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A crowdsourced U District guide made by YOU

Throughout the month of May, we asked you to fill out a Google Form to tell us about the places you love in the U District. We promised at the end of the month we’d compile your answers in a guide. Here’s what you had to say / recommend: 

(Scroll to the bottom for links to the rest of our U District coverage.) 

🍨 Favorite dessert place

Sweet Alchemy

Honorable mentions: Full Tilt, Byrek & Baguette, Snowy Village, Donut Factory, Sugar & Spoon 

☕️  Favorite coffee place

Cafe Solstice

Honorable mentions: Cafe Allegro, Ugly Mug, Herkimer, Seven Coffee

🍺  Favorite place to grab a drink

Flowers and Big Time Brewery

Honorable mentions: The Mountaineering Club, Schultzy’s, Earl’s on the Ave, The Monkey Pub (Editor’s note: This is the first place she did karaoke and she chose Smokey Robinson’s “The Tracks of My Tears” — it brought the whole mood down), Floating Bridge (now closed), Blue Moon Tavern

🍜  Favorite noodle place

Xi’an Noodles

Honorable mentions: Thai Tom, U:Don, Than Brothers

🍽   Favorite restaurant

Thai Tom

Honorable mentions: Chili’s, Agua Verde, Cedar’s

🍕  Favorite pizza place

Supreme (Temporarily closed)

Honorable mentions: A Pizza-Mart, Big Time Brewery, Pizza Pi, Pagliacci (now closed)

🖼  Best hidden gem

Jacob Lawrence Gallery

Honorable mentions: Magus Books, Henry Art Gallery, Ravenna Park


Head over to this page to sign up — it only takes a minute!


📣  Extra shoutouts

The owners of Cafe Solstice. Somehow they’ve been able to keep the doors open during the pandemic.  They bake their offerings in-house and have delicious cookies. — Lincoln J.

Daniel, owner of Tea Republik. Gotta love a tea shop that doesn’t focus on boba! It’s cozy and lovely, he has an extensive tea list, and his mixed drinks are delicious. — Kevin R.

Scarecrow Video! At a time when streaming services give you the illusion of infinite choice while really pushing you towards a limited number of options, Scarecrow actually has every movie and TV show you can think of. Love the way the shelves are organized, love the movies they play on the TV above the register, just love that they exist. So, so grateful for Scarecrow! — Ari H.

Rick McLaughlin at Big Time Brewery and Alehouse for his constant efforts to preserve the U-district and protect the small businesses.  — Tony P.

U Heights and the Executive Director. Fabulous organization and person. — Brigid N.

Shoutout to all the U-District market farmers and workers for all the hard work that goes into growing local and delicious foods! — Storie M.

Helen, the former matriarch of The Continental Greek restaurant. She spent years as the warmth of the Ave. — Katy S.

Shout out to the guy who owns the Shwarma King, gave me free fries when he was working the counter one time! — Eric B.

Hiroshi’s Poke, my partner goes there every week and it’s the best and most effective poke he’s ever had. Hiroshi is also a homie! Also Stephanie O, the building manager of TraVigne Apartments. She’s THE best! — Ariana A.

Magus Books has a huge selection of used books at great prices and amazing staff! Sometimes they get so many copies of a classic book that you can find one on the discount racks. Plus the recommendations are always great and [cover] a diverse selection. Their buyers also find good books for every genre, check out the art and rare books! — Paige M.

The Woolly Mammoth! Locally and family-owned since 1970. Amazing stories. Kurt Cobain visited a couple of times. Kian Pornour knows all the stories! — Felicia C.

The Shiga family — they founded the U-District Street Fair! — Rachel C.

Samir’s Mediterranean Grill. Samir serves the tastiest Lebanese food anywhere, plus he’s the nicest guy. He’ll tell you stories of how and where he learned to cook and why he loves it so much.  You will feel like you’ve been invited into his house for dinner! — Christine T.

Earls On The Ave. Classic University eatery and sports bar and drinkery. Friendly and spirited and good prices — Cathy P.

Four Corners Art & Frame. A magical small but mighty woman-owned shop that’s been going strong for over 35 years. All are welcome and there’s something beautiful for every price range! — J.J. W.

Dawn, the co-owner of Floating Bridge Brewing. I’m sad they are leaving their spot and wish them well! — Kelli R.

Gargoyles is a beautiful shop! — Mina W.

Not a specific category for this but Agua Verde is amazing and a great place to rent a kayak, have a mangodilla, a nice cocktail, and more. So glad a local restaurant group with some Seattle history bought it rather than one of the larger conglomerates. Even after the sale, it’s maintained a lot of its historical feel. — Katherine H.

Not a person or business, but just a shout-out that the U District is a very accessible neighborhood. As a person with a disability (low vision) who can’t drive, I lived there for 20 years and it’s just a really easy place to live if you don’t have a car as it has so many amenities, a lot of wonderful restaurants and cafes, has accessible transit routes and lots of crosswalks for safe walking. It’s also a movie fan’s dream as it has several cinemas (Grand Illusion, Varsity, AMC) and Scarecrow video. It’s a very compact and accessible neighborhood that also has many connections to all parts of Seattle. I don’t know how the pandemic will change the U District, but it has been an example of a vibrant, diverse, and accessible neighborhood in Seattle. — Tracy


Thanks to all those who submitted answers! You can find links to the rest of our coverage of the U District down below:

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