Seattle Kid Friendly Dining

[anisette]

I'll be in Seattle over the next few days with hubby and daughter and would appreciate any recommendations for a decent dining place that's kid friendly. We'll be travelling by car, so Seattle and relatively close-by environs are good. Moderate prices and a casual atmosphere would be a must, although my little one is a well-behaved 2 1/2 year old (most of the time)

I've already read several of the threads on the wondeful pastries & sandwiches Seattle has so I'll be hitting Dahlia for sure and if we have time Macrina, Salumi and Cafe Besalu (will have to figure out how to get to Ballard). But for dinner I'm completely stumped. Any help is greatly and muchly appreciated!

[tighe]

94 Stewart is, IMO, the best combination of the food quality and kid-friendliness in town, hands down.

The Chow Foods restaurants are decent choices as well.

[dandelion]

Tutta Bella, which serves excellent Neapolitan pizza, is very kid friendly. Whenever I go it seems like at least 25% of the people in the restaurant are under the age of 10. They've got a million high chairs and they'll even give kids a hunk of pizza dough to play with.

[tinyhandful]

granted we've got a lot of asian food in vancouver, seattle also has its stand-outs. i lived in seattle for 6 years before moving "home" to vancouver last month. my favs that i always make time for are:

Malay Satay Hut in the I.D. (International District)...their website doesn't seem to be responding, but here is the stranger's article on it. it's along the same lines as Tropika (in vancouver) but much less oily and definitely less expensive! amazing roti canai, tung choi (water spinach), and mango chicken... mmmm....

i do apologize for this addition to your already growing list of lunch-only options, but Dish between Ballard and Fremont is an absolute must (along with Besalu and Salumi!). Dish is definitely the spot for a big, cozy, home-y (i know that's not a word, but go with it...) breakfast. you won't be able to find a better Eggs Benedict anywhere near our neck of the woods. they don't have a website, but here's the citysearch profile on them. (Cash & Check Only)

i have to agree with dandelion, you don't have to travel so far into Rainier Valley for amazing neapolitan pizza anymore since they opened up a Tutta Bella between Wallingford and Fremont on Stone Way. their pizza is great but their tiramisu is heavenly....

i have yet had a chance to try Tilth in Wallingford but how can you miss with organic ingredients and Maria Hines (ex-Earth & Ocean at the W) at the helm?? Wallingford is a very kid-friendly neighbourhood, so i can't imagine Tilth being too uptight.

keep in mind that seattle is much, much more relaxed than vancouver *gasp!*. so i'm sure that most places you'll choose, bringing kids (well-behaved kids-a bonus!) shouldn't be a problem.

if you're craving sushi, you're better off waiting it out until you come home. seattle, relative to vancouver, has a lot of mediocre, over-priced sushi.

Cafe Juanita is aways excellent but i'm not sure about its location (kirkland). they're quite a big drive away from seattle.

i'm also a little biased to Crush since i used to work for J & Nic, but also wonderful...

oooh! and Canlis too...

the last few choices may be better enjoyed on another trip sans les enfants, as they're quite romantic.

have fun!

Edited November 15, 2006 by tinyhandful (log)

[anisette]

Thank you all so much for your quick responses and wonderful recommendations! Tutta Bella sounds like a place my daughter would love - she helps me 'make' pizza dough, so it should be fun.

Tinyhandful, I adore roti canai, and Tropika is just not that great. Have you tried Auntie Anne's on Kingsway in Vancouver across from Safeway (between Boundary and Joyce)? It's not the nicest place, but the food is great and the roti canai is outstanding.

[JasonTrue]

Vios is also very child-friendly, as noted in the thread covering it elsewhere... It's a very nice Greek place with a cafe-style atmosphere and a small play area.

Thank you all so much for your quick responses and wonderful recommendations! Tutta Bella sounds like a place my daughter would love - she helps me 'make' pizza dough, so it should be fun.

Tinyhandful, I adore roti canai, and Tropika is just not that great. Have you tried Auntie Anne's on Kingsway in Vancouver across from Safeway (between Boundary and Joyce)? It's not the nicest place, but the food is great and the roti canai is outstanding.

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[tinyhandful]

my bf is giving me trouble for not including HIS favourite restaurant down in seattle on my list...i omitted it because it's asian, and i feared that you're all asian-ed out since you live in van.

but Little Thai is a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall. it's right in the U-District and it's run by two sisters, Warinee and Kunya (they're actually THAI too! BONUS!) and a random slew of other family members... my bf says that you have to get the little spring rolls (delicious, and great to share--1 order gets you about 10 or 12 and includes a great sweet chili sauce--sometimes they can be a little greasy, but a little grease that tastes this good is easily overlooked!) if you're a fan of pad thai, little thai will not disappoint. Warinee has been nice enough to invite me and my bf into her kitchen to "teach" us how to make it (we still can't make it NEARLY as good!). very kid friendly and lots of booths.

so go to Little Thai for dinner, then take a stroll through the U-District, and about 3 blocks north, just past 45th ave, you'll find The Mix ice cream bar...a much better and local version of Cold Stone. if you've never had a hand-mixed custom ice cream, you've gotta go. i know it's cold, but it'll be worth it! plus, here are some coupons to make it more convincing! (from what i remember, a small ice cream-which is PLENTY-is about 3 US dollars and change with the 2 free mix-ins coupon)

side note: was wandering around on citysearch and Tutta Bella was just named Best Pizza 2006 by their editors. here's the link if you're interested: click on me!

talking about good food in seattle makes me miss it so much!!!

Have you tried Auntie Anne's on Kingsway in Vancouver across from Safeway (between Boundary and Joyce)? It's not the nicest place, but the food is great and the roti canai is outstanding.

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but i will definitely seek out Auntie Anne's in the next couple of days. thanks for the suggestion! (no worries, i will gladly take good food + bad decor over good decor + bad food anyday!)

Edited November 15, 2006 by tinyhandful (log)

[LaurieA-B]

Malay Satay is a good recommendation, and just south of there (12th and Jackson) is Iris's favorite, Seven Stars Pepper (SE corner, upstairs). Sichuanese Cuisine (in the strip mall on the NW corner) is good too. Tamarind Tree, good Vietnamese food a bit west on Jackson, was fine with a two-year-old. Green Leaf is another kid-friendly Vietnamese restaurant, but they're closed this week for remodel.

Baguette Box is delicious and very casual--the bread is too chewy for Iris, but she enjoys the fillings.

You can definitely get away with taking a child to any of the Tom Douglas restaurants, with Etta's and Lola being perhaps more family-friendly than Dahlia or Palace Kitchen (I haven't been to Serious Pie yet; Palace is probably my favorite food-wise).

I would only go to Chow Foods restaurants as a back-up, would pick 5 Spot over Coastal Kitchen, and order simpler preparations from the extensive menu. (I always seem to end up overspent and undersatisfied at both; I haven't been to Mioposto or Hi-Life.)

Oh, Iris and the rest of the family also love Red Mill Burgers, for fast food.

[anisette]

Again, thanks to everyone for your wonderful recommendations!

We ended up at Tutta Bella on Wednesday night - the night it rained like h#ll. Weather at its Pacific Northwest finest The pizza was good, albeit a bit too salty for my taste buds (and I like salt) but it was a warm and welcoming enivronment for a blustery day with a semi-cranky toddler. We didn't get any dough (sigh!) but did get some waxy swizzle sticks which DH and I enjoyed playing with far more than our daughter.

Had a coconut cream pie at Dahlia's and it was all that everyone said it would be and more. Delish.

Really looking forward to trying more of Seattle's wonderful offerings.