Steelhead Diner

located right by the pike place market, this restaurant is a great choice to take out-of-town visitors: conveniently located next to my favorite “tourist attraction” in the city, windows with a nice view of the market and the sound, and a menu that features ingredients drawn from the market.

but even if you aren’t visiting from out of town, the great food and neat vibe of this restaurant make it a place that i can see myself going back to again and again.

i’ve been eating mostly from the sandwiches/soups/salads sections of the menu, but the other half of the menu also includes fancier entrees too (altho my review can’t really speak to those items :))

We walked in off the street on a Monday after circling for parking for 1/2 hour. The wife was ready to chew me up and spit me out for even suggesting parking in Seattle.
We lucked out, parked and walked up to the second floor restaurant with a view of the sound and the famous Pikes Place Market sign.
We walked to the front desk and the lady asked “reservations?” It was 2 ish and we said no we just walked in.
She proceeded to give us about the best seats in the house, right by the window with an expansive view of the hustle of the market and the ferries going to their destinations across Puget Sound.
I convinced the wife a bottle of Viognier was in order and we decided to order from the sandwich offerings.
I had a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich and my wife had the Dungeness crab roll which was a crab cake on a soft sub style roll. The quality was evident, understated and unmistakable. I secretly wished I was on an expense account so I could dabble and taste from the whole menu!.
We enjoyed everything, the atmosphere was communal with guests (strangers) chatting across tables, a bar regular telling us about how the food was exceptional as he ate there often, and drank often too, it seemed to me.
The service was sharp; the Chef Kevin visited our table. We chatted about the opening and he assured us he was dialed by the time they opened, only a couple of months back. He and his wife are running the venture to hot local acclaim.
The menu spoke of organic, sustainable, homemade etc. all the buzzwords were well executed and a variety of items on the menu made the choice a challenge.
We wish them all the best and they are off to a great start in my humble opinion.
We hung out for a 2 hour lunch and had a “beautiful” after dinner drink which rounded out the experience, and our mood for the day!

One of the best meals I’ve had in Seattle in a while. Servie was a little slow for my liking, but the views were great and I especially appreciate how the owner works the line 6 days a week. I had the lamb – to die for. Wife had the Halibut – excellent. CHerry pie for dessert was the bomb.

I read some reviews on this restaurant, I checked out the menu. I was LESS than excited to go here. I agreed to go and was definitely impressed. I loved the food, the atmosphere though the prices can be a little bit steep. But here’s where it sold me.. and I learned my lesson the first time. I realized the dessert here really takes the cake (yah dumb joke!) so make sure you order lightly… the desserts are to die for.

I took a friend here for his birthday last October and have been back once since. The strange Louisiana/NW fusion is … I don’t know, odd. I have recommended it to others but not one of my favorites in the area. The cocktail choices are excellent though.