The owners of Harry’s Fine Foods purchased the house next door to their Capitol Hill cafe in 2022 from their eccentric artist neighbor, Winnie, and transformed it into a guest house inspired by her convivial spirit. We love the textured, colorful design of the two suites (which can be booked separately or together for a full-house rental) and the breakfast hamper delivered each morning from the cafe.

Palihotel is a well-priced and well-located option, just a 5-minute walk to Pike’s Place Market. If you can, book one of the rooms that overlook Elliott Bay. It’s an easy choice for families—there are kid-friendly rooms with bunk beds that can adjoin to others—and they’re especially welcoming to pets, for those traveling with four-legged family members.

Vita is a local roaster with a few locations dotted around the city, our favorite of which is in the building of KEXP, a local public radio station. This location has a record store, La Marzocco lab, and you can sit and watch the DJs and on-air radio station.

This Capitol Hill coffee shop-meets-bookstore is named after mathematician Ada Lovelace, with great coffee and a selection of books focused on engineering. It's the perfect kind of place to pick up gifts for kids interested in science.

The sandwiches at this bite-sized counter are super creative, and decidedly not bite-sized. Our favorites are the fish with the crispy fried lemons & pickled jalapeños, or the burger, with dry aged local beef, American cheese, onion, mayo, shop-made pickles and mustard. Get them both and share with a friend.

Book Larder is a beacon for lovers of food and cooking in Seattle—their shelves are stocked with exclusively cookbooks and food writing, and it's run by passionate and deeply knowledgeable staff. They regularly host visiting cookbook authors and chefs, and have welcomed everyone from Samin Nosrat to Ruth Reichl through their orange door into the in-store kitchen for talks, demos, classes, and more.

You can’t go wrong with lunch at Pasta Casalinga, tucked into the Pike Place Market, next to the great Italian speciality store Delaurenti. Michela and her team make pasta every day, with the menu of creative dishes changing often. They’re often inspired by the Pacific Northwest, though the menu has consistent classics like Rossopomodoro, traditional tomato sauce, and Lasagna Casalinga.

The place for oysters in Seattle. This family-run company started in 1890, and is now one of the largest wholesalers of oysters, clams, geoduck etc. in the US. They have a few oyster bars in town, which are all superb. The must-have is the whole Dungeness crab—they boil them every day and “crack” the crab, making it easier for you to pick apart. The star of the show is the crab dipping sauce they make in the outer shell with the brown meat, heavy cream and sweet chili.

Housed in a former marina nestled amongst the classic Seattle houseboats, this all-day cafe and restaurant has a Scandinavian-meets-Japanese menu, helmed by prolific local restaurateur (and utter gem) Yasuaki Saito. Enjoy your sugared cardamom croissant and yuzu-polenta cake as you watch boats pass through the ship canal, and if you’re there in the summer months, you can paddle up to their seasonal waterfront bar and grab some Japanese barbecue from their hinoki-fired truck!

Wilmott’s Ghost is a beautiful Italian restaurant inside the Spheres, known for their different fritti and Roman-style pizzas, with soft thick dough and crispy cheesy crust. Finish with the city’s best tiramisu and you’ve got yourself a fine meal before a passegiatta to the symphony a few blocks away.

If you’re only having one dinner in Seattle, The Corson Building is not to be missed. The ivy-cloaked, turn-of-the-century former home is a truly unique, romantic dining experience, where chef Emily Dann and her husband Matt use seasonal produce and locally sourced meats and seafood that showcase the bounty of the Pacific Northwest’s coast and farmland. The menu changes frequently, and the service is always warm and impeccable.

Sit at the bar next to a tiny tea candle, drink delicious French wine, nibble on some truly exceptional charcuterie, and transport yourself to France. It’s the perfect spot for a late-night snack and drink after the theater, or to wind down after a long day of exploring.

Watson Kennedy is filled to the brim with everything from local Seattle-made goods to vintage glassware, textiles, books, stationery, homewares, jewelry, art, and children’s toys. You’ll never leave without finding some sort of special discovery for yourself or someone else.

The nation’s oldest farmer’s market started in 1907 and despite the tourist throngs, is definitely still a working market. Skip the fish-throwing vendor at the mouth of the market and head to Pure Food Fish Market ~1/3 of the way down for the best fish. To the right side of the stall, there is the “drive through,” where if you’re in the know (and know what you want) you can pop your head in there and they will serve you far from the crowds of tourists in the main body of the shop.

The Tractor, as it’s lovingly known locally, is the quintessential Seattle music venue, with enough room for 200 or so and a rotating list of bluegrass, metal and singer-songwriters from all over. Go for the gritty decor, mediocre beer, tattooed bartenders and leave with the general understanding that this place will outlast us all.