Market Diner

Review: The Market Diner at Pike Place The Market Diner is a no-frills, affordable spot tucked into one of the side buildings at Pike Place Market—easy to miss, but worth knowing about if you’re with kids or just want a simple, fast bite. It hits the basics well: burgers, chicken fingers, fries—all the “major food groups” for children and less adventurous eaters. They serve breakfast & lunch all day, with some rotating specials like shrimp and chips or a Kobe burger, which offer a little variety beyond the usual diner fare. The food isn’t gourmet, and it doesn’t try to be. This isn’t a high-end dining experience, but it does get the job done if you’re looking to feed a family without blowing your budget or waiting in long lines. I wouldn’t hesitate to eat here again, especially when traveling with kids or craving something straightforward. Just set your expectations accordingly: it’s casual, it’s fast, and it’s friendly to families who need a break and a burner

Little spot in the middle of Pike Place market. Underrated clearly, given there was no line when we went there compared to all other restaurants in the area. Affordable prices, with perfectly cooked simple brunch items. We had the BLT & the french dip. Was perfectly made and affordable. The clam chowder was also great. It's a little hidden so they should update their description - it's actually inbetween Pike Plaza and 1st Ave.

The only decent traditional American breakfast in downtown Seattle. The staff is attentive and kind and they make damn good grub! Why does breakfast have to be complicated or gourmet? The folks at the Market Cafe get it.... Delicious eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast! No fluff! Hard to find...but worth the search and my goto breakfast spot in SEA when I'm on a layover!

Wherever I go I'm always searching for hidden little gems/unassuming places because you know you're almost always guaranteed a great meal at an affordable price. So I was really looking forward to breakfast at Market Diner. It's your typical greasy spoon diner tucked away in an old building across from the main market @ Pike Place. The service was polite & friendly. The menus have definitely seen better days. They have pretty basic standard diner fare except they have Crab Eggs Benedict & I confirmed the Crab was real (not imitation) & apparently fresh. So that had to happen. We also ordered a Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/Fries, The Philly Cheesesteak w/salad, two coffees & a Peanut Butter Milkshake. The Benedict was okay. There was a good portion of Crab but it did not taste fresh. It tasted & looked canned. It was also cold. The hashbrowns kind of tasted like it was cooked in old oil & not on a high enough heat as they were very greasy. You could definitely taste the oil. The other items I think were better. The others in the party enjoyed them & the portions were hearty. The fries were the same as the hashbrowns though, while crispy they were oil logged. Coffee was standard & the milkshake tasted like a Reese Peanut Butter Cup. Overall I'm glad I got to try this place, but with a bill at about $80 after tax & tip, I don't think I'd go out of my way to come here again. @inspiringfoodie

James from information told me this place has his favorite burger. It’s really good! Location is in the middle of the market right next just about everything fun to do in downtown Seattle. Enjoy!

The place don’t look good. The service it’s minimum. But the food we try was really good. I eat the benefits and it’s coked perfect. The Holland sauce was delicious. My wife eat the omelette and was good too. So I recommend this place to a fast breakfast or brunch, don’t spect an a fancy place. Just come eat and go. We will Back.

I love this place! I'll start by saying that this is a small establishment and you can easily walk right by it if you are not really looking for it. I was turned on to this place by a couple of the fruit vendors who let me know that many that work in the market eat there. That is always a good sign. I have been many times the food has always been excellent. I'm partial to the Dungeness Crab Benedict. I've compared it to many others in the market and this is my favorite. The staff is also very nice and the service is fast. If you are in the area and want a really good crab Benedict, then this is the place to eat. I highly recommend it.

Very basic diner set up. Service was a speedy enough. The food was great though. I had the Cheeseburger and it was delicious! The fries were amazing too.

I made sure to take a pic of the sandwich from all angles. It was DELICIOUS! Walking in, you won't think it's a good place to eat at.. however, service is fast since it's small, and when we walked in around 2, there were only 2 police officers inside eating. My bf said, "you know it's good if cops are eating here". The chicken club was good and my party had the clam chowder which they said wasn't that great. The interior of the diner needs remodeling and better menu's, but it's really good! I would recommend.

Food was very good! They have a good pancake special: $16 for unlimited pancakes and sausage! Kobe burger was highly recommended and lived up to expectations

I love this gem, great for game days! Good food, friendly staff, and cozy. Family friendly!

I was with a group that just had to eat so we found this place and decided to try it out. Our server was super friendly and sweet and seemed to be the only waitress working. It's a small place with a small eat in area. There is seating for maybe 30 people total. The food was actually really good. Amongst the group we ordered chicken, fish, and a burger. All pretty tasty and the fries weren't bad either. The prices were very reasonable as well. It is darker in there because there are no windows and the seating area gets pretty cramped if it's full.

service was okay. i think their prices are super high but it is pike place. this diner is tucked inside pike place by the shops and i highly enjoyed my burger

Stopped in for a lunch not sure what to expect. Well I wanted to come back for dinner. The chowder in a bread bowl was excellent. Nice piece of clams and so full of flavor The shrimp skewer salad was great. Very fresh and flavorful.

Burger was good but not great because the cheese was not melted. Fries were extra crispy which I like. While I enjoyed my experience, I would probably not come back again since the food was average and the prices were high.

I was visiting Seattle for a couple days. I'm taking 2 points off for food taste. The shrimp was dry and the crab eggs Benedict wasn't the best tasting thing on there. The server was pretty nice.

Beyond delicious! Thank you for the wonderful service Cy! The chowder in bread bowl was delicious and the Kobe burger was the best anyone had! This is such a quiet little off the beaten path spot with wonderful service and exceptional flavors and options! Try the popcorn shrimp and don't forget the chowder!

very kind staff. good food and we love supporting family owned businesses. if u get turned off by the lines at other places this place is def the way to go

I did not see a recent review, so I had to post something here. We had the clam chowder, bread bowl Caesar salad and barbecue salmon burger with beer battered onion rings. Everything was delicious. I recommend this place to as someone who does not want to wait an hour and a half for food across the street.

Went to pike place for the weekend shopping with my girlfriends. The whole market is filled with tourists and crowded places and lines EVERYWHERE we go. Maybe because it's also lunch time. When we got near the Market Diner we saw that there isn't any line and there are a few empty tables so we decided to go in. The food was DELICIOUS! The fries were PERFECT! Perfect seasoning and texture. Their sauce also goes really well with the chips. The burger is kinda dry but the chowder is good. I saw a few sandwiches ordered from other tables and they look good too. If you are starving and don't want to wait long lines in the market during the weekend, head to this little hidden gem!

Came on a saturday around lunch time. Got a denver omelette and girlfriend got a cheeseburger. Food was great, Service was great.

hole in the wall, in Post Alley. kinda undergroundish so clean tho! food was great! clam chowder bowl, fresh crab sandwich, french toast, eggs, and french fries- the fries! omg sooo good! the hostess/cashier/waitress- all in one :) was super nice, pleasant, fast, hard working & attentive definitely worth dining there! esp w/public market area being soooo busy! lines are ridiculous.

It is very important to change gloves not once did she change her gloves at the same token me being hungry I ate anyway plus I don't like being stared at while I eat

They have an all you can eat pancake and sausage for $7.50. It is one the cheapest breakfast places in the Pike Place Market. The pancakes and sausage are just okay. I would probably try something else next time just becuase the price is so good. It is also located right next to a public restroom which is a plus.

Since we were walking around at Pike's Place this morning and it was lunch time, I stopped at the Market Diner for lunch. I had the Crab Louie wrap with French fries. Service was very fast and my meal was good.

This is a quaint and quiet dining option for being in the Pike Place Market Corridor. It's very simple and modest by design. The bar seating at the windows isn't great. They do have a good menu of things to choose from, both American (ie, Fish and Chips) and Asian (ie, Teriyaki Salmon Burger). I tried the latter and it was good. The salmon was a nice fillet (grilled?); decent taste and light. The fries that came with were good, as well. I think it's Asian-owned and staff was friendly.

A market favorite of mine! Love the clam chowder bread bowls and their fish and chips! Delicious food, and always friendly service!

For east coast transplants who say Seattle lacks a diner scene outside of 13 Coins and the Hurricane ) (RIP), lament no more! Market Diner is here and it's a real diamond in the rough! Hidden behind a labyrinth of flashier stalls like Pike Place Chowder and unnamed fruit stands, there's relief from the crowds in the form of BREAKFAST ALL DAY. Repeat after me: breakfast all day!! Holy flapjacks! Anyway, this place has everything I would want out of a diner: never a wait, always quick service and delicious delicious pancakes. Did I mention breakfast all day?

I was strolling around Pike Place with a friend and we were looking for somewhere with breakfast that wasn't crowded (it was a busy Saturday morning). My friend desperately wanted pancakes, so we stumbled upon Market Diner. We were reluctant at first since it was pretty empty. We came in and were immediately seated. Once we knew what to order, our waitress was very kind in helping us place our order. There was some language issues and the waitress didn't seem to know the menu items well. I was told that my dish came with a side of bacon/sausage and I chose bacon. Ten minutes later, she came back to tell me it didn't actually come with a side? I hadn't asked for the side either way, but I was sad that I was given the option of getting bacon only to have it taken away! I ordered the Dungeness Crab and Avocado Omelette that came with Hashbrowns. The omelette tasted a bit bland, so I ended up opening up the omlette and just eating the crab/avocado mix with the hashbrowns. I loved the crab/avocado mix + the hashbrowns were perfectly crispy and delicious. I was a bit bummed by the "omlette" which was sub-standard and flavorless. The food took a lot longer than we'd expect since the diner was relatively empty and our orders weren't too complex. My friend ordered a coffee, that came with refills, but on his second refill, he only got half a cup since they were out of coffee? I think the service could use work here...and the eggs. It was still a cute/hidden place for a meal and not as flashy as most of the eaterys in the Pike market area.

I love in the Market and this place is the freshest place to get good food I go all the time and know I am eating healthy food try it sometimes it's bomb ‍‍‍

Honestly, I was tempted to run straight for the hills after setting foot into this place, because there was not a single soul there and that's usually an indicator of a bad restaurant; however, I couldn't be more wrong. I was quickly greeted and asked to seat anywhere I wanted, and after seeing a salmon and chips special for $8.99 (Really cheap in Pike Place), I just took the chance and ordered it. And wow, just WOW. It was probably one of the best fish and chips I've had in my life (and I know precisely what truly good English fish and chips tastes like as I often frequent Brighton in the UK). A tad unorthodox considering they used salmon and since the crust is not your traditional beer battered crust, but I thought it was a real good spin on the well known classic (and perhaps maybe even a bit better). The fish had a crunchy, well-seasoned crust while the salmon flesh was delectable, flaky, moist, and tender. The fries were also good: piping hot, crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. The sauce they also give you with it (though not tartar sauce) really complimented the fish quite nicely. While this dish is different from the classic fish and chips that we all know and love, I would gander to say that this dish rivals true English fish and chips and that's it a dish to be reckoned with. Overall, I would highly recommend this place and their salmon and chips!

Without the crazy long lines at either Pike place chowder or Jack's this place is pretty good with decently quick service. Saying that, don't expect to be blown away by the clam chowder. They had a Philly roll/egg roll? that really hit the spot for something fried. They had a Kobe beef burger that I didn't get the chance to try.

My review is based on milkshakes only! I didn't dine in or order food. I walked in and it was pretty dead which is always a scary sign to me but I really wanted a strawberry milkshake. Upon walking in we were greeted immediately and given these flimsy paper menus, we ordered 2 strawberry milkshakes to go and it took about 15 minutes for them to make 2 milkshakes... but they definitely used high quality strawberry ice cream with little bits of fresh strawberries inside. They were really tasty!

Just moved to the Seattle area and we decided to head down to the Market with our two little boys. As much as I really wanted to visit one of the highly rated yelp spots for brunch, anyone out on the town with two little kids knows a "wait" for food is torture; therefore, that led us to just going to the fist place we saw with no wait. Let's just say the the a Market Diner is not a visual appealing spot and the menu is pretty small. However, with all of that being said...the food was actually pretty good!! I got the eggs Benedict, the hubs got the Denver omelette and the boys split the French Toast (all which was very good). We also got coffee and OJ, which were both great. Once we sat down I knew it had to be good because almost the entire time we were there, there were guys that worked at the fish markets coming in and ordering two breakfast sandwiches to go nonstop (those aren't on the menu by the way, but they must be good!). The only reason for four stars instead of five is the service was a little slow. I think there was only one waitress for the whole place...but she was very sweet.

Visit Washington for the week! So far enjoying a lot of my trip. So my best friend and I were walking around Pikes Place and decided to find something quick to eat. We stumbled upon Market Diner, which was located in the back of this shopping mall/area thing. This restaurant looked like it was a family owned restaurant. The girl who took our order looked young, maybe in high school and there was a little girl who was sitting around and playing in the restaurant. The Grub. So my best friend and I decided to order the Seafood Combo and Eggs Benedict. We split the order so we could have a chance to taste both items. Both were good =] I always love having eggs benedict. The seafood combo consisted of fries, and fried shrimp, salmon, and squid. Overall the food wasn't the best I ever had, but being so hungry at the time it definitely hit the spot~

Tired of the long lines? Eat here!! For some reason it's not very busy, I'm assuming they are new because the food is delicious! It's a small hidden location by the like market creamer. Ordered the fish and chips, nice and crispy, not too greasy. For some reason the fries are really good. Swing by, avoid the long lines, I'm sure this place won't be empty for long.

I came here one morning while my dad was in town visiting. The diner is small and lacks heating, but I think that has something to do with it being in Pike Place Market. :p The hostess/waitress is really sweet, she did a great job. I ordered the breakfast wrap with bacon and a side of hash browns. The wrap was 98% eggs, 1% bacon, and 1% cheese. I wasn't too terribly impressed with this, it lacked taste and left something to be desired. The hash browns were ok, but I probably won't order this again, though I will be returning each time my dad comes in town. (I posted a photo of my order.)

Pretty much, you get what you would think you're going to get. Average diner food. So, for nothing surprising but nothing disappointing, you get three stars The plates are about six to twelve dollars, simply because there are some fancy fish on the menu. We tried the clam chowder, fish and chips and unlimited pancakes deal. Clam chowder seemed to come from a can, but, I wouldn't expect it to be home made - so absolutely not exciting.. Just.. Simple.. Chowder Fish and chips was actually nicely done, three fish filets, home made fries and a very crispy Panko like shell. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The fish filets were thick and juicy. The pancakes/sausage were acceptable. Sausage was the patty kind, very moist and tender. Pancakes were common fare, not outstanding but not bad by any means. Waitress was younger, helpful, nice and understanding. As a review said before, this is a very nice stop if you just want some simple eats in an anything but simple market.

The Dungeness crab Benedict wasn't really Dungeness. Fast polite service but mediocre food. I had hoped for better.

This is one of the worst experiences that I have had. The service is horrible. My daughter ordered shrimp and when they served it i asked "is this shrimp?" And she responded yes. My daughter began to eat it and it was obviously fish. The server said oops and told my daughter to drop her piece of fish she was eating and took away her plate. When I asked if she could at least have the fries back since the rest of our family was eating she said it would be out soon and that she wouldn't charge us for that plate of fish! The food was greasy and horrible. The restaurant is dirty. I am surprised that something like this exists in the pike place market.

We stopped in here for breakfast one morning. It's a small place, and the decor is nothing to write home about. We were greeted and given menus that had 5-6 breakfast items, all in the $6-9 range. They had a couple specials as well. I opted for the French toast, which came with eggs and hash browns. It was $8.50. I also got coffee and water. Our server was nice and attentive, working the front by herself. My breakfast came with two pieces of French toast that was like the kind you make at home with regular sandwich bread, instead of thick bread like at many restaurants. It had good flavor though. My eggs were cooked right but not hot, and the hash browns were just weird. They weren't crispy, but were pretty oily. I love hash browns and couldn't finish them. The coffee was awful - very watery. I think maybe this place is better for lunch, or their sea food seems popular as well. Maybe breakfast just isn't their strong suite, which is fine.

This is a simple, no frills, order at the counter diner. I had the fish and chips which were delicious. The nice ladies behind the counter were helpful and friendly.

Really, really good food consider the appearance of this place. It's very low key and looks like a greasy-spoons market diner (hence the name). However, the food is much better than its looks. I had the Kobe Beef Hamburger and fries - both were absolutely amazing!

Great little gem tucked away. I don't think tourists give it much of a chance. Looks like a little dive. Food was very fresh and omelet was perfect. Husband had eggs Benedict and cleaned his plate. Staff is very friendly.

I hate to do it but only 4 stars. Food was good and seasoned well. However, I ordered eggs Benedict and my soft boil egg was cooked through. Nothing better then cutting open a soft boil egg atop eggs Benedict and watching is pour down the sides like chocolate fudge on a Sunday. Also, they used regular ham rather then Canadian bacon. Hash browns were top notch, crunchy exterior soft moist interior. Overall I enjoyed my lunch, staff was great and always smiled. Made it a point to come out from the back and say hello and welcome to guest who walk in and thank you to guest who leave. I would come back.

The service here is great, it's a decent place to go if you don't want to wait in line at one of the more popular Pike Place options. I got the grilled chicken salad, the size and quality of the salad was not worth $11, there were TONS of onions on it. Others in my group got wraps, which were decent. Another got the clam chowder in a bread bowl that looked delicious. Not many gluten free options here.

During my Seattle vacation tour of Pike Place Market, I passed this place. Only 1 person there, was praying as I went in. My prayers were answered. Ordered oysters and chips, calamari and a bowl of clam chowder. Everything was incredibly fresh and tasty. Nice server. Reasonable prices. No complaints at all. This Jersey girl left full and happy. Why spend a lot on seafood if you don't have to? Places like this are hidden gems.

And so i yelp if where me and my husband could get the best clam chowder at the pike market....so when we got there and looking at my watch, pretty late for lunch but then the queue of tourist trying to get their order are just long, and our tummy were already making noise, we decided to look for another place and we saw this place, and they have this little paper posted on the wall saying that people love us on yelp, so without hesitation we gave a try and they only had a few customer inside, it's a little place though. We order their clam chowder, goodness and heaven, they're even taste good than the one at pier 39 st San Fran...their mixed chips was so good, not greasy. Btw, our order came in for about 20 minutes, just a right time than waiting the long line with the other famous clam chowder store. I don't want to mention the name..lol So yeah, this place is a good option if you don't want a long wait.

In Pike Place Market area with a fed up and hungry crew up after a morning of doing touristy things. At 1:30 PM, everything was packed, and we couldn't find a place that was realistic, then we came across Market Diner. The initial yelp look was good enough for me so we ducked in for a meal. They actually serve you here verses the counter service at many places in the area. We ordered the grilled shrimp to start, I tried the teriyaki burger, and we had a couple of shrimp and chips basket and a kids grilled cheese. For the money, everything was really good. The grilled shrimp were awesome and kept everyone feeling decent till the rest of the food arrived. Good french fries, and the fried shrimp was right on as well. The teriyaki burger was simple, but delicious, with a nice teriyaki sauce and lettuce and tomato on a white bun. I grubbed that down. We were a bit apprehensive because these type of locations with high traffic tend to be somewhat lack luster with the food. The service was not great, below what I consider acceptable, but yeah, the food was worth it. Not winning any cooking awards, but the food was solid and tasty, and well worth the money. I recommend eating here.

It was fine, not really outstanding in any way. I went with a group of coworkers on a winter day. We thought that the place ought to be a warm alternative to the market stalls on a cold day, but it wasn't: the walls don't go all the way to the ceiling, so tons of cold air blew through there, making me want to eat and exit as fast as possible. I had a Philly cheesesteak which was flavorful and with decent meat. It came with a choice of fried sides, and I had the onion rings which were really tasty. Others seemed content with their meals, no one really singing its praises though. The place had some cool old Seattle photos on the wall I had never seen before. In all, a decent diner experience.

It was one of those days where I was in desperate need of fries, so the closest place I could find was the Market Diner. It was good and satisfied my needs, but the French fries were just drenched in grease, which definitely was not my favorite thing. I also ordered it to-go, and they just put it in a brown paper bag, so the grease just soaked through the bag.. Other than that, the workers were nice and the fries were CRISPY, which is probably the most important feature for me!

We waited at another establishment on the street for a table for an hour before we gave up and found Market Diner. Market Diner for the WIN!!! This small eating place was just what we needed. The service was great and we just walked in and got seated. I know that may not happen often but it was great that day! I had a BLT and fries and it was delicious. May have been a little pricey but being from the South I don't know how to judge city prices but I thought it was reasonable for the area. Would definitely stop in again if I'm in the area.

Pros- Service was great, reasonably priced, and it wasn't crowded. Cons- There's a reason for the reasonably priced food and lack of crowd. Halibut & chips- frozen pressed filets. Crab sandwich, no flavor and bread was toasted ( in a toaster ). At least toss in grilled sourdough for the $16 sandwich. I would pass if your looking for taste but stay if you're mission is price and no wait

Do not fall for this trap in the market. I wasted a precious two hours at this place. Came with my boyfriend and we were immediately seated by a very young asian girl at the table nearest the counter. This meant my seat jutted out into the hallway where food was being run. The area also had a dingy looking outlet with lots of dust and cobweb fibers above the table. Overall the place feels like a triangular cafeteria, a somewhat depressing atmosphere, less authentically gritty and more like the bare necessities of what is needed for a "restaurant" (loosely defined in this case as a business where food is occasionally served to people). When we arrived there were about four tables with people, which, surprisingly is a mostly full house at this place. The same young woman seemed overwhelmed by this modest number of customers who were there and would frantically run to each table in between long absences in the back kitchen, where incidentally I saw a very young child wandering around by deep fryers and hot ovens. We had our order taken almost as soon as we sat down and then were promptly abandoned for a good thirty minutes while the girl attended to the other tables. Apparently forgetting about us (even though we were just a few feet from the counter), she left us without coffee or water refills, and (we later discovered), this entire time had never actually put our orders in. After about 45 minutes she came back to take our orders again, explaining very briefly that the orders were never run up. So we ordered for a second time. My boyfriend asked for a side of aeoli and she had no idea what this was, even though there was (ironically) a blackboard hanging right behind me that listed garlic aeoli as one of the ingredients on a burger. She apologized a lot and said the food would be done "in one minute." The minute stretched on for a another good twenty to twenty five minutes and the entire time I was wishing I had just walked out much earlier. To add insult to injury a group of asians showed up and they are immediately whisked to the one cushioned bench in the place (which they were clearly saving) and even had the groups' food ready when they arrived! Finally the food comes. I had the crab benedict. The crab does not taste fresh, even though this place is literally surrounded by fresh seafood stands. The eggs are not runny at all and clearly overcooked (strange for a rush job). I specifically chose to come here because they serve actual hash browns (a rarity these days) not some roasted fingerling potatoes bullshit. Unfortunately, the hashbrowns were stringy and tasteless, not at all crunchy. So to some up: waited an hour and a half for overcooked, unfresh crab and pathetic hash browns and all for $17! How is this even a one dollar sign place at that point? Of course the waitress was apologetic and I will say she was at least nice but it's not like we had anything comped or any real gesture of regret like you would get at almost any other restaurant if they fucked up your order that badly. This is maybe the first time in five years that I have not tipped anything and I still felt like I overpaid. We were, of course, charged for the aeoli. Go to the Athenian instead.

Stopped in for a quick spot of breakfast. I had the eggs Benedict- it was a perfectly prepared plate with great crispy/soft shredded hash browns accompaniment. Nothing fancy but just really good diner food. Try it out!

Market Diner is a bit hard to find and doesn't look like your typical tourist type restaurant in Pike Market because it's not. They do take out and seem to be frequented by locals. Do not let the look fool you. They do good, solid fare at decent prices. We stopped in for breakfast and mostly had the typical type of diner meals. However, I did splurge on the Dungeness crab eggs Benedict, which was good and plenty. It's certainly not the best food I've had in Seattle but it is the most comfortable food.

Overall a mediocre place. They were late opening. The waitress was kind of impersonal. The prices were ridiculous steep. A cup of milk cost what a whole gallon does in the store. The pancakes were decent. My daughter found a small hair in her eggs. The food was not worth the entire bill cost. The diner was inside a market bldg and it smelled of fish and was unpleasant while eating.