mms, I will check out Ivar's, thanks for chiming in!

I didn't realize the Met was a steakhouse til suze pointed it out. I don't eat red meat, so that's out of the running...

Assagio is going to be a back up plan for us since it's right at our hotel. Or if we get there and fall in love with it we'll just dine there instead of one of the other picks...

Well, if you don't eat meat, I would skip the Met. They do have other things, but that is their specialty. I did go with a friend once who does not eat meat and she enjoyed it. So maybe check their menu first and then decide.

As far as Assaggio's...it is really good and while not PNW fare per se, it is one of the better restaurants in the city, IMO.

Not to talk you into it but they have seafood too www.themetropolitangrill.com

Ray's is a great Seattle tradition but quite a drive outside of town (1/2 hour at least). Etta's Seafood, Cutter's, Anthony's or anything down on the waterfront are all easy walking distance from your hotel.

I've not been to Matt's but have heard only rave reviews.

IMO, Matt's should be your first choice. I personally would not put Eliott's anywhere close to my top 10 but perhaps you have a particular reason for wanting to go there?

I guess the main question is, do you want places where the food will wow you, or do you want places where the food may not be quite as good as the "wow" places but it has other things going for it (such as a view)?

mms, the met may do well for non-meat eaters. i think i mentioned that i love ruth's chris in sf (a traditional steakhouse); you just can't beat their appetizers and lobster!

suze, it may end up winning out as it is closer to the ballpark...

my dad loves elliot's and i want to see what all the hype is about. now i'm torn since assagio's and matt's have slowly climbed their way up to the top of the list.

ideally, excellent food and ambiance/view would encompass at least one meal, but if that is impossible, i would have to vote for the food portion winning out.

it sounds like ray's may have both and we don't mind the drive since we'll have a rental car and most likely won't use it for anything else while in seattle proper (we'll be in cle elum and bonney lake prior), so that's not an issue.

I'd count Ray's and Elliot's as similar (though honestly I have never been to Elliot's so I probably shouldn't say that!) as nice tourist places but far from the best that's to be had, food-wise. Ray's got killer setting certainly, on the water, and the drive out there thru Ballard will give you a peak at some of Seattle's neighborhoods.

Assagios is unique and right where you are staying. Do try to fit it in somewhere, they are open both lunch and dinner.

Matt's is by far the best restaurant on your list. Have eaten there enough to become friends with the waitstaff and just love the food. Have never had anything I wouldn't order seconds of. Assagios, on the other hand, was terrible in our experience...bad service, food arrived cold and was lackluster even when we had it refired. There are 20 other restaurants I'd go to first in Seattle (Dahlia Lounge or Palace Kitchen would be my next 2 after Matt's downtown).

By the way, Etta's has a great brunch menu on the weekends...the best french toast of my life, the husband always gets the Eggs Benedict w/ Crab. Also the best bloody marys in town.

Concur with the negative reviews of Salty's...good for drinks with a view, skip the food and definitely skip the brunch.

If you feel like adventuring out of downtown, our favorite neighborhood place is Pair near UW http://www.pairseattle.com/. Never had a bad dish here either.

My advice would be go to the touristy places for the view and a drink and maybe some oysters (Elliots), but hit the chefs' restaurants for a real taste of the PacNW.

Wow, interesting to hear the bad comments about Assagios. Thank you for posting. That is my parallel experience with Flying Fish (everyone loves it, but it never seems to work out for me -lol!).

Hmm...I'd say that for seafood, Etta's, Flying Fish and Ray's all have at least the potential for the "wow" factor, whereas I wouldn't say the same for the food at Elliot's or Cutter's--not that it's bad at the latter places by any means, just not as great.

I think we locals tend to think of Ray's as touristy (which it certainly can be) and therefore that the food is just ok, but I was pleasantly wowed on a visit this past March (during the most recent 25 for 25), after not having been for a while--and the food was fantastic, as was the view.

And FWIW, I like Assagio's but I wouldn't put it among my favorites.

Anyway, you have an abundance of good places to choose from and I'm sure you'll have some good food ;-).

OK all, thanks for the excellent advice. I think I'm gonna go ahead and book Matt's and FF for dinner and play it by ear with Assagio's. If we seem really into it or it looks fantastic we may squeeze it in somewhere. But I have a fave Italian place in North Beach in SF and I am a creature of habit so other restaurants often don't have a chance of pleasing if I have that on my mind...So much so that I tried lasagna three times in Rome and Venice and nothing compared to the one at my place in SF!

Anyway, I am not so picky with seafood (except that it be fresh), and it sounds like that's what I'll be eating for the majority of our meals in Seattle, so I'm sure I won't be disappointed :)

We will most likely try to do brunch at Etta's just because I really want to try out a Tom Douglas place and none of them made it onto the lunch/dinner lists (unless you count grabbing a lunch to go from Dahlia Bakery)...

Pair actually looks right up our alley, but since it is off the beaten track I don't think we'll make it there unless for some unforeseen reason. Maybe next trip...

Elliot's has been pushed off to drinks and appetizers. But is it worth going if we're not really into oysters? Seems like everyone suggests just grabbing some oysters there and I personally don't have a taste for them.

Again, thanks to all---and man, people are passionate about food! It's great :) I'm relatively new to Fodors but I think this thread is the one I've had the most hits on!

I would say Matts for dinner and maybe Salty's for drinks, but not the just so-so food, and forget Italian here--you have much better Italian in SF. The view and food at Cutters are good, but I think it's noisy.

Have a great trip.

I was at Cutter's on a Friday night when I visited and I thought it was great and not at all noisy. But maybe I didn't notice the noise once they brought the most incredible chocolate dessert to the table: kind of a volcano of chocolate with oozing creamy "lava".

Also did the picnic thing with food we bought at the Pike's Place Market. What I really wanted to buy was the flowers, never saw so many beautiful colors in my life.

Don't miss the dark chocolate covered dried cherries with pistachios mixed in the bag.

We are lucky to have so many great places to eat in Seattle. I too would skip Italian (although I mentioned it above).

The fresh seafood really is what we have to show off. Do try to squeeze Etta's in there somewhere. It is my #1 favorite restaurant. I always have great food and servie there. They just know how to do it right.

Hi there, Jake's Girl --

I'm a big time Seattle foodie, so your post screamed out to me. =) Hope these suggestions help...

I much prefer The Dahlia Lounge to Etta's. They're both Tom Douglas restaurants, but the atmosphere is better at Dahlia. I'd highly recommend trying his crab cakes if you can. They are melt-in-the-mouth delish. Another favorite is Coastal Kitchen in Capitol Hill. Yum, yum, yum. You can check out their menu at www.chowfoods.com.

Otherwise, we regularly frequent these more affordable options: Aqua Verde (U District), Tutta Bella (Columbia City or Wallingford) for perfect southern Italian pizza, and Red Mill (Phinney Ridge) for the best burgers in town.

For dessert, try Bottega Italiana for authentic gelato just outside Pike Place Market. Another favorite is Cupcake Royale in Ballard, Madrona, or West Seattle.

Enjoy!
Heather.

jakes girl,

I was in Seattle last week and had dinner at Cutter's Bayhouse. I am not a fish-eater, but the waitress assured me the Alaskan Halibut was delicious. It was served on a puffed corn kind of souffle bed. It was fabulous! I also had a couple of pretty good mojitos and the blueberry bread pudding a la mode was out of this world! :) The view was spectacular and it was not noisy at all. I conversed all evening with my dinner partner and it was lovely!

That being said, I also did happy hour at a place called "Barolo". It is about 1 mile from Pike Place on Westlake. We sat in the bar and the tapas was amazing. (The drinks were pretty good too and the house wine quite good.) The portobello risotto, cheese plate (w/brie that was like butter), steak and tuna tartare...all delish. They have a full restaurnt and if the food is as good as the bar, I will be going back on my next visit!

Heather, I'm so glad you posted even though this thread's not had any action in a couple days! We will definitely check out your gelato place---we've been on a hunt for over two years now trying to duplicate our daily pistachio and chocolate habit in Venice :) We also may do the Dahlia Lounge for late night appetizers and drinks after a ballgame. We've booked Etta's for brunch and I hope we'll be happy with that.

Sarge, I think we may have time to squeeze in your tapas place, but between mixed reviews of Cutters and limited nights (two) in Seattle, we're gonna stick with Matt's and the FF for dinner...Thanks for chiming in though!

jakes_Girl...hope you can squeeze in Barolo. I forgot to mention the happy hour prices were also amazing.

We shared four tapas plates (cheese/risotto/steak/tuna tartar), plus when we were seated they brought crustini with a wonderful kalamata olive tapanade, four glasses house wine, two mojitos, a bellini and a coffee. And the bill was 63 bucks! Happy hour I think is 4-6. I was there at 4:30 and friends joined me at 5. Highly recommend this place. Delish! :)

Have fun!!!

sounds great, i love places like that!

Another good happy hour place is Wann at 2020 2nd with a really interesting menu and nice atmosphere and good well-priced drinks. I think the Tuna/Tofu Tartar is a winner, as were many of the sushi plates and rolls.

You may also want to do a search for Salumi. That's Mario Battali's father's place. They do sandwiches and you can buy some sensational Salami to take home with you. I also liked Campagne in the Pike Place area next to the Inn at the Market.