Where to take a friend for dinner at the market

[LaureltQ]

We have a friend who's flying in for the weekend and is interested in checking out local breweries. We're in Bothell, but understand that when someone is coming to "Seattle," they want to check out the Pike Street market. I figured we could kill 2 birds with one stone and hit Pike Brewing's pub. Upon reading their menu, the food looks a little more expensive than what our group will want to spend for pub food (early-mid 20's). Do you have any near-market suggestions for dinner? Ideally we'd park somewhere, walk to dinner, then walk to Pike for beers, and walk back to the car.

Suggestions?

[Brunhilde]

Also, depending on how beer-geeky your friend is, she might want to avoid the more commercial "micro-breweries" (Redhook, Pyramid) and travel to the smaller neighborhood breweries. There are quite a few in Seattle. The Taphouse probably won't have very many beers she hasn't seen (there's only 2 locations, but feels very chain-like) vs. a place like Brouwer's, which has truly unique beers.

There's an old thread on Breweries here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/617222
(Ha! I'm still going on about that french dip)

[pwmac17]

Taphouse (on 6th and Pike) has pretty good food and over 160 beers to choose from. You could also hit up Chez Shea in Pike Place Market for happy hour. It's really nice, but they have awesome food prices for HH. Also, Lowell's in Pike Place is a good, cheap place to eat. And you definitely get the Pike Place vibe when you're there. POST (right next to Kells) also has pretty good pub food and it's not too spendy. Another fun thing to do is get a cocktail at Zig Zag. It's pricey for drinks, but always a fun experience.

[Psiweaver]

I'd definitely avoid Pike. Elysian will be much better both in terms of beer and in terms of food. My suggestion would be to hit one of the two Elysian places. You could also hit Naked CIty though I found the food options to be lacking there. There is also Brouwer's in Fremont which if he's big into craft beer he'll probably lose it over, they have like 50 taps plus 300 or so bottles.

[Brunhilde]

Brouwer's has 64 taps, and it is awesome for beer lovers. It does have some local beers, with a lot of imports plus microbrews from around the country. In terms of local breweries, my favorite for food + tasting would be Maritime Pacific's Jolly Roger Taproom in Ballard (Plus you could take them to the locks!). I love their lunch menu.

[Psiweaver]

yeah I should have recommended too especially since my wifes friend is one of the cooks there. The food is actually quite good.

[Brunhilde]

Every time I go I ask them to bring back the French Dip with Grilled Portabellas and Green Peppercorn Au Jus. Best damned french dip I've ever had!

[Psiweaver]

That sounds really good. I'll have to lobby the guy I know who works there then.

[knowspicker]

It's pretty hard to beat the Happy Hour at List. http://listbelltown.com/ The food is not too expensive to start with and the HH offers 50% off on the "food list". HH lasts all night on Sunday and Monday or 4-6:30 on the other days. The happy hour wine is one of the better happy hour wines as far as taste and price go.

Diamond Knot brewery makes some darn good beer in Mukilteo.

[Brunhilde]

You could head up the street to the Elysian Brewery in Capitol Hill (or Elysian Feilds down by the stadium, different type of menu, still cheaper than Pike's Brewery), and then hit Pike's afterwards. As far as cheaper restaurants near the Pike Place Market, I'd start perusing happy hour menues. The entree's at Pike's Brewpub at $15 - $25, with $10 - $15 sandwiches, are probably at the low end of the spectrum for the area.

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Pike Place Market
1501 Pike Pl, Seattle, WA 98101

[kaleokahu]

Brunhilde: Oooooh, the steak frittes at Elysian with the Gorgonzola sauce are definitely worth a cross-town jaunt. Now I've got the jones for that...

[Brunhilde]

Aaaaaah! Damn you for reminding me of that! Now I can't stop thinking about it either. With a Prometheus IPA...

[kaleokahu]

Brunhilde: I like it with the Immortal, too. I've even had it with the jasmine beer--also ono.

There is a bit of backstory there... Elysian took it off the menu for awhile, and it took a revolt to get it back (I think that's what the Egyptian thing is modeled after).

[maybelle]

I'm not a fan of the food at Pike's Brewery at all (I kick and scream if I'm dragged in by my hubby), so my suggestion would be to hit up HH for a cheap meal somewhere nearby and then come back for drinks. There's a lot of threads lately about HH in downtown/Belltown that you can do a search for.

Since you have a car, another option I'd throw out is to drive over to Greenwood on the way back to Bothell and hit up Naked City. It's my favorite! Lots of microbrews on tap, and they now brew their own beer too. Food is your basic sandwiches and salads, but not too expensive. There's also Pillager's Pub across the street that's also local, but I don't think it's as good.

[babette feasts]

I really love Le Pichet on 1st and Virginia. Always delicious, reasonably priced hearty (meaty - lots of charcuterie) French bistro food in a cozy, unpretentious atmosphere.

http://lepichetseattle.com/pages/home...

Or, if it is anywhere near happy hour, walk north on 1st avenue a few blocks to Belltown, where almost everywhere has some kind of happy hour deal.

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Le Pichet
1933 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101