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TOP POT DOUGHNUTS, PIKE PLACE MARKET, AND REI OH MY!

2,723 views · Published 6 July 2011 · 4:15 · Indexed 12 October 2026

Channel: Jones Family Travels · 2011 · People & Blogs

Day two of our adventures in Seattle took us to Top Pot Doughnuts (best doughnuts in Seattle or anywhere for that matter!), REI's Flagship store, the famous Pike Place Market and more!

Top Pot has the most amazing doughnuts I've ever had with a quaint little shop that includes a library! The coffee's good and the doughnuts are freaking HUGE! The kids were entertained for the morning with children's books from the library, so the adults were able to have a nice morning conversation over coffee and doughnuts.

REI's Flagship store is awesome! We tried to climb the Pinnacle rock that they have at the store, but it was booked up for several days. Lame...they used to just do first come, first served. I wasn't even really shopping for anything, but ended up with about $50 worth of stuff at the cashier. Ever happen to you? The kids played in their indoor playground and probably could have stayed for the whole day, but we had other places to go!

You'll also see us visit the famous Pike Place Market where we saw the mirror man and got some seafood and artichokes for dinner. I know it' probably more of a tourist trap, these days, but I love Pike Place. The fresh flowers, HUGE, fresh vegetables and fruit, and flying fish are all so amazing!

I specifically wanted a new coffee mug from the first Starbucks that's located right in Pike Place. I ended buying one that looks really cool, but I'm not the biggest fan of how it works. The opening is just too small and you don't get enough coffee.

The history of Pike Place Market is as rich and colorful as Seattle itself.
Its nine acres and more than a century of operation encompass thousands of fascinating stories — tales of immigration, internment, renovation and urban renewal — all that help explain why Pike Place Market is called "The Soul of Seattle."

Here is a snapshot of how the Market came to be. Between 1906 and 1907, the cost of onions increased tenfold. Outraged citizens, fed up with paying price-gouging middlemen too much for their produce, found a hero in Seattle City Councilman Thomas Revelle. Revelle proposed a public street market that would connect farmers directly with consumers. Customers would "Meet the Producer" directly, a philosophy that is still the foundation of all Pike Place Market businesses.

On August 17, 1907, Pike Place Market was born. On that first day, a total of eight farmers brought their wagons to the corner of First Avenue and Pike Street—and were quickly overwhelmed by an estimated 10,000 eager shoppers. By 11:00 am, they were sold out. Thousands of would-be customers went home empty-handed, but the chaos held promise. By the end of 1907, the first Market building opened, with every space filled.

A century later, Pike Place Market is internationally recognized as America's premier farmers' market and is home to more than 200 year-round commercial businesses; 190 craftspeople and approximately 100 farmers who rent table space by the day; 240 street performers and musicians; and more than 300 apartment units, most of which provide housing for low-income elderly people. "The Market," as the locals affectionately say, attracts 10 million visitors a year, making it one of Washington state's most frequently visited destinations.

Begun in February 2002 out of a small brick storefront on north Capitol Hill in Seattle, Top Pot paired a vintage aesthetic with a gourmet spin on the traditional coffee and doughnuts pairing.

Years earlier, two of our co-founders spied a vintage rustic (and rusty) neon sign gleaming above a boarded-up Chinese restaurant called "Topspot". They bought the sign, and then left it idle in a backyard for four years, further rusting and creating a home for raccoons. Then, when the sign was finally driven off to be restored, the center "S" fell off, leaving the words "Top Pot" behind.

The sign became Top Pot's symbol of blending the old with the new. Our founders sought to create a doughnut shop that moved away from the fluorescent-lit fast food aesthetic. Instead, they created an oasis, where patrons could slow down and savor the nostalgia and taste of a secret 1920s doughnut recipe in a gorgeous vintage environment.

Today, Top Pot Doughnuts can proudly claim a rabid fan base and extraordinary growth. Our hand-forged doughnuts can be found in our five Top Pot cafés and other retail locations in the greater Seattle area.

We feel so fortunate to have enjoyed such success with a business model that is this much fun. And we remain committed to the simple ideals that brought us this far—quality, inclusiveness, and integrity in every single thing we do.

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TOP POT DOUGHNUTS, PIKE PLACE MARKET, AND REI OH MY!

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