It’s starting to become a tradition that every year on their birthday my guys decide that the SkyCity restaurant at the Space Needle is where they want their birthday feast. Of course they love this place because I’m terrified of it. (Ahh…karma.) Yes, it’s a fabulous beacon that helps me easily find Seattle Center and it adds such Space Age coolness to our Seattle skyline but I am terrified of heights and elevators. So every year I pack my elevator survival kit (snacks, extra phone battery and water) and we head up to the restaurant where I get stunned by the view and inevitably realize that there are hundreds of other diners also enjoying themselves in a beautiful setting and the survival kit is probably (almost) unnecessary.
It really is a perfect restaurant.
And unlike so many other “touristy” places we’ve been to the food here is very good. So good that people who live in Seattle actually eat here-my family can totally attest to this fact and I noticed there were some other tables near us with ‘locals’ too. I ordered a delicious salmon dish and I couldn’t help but snap a photo of a salad that we ordered because it was very pretty.
We still dine early with the kids and dinner here starts around 5pm and it’s easy to book on Opentable. I was surprised at how many kids were in the restaurant at this time and so many, like my guys, had gotten dressed up for dinner and looked really excited to be there. This year the kid’s meals came in a collector lunch box and the guys thought that was really cool. (FYI Kid’s meals here are about 15 dollars+ but you get your space needle entry included with the meal so I justify this splurge by thinking that it’s probably more reasonable eating here than if we went to the Space Needle THEN went to a meal out with the kids somewhere else. I think lunch would also be a good meal to eat here if you want to reduce costs but I think there is a minimum of some sort so you might want to call and check.)
Of course we ended our meal with a lunar orbiter. (We also ordered a rhubarb crumble which was very tasty but not very pretty at all…it didn’t matter though. The lunar orbiter is definitely a scene stealer) And if we weren’t dining with newly 7 year old boys we could have sat and taken in the view forever.
By now any fear of the elevator or heights had been subdued by drinks, dessert and a fabulous view.
We ended the evening with a trip up to the top of the needle and stared way down at the kids’ new favorite playground in the world.
We are lucky in Seattle to have a great place like this to eat and if you have an elevator phobia like me, I have now survived eating here a handful of times and so can you!
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)