I’m backkkk from Seattle! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the trip. It was my third time there, and I know I’ll be visiting again. The people, the environment, not to mention THE FOOD… were all extremely comforting and welcoming. Now, I have to break the myth– it doesn’t rain in Seattle 24:7. We were there for 4 days and it only sprinkled a bit, allowing us to walk everywhere. Now don’t get me wrong, this Southern California girl was definitely not used to the cold.. but I survived!
These two pictures (the one above and below) were the only two taken of me and the bf on the entire trip.. it’s kind of hard to have pictures taken when there’s only the two of you there! Anyways, I promised I’d take pictures of the food that I ate, so here they are! This isn’t even all the food that we consumed on our trip– so you know we went all out, food wise. Please excuse the poor lighting in some of the pictures.. I did the best I could! With all that aside, let’s go on a Seattle foodie journey!
After settling into our hotel, we walked to the Baguette Box for lunch, as recommended by my cousin. Their logo was adorable and there were dog paintings all over the inside of the restaurant. It was the perfect place for lunch– fast, delicious, and moderately priced. How would I describe the Baguette Box? The food is basically upper scale Vietnamese sandwiches with a bit of a kick.
My bf got the lemongrass steak with cheese (which I didn’t take a picture of) and I got the tofu with avocado sandwich. AMAZING! My boyfriend raved about his sandwich as well.. I’d highly recommend this place to anyone near Capitol Hill.
For dinner that night, my cousin took us out to The Chapel Bar, Machiavelli’s, and Molly Moon’s for dessert. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture from the first two places.. but trust me, they are both amazing! Molly Moon’s reminded me of Scoops over here in LA, but more hip. Apparently everywhere we went that day had dogs as their logos. I tried the salted caramel ice cream, since it’s supposedly big in Seattle, but that just didn’t float my boat. Instead, I got the Vivace coffee ice cream (as did the bf) and my cousin got a lavender ice cream. Yum!
This coffee shop in particular- Bauhaus- was also located in Capitol Hill. They had the most amazing bookshelf I have ever seen. It looks exactly like the one from Beauty and the Beast, where Belle climbs the ladder and gets all her books from, except this one was REAL! They even had the huge ladder to climb to the very top! love love love.
I can’t even tell you how many cups of coffee my boyfriend drank a day. He was determined to try every coffee while in Seattle and find the most amazing one. I actually don’t drink coffee– so I just ordered chai tea lattes and hot chocolates. 🙂 On one of our many stops, we went the monorail espresso. It’s a fun and trendy little place and I found it on where else but yelp. Yelp never steers me wrong– we got the mocha and white mocha latte and both were delish.
For breakfast, we ate at a restaurant at our hotel (we stayed at the Hyatt at Olive 8) called Urbane. Though it was a bit pricy — we spent nearly 40 bucks on breakfast! — it was well worth it. The service, environment, and quality was up to par on all aspects. I just got the standard eggs and bacon…
while my bf got the steak and potatoes. He’s such a meat man.
We got to visit the original Starbucks. It’s crazy how such a HUGE company started from such a little store! Side note– don’t mind my hand. What in the world am I doing?
And walked around Pike Place Market (my favorite!)
I’ve also heard Lowell’s (as you can barely see in the pic underneath) is great for breakfast/brunch, but we didn’t get to try that out because the bf was scared it’d all be seafood. He doesn’t eat any seafood, so eating at a restaurant by tons of fish markets wasn’t too appealing for him.
We stopped for some more espresso and chai…
And then snacked a bit since we were going to eat dinner so late. The boy’s snack from Taco Del Mar- chicken burrito with beans.
and mine! I’m such a sucker for guacamole.
Of course, I had to bring my boyfriend to the bakery I lived at on my last visit, Macrina!
We had breakfast here one of the days and just had good ol’ bread and butter. I can live off of that stuff. I also picked up a chocolate chip cookie to go, along with various rolls. My boyfriend fell in love with the mocha latte he got there and said it was the best that he’s tried.
Before dinner, we had to catch the first Laker game, but we didn’t have a TV at the place we were staying! What else were we to do, but go to a bar! Sport is actually literally right across the street from the Space Needle and was within 3 blocks or so from where we were staying. How convenient!
This bar was quite lovely, since every booth had their own TV and we were able to watch the Laker game in peace. 🙂 Meanwhile, we snacked on these delicious soft baked pretzels with cheese. I used to eat this for lunch every day in high school. How healthy, right?
Finally, we met up at Umi Sake House for a late dinner with some of my boyfriend’s friends. We choose this place because of my cousin’s recommendation. This was my favorite atmosphere of all the restaurants that we’ve been to on our trip. Our waitress was just the sweetest and most helpful person. They even have happy hour 3 times a day!
We had dinner around 11PM and hung out til about 1AM. This place is open late, which is always a plus. I had a spicy california roll and a seattle roll– both for only 8 bucks total because of the happy hour special! My boyfriend got short ribs and sesame chicken for only $10.50 total. Sorry I don’t have pictures of the actual food! I was too hungry to take pictures before I even remembered.
Walking around on Post Alley, I wandered into this store simply because of the name. I am immediately drawn to all sorts of sweets and had to buy something from this cute little chocolate boutique. 2 truffles for 4 dollars, totally worth it. My boyfriend got a blueberry basil truffle and I got a cherry cordial. Everything was handmade by the little sweet lady that worked there and I was so impressed with everything! She even used to live in Santa Monica, so we had a lot in common.
Now, I got a lot of suggestions from my previous post to go to the Tom Douglas restaurants. I have a confession to make— I had to google Tom Douglas because I had no idea who he was. I thought he was either A.) a book author, B.) a famous old war hero, or C.) Christopher Columbus’ best friend. The name just fits all of them. After looking at yelp reviews and various menus, I HAD to drop by the infamous Tom Douglas corner and dine at some of his restaurants. All of his restaurants had amazing reviews and I was definitely not disappointed. First stop.. Serious Pie!
My bf and I share the buffalo cheese w/tomato for lunch and WOW. Seriously, the best pizza I’ve ever had. I can only imagine what the rest of the pizzas taste like. It’s like heaven in my mouth.. perfectly crisp and flavorful. The combination of ingredients were to die for. You just have to try it for yourself to fully understand what I mean.
I mean, just look at that.. I don’t even normally like flat crispy pizzas, but I’ll surely make an exception for this one! You can even see them make the pizza in a big ol’ brick oven. Fantastic! I love being able to eat and getting a glimpse into the kitchen at the same time.
After devouring the pizza, we walked around the corner to:
The bakery was adorable and the staff was very friendly. I got the monkey bread with caramel sauce. When I went to go pay for it, I got it for half off because it was after one o’clock! Score! Apparently there’s a row of baked goods that’s all half off after one. I love getting deals without even knowing about them.
Alright, so I walked by the yellow leaf cupcake and even walked in to check out what the new fuss was about. This is Seattle’s most recent cupcake shop and although it looked cute, I just wasn’t impressed with it. According to my cousin who lives in Seattle and is a major foodie as well, this cupcakery didn’t impress her either. She said the cupcakes were too oily, but I didn’t try them myself. I was saving my stomach for guaranteed satisfaction… at Trophy!
This is what I came to Seattle for– my most favorite cupcake shop of all time: Trophy! I imagine that if I ever opened my own cupcake shop, it’d look exactly like this. They have the most adorable color palette, decorations, chairs.. heck, they even sell gift wrapping supplies! This bakery just yells out all sorts of love.
My boyfriend and I ended up getting a stout, mint chocolate chip, and a red velvet cupcake to share. Both of our favorites was the red velvet, hands down. What I love about Trophy’s cupcakes is that they’re moist, you can never go wrong with ANY of the flavors, the cream cheese frosting is pure heaven, and the buttercream isn’t too rich. The buttercream is actually very light and sort of whipped. Ah, I just die thinking about these lovelies.
For our last night in Seattle, my boyfriend and I wanted waterfront dining to end our trip with a bang. After a lot of research and menu-searching, we ended up here, at Pier 59? 55? Something like that:
My starter- casear salad (I eat, live, and breathe ceasar salads, in case you didn’t know. This one was just average)
Boyfriend’s appetizer- clam chowder. You can’t have waterfront dining without some clam chowder!
My entree- grilled salmon. Honestly, I’ve had better salmon. It was a bit tough for me, but the broccoli was amazing. I finished all mine and ate my bf’s.
Boyfriend’s entree- What can I say… he’s a steak and potatoes kinda guy. Believe it or not, he doesn’t eat any vegetables at all. Nothing. No broccoli, lettuce, green beans, zucchini.. zip, zilch, nada. How does he survive? I have no idea. But it works out for me because that means I can eat all his vegetables!
Whew! You made it to the end– thanks for reading!
Natalie says
wow wish this was posted about 2 weeks ago! i was in seattle last week for the first time and it was awesome. unfortunately it was for a work conference so we didn’t get to eat out much. if i ever go back i’m trying some of these places. we did eat at Salty’s one night and that was pretty awesome…and i went to the market and the first starbucks 🙂 wish i’d known about some of those bakeries though! great post!
Cakespy says
Oh my!! You sure had a great foodie time in my hometown! I think I actually learned about a few new places from this post…and I live in Seattle!! 😉
Christina K. says
OMG It looked like you guys had total fun on your trip. I can’t wait til’ I’m able to go there!
Smart CoOKie says
Wow everything looks so delicious. I WANT TO GO!
Jayme says
Ahh I love Umi! You definitely ate at Seattle’s best sushi establishment. My fiance and I eat there weekly! The head sushi chef is amazing and he always hooks us up with a little something extra because he recognizes us since we’re there so often. You can’t beat the prices there either!
And I just had one of those monkey breads from Dahlia yesterday! Soo yummy with that caramel sauce.
Glad you enjoyed my hometown 🙂
Lauren says
Hey! I’m actually going to Seattle in January for the first time to visit an old friend. Where do I absolutely have to go eat? I’m up for anything and everything. I’ll be there for 5 days so I have plenty of time (I hope) to try everything.
Any suggestions you can make would be much appreciated!
Esther says
hi! I randmonly stumbled across your blog and I’m originally from seattle though i currently reside in LA. I get excited whenever I find out anyone else really appreciates Seattle =) I think Serious Pie is one of the best pizzas I’ve ever tried and that includes “the best” from NY. Umi’s is always a great choice too. Glad you got to try them!
I’m not sure what you’ve tried the last couple of times you visited but if there ever is another time, be sure to try cuban food at Paseo’s, thai food at Siam’s, a bunch of cute cafes in Capitol Hill, the Ave by the UW campus, and even a chain called specialty’s cafe that bakes the BEST wheatgerm chocolate chip cookies. I’m also a huge fan of Dick’s burgers although they are just simple drive-in. Their “special” burger is just too good.
I have so many more I would love to recommend! Hope you have a chance to go to Seattle again and if you do, feel free to contact me for other suggetions! =)
irene says
Thanks for documenting your recent trip, I also miss Seattle. It was after visiting Pike that I realized the first Starbucks was there. My Dad’s film got lost by Walmert developing center so imagine our massive memory loss. Thanks for bringing back very good memories of the area. I wish I could go back soon, but I live in Asia and it’s like… over twelve hours away by plane oh I dunno, haha. And we’re based in Vegas, so… oh I miss Pike. I talk too much.
Dorf says
Came across your blog and enjoyed reading your massive Seattle foodie post! (I am also an LA-based bakery & food enthusiast) I recently took a trip to Seattle and also loved Macrina Bakery, good call on that one. The only problem with Seattle is that there is so much good food and not enough time. Anyway, thanks for the blogging!
Maily says
Hi! I live in Seattle, and I must say, you certainly did hit up all the hot spots in the city. Next time you visit Trophy’s, don’t forget to try their House hot chocolate..BEST hot chocolate in the world. Get it with a homemade marshmallow–yes, they are that cute.
You and your bf are adorable! How can you afford to do so much fine dining while traveling? My bf and I always end up splitting meals or dining at lower end places, sigh, the frugal lives of college kids.
Kim says
Lauren- send me your email and i’ll send you a list of all the restaurants/food places we went and the ones you absolutely have to go to. my bloggers helped me out a lot on this one with their suggestions! 🙂
esther- thanks so much for all your suggestions! I definitely plan on going again sometime and will keep your restaurants mentioned in mind.. or ask you for more! 🙂 thanks again!
maily- my bf tried a mocha or something drink from trophys when we went and he LOVED it.. so i assume the drinks there are just as good as the cupcakes 🙂 i’ll make sure to try the hot chocolate next time! thanks for the heads up! thanks for your kind words! we actually didn’t so much fine dining, the most we spent was at fisherman’s wharf for our last meal. everything else was fairly affordable and we made sure to take advantage of the happy hours since almost every place has them in seattle! but yeah, we are truly blessed to get to experience everything that we did. i work part time and am currently living at home, so my only expenses are gas money and shopping/whatever i want to spend it on. my boyfriend is also currently living at home and working part time, so we have some money saved up just to travel.
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Natalie says
heading back to Seattle for business next week and remembered your post on this…
if i had to choose btwn Serious Pie and Baguette Box, which should I choose? I’m hoping to hit up both, but there’s no guarantee!
Thanks! (natalie.mclaury@gmail.com)
Kim says
hi natalie!
i would definitely choose serious pie. both are GREAT, but you cannot pass up serious pie. it has the best pizza that i’ve EVER tried.. ahhh, talking about it now makes me crave it! it’s just that good! 🙂
-kim
Natalie says
I ended up going to Serious Pie AND Baguette Box…as well as Etta’s and Lola (2 more Tom Douglas restaurants).
YUM everything was amazing and I was so impressed….I’m dying to go back to Seattle now! My only regret was not getting to try some of the bakeries you talked about, though I did see them!
Thanks for posting this…my eating in Seattle would’ve sucked otherwise 🙂
Hannah says
This post makes me miss Seattle. You hit most of my favorite places. Must go back soon.
Lakeisha Jackson & Jenny Kordell says
Sounds like you did Seattle right! Next time you’re in the area, you should hit up me and my friend. We’re huge Seattle foodies and recently started a foodie blog: http://www.twoseattlefoodies.blogspot.com, and we would love to have you dine with us and be a guest blogger :).
Joetta says
My son is a chef in Seattle at a restaurant in The Fremont neighborhood called Revel. It is the absolute bomb for dinner or brunch. Give it a try…..you wont be disappointed.