Pike's Place and a Duck Tour are a good start to get a quick feel for the city. As far as some high end food scenes, I have to give a shout to my wife's restaurant Cafe Juanita, which is Northern Italian cuisine that showcases the best of Northwestern produce and meat. She's now the chef de cuisine and is a certifiable bad ass. The restaurant itself if one of if not the best fine dining experiences in the city. It is on the East side, but it's worth the drive. Another great local restaurant is Lark. They are more of a small plates, share a bunch of courses kind of place, but the food is really awesome. If you're up for sushi, I have to recommend Kisaku, which is where a lot of chefs go to eat. If you're looking for the best of Vietnamese, please visit Tamarind Tree or Monsoon. Another Seattle institution is Palace Kitchen. Tom Douglas is pretty much the Godfather of Seattle cuisine, and this is one of his flagship restaurants. They have the best burger in town, and Martha Stewart stopped by a few days before going to jail to have their wings. It's kind of typical bar food, but jazzed up and done really well. They also have awesome cocktails. One issue you will likely run into is that most Seattle restaurants shut down on Monday (although not the sushi places). Check ahead of time to make sure the places you want to see will be open. I have to cast my vote against Lunchbox Labratory. Never been, but the owner is an asshat of the highest magnitude. Had to threaten to sue him to get my wife's last paycheck from another restaurant he owned. That was a stellar place due to an all-star kitchen (which he wasn't part of). Too bad it failed because he couldn't get his fat ass off the couch to do anything except mooch money from the company coffers to splurge on who knows what. If the weather is nice, Deception Pass is a nice day trip.
Spent two weeks in Seattle prior to making my way to the Sasquatch festival a few months back. Below are some of the favorites of the trip, broken down by neighborhood. Ballard Restaurants (Can fit in before/after Locks) Hi-Life La Carta de Oaxaca Music Tractor Tavern Breweries Hale's Ales Maritime Pacific Brewing Co. Queen Anne Kerry Park - Not really a park, but best view in town of the skyline Easy Street Records 5 Spot - Tasty Food, quirky place Capitol Hill Elysian Brewing Co. - Good food (farm fresh), along with tasty beverages Chop Suey - Odd/interesting music venue Egyptian Theater - Very cool old school movie theater Two other places that I heard good things about, but seemed perpetually closed (really odd hours) was Tats in Pioneer Square and Paseo in Fremont. Also check out Sweet Iron Waffles for breakfast/lunch if you get the chance. Outdoors things that I enjoyed was a hike in Discovery Park and walking tour of Bainbridge Island (35 minute or so Ferry ride). If you make it to the island, Cafe Nola is very tasty...and be try to stop for dessert at Mora Iced Creamery before catching the ferry back.
