Discover South Seattle Through Food

As part of my Foodspotting Guides creation binge, I decided to create culinary tours of South Seattle neighborhoods. I know that before we moved to Beacon Hill and then to Seward Park, I was oblivious to all the great restaurants South of I-90. We rarely got in the car to go anywhere, instead just walking to one of the spots in the neighborhood - which meant usually going to the same places again and again. Anyone who knows about our El Sombrero obsession won't be fooled that we don't still frequent some specific spots, but being forced to drive to eat out (with a few exceptions) has made it more likely to explore a little further and try new places. Back in April, we even instituted a rule that we couldn't eat out anywhere we'd been before, which was a great way for us to finally get around to going to those places we'd been meaning to try for awhile.

So in that spirit, I decided to create guides that feature restaurants in each of several South Seattle neighborhoods. The borders between neighborhoods aren't always precisely agreed upon, and tend to be the main streets where the bulk of the restaurants are located - so I took some liberties with where I put the borders to ensure each guide was robust and diverse. Like with creating the Street Eats and Offal-y Tasty Seattle guides, I found it took a lot of research to figure out what restuarants are around, and what dish at each would be a crowd pleaser - and now I'm even more excited to get out and try things I discovered in my research.

Discover South Seattle: Beacon Hill

Discover South Seattle: Mt. Baker

Discover South Seattle: Georgetown

Discover South Seattle: Columbia City

Discover South Seattle: Lakewood/Seward Park/Hillman City

Discover South Seattle: Brighton/Holly Park

Discover South Seattle: Rainier Beach

Perhaps the most intriguing restaurant I discovered in my research, which I pass by on the light rail every day, is Rainier BBQ. I've always assumed it was yet another ribs, brisket and pulled pork joint in the South End (we've got a lot, in case you're looking). In fact, it's Asian barbeque known for having some of the most exotic meat dishes I've ever seen on a restaurant menu, from deer and frog legs to alligator and even cobra. And the reviews of the place are great, so it's definitely a spot I'll be checking out, though I may have to get Gerald or Jason to go with me.