21 Nov Where to get breakfast in Pioneer Square?

As with many other areas in downtown, many neighborhood businesses cater to the working crowd, and not to the residents. We’ve run into this problem a few times when going out into Pioneer Square for somewhere good to eat dinner, or a place to find a small dessert. Most of the places that are down here close fairly early in the evening, if not right at 5pm. I’ve heard many things from owners worrying about the safety of their female employees to business being too slow to justify staying open. Both of which I understand.

This morning, the Husband suggested that we go look for some breakfast in Pioneer Square. I laughed and told him it would be just like when we went to look for some ice cream or a fun dessert place last week — we ended up at Starbucks (2 on every corner, right?).

We walked around a few blocks and decided to see if the Grand Central Bakery would be open. Even though the doors were shut and no chairs were outside yet, they open at 8am. Although they have a small breakfast menu (3 items), they have a fantastic assortment of muffins and other bakery items to satisfy a wide variety of breakfast needs. I’m bummed that I forgot to bring my camera with me because the atmosphere in the building is so wonderful and exactly what I love about Pioneer Square. The historic buildings, the local art on the wall. Even the cashier at the bakery was dancing to the music when we first walked in. After we got our food (which was delicious, by the way), we sat in the most comfortable chairs right next to a fireplace. The only way this could have been any better was if it had started snowing and Christmas music had been playing.

Before we left, I stopped a couple with a child who had just sat down for breakfast. I was hoping that they lived in P2 and that I could talk to them about what it was like to live here in children (and not just in P2, Seattle is notoriously bad at planning the city to be good for people with families). After my initial question, I found that they don’t live down here, but were here because they both work here and love the bakery.

On our way out, we walked through Occidental Park where a group of people were serving meals out of the back of their truck. So, for anyone else who reads this blog that might be in that situation… there is another place you could get breakfast on a crisp Saturday morning.

I’ll put the question out to all of you who live (or work) down here — Where do you go to find breakfast?