Will be in Seattle long enough for one
lunch and one dinner on the way to Victoria.

We like French, American, Steaks, and Seafood. Price is not important.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Hi Karen,
This topic has been hot lately, must be a sale on flights to Seattle! If you'll do a search on the keyword Seattle, you'll find lots and lots of recommendations.

Karen,
Had a great meal at the Metropolitan Grill while on business in Seattle. Very popular spot, great steaks, and a nice wine list.
It is Downtown on 2nd and Madison (?)

Karen - I recommend Etta's Seafood, just across from the Pike Place Market. Great Dungeness crab cakes and other local seafood. Dinner reservations strongly suggested.

Wow! Seattle is a fantastic restaurant town--too bad you've only got two meals. I'm with John above for Etta's Seafood. Two suggestions for lunch (French) would be Place Pigalle and Maximiliens in the Market. We kept coming back to the Pike Market for all our meals but saw lots of other goodies in other parts of the city. Need to go back again soon. And, yes, think SWA is offering good fares to Seattle from CA.

Karen:

The Metropolitan Grill is OK but be warned - it is VERY pricey (oops - sorry - just saw you don't care about price)! Seafood is really the thing to have here. My suggestions (French and seafood since you only have two meals) are:

Cafe Campagne (sister to Campagne - excellent food, but not nearly as pricey).
Place Pigalle is nice - make a reservation and ask for a window table though. Also, check on the hours.
Palisades (Elliot Bay - again, ask for a window table - have the pupu platter
Etta's is good
Ray's Boathouse (Shilshoe Bay - ask for window table)
Anthony's at Pier 66
Great place to have a drink if it's warm outside is the Pink Door (on the terrace).

Enjoy your short stay here!

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I started out with the Seattle search engine Beachbum. It's one of those things that's so simple, I didn't think of doing it until your recommendation. I could be there for DAYS. I have been trying to find memus for the places everyone suggested to help with a decision.

Also went to Zagat's for their top picks both by food quality and most popular to see if any of your recommendations match any of their choices.

No, I didn't decide on Seattle because of a cheap airfare. I am flying on US Air from PA on frequent flyer tickets to Vancouver Island, and Seattle was the closest place to Van Island that US Air flys into.

Seattle has also been on my list of places to see, so I'll check it out for a future trip.

OK, if you REALLY want a fabulous meal and want to splurge, here are the BEST restaurants in SEA:

Thai - Wild Ginger
French - Rover's
Canlis
For steaks, I'd recommend Daniel's Broiler over the Met, but again, that's just personal taste (the one on Leschi over the Bellevue one)
Herbfarm (doubt that you could get in though if you're going to be here in the next two months - this books 4 - 6 months out most times).

Just returned from Seattle two weeks ago. Had the best steak I have ever had at El Gaucho - pricy but well worth every dime!!!!! Agree Etta's in the market is wonderful - have lunch there.

As a former resident, I highly recommend Etta's (or anyplace at Pike Place Market) for lunch. For a drop dead gorgous view, you MUST go to Salty's on Alki (West Seattle), or Ivar's salmon house.