A friend and I will be in Seattle for about 4 days in May. We have a pretty set list of things to do, but no idea where to eat. Your suggestions for some can't miss places unique to Seattle would be greatly appreciated. We are both on a budget, but one nice meal wouldn't kill us.

We will be staying downtown (specific hotel - TBD).

I am looking for a sushi spot, seafood, breakfast downtown, cheap and authentic mexican (the two usually go together), BBQ and anything that is unique to Seattle. Definitely NO chains!

I love Belgian beer and mussels, so I'm looking forward to hitting up Brouwers Cafe. Let me know if this is not a good call.

Thanks for all the help!

Actually, I just read the thread from "Seattle's Best Restaurant's" and got a lot of great idea's from those posts. If you haven't already posted to that thread, feel free to add your two cents here as well. Thanks!

Saito's is an authentic place for sushi a short walk from downtown at 2122 2nd Avenue.

Seattle isn't big on good Mexican places. For funky, check out the Elvis room at Mamma's Mexican Kitchen. Many locals consider El Puerco Lloron in the Pike Place Market to be the best place for authentic Mexican, but the place doesn't appeal to me.

Just about every restaurant in town does a good job with fish. I am a fan of Flying Fish and just about everybody likes the salmon at Tom Douglas' Etta's restaurant.

One day for breakfast, check of Lowell's in the Pike Place Market. It has been a popular joint in Seattle for fifty years. You can watch activity on Puget Sound as you chow down.

On Capitol Hill (a residential area about 1.5 miles from downtown) you might want to investigate Boom, a Japanese stylish noodle place, and nearby Barrio, which does an up-scale twist on Mexican favorites.

In the charming Madison Park neighborhood, Cactus has been turning out tasty SW fare for twenty years.

Tom Douglas' Serious Pie (next door to Dahlia Lounge) gets good press for innovative pizza. There is usually a wait to share a table with others.

Mussels are everywhere, but I can't think of a place where they are more exceptional than others (or mine).

BBQ also is not big in or near downtown Seattle.

HTTY

We visited Seattle in the Fall, stayed downtown and enjoyed the following restaurants, all of which were within reasonable walking distance from our hotel.

Shiro's for sushi, Elliot's Oyster House for seafood, Lowell's for breakfast and Serious Pie for pizza. We enjoyed all our meals but were most impressed with Serious Pie, absolutely delicious pizza, especially the San Marzano tomato pie and the clam with pancetta pie. We would return to Serious Pie in a heartbeat given the chance.

If you like Belgian beer, going to Brouwers is definitely a must do. I like it so much that when I was looking for a house to buy in Seattle, one requirement was for it to be within walking distance of Brouwers.

Another good place you might want to try is the Stumbling Monk in Capitol Hill...but they do not offer food.

Wann's is in downtown and is also excellent for sushi.

There aren't a lot of breakfast places downtown aside from coffee shops. You'll have to get into some of the neighborhoods for better breakfast options.

My favorite spot for breakfast is Bacco's, which is right next to the Inn at the Market.

Ettas is a favorite of ours. I am not a fan of Flying Fish though.

sushi spot - Wann's on 2nd is fun at happy hour
seafood - you can get reasonably priced fish at Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar (in behind the original Starbucks), the Market Grill, Pike Place Chowder,or cups of shrimp or crab from the various fish stands, all within the Market at lunch.
breakfast downtown - Bacco, LaPichet, Macrina bakery, Dahlia bakery, CJ's, Athenian, Lowell's, Brasserie Margeux at Warwick.
cheap and authentic mexican - El Puerco Lloron, on the back steps of the Pike Place Market

LOVED Serious Pie - if you're on vacation, go "off hours" (late for lunch or early for dinner) if you want to avoid possible wait http://tomdouglas.com/index.php?page=serious-pie


We also happened across some stellar food at a bar called Smith. http://www.smithseattle.com/
I would imagine weeknights are not crowded (we went on a Saturday night and it did get crowded).

Thank you all for the great tips. I'm super hungry now and can't wait to get there!

We loved the Steelhead Diner on Pine Street near Pike Place Market. Had one of best meals ever in Seattle there. Also enjoyed dinner at Brasa on 3rd Ave.

You can get mussels and frites at Brouwer’s Café ($15) and Braza serves curried mussels in the nice bar for $10, or $6 at happy hour.

HTTY

I second Cactus for mexican food - it is one of my favorites. We also loved La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard. For BBQ there is a great place in Issaquah called Stan's.

HTTY--Saito's closed this past summer, unfortunately. Here's a post about it from Nancy Leson's blog:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...town_sait.html

To the OP--there's also a Cactus on Alki--if the water taxi is running in May, that could be a fun outing from downtown.

I like Matt's in the Market and the Steelhead for seafood.

I love going to Cafe Campagne for breakfast (weekends only).

I love Cactus, and going to the one down in Madison Park can make for a really lovely day (it's right on Lake Washington near a park with a beach)... but it's not cheap and it's not authentic, to my view. More chic-Tex-Mex. But I agree it's a VERY fun very Seattle kind of place.

Are there any good cupcake places or bakeries around?

Dahlia Bakery on 4th
Top Pot Donuts on 5th
Macrina on 1st
La Panier in the Pike Place Market
(sorry don't know about cupcakes but these are all EXcellent bakeries in the downtown core)

For cupcakes, try Trophy or Cupcake Royal. A family member used CR for her wedding and they were very good

bookmarking for restaurants suggestions. thanks for asking the question!

I'm with Suze on the bakeries.
For some unusual suggestions... one of my favorite breakfast's is at the Rosebud on Capitol Hill. There is very little GREAT mexican here outside of a taco cart, but both of my faves are in Ballard (La Carta de Oaxaca and Senor Moose cafe).
For fish, my fave is Ray's Boathouse in Ballard or Etta's by the market (a Tom Douglas joint).

Having just attended a special dinner at the James Beard Foundation in NYC which was hosted by Chef Brian Cartenuto of Cantinetta in Seattle, I know that I'd head there the next time I'm in Seattle.