Sound View Cafe in Pike Place Market

I’ve been stalking the window seats at the Sound View Cafe ever since I started my 52 weeks of eating at Pike Place Market series.  I’ve seen this place very crowded and I wanted to make sure that the day I visited I got a window seat.

The cafe is very casual-you can order at the counter or take a menu to your seat while you decide.  I didn’t have time for a long lunch and I didn’t want to potentially lose my window seat so I just I glanced at the chalkboard, blurted “Turkey Sandwich” added the optional fries and scurried to my seat to take in the view.

Once seated I realized there were many solo diners the day I visited.  I watched one older woman sit down with a beautiful peeled shrimp bowl and a beer and it looked like a meal for a perfect leisurely afternoon.  I also saw a father with three young kids eating at one of the tables and they seemed to be having a fabulous time at the market that day too.

My sandwich was pretty good.  It was piled high on focaccia and I was glad I was hungry.  I probably should have ordered a side salad, or a salad bar and soup, but fries are always to tempting.

Staring out at the Great Wheel from the window I thought about the many lovely meals I’ve had in the market over the past couple months.  So many of the eateries have spectacular windows and each one offers a different market perspective. I love that our city’s iconic Pike Place Market is so much more than a tourist attraction, it is where us Seattleites live.  If you pass by the Sound View Cafe and see a window seat around lunch time it’s a great place to sit, eat a sandwich and think about the rest of your day.

(PS. If you’re in the market around April it’s one of my favorite times of the year to see all the flowers.  I love the peony tulips that are pictured above and some of the vendors will arrange a bouquet for you if you pick the flowers you want.  These blooms came from Thao Farms.)

(PPS. If there are tables this would be a good place to sit and eat with kids in the market.  It is also really near where the guys throw fish.)

Terumi

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)