South Lake Union Market Announces a Great Slate of Food Vendors

The South Lake Union Saturday Market isn’t quite a farmer’s market and it isn’t quite a flea market. It’s a sprawling cornucopia of stands that takes over a space next to Denny Park, a brick’s throw away from “Spheres” but quirkier and more fun than anything going on inside those corporate domes. And the food that’s going to be there when it opens May 6 looks pretty, pretty good.

Ryan Reiter, the CEO of Northwest Marketplaces, which runs the SLU Saturday Market, tells Eater Seattle that his team has been focused on food since it started the event in 2015, and they pride themselves on featuring “up and comers” on the pop-up and food truck scenes.

Standouts on the roster of regulars this year include Theo’s Gyros, Mexicuban, Turkish-inflected Texas-style Outsider BBQ, and Sri Lankan street food specialists Kottu. That’s a few continents’ worth of different cuisines right there, but Reiter has also recruited pop-ups to do limited dates, like Uji Time, a Bay Area–based dessert chain that’s Insta-famous for its fish-shaped cones. (For the Uji heads out there who want to mark their fish-shaped calendars, the dates are May 13, June 3, and July 15.)

There will be other one-time events, like a bakery pop-up day, as well as night markets on June 17, July 22, and August 26. But mainly, SLU Saturday Market is a chance to get outside during those precious sunny months and eat at some of Seattle’s best food trucks. And isn’t that what summer is all about?