Sitka and Spruce would be great for dinner. Another dinner option would be Staple and Fancy in Ballard. Sushi Kappo Tamura is good sustainable sushi in Eastlake. A lot of people like Nishino in Madison Park. Poppy on Broadway is good and pretty unusual/interesting.

For lunch check out Nettletown in Eastlake, not fancy, but good interesting tasty local organic food. I've brought my son there many many times. I think you could go to almost any "top" restaurant in Seattle with a 1 year old at lunch time. Matt's in the Market and Steelhead diner I second.

http://nettletown.com/index.htm

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Poppy
622 Broadway E, Seattle, WA

Steelhead Diner
95 Pine Street, Suite 17, Seattle, WA 98101

Nishino
3130 E Madison St Ste 106, Seattle, WA 98112

Matt's In the Market
94 Pike St Ste 32, Seattle, WA 98101

Staple & Fancy Mercantile
4739 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

Nettletown
2238 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102

sushi kappo tamura
2968 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102

What about Poppy on Broadway? They have really great yummy vegetarian thalis. With an app, thali, drinks and dessert it would hit your mark. Another option for good healthy vegetarian food (that also has non-vegetarian food) would be Nettletown in Eastlake, good for lunch, brunch, or a nice dinner.

http://poppyseattle.com/
http://nettletown.com/index.htm

You could also try Nettletown! It's smaller but they have one high chair, and you can reserve a table if you have 6.
http://nettletown.com/index.htm

It's not downtown, but close - Nettletown in Eastlake is very northwest-y. Great for lunch or lunch/brunch on the weekends. Unique food using local wild ingredients. I like the oil poached tuna sandwich, or the elk meatball sandwich which has gotten rave reviews. Actually every sandwich has been great there. Also really enjoy the swiss version of spatzle that she makes, with a poached egg on top. Yum. She also usually has great salads and soups.
http://nettletown.com/index.htm
http://www.yelp.com/biz/nettletown-se...

We also really like Sitka and Spruce!

sezchuan noodle in chinatown is cheap and yummy. we're always amazed at how little the bill is. the vegetarian dumplings (spinach and tofu) are amazing, better than the pork dumplings. and the cold chicken noodle salad is wonderful, especially if it's hot out.

matt's in the market is another good option, in pike place market, smallish, and good local food.

I think Jeremy Faber is the best "caterer" in town - he does great local food.

What does everyone think of purple dot on maynard?

I don't know if it's the best thai in seattle but this is our longtime fave, kaosami thai in fremont. http://www.kaosamai.com/
This is my fave: Gai Yang, Somtom combo for $12.95: ½ Cornish game hen marinated with Thai herbs and spices and barbequed to a golden brown. Served with Somtom salad, sticky rice & a dipping sauce.

I second Smith and Cafe Presse!

Sezchuan Noodle has a cold sesame noodle dish with chicken - it's really good.

No, it wasn't sweet/sour, just a soy/sake flavor...although that is more similar in preparation, I think I'll attempt something like that. Thanks barleywino!

nope - it wasn't sweet and sour - just a soy/sake flavor, althought that seems closer in preparation - I think I'll try something like that! thanks barleywino.

Oh I also forgot that Maneki in the International District is good for families - we were there last Sunday night at 5:30 and about half the tables had kids! It's not as good as Shun or Chiso, but they also have tatami rooms that would be fun. http://www.manekirestaurant.com/

I second Shun by University Village - also we've taken our 2-yr old to Chiso in Fremont. Both are great.

I thought it might be too, but it's not. The chicken wasn't crunchy and was covered in sauce - I also had looked on their menu and didn't find that name anywhere else...

I thought maybe that was it, but it wasn't deep fried and the coating wasn't really noticeable or crunchy, and it was covered in sauce. Also I did look at the menu to see if the name of that chicken was elsewhere on the menu and it wasn't. And now I can't remember the name of course.

It seems like it was lightly coated in rice flour, had a soy/sake flavor and it wasn't really fried, but probably pan fried/"sauteed"... sorry - I didn't eat too much of it!

We went to Maneki the other night and my son loved the chicken in the ozen menu but I can't remember the name of it... it wasn't teriyaki though...does anyone know off the top of their head? I'd love to look up a recipe for it.
Thank you!

here are some places i've been to chinese banquet dinners that could accommodate that many people:
house of hong
new kowloon (which may be called something else now)
sun ya
ocean city

Stopped by this new place today. Been waiting for a real ice cream place to open in Seattle. It was the first day they were open, the interior is nice, modern, open - still finishing up some things, but their grand opening is tomorrow. Overall I thought the flavor selection was good, the ice cream was all good, maybe on the sweet side. Tried:
maple walnut - not very maple-y, more like vanilla with walnuts, but nice and creamy
salted carmel - very salty, but I liked it, out of 3 of us, 1 loved it, 1 did not like it and I thought it was good.
cardamon - nice, very cardamon-y
vanilla bean - a good creamy vanilla, with lots of bean
honey lavender - not my taste, but it was ok
thai iced tea - again not my thing, but my sister liked it
Next time I'd like to try the coffee, ginger, and lemon... she also said they would have a chocolate orange sorbet tomorrow, which sounds good.
http://mollymoonicecream.com/flavors....

We went for lunch last week and had a the monkey bridge noodle bowl (shrimp, pork, spring roll) and the dumpling soup. The noodle bowl was OK, the shrimp was cooked too long and the pork didn't have any of that good flavor. The soup was OK, the broth had good flavor, but the dumplings were just ok. Might go back just because they are close but wouldn't otherwise.

I haven't had it many places but we always get it at Bento Sushi on 85th and 15th in Ballard/Crownhill. We probably go 2x month just for the bee bim bop, it's also very close to us and kid friendly (we have a 2 yr old). It's $8.95 in a stone pot and comes with spinach, bean sprouts, radish, seasoned ground beef, mushrooms, zuchinni, carrots, egg on top, and you can choose chicken or beef (beef is better). Kim chee and chili sauce on the side. You also get miso soup. We each order one and never finish it all. I'd love to try it at more places though! If you like tempura, the appetizer tempura order is huge and usually pretty good.

We visited yesterday for the 2nd time and I got the Dork with hoisin/balsamic sauce and provolone - it was really good - with the sweet potato fries, which were pretty good, if a little too skinny. My friend got the tuna/salmon melt special and that was good too, the Dork was much better though. My other friend got the regular normal burger and it was pretty much raw in the center - is this common? I thought medium rare was bright pink inside but not raw. We commented on it to them and they said we cook them medium rare...he won't be returning. Also got a milkshake, it was just OK. The first time we went was much better, but I'll return. Soda selection is great. It is a bit chilly in there though - when we went before it was super hot, so I guess they got the exhaust taken care of but a bit to the extreme. Also, was reminded I can share a burger next time. They are large.

I am looking for a special place to celebrate a 40th birthday for a friend. The location it was going to be held at didn't work out so now we are searching last minute (Birthday is May 10th) for a new place. Does anyone have a suggestion for a restaurant that has a room that can accommodate about 30 people? Thanks!

We always go to Botega in the market - pear and pistachio is the best combo. Love the pistachio, and it's not fake green.

Hi all - we've just discovered that our 2-yr old loves the beef tendon at Sezchuan Noodle and were wondering where we could go for good beef tendon dishes that aren't spicy or too greasy. Thanks!

Araya is on 45th where the old China First used to be in the UDistrict and is a vegetarian thai place that has a great cheap lunch buffet.

I totally agree with HungWeiLo - overpriced fake asian food. It's never been good and I have never understood the raves that place has gotten over the years.

You could always do the buffet at Salty's on Alki for brunch - nice view, everyone can eat what they want, and it's pretty kid friendly. We took our inlaws there with our 20 month old (who's now 2) and it was fine.
For dinner I'm not sure what to suggest, most of the restaurants downtown have highchairs (if you still use them) even the "fancy" ones. We usually go to Tutta Bella for pizza in Wallingford for family dinners, but there is one in the downtown area as well. What type of food would you like for dinner? You could do Elliott's on the waterfront for seafood, not too sleek or modern.