Dining out in Seattle can be spendy, but we all have our favorite work-arounds—restaurants that we patronize to feel both full and thrifty. So eat up.
Pike Place Market is a jewel box, and Mee Sum Pastry is my favorite gem. The small take-out-only shop sells cheap Chinese eats: barbecue pork sticks, crab rangoon, wife cakes. The crab rangoon is heavy on the crab and light on the rangoon, which I think is ideal, but the real reason I go is for the cheap hum bow. For $2.50 each, the meat-filled buns come either baked or steamed and stuffed with chicken, barbecue pork, or curry beef. Find one of Pike Place Market’s lookouts—now viaduct-free!—and watch the ships come in as you stuff your face. You can also find Mee Sum Pastry in the U-District. CHASE BURNS
Sometimes the best, quickest, and cheapest bites are hidden in plain sight. One Friday evening, I had 45 minutes before I needed to be present and fed at Benaroya Hall. I was starving, and the shops in Pike Place Market had already closed down for the day. Enter: the $5 falafel sandwich at Falafel King, a walk-up restaurant just north of Pike Place Market. Incredible falafel—light and crunchy with a meaningful kick of heat and herbs. A micro-patio outside challenges you to eat the somewhat messy sandwich in full view of passersby, but so long as you take small bites you should be okay—and even relaxed—as you watch tourists and commuters walk by in their funny little hurries. RICH SMITH