The Pink Door

"If you’ve been trying to get into The Pink Door lately with no luck, come for lunch instead. Order the best lasagna in town, a crisp caesar salad, and some garlicky grilled bread. Consume with some bubbles (in wine or water form) for maximum enjoyment of the waterfront. You can get a reservation starting 30 days in advance, but if you try for something last-minute, you'll probably be left with tables for a late lunch at 3pm. If you try and book three weeks ahead of time, you'll usually be able to snag a late dinner at 9pm." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley

"This is one of Seattle’s classic Italian-American restaurants, but it’s also the most theatrical eatery in town. Literally, like, the Pink Door has a stage and on any given night you’ll get trapeze artists or jazz musicians or roving tarot readers or... you get the idea. It’s a dining experience you don’t get anywhere else, and you know what else you won’t get anywhere else? The spinach lasagna. Order it." - Harry Cheadle

"Beyond the unmarked, literal pink door at this iconic Pike Place Italian spot, you’ll find an elegant circus-restaurant hybrid, with low lighting, a mural of a court jester, thick curtains, and acrobatic talent swinging on silks above you and your linguine with clams. It’s a wacky place for you to leave everything behind and escape real life for a night. Don't forget an order of lasagna and grilled bread. You can get a reservation starting 30 days in advance, but if you try for something last-minute, you'll probably be left with tables for a late lunch at 3pm. If you try and book three weeks ahead of time, you'll usually be able to snag a late dinner at 9pm." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley, gabe guarente

"Much like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and Weird Al Yankovic, this Italian spectacle has been around since the early eighties. And every time we step inside this unmarked…pink door, it feels like a grand opening celebration. There’s the packed dining room, a candlelit glow, aerial performers dangling from the ceiling, and the best lasagna for miles. You’re in for a meal that’s just as fun on the first visit as it is the 20th. You can get a reservation starting 30 days in advance, but if you try for something last-minute, you'll probably be left with tables for a late lunch at 3pm. If you try and book three weeks ahead of time, you'll usually be able to snag a late dinner at 9pm." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley, gabe guarente

"This restaurant in Post Alley is a slice of Seattle history. Owner Jackie Roberts was doing the “eating locally” thing all the way back in the ’80s, when she was building menus out of what she could get from Pike Place Market stands. Today the restaurant sits very comfortably at the border of traditional Italian American cooking and Northwest ingredients — that’s how you get a Caesar salad with Dungeness crab or Pacific oysters served on pink balsamico ice. You’re likely here for the food (the famous lasagna in particular) but don’t forget that the Pink Door is also a venue where musicians, tarot readers, or trapeze artists (!) perform nearly every night." - Mark DeJoy, Harry Cheadle