post-concert crowd around midnight, when people eat right in the parking lot after shows at Ballard and north end venues.
What to Order
- Dick's Deluxe: the most common local pick, usually paired with fries and a chocolate, vanilla or strawberry shake.
- Dick's Special or a plain cheeseburger: simpler options many regulars swear by.
- Fries with tartar sauce: a habit worth borrowing from regulars, who ask for extra tartar.
Where to Eat It
Part of the ritual is carrying your bag to a park. From the Wallingford stand, head to Gas Works Park. The Queen Anne location sits close to Seattle Center, where you can sit by the International Fountain, and to the skyline views at Kerry Park.
On Capitol Hill, spread out in Cal Anderson Park on a sunny day, or catch the sunset at Volunteer Park in front of Isamu Noguchi's Black Sun sculpture. Other Dick's stands on Holman Road, in Lake City and at Crossroads make it easy to grab a bag near Carkeek Park and other neighborhood greens.
Historic Bars for Pub Fare and Atmosphere
Step into Merchants Cafe and Saloon in Pioneer Square, which dates to 1890 and is about as old as Seattle gets. Exposed brick, a pressed-tin ceiling and Tiffany lamps set the scene for fried cheese curds, beer and the ghost stories some patrons swear by.
Up in the University District, pull up a stool at a landmark dive bar that has lived many lives as a beatnik hangout, biker bar, hippie haven and grunge refuge. Today it pours local drafts brewed within 20 miles, and its owner calls it one of the last true blue-collar bars in town.
Menus, hours and locations can change, so check each restaurant's official website before you go. Eating at the market? Our guide to Pike Place Market restaurants has more sit-down picks.
