15 Iconic Foods in Seattle You MUST Try (Everything I Ate In Seattle)

This is a guide to all the foods in Seattle you must try when you visit! Seattle is such a diverse food city and truly has something for everyone. Keep reading to see all of my favorite eats from my trip!

Poke Bowls from Seattle Fish Guys

Seattle Fish Guys is a seafood market and restaurant in the heart of the Central District. They have an amazing selection of fresh fish, crab, lobster, oysters, and more!

After seeing rave reviews from Mike Chen of Strictly Dumpling, I knew we had to try the fresh poke.

You can pick anywhere from 1-3 poke and it comes with a side and rice. We chose 3 poke (the spicy salmon, shoyu tuna, and creamy scallop), macaroni salad, and white rice. We also got a side of oysters on the half shell for fun.

Everything we got tasted so fresh. The poke really reminded me of Hawaii, especially with the macaroni salad and furikake on the rice! The oysters tasted super clean as well.

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Seattle is known for excellent seafood, and Seattle Fish Guys is no exception!

Pho from Pho Bac

Pho Bac claims to be “Seattle’s Original Pho” and rightfully so! They have 4 locations throughout Seattle so you’re likely to be decently close to one wherever you are.

As a Vietnamese person who grew up eating pho often, I have high standards for pho. When we ordered the giant beef rib pho, I was worried it would be all looks and no flavor, but Pho Bac did not let me down!

The beef broth had depth and was delicious. The portions are also humongous for the price. I can usually finish off a “large” size pho at most restaurants no problem, but I was struggling towards the end with this place!

Almond Croissants at Le Panier (Pike Place Market)

Of course I couldn’t write about foods in Seattle you must try without highlighting some spots in the famous Pike Place Market!

There aren’t many breakfast combos better than a coffee and croissant, in my opinion. Le Panier, a French bakery and cafe, is the perfect place to start your Pike Place Market marathon.

I got an almond croissant, which Le Panier is known for, and kept it simple with an iced latte. The other pastries and bread they have on display were equally enticing, but I had to save room!

The croissant had crispy, buttery layers and a delicate almond flavor. It paired perfectly with my coffee.

Piroshky Piroshky (Pike Place Market)

Piroshky Piroshky has been bringing a taste of Eastern Europe to the Pacific Northwest since 1992. Piroshkies are essentially hand pies, and this bakery offers 32 different flavors!

Though Piroshky Piroshky offers both sweet and savory flavors, savory is more my speed. I got the salmon pate piroshky, the bakery’s most popular flavor.

I loved the salmon and dill flavor sandwiched between the soft, warm pastry. Look at the cute fish shape!

Chinese Pastries from Mee Sum Pastry (Pike Place Market)

Mee Sum Pastry is another long-standing bakery at Pike Place Market. They have dim sum staples like baos (buns) and dumplings.

Mee Sum is probably most well known for their BBQ pork bao, a huge bun filled with juicy, savory pork filling. We already met our pastry quota unfortunately with Piroshky Piroshky and Le Panier, so we opted for a monster-size dumpling instead.

I wasn’t expecting much, but I’ve learned to not judge food by its cover. The dumpling had a delicious chicken, shrimp, and chive filling — I kind of wish we ordered two!

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese (Pike Place Market)

You can’t miss Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. Aside from handcrafted cheese, you can get a variety of delicious cheese-filled things like mac and cheese and grilled cheese!

I decided on the original “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese. Despite the “mac” in its name, Beecher uses penne pasta and a combination of their flagship cheese and Just Jack cheese.

I loved this! The pasta was tender but not mushy, and the sauce was super creamy and cheesy. Beecher’s uses some chili powder in their recipe, which provides a nice amount of subtle heat to cut the richness of the cheese.

Still hungry, we also ordered ordered the Tomato Flagship soup. I liked that there were still visible tomato chunks throughout, and toasted bread croutons for textural contrast. The soup is a great accompaniment to whatever cheesy item you decide to order!

Pike Place Chowder (Pike Place Market)

Of all the foods in Seattle you MUST try, this is at the top of the list. Pike Place Chowder boasts they have America’s #1 Chowder, and I believe it!

Pike Place Chowder has a couple different types of chowder (seared scallop chowder, Manhattan chowder, smoked salmon chowder, to name a few), but the only one I wanted was the classic New England clam chowder. It was full of meaty clams, melt-in-your-mouth potatoes, and was perfectly thick and creamy.

Since this place is hugely popular, there’s always a long line. But, there is a way to get around it! Place an online pick-up order on the Yelp app and by the time you head to the pick-up window, it’ll be ready. My chowder was ready in less than 5 minutes!

Rachel’s Ginger Beer (Pike Place Market)

Before leaving Pike Place, get a drink to-go at Rachel’s Ginger Beer. Like root beer, ginger beer doesn’t actually have any alcohol in it! They have a ton of fun flavors to choose from. During this trip, we went twice and I ordered the white peach and guava. I recommend both!

Local Oysters at Westward

Westward is the perfect place to come if you’re looking for fresh, local oysters and picturesque waterfront dining. It’s not too far from Gasworks Park, if you happen to already be in the area.

We ordered ten oysters and let the waitress choose her favorites. We tried 5 different types of oysters, all from Washington state! Relaxing in Adirondack chairs on the pier looking over Lake Union and eating local oysters was definitely one of the highlights of this trip.

Din Tai Fung

As an East Coaster, I knew I had to visit Din Tai Fung while in Seattle. DTF is a world-renowned Taiwanese restaurant with only West Coast locations in the US!

To order, you get a paper menu and a pen to mark what you want to eat. Each dish is prepared family style. My fiance and I went wild and ordered 6 things to try.

We ordered the cucumber salad, seaweed and beancurd with vinegar dressing, Kurobuta pork xiao long bao, shrimp and Kurobuta pork spicy wontons, noodles with spicy sauce, pork chop fried rice.

Everything was delicious. My favorites were the cucumber salad, the XLB, and pork chop fried rice. The pork chop fried rice was an unexpected surprise! My fiance liked it so much we ordered another serving at the end.

DTF has a large menu, so if you can, go with a group of people so you can try a lot of things!

Nana’s Green Tea

Nana’s Green Tea is a Japanese cafe that specializes in green teas and Japanese foods like sashimi rice bowls and katsu curries!

Since we were just stopping by after dinner for dessert, we skipped the food and ordered a Hojicha ice cream float. They had a lot of enticing matcha options as well, but I had never tried hojicha before.

I’m SO glad I took a chance because the hojicha was amazing. Hojicha is a type of Japanese green tea like matcha, but the tea leaves are roasted after steaming. It results in this smooth, nutty flavor that isn’t bitter at all. The actual hojicha latte was great, but the hojicha ice cream was phenomenal.

That wraps up food in Seattle you must try! I loved eating my way through this city. Hopefully this gives you some inspiration if you’re planning a trip there! Let me know in the comments what place you’re most interested in trying 🙂