Where to Eat to Celebrate Pride Weekend in Seattle

This weekend is Pride Weekend, which means a whole spectrum of parties, events, and celebrations of LGBTQ life and culture. One centerpiece is Seattle’s 49th Pride Parade, will set off at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 25; another is PrideFest, which will feature a bevy of drag performers, DJs, and musicians and hit Capitol Hill this Saturday and move to Seattle Center on Sunday.

Pride in 2023 may feel a bit different than in recent years. American conservatives have renewed their anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ messaging, leading to a backlash against Pride. Some corporations (which may have previously thought of Pride as relatively apolitical) have responded by backing off their Pride celebrations. Union workers at some Starbucks stores have alleged their managers didn’t allow them to put up the usual Pride decorations. Anheuser-Busch was boycotted by anti-trans activists for featuring trans influencer and actresss Dylan Mulvaney in an ad campaign, and when the company responded by seeming to appease these boycotters, a number of gay bars stopped selling Anheuser-Busch beers in response.

If Pride is under renewed assault by reactionary elements of American society, that makes it all the more important to show up and celebrate. Here are some of the food-centric things you can do this Pride Weekend and for the rest of Pride Month:

Eat Pride-themed food

First, we gotta mention some Pride-themed eats, because it’s become routine for practically every restaurant, bakery, and bar to have at least one Pride-themed special. Some of our favorites:

• Next Level Burger’s Peachy Passion Pride Shake is a tall glass of peaches, passionfruit, whipped cream, rainbow sugar, and a rainbow gummy on top. Since Next Level is a plant-based joint, the soft serve base of the milkshake isn’t dairy but rather your choice of soy or coconut milk.
• Too many breweries to name have brewed Pride-themed beers, including Pike Brewing, Stoup, Future Primitive, Aslan, and Flying Lion.
• The Flora Bakehouse’s gorgeous rainbow cake, sales of which benefit LGBTQ nonprofits.
• The Sugar Bakery’s Pride cookies really set the bar for rainbow-themed cookies:

Go to some parties!

But the main thing about Pride is that it’s a chance to be out there, not in your house DoorDashing rainbow food. There are a ton of Pride-linked events going on this weekend. Here are some of the more notable food-based ones:

• Yalla, the Capitol Hill Middle Eastern spot, loves to put on a belly dance show and it’ll be holding a special Pride-themed one this Friday, June 23. It’ll start at 9 p.m., according to Yalla’s Instagram.
• Elysian Brewing is having its fourth annual Pride beer garden from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 24 at its Capitol Hill location. There will be face-painting, merch, and a food and drink menu including QueenBerry, Elysian’s strawberry lemonade blonde ale Pride release. There’s a $10 cover, and a drag performance that starts at 7 p.m.
• MBar, the hot South Lake Union rooftop bar from Mama Group (of Mamnoon fame) is hosting an all-day, all-night Pride party on Saturday, with DJs spinning from noon to close. A portion of the sales of MBar’s cocktail specials will benefit the Lavender Rights Project, a local nonprofit that supports the Black intersex and gender diverse community. You can reserve spots here.
• Rhein Haus, the massive brats-and-bocce compound in Cherry Hill, is once again holding a weekend of all-ages drag shows with performers including Ada Vox, Madison Rose, Willow Pill, Nicky Doll, Kendall Gender, Synthia Kiss, and Juice Boxx. Tickets to the bingo and brunch on Saturday are sold out but Saturday and Sunday evening tickets are still available here.
• Lost Lake and the Comet Tavern, both owned by Capitol Hill restaurateur and concert promoter Jason Lajeunesse, are serving Pride-themed cocktails to benefit the Lavender Rights Project from Friday to Sunday. On Sunday, Lost Lake will have a brunchtime DJ from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Monday Comet Tavern will be doing an LGBTQ-themed trivia night.