Nancy Leson's picks for restaurants with glorious waterfront views

Take a classic-restaurant setting. Add water. What do you get? A list of rooms-with-a-view royalty that wows the out-of-towners and feeds our taste for the great outdoors by bringing it indoors, too.

For more on water-view restaurants, visit my blog at www.seattletimes.com/allyoucaneat.

Anthony's Pier 66

2201 Alaskan Way, Seattle

206-448-6688

www.anthonysrestaurants.comAnthony's waterside venues are legion, from their HomePorts to Chinook's at Fisherman's Terminal to the shorts-and-flip flop come-on of their Edmonds' Beach Café — among others. But the second-story perch at Pier 66 (upstairs from the casual Bell Street Diner) is the Seattle showplace for a stellar view, taking in the city, the port, and — if you're lucky — Mount Rainier.

Canlis

2576 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle

206-283-3313

www.canlis.com

The ivories tinkle and the stars twinkle: It's elegance personified, with four-star service, a newly tweaked menu plus an oenophile's bible as wide and wonderful as the expansive view from high above Lake Union.

Daniel's Broiler

• Lake Union: 809 Fairview Place N., Seattle (206-621-8262)

• Leschi: 200 Lake Washington Blvd., Seattle (206-329-4191)

• Bellevue: 10500 N.E. Eighth St., Bellevue (425-462-4662)

www.schwartzbros.com

Daniel's has steaked its fortune on view properties, and rare (or medium-rare in the case of my rib-eye) is the occasion that this trio fails to deliver at the lakeside (Union, Washington) or high-in-the-sky (Bellevue).

Elliott's Oyster House

1201 Alaskan Way, Seattle

206-623-4340

www.elliottsoysterhouse.com

For many (hello!) the eyes are on the prize: local oysters stacked for the slurping at the city's top oyster bar. But dockside denizens get a taste of attractions that go beyond the cracked-crab and salmon variety to the Argosy tour boats and the hustle-and-bustle that defines the heart of Seattle's waterfront.

Ivar's

• Salmon House: 401 N.E. Northlake Way, Seattle (206-632-0767)

• Acres of Clams: 1001 Alaskan Way, Seattle (206-624-6852)

• Mukilteo Landing: 710 Front St., Mukilteo (425-742-6180), www.ivars.net

Salmon is king — or sockeye or coho — here where the family friendly atmosphere is evoked on North Lake Union (see: Seattle and Northwest Natives) and adjacent the Mukilteo ferry (see nautical niceties and Possession Sound). At Seattle's Pier 54, try the original Acres of Clams (and eat 'em steamed, baked, fried or chowderfied).

Palisade

2601 W. Marina Place (Elliott Bay Marina), Seattle

206-285-1000

www.palisaderestaurant.com

Cross the pond (literally — the indoor saltwater tidepool explodes with the kind of color you won't see on an oyster-gray Seattle day) to a vast dining room whose seafood-heavy menu and panoramic view is the draw, as is its casual dockside sibling Maggie Bluffs, beloved for its view as well as its burgers.

Ponti Seafood Grill

3014 Third Ave. N., Seattle

206-284-3000

www.pontiseafoodgrill.com

Venice? Nah, it's the Ship Canal, where kayaks and sailboats replace gondolas, gliding past the Fremont Bridge under the watchful gaze of Rapunzel while you feast your eyes on fresh seafood. Patio seating's a bonus.

Ray's Boathouse & Café

6049 Seaview Ave. N., Seattle

Boathouse: 206-789-3770; Café: 206-782-0094

www.rays.com

Upstairs (in the cafe) or down (the more formal Boathouse), inside (with an Olympic view) or out (the cafe's deck is among the hottest tickets in town), Ray's is as much about the seafood as the see-food: working boats, pleasure craft and the occasional bald-eagle ballet.

Salty's

• Alki: 1936 Harbor Ave. S.W., Seattle (206-937-1600)

• Redondo: 28201 Redondo Beach Drive S., Des Moines (253-946-0636)

www.saltys.com

Talk about "surround Sound": From sandy Redondo Beach in the south to the postcard perfect-view of the Emerald City from its ancestors' Alki perch to the west, this salty duo's lure is defined by its lookout. Seafood feasts at brunch, an all-day cafe menu are added attractions.

Six Seven

Edgewater Hotel, 2411 Alaskan Way (Pier 67), Seattle

206-269-4575

www.edgewaterhotel.com

Take a window seat and you'll feel as if you could dip your toes in the water (al fresco tables are even closer to nature). On the menu surf vies with turf and local sourcing helps do Seattle's landmark waterfront-hotel proud.

SkyCity at the Space Needle

400 Broad St. (Seattle Center), Seattle

206-905-2111

www.spaceneedle.com

Yes, you're on top of the world — or at least our little corner of it, where your chair is your chariot and everything does revolve around you. Tourists in town? You know where they want to go: on a 360-degree tour of a city where the scenery is greenery. (A trip to the observation deck is complimentary.)

Third Floor Fish Café

205 Lake St. S., Kirkland

425-822-3553

www.fishcafe.com

Perched above the Kirkland marina and a vast expanse of Lake Washington, this finer-dining room and its adjacent lounge offer a wide-eyed view of Seattle (so close, and yet so far) and the distant Olympics. As the name implies, seafood's the lure.

Nancy Leson: 206-464-8838 or nleson@seattletimes.com.

To read her blog, go to www.seattletimes.com/allyoucaneat