Ballard Spots Worth Knowing
Ballard has never been short on charm, but the businesses that make it feel like home are easy to walk past if you’re not sure where to look. Here are the ones locals keep coming back to.
The bakery: Larsen’s Danish Bakery
8000 24th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117
Larsen’s has been a Ballard cornerstone for more than fifty years, founded by Poul Larsen, who trained as a baker starting at age fourteen. The kringle and kransekake are the draw, but the lefse and seeded rye bread are equally worth the trip. It’s one of the last strong threads back to Ballard’s Scandinavian roots, still going strong.
The brewery district: Reuben’s Brews – Ballard Brewery & Taproom
5010 14th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
Ballard has one of the densest concentrations of breweries in Seattle, with a dozen or so taprooms clustered south of Market Street, close enough for a stroll between each one. Reuben’s Brews is a longtime favorite of ours, a family-owned operation that started small on 14th Avenue NW in 2012 and grew into a full taproom a few years later, with a rotating list of more than twenty beers on tap. It’s worth exploring the whole brewery district as an afternoon activity, rather than picking just one stop.
The historic diner: Hattie’s Hat
5231 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
On Ballard Avenue since 1904, Hattie’s Hat is one of the last true holdovers from Ballard’s fishing and milling days, when the neighborhood’s population was mostly fishermen, loggers, and millworkers. It’s still the move for biscuits and gravy, a Bloody Mary, and a room that hasn’t been renovated into something generic.
The sandwich stop: Un Bien
6226 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
A short walk toward the marina, Un Bien has been serving Caribbean roast pork sandwiches since 2015, piled onto a Macrina baguette with sweet onions and pickled jalapeño. It is the kind of place people plan their afternoon around.
The listening bar: Shibuya Hi-Fi
4912 Leary Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
Tucked into a former club space on Leary Avenue, Shibuya Hi-Fi is an all-vinyl bar where the back Hi-Fi room asks you to take your shoes off and just listen. It is a different kind of night out, built around good cocktails and records played the way they were meant to be heard.
The steakhouse: Asadero
https://www.asaderoprime.com/location/asadero-prime-ballard
5405 Leary Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
Ballard’s Mexican steakhouse serves prime and Wagyu beef grilled over mesquite, in the tradition of northern Mexico’s asaderos. It is not an everyday dinner, but it is worth saving for a night when you want to make a reservation out of it.
The athletic club: Olympic Athletic Club
https://www.olympicathleticclub.com
5301 Leary Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
Housed in an 1890s brick building in historic downtown Ballard that has been a hotel, the neighborhood’s first post office, a Prohibition-era speakeasy, and a bank, Olympic Athletic Club has an old-world character most gyms cannot fake. The building’s history is as much a draw as the equipment.
The pet stop: All The Best Pet Care
https://shop.allthebestpetcare.com/ballard
1909 NW Market St, Seattle, WA 98107
Steps from the Ballard Farmers Market, All The Best Pet Care has been outfitting local dogs and cats with quality food and supplies for decades. In a neighborhood this dog-friendly, it’s the kind of shop most pet owners end up relying on sooner or later.
“A” list, on purpose
There are dozens of other spots we could have included, and honestly, we would love to hear yours. These are the ones that keep coming up when we talk to people who have lived in Ballard for years, the kind of places that end up on a mental map long before anyone thinks to ask about them. If you have a favorite we missed, tell us. We are always taking notes.