Where to Eat if You’re Visiting Seattle for the All-Star Game

If you’re in town for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, welcome to Seattle! It’s a wonderful city with friendly-ish residents. You’re here mostly for baseball but while you’re in Seattle you should take advantage of the terrific stadium setup we have here.

See, the Mariners’ home field, T-Mobile Park, is in the heart of downtown — or just south of the heart of downtown, so like, the intestine of downtown? That means it’s surrounded by restaurants of all kinds, from sports bars to grab-and-go spots to legendary sushi counters. New to the city since the last time the All-Star Game was here, in 2001, is the light rail system, which connects the stadium district with a lot of other neighborhoods, giving visitors the opportunity to stay in north or south Seattle and easily get to the ballpark, or to take trips to dining destinations like Beacon Hill if they want. Here’s the rundown of where you can eat if you’re in town for All-Star week:

At the stadium

The normal slate of food options at T-Mobile Park is top-notch and includes standouts like local Korean-Hawaiian mini-chain Marination, internationally known dumpling house Din Tai Fung, and Moto, a pizza place that you normally have to order from months in advance. For All-Star week, the vendors are kicking it up a notch and featuring a lot of limited-edition seafood dishes, including crab pizza from Moto and oysters on the half shell.

But T-Mobile afficianados know that the move is to bring in your own food, provided it’s in “single-serving sizes” and you put everything in a clear plastic bag (the only kind of bag allowed at T-Mobile). So you can buy a Seattle dog at one of the many nearby hot dog stands or a Caribbean sandwich at Paseo, for instance, and take the food inside with confidence. (This rule does not apply to drinks; the only outside beverage allowed is water.)

Around the stadium

A new venue opened just in time for the All-Star Game, and right across the street from T-Mobile Park, is Victory Hall, a massive event space that houses Hatback Bar and Grille as well as Steelheads Alley, an on-site brewery run by Metier Brewing, one of the city’s most prominent Black-owned breweries. For a little bit more of an Old Seattle experience, you can visit Sluggers, a sports bar with history on the wall.

The Chinatown-International District (sometimes just called the ID) has a wide range of incredible restaurants and also Uwajimaya, a sprawling Asian supermarket well worth a visit— and remember how we said you could bring food to the stadium? If you go to Uwajimaya first you can watch the festivities eating poke and yuzu-flavored Kit Kats.

Pike Place Market is probably already on your list. It generally tops Seattle tourist guides, and for good reason: There are a ton of excellent restaurants there, including Emmett Watson’s Oyster Bar, purportedly the first oyster bar in Seattle, and Sushi Kashiba, the omakase counter run by sushi legend Shiro Kashiba (which you can go to without a reservation, though be prepared for a wait list).

Beyond the stadium

The light rail makes it possible to explore the larger Seattle area without having to rent a car. Beacon Hill has become home to some of the city’s best restaurants, including Filipinx spot Musang and Mediterranean-influenced Homer, two can’t-miss dinner reservations (make reservations now, though!).

Capitol Hill (we have a lot of hills in Seattle, you may have heard) is one of the best neighborhoods to go out in the city. If you’re looking for a refined time, Lark is one of the most influential fine-dining restaurants in Seattle. Less refined but extremely fun are La Dive, a wine shop–slash–bar that does “chambongs,” a.k.a. Champagne bongs; and Taku, a restaurant run by celebrity chef Shoto Nakajima that serves “thicc nugs” of chicken.

Food and drink specials

Lastly, here are some special offers and events we’ve heard about, a list we’ll update throughout the week:

• Scooped, an ice cream festival featuring 75 brands, is at Seattle Center on July 8 and 9 from noon to 8 p.m. More info here.
• If you bring a physical or electronic ticket to any All-Star event to Copperworks Distilling (on the downtown waterfront), they’ll give you 50 percent off a tasting flight, an offer that’s valid through July 14.