Local’s Guide to the Pike Place Market: Found Among the Merchants
Perennial Tearoom
Slayed by cuteness. We are powerless against the wiles of the three-piece, owl-faced tea set from Japanese company Kotobuki. $49
Photography by Young Lee
Sur La Table
When the first store opened in 1972 (across from the current one), it was among the earliest Le Creuset suppliers. $130 for 3.5-quart oval
Photography by Young Lee
MarketSpice
We found za’atar—a supertrendy Arabic spice blend that’s amazing mixed into homemade hummus. $16 per pound
Photography by Young Lee
Market Coins
City council member Sally Clarke stocks up on political buttons at this coin and sports memorabilia shop. What we want is the rookie Ichiro card from 1993. $195
Photography by Young Lee
Golden Age Collectibles
The force is strong with this collection of rare comics, lifestyle celebrity cutouts and limited edition tchotchkes like a Darth Vader cookie jar. $150
Photography by Young Lee
Tenzing Momo
If you need your fortune told, there are several seers on staff. If the fortune teller predicts liver problems, pick up a tincture of milk thistle on your way out. $12
Photography by Young Lee
Market Magic Shop
Like, wow, man. This magician-supply store sells a Mona Lisa with her eyes cut out for maximum Scooby-Doo spookiness. $79
Photography by Young Lee
The Great Wind-up
A windup-toy store. Why not? Crank “Duck on Bike” and his head propeller will spin as he pedals around. $15
Photography by Young Lee
Pipe Place
If you need a Bob Marley lava lamp with “Rasta Tint,” they’ve got plenty at this underground head shop. $33
Updated June 9, 2011. This version corrects the name of the shop, which should be Pipe Palace, not Pike Place Smoke Shop.
Photography by Young Lee
Metsker Maps of Seattle
This one’s all about globes, travel guides, and other geographical paraphernalia. Our favorite find: The Birds Eye View of the City of Seattle from 1884. $30, or $390 framed
Photography by Young Lee
Market Tobacco Patch
A tiny tobacco shop tucked into a forgotten corner, it’s Washington’s only retailer of Davidoff cigars from the Dominican Republic. $37 for the Anniversario No. 1
Photography by Young Lee
Northstar Trading Company
A pair of supersoft sheepskin slippers, made on Whidbey Island, is the perfect from-Seattle-with-love birthday gift. $73
Photography by Young Lee
El Mercado Latino
Awesome candy alert: Mara Carrito de Elotes strawberry-flavored, chili-dusted lollipops. $6.75 for 40
Photography by Young Lee
Old Seattle Paperworks
Coveted: this store’s 1971 Rolling Stone issues with Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, parts 1 and 2. (Like getting yelled at? Take a picture.) $100
Photography by Young Lee
Gem Heaven
Amid purple healing crystals and sorta unsettling animal remains we found this stylish set of rusty-hewed, petrified-wood bookends from Arizona. $235
Photography by Young Lee
Oriental Mart
Find bonito flakes for topping off tonight’s tofu at the tiny Asian imports grocer near Sisters European Cafe. 69¢ per packet
Photography by Young Lee
Hands of the World
This shop stocks handmade Bozo puppets from Mali. We’re pretty into the jackal, whose toothy mouth opens and closes by way of leather hinges. $349
Photography by Young Lee
Antiques at Pike Place
Prepare to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of this shop, and impressed by all the killer loot inside. For example, this very-’80s Tyco Lego telephone. $110
Photography by Young Lee
