Submitted by Ok-Gift-7013 t3_125hlxq in Washington
Moving over from Florida, originally from Philly. Used to a lot of food choices and don't really know what to expect. I imagine seafood when in season will be great, along with some good Asian options, but I also love Mexican, Delis, street food and just like having food diversity in general.
How does the Seattle/Tacoma food scene compare? Likely moving to Port Orchard so decent proximity to both, but doesn't seem like there is much in Kitsnap.
We have food here too.
We are extremely lacking in good delis, but we have pretty much everything else here in Tacoma.
Id rather live in Tacoma than either PDX or Seattle
Same. I love Tacoma and will never leave if I can help it.
I'm ok with making my own, decent bread and supermarkets there? Publix here has good bread and lunch meat but not sure the equivalent in Washington. Maybe Krogers?
For great bread you'll want to check out Metropolitan Market. They also have an incredible cheese selection and a pretty good grocery store deli that serves pasta to order in addition to more traditional grocery store deli staples.
or marlene’s!
Marlene's is pretty great, especially if you need gluten free, vegan, or vegetarian alternatives to common items. They also have a killer selection of seasonal mushrooms.
Dude. Tacoma Boys rules them all.
I do like Tacoma Boys/H&L (they're the same thing OP!) especially for produce, cheese, seafood, and red meat as well as odd specialty items like dips and condiments but I find their bakery selection to be inferior to Met's.
No, there's no large chain equivalent to Publix in terms of quality. Plenty of individual stores and smaller chains though.
If you want access to what passes for a food scene here in Kitsap County, Port Orchard is precisely the worst place to be. You'll want to be in Bremerton or north of Bremerton. But the reality is, if you're looking for a food scene, Kitsap County isn't where you want to live. It's a semi-rural/small town [city] area.
But there is some stuff, and you can hit up r/kitsap for more details. I also recommend Kitsap County Dining and Restaurants of Kitsap County on Facebook.
And no, seafood isn't a big deal here. The Seattle/Tacoma area is hundreds of miles from the ocean and there aren't really aren't any local fishermen left.
What? Seafood is most definitely a thing. You realize you can get local seafood from the Puget Sound and Salish Sea, right? Not to mention the TONS of salmon coming up our rivers in the Summer and all the seafood coming from Alaska to be processed/shipped in WA.
I didn't say it "wasn't a thing", I said it wasn't a big deal. And it isn't.
And yes, vast quantities of seafood flows *through* Washington. Very, very little of it *stays* here. And of what does stay here and is served here, the vast majority of it isn't fresh caught - it's flash frozen just like it is everywhere else. I mean, where do you think Ivar's get the salmon that's on today's menu?
Don’t know I don’t go to Ivar’s lol? I do however go to local fish markets where there is local crab, oysters, clams, mussels, salmon, cod, halibut, shrimp, and prawn. Plenty of stuff that is local and fresh. The salmon/fish coming from Alaska is sold locally as well. You should really try buying some local seafood because it definitively is a big deal.
Surprising to hear about seafood. Would think crab and salmon season would be good there considering proximity. We're also looking at Silverdale fwiw, that's N of Bremerton I believe.
My standard is that of what I experienced growing up in Jacksonville (FL) in the 70's... When you could go down to Mayport and find fish markets and restaurants run by the folks who owned the boats (or their relatives) or folks that bought straight from the boats. That's not really what you'll find here. (And by and large it's not what you'll find there anymore either.)
Seafood is a big deal at upper end places... But there's pretty much no crab or shrimp shacks. Chain groceries are of course chain groceries.
Yes, Silverdale is North of Bremerton, and it's kind of the ideal place to live in the county in terms of access to places things.
Check out Sequim too. Sunny Farms might make it all worth it
Seattle is a much more diverse city than Portland, and it's reflected in their cuisines.
The food here is great as long as you like teriyaki.
Everything else is on the low side of average and will cost you an arm and a leg.
Welcome to town! You're moving here at the right time of year. The sun is actually out today and it might hit 60F.
Thanks! Yea, I'm looking forward to summer but don't know how I'm gonna deal with no sun all winter. Maybe take a trip to the East to find some sunlight so I don't go crazy lol
In Kitsap & the scene is trying to get better but if we want something really good we go to Tacoma/Federal Way. There's a lot of Asian/Mexican places in Kitsap but the best stuff is still on the other side of the bridge unfortunately
Yea, I figured as much, but it seems a little more insulated from traffic and crime than Tacoma but still good schools. It also seems more green, but I don't know. Will check them out before we buy something, mainly want to find a good place for the kids to play without people zooming by side streets going 40mph like here in FL.
My brother lives in Seattle & loves it. We love to visit but can't imagine living on that side of the bridge. Hope you guys find something you love here!
Tacoma actually has awesome public schools. Yes it's diverse, all socioeconomic backgrounds, but so many great programs. Strong neighborhood schools. Very happy to have brought my kids up there.
>mainly want to find a good place for the kids to play without people zooming by side streets going 40mph like here in FL.
You'll find those here in Kitsap too, it just depends on exactly where you live... Kitsap and the peninsula in general have everything from dense generic suburbia to deep woods and almost everything else in between.
Any specific area you would recommend in Kitsnap? I'm mainly focused on Port Orchard and Silverdale atm
If I had my druthers, I'd live somewhere North of Riddell Rd. and generally along or East of Central Valley Rd. (Links go to Google Maps.) That's basically the East side of Silverdale and a bit of the North end of Bremerton. It's about as central as you can get in Kitsap County without living in the dense(er) core of Silverdale.
There's quite a bit of older neighborhoods in that area, and some "country (ish)" areas without being out in the actual boondocks.
Whether you'd want to live there rather than Port Orchard really depends on where you'll be working. You really don't want to go through Gorst on a regular basis if you can avoid it, especially during rush hour. It gets pretty nasty through there, and there's a blocking accident every month or so it seems.
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I’d suggest Gig Harbor if you can afford it.
Food scene is great in seattle, in my opinion. Tacoma is good too. I live in Bremerton and options are limited but there’s still plenty of good choices within a 20-30 min drive. I’m originally from Philly and there’s definitely things that just don’t compare (hoagies, cheesesteaks, pizza, bagels/breakfast sandwiches) but oh well, just more to look forward to when you get back for a visit!
When i visited Seattle i was not impressed with the food scene. The people i traveled with did not like asian cuisine, so i couldnt get a good taste of those options (as i do enjoy that food), though there are PLENTY.
Next to no mexican/texmex, and what is there is not good.
Plenty of seafood, and health concious dining as well, but i guess it felt like there was a lack of guilty pleasure eating. It felt like a very health-concious city in general.
Haha, guilty pleasure eating. Yea, I'll miss that. Was looking for an Italian Market anywhere in the area and couldn't find anything. Seems like a great place to open a deli or market..hell, I would be happy with a WaWa!
Big John's PFI in Seattle.
arChrisan3 t1_je4aint wrote
Asian food especially Japanese and teriyaki has been here since the 70s. Mexican food is okay here. Seafood is delicious and available all year, but it’s more expensive.