Gay Dining in Seattle:
The original gay restaurant Thumpers is now gone. Long gone are the days when Hamburger Mary’s was at the top of the Broadway Market. Gay dining in Seattle has become more mainstream.
1200 Bistro, while
fairly pricey, is a stylish restaurant in the heart of Capital Hill mostly catering to a gay clientele. You may want to try the
bar menu instead. A little less expensive is
Martin’s Off Madison, with its live Piano music and serves a full dinner menu.
Historically Broadway Ave has been the center of the gay community and while most restaurants along Broadway still cater to the gay population they have noticeably become more mixed from the nearby community college. Broadway is where you could grab a quick bite from a number of value conscious and friendly establishments such as
Hana Japanese Restaurant or
Pho Cyclo. If you are on the north end of Broadway Ave the
Deluxe Bar and Gill may be worth a try. Burgers and quality microbrews are their speciality along with other comfort food. Happy hour daily 3 to 6 and Wednesdays are popular with $4.95 gourmet burgers. Sitting near their fireplace is nice on a cold rainy day.
Broadway New American Grill has been an establishment within the gay community for over a decade. The food and menu has recently improved after a decline in quality a few years ago. It is not the top value nor fanciest restaurant in the city but it has a modern decor and the setting is comfortable but visually stimulating. The food is decent with some items under $10 and much better than a Hamburger Mary's. While the clientele is mixed, on any given night they will have a large gay following peculiarly including those that have recently “come-out.” Probably because a lot of the population has grown tired of the restaurant over time. A large draw is the ample
outdoor and window side seating which is now non-smoking and the prime spot for people watching on a nice day.
Next to the bars:
Quaint and gay
friendly restaurants next to the bars include
Rosebud, 611 Supreme and
22 Doors. Across from Sugar, mostly straight
Via Tribunali is hot now and very hyped up and popular but seems dark, overpriced and has a long wait time where you are expected to buy overpriced drinks in the bar. The Italian restaurant
Machiavelli on Pine Street, while mostly straight, has quite a following in the early evening due to its authentic Italian food and casual atmosphere with good prices. Many stop at
Hot Mama’s Pizza across from R Place for a late night slice of fresh hot pizza on their way between clubs. Across from Sugar and located outside of a place called Neumo’s is "
Frites: Belgian Fries" for a fast and hot snack.
Across from where Thumpers use to be,
CC Attle’s serves hot bar food for under $10 until late at night including things such as a large cheeseburger or a large fried seafood platter.
Purr Cocktail Lounge has a full Mexican menu.
The
Belltown neighborhood features a bevy of straight but very hip gay friendly restaurants. Just take a stroll down 1st or 2nd avenue in the downtown Belltown neighborhood.
Also more on the straight side (but still gay friendly) if you are visiting you’re probably better off going downtown and visiting one of the classier high-end restaurants such as
Campagne, Brasa, Dahlia Lounge, El Gaucho, Flying Fish, Queen City Grill, Palace Kitchen, or Wild Ginger
Gay.com has an excellent and comprehensive discussion of some of the better places to eat in Seattle while some may be a little "off the radar":
http://www.gay.com/travel/premium/sp...num=315&page=1