Seattle City Guide: Pubs, Grub & Caffeine
Seattle City Guide: Food & Coffee
Whether you’re seeking late-night indulgent gut bombs, a sampling of fine Pacific Northwest seafood, Spanish tapas, Hawaiian poke, Japanese umami, or Mexican cuisine inspired from numerous regions, Seattle is a rich culinary destination with resplendent choices for every palate. Here is our guide for Seattle pubs, grub, and the best coffee (and donuts) around town.
Seattle Pubs
No Anchor | 2505 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121 (Belltown)
No Anchor made waves (heh, heh) when it dropped in Belltown, placing as a semi-finalist in the James Beard Best New Restaurants contest in 2017 and winning Seattle’s Best New Restaurant award from Seattle Weekly, among other accolades. While the food is delicious, the Seattle beer and drinks are divine: craft beers and micro-brews, barrel-aged cocktails, and rare mezcal offerings complement a small menu with adventurous “finger food and general ballyhoo” like shishito pepper fritters, raw oysters, and… veal brain.
Linda’s Tavern | 707 E Pine Street Seattle, WA 98122 (Capitol Hill)
Linda’s is something of a dive bar complete with taxidermy, arcades, a jukebox, and stiff drinks. The outdoor patio is a great spot to grab brunch on Saturdays and Sundays and offers standard breakfast fare with a “Hangover Helper” menu including the “Emergen-C Elixir” with vodka and Emergen-C, so you can “go from zombie to human in a matter of gulps.”
Unicorn | 1118 E. Pike Street, SEATTLE WA 98122 (Capitol Hill)
Unicorn is a carnival-themed bar complete with arcades, a claw machine, and photo booth. Delicious craft cocktails meet a carnivorous menu serving up a variety of corn dogs, burgers, and small bites like Unicorn Balls (fried pork balls with ginger, scallion, and sweet chili aioli).
Seattle Grub
5 Point Café | 415 Cedar Street, Seattle, WA 98119 (Denny Triangle)
Best place in Seattle to view busking gutter punks, wholesome families, and lanyard-wearing Amazon employees in the same place? Best hangover cure breakfast, complete with $25 mimosa pitchers? Best assortment of moose taxidermy with dusty bras hanging off their racks? Best view of the Space Needle from the men’s bathroom? You guessed it: 5 Point Café. Divine breakfast offerings include Southern-inspired, down-home rarities like grits, fried chicken, and biscuits, and the café is open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
Sisters and Brothers | 1128 South Albro Place, Seattle, WA 98108 (Georgetown)
It must be something about the weather that compels Seattleites to eat comfort food. Homestyle Southern influences abound at Sisters and Brothers, where rainy weather is kept at bay in a homey environment to match the menu: fried chicken, smoked gouda mac and cheese, fried green tomatoes, and chicken and waffles are perfectly paired with micheladas and the “Carnivore Bloody Mary,” a savory wonder served up with a chicken wing.
Miller’s Guild | 612 Stewart St Seattle, WA 98101 (Downtown)
According to the Miller’s Guild website, its “vibrancy… is anchored by its nine-foot-long, custom live-fired Infierno grill. James Beard Award-winning chef and proprietor Jason Wilson creates a menu showcasing extended dry-aged beef, inspired vegetables, the freshest seafood, rustic baked goods and accompanying craft cocktails made with spirits house-finished in oak casks.” Inventive dishes are a fusion of farm-to-table cuisine with flair such as merguez sausage, kabocha, and black garlic.
Casco Antiguo | 115 Occidental Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 (Pioneer Square)
Mexican and South American food inspired by a variety of regions reigns at Casco Antiguo. Smoky, rich salsa complements offerings like plantain empanadas and pozole. Hit the happy hour beginning at 3:00 PM for affordable bites, or dine late—the restaurant is open until midnight on weekends.
Ma’Ono | 1610 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122 (located inside Rachel’s Ginger Beer on 12th Ave) (Capitol Hill) | 4437 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116 (West Seattle)
For those visitors who have rental cars or who want an adventure, the original Ma’Ono located in West Seattle has an extensive selection of Hawaiian dishes such as Hamachi poke with jalapeno, ponzu, pickled apple, and taro chips—not to mention fried chicken and burgers with accoutrements like kimchi and cheese, as well as an extensive selection of whisky and craft cocktails. The location on 12th Avenue inside Rachel’s Ginger Beer is closer to the CannaCon expo location at Washington State Convention Center with smaller comfort food bites such as fried chicken, veggies, and sides.
Adana | 1449 E. Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98122 (Capitol Hill)
Traditional Japanese cuisine meets Pacific Northwest flair at Adana, home to culinary genius and Iron Chef Gauntlet competitor Shota Nakijima. A rotating five-course menu offers a variety of fish, vegetables, and inventive savory dishes such as black cod served with braised and puffed barley, rabbit with fermented turnips, and lamb chops.
Seattle Caffeine
Vivace | 532 Broadway Ave East, Seattle WA 98102 (Capitol Hill)
Vivace takes its coffee very, very seriously. Coffee is roasted in a Northern Italian style with a selection of mild arabicas, while “bringing each bean… to the fragrant peak of caramelized sugar content. Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse has described Vivace espresso as the best coffee in the US, if not the world.”
Kaladi Brothers Coffee | 517 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122 (Capitol Hill)
Alaskan coffee company Kaladi Brothers opened a Seattle location to much fanfare back in 2006. The outpost roasts fresh coffee beans each day for freshness, and has a wide assortment of milk alternatives such as hemp, almond, and oat milk in addition to the usual espresso pairings.
Top Pot Donuts | 2124 5th Ave Seattle, WA 98121 (Downtown) | 609 Summit Ave East, Seattle, WA 98102 (Capitol Hill)
Top Pot Donuts matches small-batch hand-roasted coffee beans with equally artisan-crafted donuts baked fresh daily. Choose a mainstay like the delicious old fashioned, or the more adventurous can find the Feather Boa, a cake donut layered with icing and coconut shavings. Check their website for more locations (farther from the Convention Center).
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Sara Jayne Crow helps cannabis entrepreneurs find new customers with communications, publicity, and marketing rooted in authentic storytelling at Meridian Media.