land locked couple from KC, MO looking to eat fresh seafood in Seattle. any restaurant suggestions?

$hooter: Try Etta's near Pikes Market. After a day wandering all levels of the Market (you will love this) and the surrounding area (much to see and do) a relaxing seafood dinner at this very good restaurant is perfect. You will love Seattle. Do a google search on "Etta's" and you will find their homepage very quickly. Have a great trip.

Seattle is wonderful any day of the year.And the Mrket is awesome.Have a java at the "original" Starbucks its still there and in full swing last time I was there,right in the Market.
BB

Try Flying Fish. Also...check out Pure Fish Seafood in the Pike Market. This is a place to buy fresh fish. The fish selection will thrill your landlocked soul. We often travel to Seattle and always stop at Pure Fish on our way out of town to the airport to pick up some Salmon etc. They are well experienced in packaging fish for travel. My Seattle sister just "overnighted" two pounds of their hot smoked salmon to us..what a treat! Some other suggestions although not seafood related..while wandering around Pioneer Square check out Salumi for lunch. This is a great tiny hole in the wall place where there are all kinds of sausages and cured meats for the tasting. The owner is Mario Battali's Dad and he is a charmer. Also do check out Elliot Bay Books while you're down in those parts. The Seattle Art Museum is close to Pike Market and usually has some pretty good exhibits. Last I heard it was a Frida Kahlo show. Not to bash but simply to disagree..I think Etta's is not such great seafood.

I know that midwest feeling when it comes to missing good seafood! Besides the great restaurants, another thing to do while you're in Seattle is take a walk by the docks and grab something fresh and informal. Fresh halibut smoke-cooked over alderwood is really wonderful!

I've had an awesome cedar planked grilled salmon at Chinook's. Good food and fun casual atmosphere overlooking a marina.

Lots of choices. I would second Etta's and Flying Fish, with Flying Fish probably my favorite. But also Palisades (expensive), Ray's Boathouse, Chinook's, Ponti's seafood grill. Even Anthony's which is a chain has decent seafood. Have also heard good things about Matt's in the Market. Salty's can be good.

Ray's Boat House was terrific when we were there - great view, too! Not too expensive.

So many places, but want to add any of the McCormick & Schimick's restaurants, including the Harborhouse on Lake Union. Also, Roy's and Canlis and there's a new one on the Pier...something like The Seafood Cafe (I think it's listed in Fodor's guide).

I don't think you can go wrong anywhere if you order the salmon!

Upstairs at Ray's boathouse, downstairs at Anthony's Pier 66 on the central waterfront, Honey Court (Asian - across from Uwajimaya Village in the International District - great); the views at Chinooks or Palisade or especially Salty's at Alki (but inferior food); some of the waterfront eat-and-walk open air stands are surprisingly good. Or buy a Dungeness crab in the (Pike, not Pike's) market, a nutcracker and some little forks, a roll of paper towels, a loaf of bread, some butter and some salad, and make a picnic just about anywhere. Don't forget the wine. Oh, yeah.

Last year I had dinner at Etta's, based on a referral from the concierge at my hotel (I told hiom I wanted a good seafood place where locals went as opposed to a straight tourist type place). Service was excellent, I had a spinach salad that was incredible and the Dungeness crab cakes were the best crab cakes I've ever had outside of the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. Two weeks ago I was in Seattle for business and had lunch at McCormick and Schmick's Fish House and Bar in downtown Seattle by the BoA building. I wasn't crazy about my fried smelt (I'm accustomed to small smelt - these were quite large) but I did sample the fish entrees my two colleaues had and they were excellent. Of the two I think I preferred the atmosphere and food at Etta's by a notch.

You've got to try Shiro's in Belltown for impeccable seafood. Mostly of the uncooked variety. Not to be missed.

The restaurant Julie is thinking of on the pier is called Waterfront. It is really beautiful with amazing seafood. I will throw in my two cents and suggest the Brooklyn which is right by the Art Musuem. The best oyster bar and amazing fish!

The James Beard Award for 2002 American Classics, Winner:

Ray's Boathouse and Cafe
6049 Seaview Avenue, Seattle, WA 98107
Tel: 206-789-3770 Owners: Ross Wohlers, Earl Lasher, Elizabeth Gingrich, Jack Sikma

Ray Lichtenberger's bait house and boat rental lured fishermen to the shore of Shilshole Bay when it opened in 1939. Six years later, Ray expanded his business to include a waterfront café, and a Seattle dining tradition was born. Since it was hoisted and lit, Ray's towering red-neon sign has provided a beacon for boaters and a magnet for locals and tourists drawn to the boathouse that would write the blueprint for Seattle seafood restaurants. Thanks to the dedication of an enthusiast seafood fanatic, Russ Wohlers - who gathered a group of like-minded investors and bought the place in 1973 - Ray's Boathouse has fueled an addiction for Northwest seafood. It was here, in view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, that we came to appreciate the taste of fresh, line-caught fish, were introduced to the unctuous delights of Copper River salmon, the tiny, briny Olympia oyster and the sweet meat of Alaska's superior spot prawns. Ray's, with its casual upstairs bar and café and its unmatched commitment to fresh seafood and the wines that go with it, remains a clear reflection of the Northwest's salty spirit.
---Nancy Leson, Seattle Times

Hi. I work in the restaurant industry and went to Seattle last Jan to "eat around"...
I really enjoyed
Cascadia
Waterfront
Dahlia Lounge
Cafe Campagne (brunch)
Queen City Grill (lunch)
Sazerac- in the Hotel Monaco, beautiful hotel.
Marco's Supper Club also had some interesting items.
Not too impressed with the Thai at Wild Ginger, nice restaurant but food was not fabulous and some not so authentic.

Etta's?

You're regrETTA.