Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District
City
Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District are Seattle's two oldest neighborhoods, just south of downtown between the waterfront and the stadiums.
Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District are Seattle's two oldest neighborhoods, just south of downtown between the waterfront and the stadiums. Come for the brick buildings put up after the Great Fire of 1889, the tour of the buried streets underneath, and the city's oldest Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants around King and Jackson streets.The two neighborhoods are a ten-minute walk apart, with light rail stations at both ends. Smith Tower, the Underground Tour and a museum in the ID make a full day. On Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders game days, the streets and restaurants around the stadiums get packed.
Sights in Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District
Discover the most important sights and attractions
Historic Landmark
1Smith Tower
The office tower at 506 2nd Avenue was the tallest building west of the Mississippi upon its opening in 1914, until a taller one was completed in Kansas City in 1931. The 35th floor features an open, wraparound observation deck with the Observatory Bar, accessible by ticket only (operator states from $18 USD for locals). Open from 12 PM, closing at 7, 8, or 9 PM depending on the weekday; last admission one hour before close; shorter hours apply for private events. At dusk, you'll see Downtown, the stadiums, and Elliott Bay in the evening light.
After the 1889 fire, the streets of Pioneer Square were raised a full story, and the old sidewalks and storefronts were left below. This 75-minute guided tour takes you through those passages, with plenty of city history and colorful stories. Tours leave from under Doc Maynard's Public House, 614 First Avenue on Pioneer Place Park, daily on the hour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with extra half-hour departures June through September. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Buy tickets online or at the counter; book ahead in summer.
This triangular plaza at First Avenue and Yesler Way is the historic center of Pioneer Square. The cast-iron pergola from 1909 once sheltered an underground restroom; after a truck knocked it down in 2001, it was rebuilt to match the original. Next to it stands a Tlingit totem pole. Local businessmen stole the first one from an Alaska village in 1899, and after it was damaged by arson in 1938, Tlingit carvers made the current pole, raised in 1940. The Underground Tour starts here too.
The museum at 719 South King Street tells the story of Asian Americans in the Northwest and is the permanent home of the exhibit "The Bruce Lee Story." Admission ($25.95 for adults) includes a tour of the historic East Kong Yick Building, with its preserved hotel rooms and family association halls, Wednesday through Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., first come, first served. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's a five-minute walk from Chinatown-International District Station on the light rail.
Seattle's oldest Chinese restaurant, at 655 South King Street, has been in the same family since 1935 and is now run by the third generation. Seattle Met points you to the old-school Cantonese-American dishes like beef with oyster sauce and chop suey. It's no-frills, loud and cheap, and Bruce Lee is said to have been a regular.
This Japanese restaurant at 304 Sixth Avenue South is more than a hundred years old and, as Seattle Met notes, made it through the war and the incarceration of the city's Japanese Americans. Order the monkfish liver with ponzu and check the specials board. It's small and popular, so book ahead, especially on weekends.
A big, always-busy dim sum hall at 424 Seventh Avenue South that Seattle Met calls the city's dim sum benchmark. Go for the shrimp and chive cakes, the eggplant and the honey walnut prawns. Expect a wait at weekend lunch; come early in the day or on a weekday. Five minutes on foot from Chinatown-International District Station.
At the ID's Cantonese restaurants, order dumplings, buns and small plates to share. Weekend lunch is the peak, and some places serve dim sum late into the evening.
Phở and bánh mì
Along South Jackson Street east of I-5, Little Saigon is full of Vietnamese noodle shops, sandwich counters and bistros; it's also where Seattle's first phở shop opened.
History and Culture
This is where Seattle started. In March 1853 Henry Yesler fired up the first steam sawmill on Puget Sound on the shore of Elliott Bay, and logs were skidded down a cleared strip from the hillside to the mill. That "Skid Road" is today's Yesler Way. After the Great Fire of June 6, 1889, the district was rebuilt in brick and stone and the streets were raised a full story; you can see what was left underneath on the Underground Tour. From 1897 the Klondike Gold Rush turned Pioneer Square into the place where prospectors bought their gear.Starting in the 1860s, Chinese immigrants settled just to the southeast, followed by Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese communities. Nihonmachi, Japantown, centered on Main Street and Sixth Avenue, was emptied in 1942 when Japanese Americans were forced into incarceration camps, most of them at Minidoka in Idaho. Many never came back. The Panama Hotel and Maneki restaurant survived, and the street signs still carry Japanese script. Today Japantown, Chinatown and Little Saigon together make up the Chinatown-International District.In the 1960s and '70s, residents fought off plans to demolish Pioneer Square, and it has been a protected historic district ever since. On the first Thursday of every month, the galleries stay open late for the Art Walk.
A Japanese-style bar one flight up at 601 South King Street, with windows over Hing Hay Park. Seattle Met recommends the easygoing cocktails and the pork katsu on rice. A low-key place for a drink after dinner in the International District.
A long-running bar and stage at 207 First Avenue South that bills itself as the birthplace of grunge. Open daily 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., with live bands nearly every night, anything from metal to indie, and after-parties on Seahawks game days. Most shows are 21+; lineup at centralsaloon.com.
By light railPioneer Square: station under 3rd Avenue, two minutes on foot from Smith Tower and Pioneer Place Park.Chinatown-International District: station on 5th Avenue South, right by Uwajimaya and the Wing Luke Museum, next to King Street Station for Amtrak and Sounder commuter trains.From the airport, the 1 Line gets you here without a transfer in about 35 minutes for a flat $3.Streetcar and on footThe First Hill Streetcar links Pioneer Square with the ID along Jackson Street and continues to Capitol Hill. Walking between the two neighborhoods takes about ten minutes; the waterfront and the Colman Dock ferry terminal are five minutes away.Driving and parkingOn game days at Lumen Field or T-Mobile Park, parking prices jump and traffic backs up around the stadiums. Both neighborhoods have parking garages, which on regular days you can reserve ahead in apps like SpotHero.By RVPioneer Square's streets are narrow and often one-way, and the garages are too low. Under city code (SMC 11.72.070), vehicles wider than 80 inches can't park on the street between midnight and 6 a.m. outside industrial zones. The easiest plan is to leave the RV at a light rail park-and-ride to the south, such as Tukwila or Angle Lake (check the posted rules), and ride straight to Pioneer Square.
Accommodations in Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District
Find perfect stay in Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District
