If it's a weekend and the sky is clear (and someone else is picking up the check) you should consider a traditional brunch buffet at Salty's; it's the best waterfront view in town.

If you want to show your visitors the baddest steak in town, order the long-bone, bone-in ribeye at Metropolitan Grill — especially if your visitors are from Texas.

Don't miss the freshly-steamed Dungeness crab here. The restaurant's splashy service (cloth napkins, crab crackers) is without peer. (Naturally, Elliott's is a great spot for oysters, too.)

If all you want (hah!) is perfect salmon, you'll have great luck throughout the city, especially with local restaurateur Tom Douglas' restaurants, including Seatown and Etta's. (Local chain Anthony's Homeport is another safe bet.) The wide availability of wild-caught fish from the Copper River and Yukon runs has made high-quality salmon a familiar ingredient for dozens of local chefs. Along that line: avoid the temptation to ask for medium rare. "It really does taste better when it's cooked all the way through," says fish guru Jon Rowley.

If you want to be transported directly to Paris, order a glass of Beaujolais here and nibble on the gâteau de foie de vollaile, a smooth-as-silk chicken liver pâté, served with a baguette, Amora mustard, and cornichons.

Spinasse's success was predicated on the great taste of homemade pasta, and its tajarin with butter and sage sauce has become a classic.

The nation's top supplier of premium shellfish has three oyster bars of its own to satisfy Seattle's demand for fresh bivalves. The stores (takeout or dine-in, full bar) are in Melrose Market, Lower Queen Anne, and Pioneer Square. Taylor's shuckers are so good, you'd be forgiven if you suspected them of "washing" the oysters — they don't. Treat yourself to a dozen (especially the plump Virginicas, or the tiny Olympias) and a glass of one of the winning West Coast oyster wines like Cedergreen Sauvignon Blanc, and then go have dinner.

At this much-lauded neighborhood spot, Mamma Enza assembles several hotel pans of lasagna bolognese every week, luckily for you.

If you're the one who's out of town, and you want a genuine taste of home, you could do worse than follow your nose through the nearest mall to the inevitable Cinnabon. Not quite as ubiquitous as Starbucks' coffee, but very much a Seattle export, created by Edmonds baker Jerilyn Brusseau for Restaurants Unlimited three decades ago.

For another breakfast treat, make your way to the Original Pancake House for the classic Dutch Baby pancake, hot and quivering from the oven. Tilikum Place Cafe, near the Space Needle, does another perfect example of this baked classic.