Photo by Charity Burggraaf / Styling by Nelle Clark

There’s so much to eat and drink at Pike Place Market that it’s hard to know where to begin. Here’s a sample spread to inspire your own perfect picnic.*

A picnic spread on a checkered blanket featuring sandwiches, fruit, chocolate, pastries, sausages, bread, cheese, and a bouquet of flowers. A wicker basket and a bottle with a red label are also visible.

Photo by Charity Burggraaf / Styling by Nelle Clark

House bread, DeLaurenti Food & Wine (1435 First Ave)
Salmon lox, Totem Smokehouse (1906 Pike Pl, Ste 1)
White truffle oil, Truffle Queen Gourmet Specialties (1524 Pike Pl)
Cheese curds, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese (*1600 Pike Pl)
Smoked BierBites, Uli’s Famous Sausage (1511 Pike Pl)
Growler of black currant flavor, Rachel’s Ginger Beer (*1530 Post Alley)
Sandwiches, Michou Deli (1904 Pike Place)
You can get a fresh-cut bouquet from multiple vendors any time of year!
HOT TIP! Tell the market’s produce vendors you’re planning to eat your fresh fruit—like nectarines, raspberries, and blueberries—immediately, and they’ll pick the ripest versions for you.
Peach tart, Le Panier (*1902 Pike Pl)
Sweet and savory pastries, Piroshky Piroshky (*1908 Pike Pl)
Single-origin bars, indi chocolate (1901 Western Ave, Ste D)

*Visit Seattle Partner

Pack it up!

As the days get longer and sunnier, it’s hard to stay inside even for a quick bite. Grab provisions from Pike Place Market and head to these prime picnic spots.

groups of people lounging in the grass with the steampunk-esque towers of Gas Works Park rise in the distance, the waters of Lake Union beyond.

Gasworks Park Liu Nian

For the Activity

Wallingford’s steampunk-esque Gas Works Park (2101 N Northlake Way) gets its distinct look from a former coal gasification plant, decommissioned decades ago. Crowds gather to fly kites from the tall hill, play in the section of the plant converted to a kids’ area, and watch seaplanes splashing down in Lake Union against a backdrop of the downtown skyline.

Children play among a circular black statue at the edge of a reservoir in Volunteer Park

China – Canon FAM photos. Photographer credit must accompany image in use.

For an Oasis

Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park (1247 15th Ave E) is a calming beauty with a reflecting pool, a summer wading pool, koi ponds, a dahlia garden, a conservatory, a museum dedicated to Asian art, and plenty of open meadows and picnic tables. While you’re there, take a picture of the Space Needle framed by Isamu Noguchi’s doughnut-shaped sculpture, Black Sun.

Sunset colors reflected from the sky to the water with a lone, empty t-dock extending away from the camera

Madrona Park Veronika Patrashko, a.k.a. @wanderingbackpack

For the Shore

Madrona Park (853 Lake Washington Blvd), in the Madrona neighborhood just west of massive Lake Washington, offers picnic areas with shoreside scenery of the lake along with prime swimming and trail-walking opportunities.

a light blue viewfinder points in the direction of the Seattle skyline, the Space Needle prominently front and center.

Kerry Park David Newman

For the View

Queen Anne’s elevated Kerry Park (211 W Highland Dr) affords postcard-perfect views of the Space Needle and Puget Sound. With a background like this, your food photography is certain to pop.

Originally written for the Visit Seattle Official Visitors' Guide

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Pike Place Picnic Party

There’s so much to eat and drink at Pike Place Market* that it’s hard to know where to begin. Here’s a sample spread to inspire your own perfect picnic.