I Made a Seattle Food Guide So I'd Stop Texting the Same Restaurants

After three years in Seattle, I got tired of typing out the same restaurant recommendations every time friends visited. So I made a 10-page PDF guide with all the places I actually go to.

What's In It

Sushi: Shiro's if you want to splurge on omakase, FOB Sushi Bar where you pay by weight, Sushi Blue for solid takeout.

Coffee/Matcha: Starbucks Reserve for the full experience, Sip House for Vietnamese coffee, Taz Matcha when you need good green tea.

Everything else: Korean BBQ at Kau Kau, Caribbean sandwiches at Paseo, katsu at Kobuta & Ookami, Thai at Kin Len, Korean fine dining at Paju, Sichuan hotpot at Chengdu Memory, plus Impeckable Chicken food truck.

Outdoor stuff: Hiking Poo Poo Point (real name), white water rafting, getting clam/crab licenses, climbing gyms, pickleball (which is apparently Washington's state sport and was invented here).

Indoor stuff: Board games at Mox Boarding House, Seattle Symphony, underground city tours, museums, Twice Sold Tales bookstore with cats wandering around, Tapster for self-pour beer.

What I Learned About Design

Making this taught me that physical print design has way more rules than I thought. The biggest mistake: I put page numbers on random sides each time instead of following the even-left, odd-right rule. Apparently this is basic print design stuff that I completely missed.

I used Canva to put it all together, which was a first-time learning experience. I briefly considered installing Adobe InDesign but wasn't sure I could finish the project within the free trial period, so I stuck with figuring out Canva instead.

The print-specific stuff was new to me though - like "bleeds" (making images extend to the edges so they don't have white borders when printed) and how text wrapping around images can create weird gaps if you're not careful. The fake barcode on the back was just for fun, but it made the whole thing feel more official.

Turns out Canva can actually print and ship physical copies too - only $18 for a bound guide, which was way cheaper than I expected. Probably expensive if you wanted to mass produce, but for a one-off project it's pretty reasonable.

Most people won't notice the page numbering chaos, but it probably feels slightly off. I'll fix it next time.

Why I Made This

Honestly, I was just tired of retyping restaurant lists. If you're visiting Seattle, hopefully this helps.