It’s summertime, which means it’s farmers market season! From fresh produce to local craft vendors to great food, what isn’t there to love about a good farmers market? Here in Seattle, the fun doesn’t have to wait until the summer. Ballard Farmers Market is a year-round market that attracts a copious amount of people, especially in the summer. With roughly a hundred vendors lining up a whole street, Ballard is fun but can be overwhelming with all of the options the market has to offer. Here’s a start-to-end guide to the best eats at Ballard.
Miro Tea
Across from the vendor-filled street is Miro Tea, a cozy and modern teahouse with a wide variety of chai, matcha, and loose leaf teas. The drinks there are creatively delicious that you can carry around while walking around Ballard Farmers Market eyeing all the goodies. Try their Matcha Soda, a sweetened matcha mixed with sparkling yuzu juice, or the Mate Fuego, a sparkling yerba mate spiced with chili peppers, lime, mango, and salt. Want a cool place to rest your feet after a day of walking? Miro Tea is the best place to do that! With the option of ordering a pot of loose leaf tea for the table, you can sit and have a post-market chat with your friends.
The French Guys Bakery
What’s a fun drink without a little sweet treat? To start off your market trip, head over to The French Guys Bakery for a snack to munch on in between sips. With the mission to share authentic French baked goods, owners Thibault and Renaud go from market to market selling tons of fresh baked goods such as brioche bread and tarts. Try their various types of croissants like the Pain au Chocolat, a croissant with a gooey, chocolatey center.
The Bangalore Kitchen
Upon entering Ballard Farmers Market, you’ll see a long line that loops around a yellow tent stand. Get in the line, don’t question it. The Bangalore Kitchen sells the best food here at Ballard. Specializing in dosa, a South Indian crepe made of fermented rice and lentils, The Bangalore Kitchen is constantly buzzing with customers and fantastic aromatics. Packed with tons of spices and flavor, their famous dish, Butter Masala Dose, is coated with red chutney, filled with a delicious dollop of potato filling, and served with a side of green chutney. The green chutney alone is worth the wait alone.
Patty Pan Cooperative
This is probably one of the most talked about vendors at Ballard, and rightfully so. A worker-owned food enterprise where all members have equal and active participation in the workings of the organization, Patty Pan Cooperative's goal is to serve ready-to-eat meals at markets and local grocery stores utilizing ingredients from local farms. Patty Pan Cooperative sells tamales, quesadillas, and vibrant grilled vegetables. Order their veggie-filled quesadilla or the beef and pork tamale topped with grilled vegetables and salsa for a more filling dish to go. The simplicity of these dishes allows for the fresh vegetables to shine, which is the beauty of Patty Pan Cooperative. The vegetables alone are worth coming back for.
Nature’s Last Stand
As the last savory stop at the Ballard, get a slider from Nature's Last Stand before the market closes. Primarily a hog and poultry farm located east of Seattle, Nature’s Last Stand sells sausages, eggs, and a variety of hamburgers at Ballard. Their sliders consist of ingredients freshly harvested from their farm. Though the Classic is a delicious burger with the typical components of one, their Spicy Thai Burger is the way to go. It tastes exactly like a Vietnamese bánh mì (a traditional sandwich) but in a burger form. This slider was a fun surprise! The Brioche bun was fluffy, and the pork tasted similar to nem nướng, a Vietnamese fermented grilled pork. At first glance, bánh mì may seem like the easiest Vietnamese dish to master, but it’s actually pretty difficult. I’ve struggled to find an authentically tasting bánh mì, the Spicy Thai Burger is definitely approved to be counted as one despite it being a burger.
Cookies with Tiffany
Before leaving the market, it’s practically a rule to end with another sweet treat. It’d be sacrilegious not to. Head over to the Cookies with Tiffany stand located directly across from The Bangalore Kitchen for a cookie. At Ballard, you can find a variety of cookies like a classic chocolate chip, smores, and a lemon doodle. Not only are the cookies soft and chewy, they aim to give back to the community! Tiffany partners with local organizations to donate profits too. For instance, with a purchase of a smores cookie, a percentage of its sales goes to the Swedish Cancer Institute.