The industrial Seattle neighborhood of SoDo is one of the sports capitals of the United States in 2026: At T-Mobile Park, the Mariners are playing their 50th anniversary season and seeking their second consecutive division title, while next door at Lumen Field, which hosted World Cup games this summer, the Seahawks will defend their Super Bowl title this fall. But with its gritty feel and minimal public transportation options, SoDo is often passed over by travelers; many who do come to the area for a game will gravitate north to nearby Pioneer Square directly afterward.
In fact, SoDo is one of the city’s most underrated areas to explore. The name originally stood for “South of the Dome”—that’s the Kingdome, the hulking concrete brute shared by the Ms and the Hawks until it was imploded in 2000—but now it means “South of Downtown.”
What is SoDo?
Bisected by the railroad, this long, skinny precinct was once a manufacturing hub. But today, the thriving arts scene that has taken root in its old industrial buildings is central to its charm. Breweries and distilleries have taken over warehouses, colorful murals leap from the facades of freight houses, and 19th-century buildings house Sicilian-style pizza, vintage shops, and tasting rooms. There’s even a collection of refurbished train cars where you can eat dim sum and sing karaoke. With its vintage buildings, upcycled aesthetic, and blue-collar history, SoDo is the neighborhood where you can still find some of the recycled DIY spirit of the grunge era—right in the shadow of the city’s sports arenas.
Fast Fashion Brewing has a rotating lineup of beers.
Courtesy of Fast Fashion Brewing
Things to do around the First Avenue stadium entrances
Here you’ll find Letterpress Distilling, operated by Skip Tognetti out of an old warehouse kitty-corner from T-Mobile Field. It’s an homage to his grandfather, who owned a liquor store in Rome and, like many Italians, distilled his own limoncello, amaro, and other Italian-style botanical liqueurs. Tognetti re-creates these liqueurs, along with his own creations, on the other side of the world. Sit in the diminutive tasting room or on the loading deck turned patio, and sip Tognetti’s signature Amaro Amorino, named for his grandfather, or the nutty, citrusy Genziana Fernanda, an ode to his mother’s favorite cousin.
On First Avenue, steps from the main southwestern entrance to T-Mobile, Slice Box Pizza serves cartoonishly large New York– and Sicilian-style slices with crackly crusts and luscious toppings. The crowd fave is the classic NYC pepperoni, which uses especially cuppy pepperoni slices—and really stacks them on there. Slice Box keeps daytime hours, so be sure to arrive before it closes at 4 p.m. or, on game days, ”whenever we run out of dough.”
Next door, Fast Fashion Brewing slings local brews amid a mélange of salvaged vintage furniture and decor. A humble storefront leads to a small foyer, which opens to the cavernous brewery full of little nooks and corners, where you can sample from the tap list spelled out in refrigerator magnets on the coolers.
Wander farther into the space, and you’ll find vintage arcade games, Skee-Ball cabinets, arcane sport relics, and a weird round couch with a throw pillow printed with Nicolas Cage’s face.
The Shop is a members-only car club with a restaurant, Derby, inside.
Courtesy of The Shop Clubs
Things to do around the Stadium Station light rail stop
Locals mourn the COVID-era shutdown of the Living Computer Museum, established by late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, but believe it or not, the neighborhood has another shrine to computing: Re-PC. This hardware recycling depot is lined with aisles and aisles filled with computer parts, phones, cameras, cash registers, and cables. It’s fun to rifle through the vintage riches; plus, there’s an exhibit of retro computers.
Also on the list of unlikely tourist spots is the local Goodwill—aka The Bins, for its giant bins of used clothing—which Seattle hip-hop star (and sports superfan) Macklemore used as the backdrop for his breakout 2012 video for the song “Thrift Shop.” Aside from the store’s pop-cultural history, it has a reputation as a place to score high-end designer finds, thanks to Seattle’s many affluent donors.
A few blocks south, Derby serves upscale American classics—burgers, pot pies, pork chops, Cobb salads—but the food isn’t the only draw. Ethan Stowell, one of the city’s preeminent restaurateurs, with many eateries around Washington state and in Idaho and New York, teamed up with Matt Bell, an automotive journalist and former software CEO, to open the eatery inside The Shop, Bell’s members-only car club. Diners can eat with a view of collectors’ prized Aston Martins and Alfa Romeos. Garage tours are free—just ask the host.
To make its whiskey, Westland Distillery prioritizes barley grown in Washington State.
Photos by Brooke Fitts
Things to do around the SoDo Station light-rail stop and Georgetown borderlands
Perhaps its foremost attraction is Orient Express Lounge, the descendant of Andy’s Diner, a lunch spot opened inside a single train car in 1949. Over the years it expanded to include seven cars, cobbled together into a single maze-like restaurant. Since 2008, it has offered a classic Chinese-American menu and added a handful of private karaoke rooms, though it’s most fun to sing at the communal bar. According to local lore, this is one of the most haunted places in Seattle, thanks to a ghost who supposedly enjoys making light bulbs explode, so keep your wits about you.
A five-minute walk south, Earthwise is a thrift store of items saved from old demolished buildings, its space cluttered with salvaged corbels and melting church windows. For the traveler with limited luggage space, there are buckets of ornate doorknobs, fish-scale shingles, archaic maps, and other pocket-size wonders. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s a unique glimpse into the vernacular architecture of the Pacific Northwest.
A few doors down is a building containing two Cuban joints owned by the salsa singer Pancho Chaves: Café con Leche and Club Sur. The former is a cozy coffee shop serving rich espresso drinks, pastries, and pressed Cuban sandwiches; on Friday nights, the latter is one of Seattle’s premier Latin restaurants and nightlife destinations, with live performances of salsa, bachata, cumbia, reggaeton, and rock music until the early morning hours.
Then stop into Westland Distillery. Founded on the notion that the Pacific Northwest is one of the best barley-growing regions in the world, it pours fruity whiskeys that reflect the region’s history and terroir—such as its savory Garryana whiskey, aged in Garry oak barrels made from Quercus garryana, the only oak tree native to the Pacific Northwest. The shabby-chic tasting room seems more like a pub or a hotel lobby, with old leather couches, small plates, craft cocktails, whiskey flights, and a bottle shop.
