With ICRA 2015 in Seattle, we’re beyond excited to host the robotics community in our own front yard. In that spirit, we present our favorite things to do, eat, and drink around Seattle. Beware, all of these places are vegetarian-friendly. If you want customized suggestions, ask us at our booth, #529!
Food
Downtown
Pike Place Market – What guide to Seattle doesn’t start with Pike Place? It’s a great place to get some local flavors – art, chocolate, tourists, and plenty of free food samples.
It’s hard to walk in any direction without finding a decent restaurant, but I haven’t done that yet, so you’ll have to make your own adventure!
Capitol Hill
In The Bowl – Right on Olive St, this place has great vegetarian Thai food.
Kedai Makan – Just a few blocks, Kedai serves delicious Malaysian street food.
Big Marios – Awesome spot to grab a big slice of pizza before or during a concert on the hill.
Honey Hole – Some of the best sandwiches around.
Fremont
Silence Heart Nest – Vegetarian diner open for breakfast and lunch.
Brouwers Cafe – The best beer selection in town, and great food.
Cafe Turko – Incredible Turkish food.
Theo’s chocolate – Local fair trade chocolate manufacturer with tours and a shop with free samples. Closes at 6 PM. Take some home for your friends. Stop at Brouwers afterwards.
Ballard
Jhan Jay – Vegetarian Thai food (also in Wallingford).
Patxi’s – One of several good pizza places on Market St.
Full Tilt – Ice Cream shop + pinball and arcades. Ice cream counts as a meal. They also offer four vegan flavors.
University District
Saigon Deli – The best Vietnamese Sandwiches in Seattle at a great casual hole in the wall near the university.
Chili’s South Indian Restaurant – Best place around for some great dosa.
Veggie Grill – Vegan “fast” food in University Village- very comfort. such delicious. wow.
Din Tai Fung – a well-regarded worldwide chain of Taiwanese dumpling houses. If you didn’t get a chance to try it at ICRA 2014 in Hong Kong, try to visit this one. It’s the closest restaurant to Applied Dexterity Headquarters!
Beer
Downtown
Chuck’s hop shop – Bottle shop and tap room. Great place to get some Seattle souvenirs.
Pike Place brewery – They’ve got beer, but there’s gotta be a better brewery downtown – if not, go to Fremont or Ballard or SoDo.
Capitol Hill
Pine Box – Cool beer bar in an old funeral home – conveniently located on Pike and Pine.
Fremont
Fremont Brewery – If the sun is out or even almost out, this place will be mobbed with Seattlites taking advantage of the weather to sit outside and drink fabulous local beer.
Outlander – If you’re interested in the unbridled creativity of local nano-brewers, this is the place. Where else can you get a basil IPA?
Schillling Cider House – One of a few cider bars in Seattle, this place is only a few blocks from Turko Cafe – combine for a great evening. Get a flight so you can try some wacky ciders. The Cold Brew (Coffee) Cider is one of our favorites.
Ballard
Anywhere – Ballard has an ever-growing number of nano-breweries with incredible beer. We suggest Populuxe, since it’s right across the street from one of our machinists and has great beer and outdoor seating (and usually a food truck!). You can hit several more breweries on your walk towards central Ballard. Some of the smaller breweries are only open Thurs-Sun.
Ballard Beer Company is a great one-stop bar to check out with many Ballard and Seattle beers. Bring your own food from the burger place next door or any of the great restaurants on Market St.
University District
College inn – The quintessential local bar for grad students and professors. It’s located underneath an actual inn and allows you to escape that bright orb in the sky. Good beer selection and great veg chilli.
Big Time – It’s a BioRobotics lab favorite and it makes ok beer. Try to get Blake to take you!
Staying Active
Discovery Park – A large, nice park for hiking or running on a peninsula to the northwest of downtown.
Burke Gilman Trail – rent a bike and go for a ride on one of the best bike trails in the country. This is how I ride to work (almost) every day! You can even take the trail past the University all the way to the Red Hook brewery.
Hiking – In order of difficulty, these are the classic nearby hikes: Rattlesnake Ledge, Little Si, Mt Si. They’re all gorgeous.
Olympic Peninsula – Those mountains you see over the water from downtown are the Olympic Mountains, part of the temperate rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula. If you have a car and plenty of time, take the ferry and explore!
Climbing gyms
Seattle Bouldering Project – A giant bouldering gym in the international district, just south of downtown.
Stone Gardens – Classic grungy climbing gym with good top ropes and high quality bouldering.
Vertical world – this is also a climbing gym.
University – The UW has a climbing gym if you make some friends with UW students that are willing to let you in. Very inexpensive.
There’s great bouldering, sport, and trad climbing within an hour drive of Seattle. Find Andrew for some suggestions.