The place to Eat in Downtown Seattle

A metropolis’s downtown is its dwelling, beating coronary heart. It’s the middle of enterprise in each sense of the phrase — there’s all method of commerce in each course, and all the pieces (and everybody) is busy, like in a Richard Scarry e-book. Seattle’s downtown is the one a part of town that appears like a metropolis, with its skyline-defining buildings, timeworn structure from the early twentieth century, its museums and prepare stations and tourist-filled waterfront.

However recently, downtown has gotten a foul rap. The pandemic ravaged it greater than some other a part of town, and lots of workplace staff have nonetheless not returned, contributing to a gradual financial restoration. There’s additionally a notion of crime that’s at odds with the truth, spurred on by some unhelpful native media shops encouraging folks to be afraid of downtown.

However you don’t must avoid downtown — in actual fact, you shouldn’t, as a result of a few of Seattle’s greatest, most historic eating places are right here. Subsequent time you’re happening a visit, cancel that airplane ticket and use the financial savings to rediscover your civic delight. Right here’s the place you must eat:

9 a.m.: Breakfast at Ludi’s

Suzi Pratt

It’s been simply over a 12 months since Ludi’s Restaurant reopened up the road from its longtime former location on Pike, and the Filipino diner has rapidly re-established itself as one in every of downtown’s most important daytime eating places. Meaning there’s going to be a line any time after 9 a.m. on weekends, nevertheless it’s one of many extra nice traces within the metropolis: If there’s a considerable wait, charismatic founder Greg Rosas will come outdoors and make his method down the queue with a tray of lechon kawali (fried pork stomach) for everybody to snack on. The specialty at Ludi’s is silog, a Filipino breakfast staple of garlic rice and egg served alongside a protein like spam, lumpia, or longanisa. And in case your breakfast tastes are on the sweeter finish, one other Ludi’s signature dish (solely obtainable on the weekends) is the pancakes topped with coconut-ube sauce.

11 a.m.: Espresso break at Moore Espresso

In 2011, Lupe Chavez opened Moore Espresso in a storefront within the Moore Theater and Resort constructing, an homage to the unique espresso store that after occupied the constructing. Specialties right here embody an horchata latte, a chili-spiked Mocha Diablo, and a wealthy crema de leche latte made with cajeta (caramelized sweetened goat’s milk), in addition to a number of coffee-less drinks corresponding to a turmeric latte and a purple taro latte. All are adorned with intricate cartoon-like animal latte artwork, making for some distinctly adorable-looking drinks.

Now that you just’re fueled up, it’s time to rediscover the Pike Place Market and/or the waterfront, each of that are a stone’s throw away.

1 p.m.: Lunch at Cafe Paloma

Cafe Paloma has been serving traditional Turkish dishes on this vintage Yesler Manner area ever since Sedat Uysal first opened it in 1998. Quite a lot of meze plates are provided right here, and standouts embody muhammara (an expansion of roasted pink pepper and walnuts dressed with olive oil and pomegranate molasses), carrot unfold (roasted carrots in yogurt sauce with hazelnut and garlic), and mercimek köfte (pink lentil and bulgur patties seasoned with aromatics). Bigger plates embody köfte (spiced lamb and beef meatballs) and börek (spinach and cheese filo pastries), amongst extra acquainted pita-based choices and paninis. There’s compelling artwork on the partitions to soak up, attention-grabbing musical devices on show, and quite a lot of languages being spoken by completely different patrons. It’s one of many metropolis’s underrated treasures.

3 p.m.: After-lunch deal with at Gelatiamo

Based in 1996 by Maria Coassin, Gelatiamo is virtually a Seattle establishment; if a neighborhood restaurant has gelato on its dessert menu, likelihood is it sources it from Gelatiamo. The chocolate gelato right here is darkish, wealthy, and decadent; the pistachio is deeply nutty and a correctly faint barely-greenish tint (a vibrant seafoam inexperienced hue is a telltale signal of synthetic coloring). And if riso is out there, it’s a must to not less than style it — the rice-flecked candy cream is best than it’d sound, with the rice imparting a toasty sweetness.

5 p.m.: Joyful hour at Ben Paris

Courtesy of Ben Paris

Ben Paris is an homage to Ben Paris Cigars, Lunch & Playing cards, which was situated within the basement of the Eitel Constructing, now referred to as the State Resort. Perhaps it’s the plentiful pure mild, perhaps it’s the fashionable By accident Wes Anderson-worthy wallpaper aesthetic; there’s one thing concerning the present-day Ben Paris that feels ethereal and effervescent. It’s the most effective indoor area to have a drink in when it’s nonetheless mild out.

Joyful hour right here is from 4 to six p.m. Monday to Friday, which suggests a martini or Outdated Usual is $10, and choose wine bottles are $25. However the most effective day drink on the menu is the Gin Griffey Juniper, a bodacious Spanish-style gin and tonic that features a little bit of berry shrub, and an entire lot of precise berries and botanicals as garnish. Served in a big goblet, it’s concurrently indulgent and refreshingly mild.

7 p.m.: Dinner at Oyster Cellar

Alex Jackson

Our final vacation spot can be the latest: Oyster Cellar has been open for little over a month and it’s already dwelling as much as its early promise. Oysters listed here are hyperlocal (Baywater oysters are all the time obtainable, together with a rotating number of different farms), and chef Alex Jackson is plating some actually memorable dishes. The chilled zucchini soup is each crisply verdant and refined, whereas the reef and beef tartare is a inventive mixture of beef tartare, ahi, and tapenade that hits luxuriously savory notes. And the miso tonnato and fonduta-topped Dungeness crab toast hits luxuriously savory energy chords; it’s so good you’ll be excited about it lengthy afterwards. Jackson beforehand helmed the kitchen at Seabird (each eating places are owned by Brendan McGill), and he’s bringing comparable artistry to a bit extra informal and playful context. Oyster Cellar may simply be Seattle’s most enjoyable seafood restaurant. Aren’t you glad you contributed to the downtown restoration?