sarananda

My boyfriend and I will be in Seattle for 6 days in July for a wedding. We are both photographers who have champagne tastes with beer budgets. Any suggestions for food, entertainment and culture for us "budget gourmets"?

jimshep

Two of the best Thai restaurants are Simply Thai and Siam on Broadway?both on Broadway on Capitol Hill. The Chinoise restaurants are also good?visit the one in the International District and check out the amazing Japanese grocery store next door.

Downtown there are several inexpensive places to eat in the Pike Place Market. Downtown we also like The Cheesecake Factory, which serves big salads for under $10 at lunch. Another good meal at The Cheesecake Factory is to share an order of calamari and a club sandwich?substituting salad with the very good ranch dressing for the French fries.

Go to the bakery next door to Tom Douglas?s Dahlia Lounge and get a piece of his famous coconut cream pie or one of his luscious chocolate eclairs. They have sandwiches too.

Don?t miss Mama?s Mexican Kitchen in Belltown?an authentic Seattle joint.

Another great treat is Pizza Cristina at Il Fornaio, at 6th and Pine. This unusual pizza, which makes a light meal for two, has fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, baby arugula, prosciutto, shaved parmesan, and truffle oil and costs about $11 or $12. You can order it in the pleasant bar. Enjoy.

Gardyloo

The name of the Japanese grocery store (much more than that) is Uwajimaya, and the food court in the store offers cheap versions of most major Asian cuisines - Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Korean, a decent Hawaiian "plate lunch" place, a killer Chinese bakery, bubble tea, and on and on. Bring your cameras - the market is incredibly colorful; gawk at the fish section, play "name that vegetable," behold a gazillion different types of ramen packages - really fun.

Up Jackson Street, the main drag in the Chinatown/International District, are many excellent Chinese, SE Asian, and combo cuisine places, many offering exceptional food at really cheap prices.

The Pike Market is a great place for cheap and good eats, both in the cafes in the market and - better IMO - by means of assembling wonderful picnics to eat in Steinbruck Park or down on the waterfront. Greatest collection of walk-away food in the west.

Finally the granddaddy of foodie fests is the Bite of Seattle, at Seattle Center, this year on July 16-18. Mange. www.biteofseattle.com.

Consult the Pacific NW boards at Chowhound.com and look at the restaurant listings at www.seattleweekly.com for reviews and price screenings.

For culture, see The Weekly for that, too, or The Stranger, www.thestranger.com. Plenty of concerts, plays, etc. all summer.

artlover

Excellent advise, as usual. Just want to add a few things...very inexpensive and good restaurants abound in the University district, especially Thai and Indian.

Also, you might want to catch the current show at the Seattle Art Museum, Van Gogh to Mondrian--a dozen fine Van Gogh paintings, several drawings, a few Picassos, etc. Don't know which days you're going to be here, but I believe the lst Thursday of each month is free admission. You might check it out on their website...Seatlleartmuseum.org.

Have a great time.

stormygirl

The restaurant Brasa in Beltown has an amazing happy hour that we make our dinner all the time. steak, mussles, pizza, etc at bargain prices. Same with McCormick & Schmidts on 1st and Spring!

artlover

stormygirl,
thanks for the information about the happy hours at Brasa & M &S...I've eaten at both and they are both top notch...a great suggestion (I made it through grad school by eating at happy hours!)