Elliott Bay Book Company

The Elliott Bay Book Company is the Seattle bookstore and, thankfully, survived its move from Pioneer Square to Capitol Hill with soul and towering cedar bookcases intact. Elliott Bay lost a significant chunk of square footage during the move but gained a home right in the heart of Capitol Hill. Which makes it even easier to execute the ideal lazy Sunday afternoon combo: new novel + Fonte latte and one of the book-size housemade muffins from the on-site café (if it’s sunny, make a beeline for the grassy Cal Anderson park, just across the street). The food is northwest downhome—unpretentious salads with local greens, wholesome soups—but the abundant outlets and cozy café vibe make up for any food misses.

Try it there: The lemon crepe

Bring it home: Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice and tickets to a Neptune Theater reading

For decades, Elliott Bay Books has been one of Seattle‘s best bookstores. So, a few years ago, when it was announced that the venerable institution was going to leave its historic Pioneer Square neighborhood digs, there was widespread worry—would the store survive the move up to Capitol Hill? The answer, in a word, was yes. It survived, and Elliott Bay Books still feels like Elliott Bay Books. Creaky wooden floors in a century-old building, readings by today’s best writers, an in-store café, the eclectic employees’ picks—in one of America’s most literate cities, this bookstore remains a haven. Online behemoth Amazon may be building its new headquarters downtown, but Elliott Bay is still a beacon for book lovers in the Pacific Northwest.