Many years ago, I watched a few bro-ish fans in Mariners jerseys ask Maneki’s then-octogenarian bartender if she knew how to make some rather simple drink. In the tiny bar of the 122-year-old Japanese restaurant, Fusae “Mom” Yokoyama drew herself to full height—unlikely much more than five feet—and explained her many decades of experience there. At the time, my thought was, Ugh, these idiots. In retrospect, I owe those guys a begrudging smidgen more respect: They might have gotten their attitude wrong, but they got the location right for the ideal pregame meal.
Seattle’s two central sports stadiums mainly face Pioneer Square, both physically and spiritually. That’s where the cavernous sports bars with armies of pint-proffering servers absorb the flood of people that arrive, hungry and thirsty, ahead of games.
And for those who prioritize speed or yelling at sports on screens before yelling at sports in person, Pioneer Square is generally the right place to go. The stadiums are surrounded by places with vaguely athletic names and big televisions that will get a pitcher of generic domestic beer down on the table quickly and serve perfectly fine (probably) food.
But this summer, when fans arrive from around the country and across the globe to watch the FIFA World Cup, they have the opportunity to grab food in one of the city’s most interesting and best neighborhoods for eating.
Even public transit knows where a day of sports should start—contrary to the nomenclature, the actual closest Link light rail stop to Lumen Field (to be known as Seattle Stadium during the World Cup) is the International District/Chinatown Station, not Stadium Station.
At the top of the steps coming up from the station: food paradise. For those who require a drink with the meal, there’s the Japanese comfort food at Fort St. George, which calls itself “a different kind of sports bar,” and Hood Famous Cafe + Bar, which offers Filipino flavors in cocktail form on event days—mango mimosas and calamansi hot toddies.
Rowdier crowds and big eaters will find their feasts at all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ spots, like Bellwether, where the beers—including the excellent local Silver City IPA—come by the pint, pitcher, or tower.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, there are a dozenish dim sum options, at least as many noodle shops, and the colorful Internet-famous dumplings at E-Jae Pak Mor. There are few better ways to get ready to cheer your heart out than burning your face off at a Sichuan restaurant, like Chengdu Taste Seattle, and few faster ones than the grab-and-go cases inside Uwajimaya Asian Market. Restaurants like Maneki and nearby onigiri specialist Onibaba keep the historic Nihonmachi—Japantown—alive while meeting Seattle’s modern moment in the international spotlight.
The real winners are decided well before kickoff, when they make the best choices for a pregame meal—and a postgame one, too. Late-night hot pot or midnight dumplings, anyone?