3 terrific under-the-radar spots where Seattle locals go to grab a tasty snack at Pike Place Market

One morning I got off the elevator in the parking garage on Western Avenue at Pike Place Market. On the “Market” level, the doors open to a small vestibule with a panoramic view of the west side of the market, the Ferris wheel and across the Sound, crammed with huge cargo ships waiting to be unloaded. It was relatively calm and quiet except for a young couple giggling together over a paper boat filled with hot donuts.

There is a skyway on the left that drops you right in the main arcade north of City Fish. As soon as you open the swinging doors from the skyway to the market, the atmosphere changes. There is a lot of activity in front of the flower stands directly in front of it; someone at Micks Peppourri’s, offering a stick coated in pepper jelly to your left; and across the street was the Triangle Building, where a line had already formed at Mee Sum Pastry, even though it was nine in the morning

It’s hard to imagine a Seattle without Pike Place Market. It is even more difficult to imagine the market as a place that does not warrant a visit. Yes, we shy away from traffic and parking. We whine about the cars clogging the cobblestones, the lines at Starbucks (where you inevitably hear a local sniff that “it’s not even the original location”), but speak to anyone in any capacity in the market works and they tell you about the magic they find and the secrets they still unlock years after their first visit.

Traci Calderon, cook and owner of the Atrium Kitchen, has been working in Market since 2012 and first taught cooking classes in the Atrium before taking over completely in 2017. Despite being there for nearly a decade, she says she recently found a courtyard next to Emmett Watson’s Oyster Bar, which was new to her.

“I never knew that! It’s just fun to walk through the market,” she says shortly before being interrupted by a tourist looking for a bathroom.

“[Where’s the bathroom] is the number 1 question I get. Number 2 is “where is the gum wall?” “Says Calderon with a laugh.

You may already know where the gum wall is – but you don’t know exactly what to eat the next time you go to the market. My colleague Jade Yamazaki Stewart highlighted four wonderful summer dinner options (including one of Calderon’s favorite lunch items, Le Pichet). But after consulting with Calderon and after doing a lot of your own research, here are three insider tips that you should consider the next time you stroll through the Pike Place Market hungry, but always grateful as I am that the market was saved 50 years ago.

Three girls bakery

daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1514 Pike Place, Seattle; 206-622-1045; Threegirlsbakery.com

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The Three Girls Bakery has been offering fresh baked goods in one taste or another since 1912. First opened by a trio of women who specialize in donuts and coffee cake, Three Girls has boomed and neared broke several times over the past century. It has been owned by Jack Levy since 1979 when he bought the business with his sister Zelda. In addition to hearty sandwiches, the bakery is best known for Rugelach: delicate pastries with cinnamon, honey and walnut or apricot and walnut (US $ 2.50 each). There is also an abundance of cookies, bars, brownies, and croissants. The bakery has moved a few times in its 100+ years, but you can now find it in the Sanitary Market on Pike Place, next to Jack’s Fish Spot. It’s a small window framed by polished wood that surrounds half a dozen floor-to-ceiling windows filled with freshly baked pastries.

The flatbread shop

8 am-3pm Thursday-Sunday; 1503 First Avenue, Seattle; 206-682-1598; thecrumpetshop.com

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You have to admire the intricate Alice in Wonderland murals in the Crumpet Shop through the windows because due to COVID-19, this quaint little place – wedged between Pike Place Flowers and Falafel King in Corner Market on First Avenue – is only serving through for the time being a walk-in window. The Crumpet Shop has been open since 1976 and is the only place on the market that sells deliciously mushy, hot grilled flatbreads. Have a hearty, open-faced crumpet sandwich topped with thick sliced ​​ham, soft scrambled eggs, and cheddar ($ 6.90) or sweetened with delicious lemon curd ($ 6). Or, spend an extra dollar and add a thick cut of fresh ricotta. There are a couple of tiny tables right outside the shop to sit at with your pita and a cup of tea, but a better bet (with a better view) is to walk across Western Avenue to the expanded MarketFront public square.

Michou Deli

daily 10 am-5pm; 1904 Pike Place, Seattle; 206-448-4758; michoudeli.com

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I am in love with Michou Deli. I took up a tip from a friend who used to work in a chocolate factory in the market and spent many afternoons having lunch from this perfect deli. Go in the morning for hot bambaloni, an elongated, sugar-dusted Tunisian donut, or scrambled eggs and bacon. In the afternoon, go for roast beef sandwiches with gorgonzola and arugula or kale salad. There are roasted Brussels sprouts and stuffed baked potatoes, spicy tofu with a chilli tip and glistening bites of soy-glazed pork belly. Almost everything is sold by the pound, and it’s one of the most delicious, affordable meals on the market that will delight everyone from the meat eater to the vegan. Don’t be alarmed by the crowds that form around Michou, which is located in the Stewart House on Pike Place just next to Le Panier. While there may be a line, most of the time you can slide straight into this hidden gem, past the crowds waiting for Piroshky Piroshky and Le Panier.

Jackie Variano
covers the food scene in the neighborhoods around Seattle. She loves digging into stories that discuss why we eat the things we do – and when – in our region and beyond. You can reach them at jvarriano@seattletimes.com. On Twitter: @JackieVarriano.