One of our travel guides partners, Not For Tourists, has several unique offerings for travelers on their website this week. Check out the following highlights from their Seattle correspondents this week...

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The Anti-Teriyaki By:  Karen Watson

Cedars

I first went into Cedars on a whim when I was rushing to get something to eat before seeing a movie at the Neptune. That was five years ago. The cute unassuming walk up window pulled me in. Finding cheap food around the U is easy but the problem is that most of it is shit. Cedars provides enormous portions of garlicy, saucy, yummy Middle Eastern food at great prices. Plus I love any cuisine that tastes even better wrapped in wax paper and eaten on the run. Falafel rolled in flatbread is the Lebanese burrito. The giant sandwiches are all under six bucks, even the Kebob and Gyro stuffed ones. Some of the other Lebanese specialties (lentil soup, Tabouli) are better enjoyed in the small dining room, surrounded by old yellowed travel posters advertising the cultural splendor of Beruit.

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Just Like Home By:  Barrie Arliss

McLoed Residence Lounge

If your home was an art gallery slash bar. I see potential in this place. I have to admit that I've only been here once, on an early Thursday evening and the only people there were me, my boyfriend and a bartender who looked like he just got there. While the oh-so trendy wallpaper that the Urban Outfitter kids are into these days gave this once member only art studio/bar some life, I was curious why it was so empty. Did we come on the wrong night? Was 7 pm too early? Was the Michael Jackson collage too scary? Whatever the case may be, the art seemed right up a hipster's alley, complete with scenes on skateboards and a photobooth that streams your mug via the interwebs. I'm betting this Belltown haunt is more of a midnight to early Saturday morning kind of place, but I'm just not that kind of girl. Or at least I'm not that kind of girl in Belltown. 

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World Peace Inducingly Good By:  Karen Watson

Lunchbox Laboratory

The menu is confusing and overwhelming. The tables are covered in cringe-inducing, slightly crusty black velvet. The space is tiny and smells like grease. The burgers are shockingly expensive. But they are also world peace inducingly good. Like if Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas sat down over a Super Baby Beef Burger with maple bacon, caramelized onions, and Satan's Habanero Ketchup they could reach an agreement. First you choose your meat from a selection of Dork (a duck and pork burger), Lawrence Velk (venison and elk), lamb, veggie falafel, or plain Jane cow. Now it's time to channel your inner Beaker and play mad scientist. Experiment. Get crazy. Layer on the cheeses, toppings, and sauces for a fifteen dollar burger you and your intestines won't soon forget. Even the sides switch it up on you. Pick a potato--tot, sweet, or shoestring--and then decide on a fry salt. Everyone chooses bacon, even the vegetarians. 

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Not Just Animals Encaged By:  Karen Watson

Woodland Park Zoo

Animal activists, read no further. The Woodland Park Zoo is totally cool. By no means am I a zoo aficionado but I've been to my fair share and our Seattle zoo is pretty fine. Growing up just a short drive away from our National Zoo in DC, I fell in love with our national treasures Ling Ling and Tsing Tsing, also known as Panda Bears. Woodland Park may not have Pandas but they have four other types of bear, plus lions and tigers. I'm also partial to Giraffes, mostly because I'm mesmerized by their freakishly long necks, and there are several to be seen roaming around the African Savannah exhibit. Now I realize that zoos aren't PC and as an animal-loving vegetarian I should be outraged by animals behind bars, but I simply can't be bothered. The zoo is just too much fun. All the exhibits are really well-crafted and resemble the habitats as closely as possible. Mountain goats frolic beside brown bear and river otters play with trout. OK, there may be a fence separating the goats from the bears, but it's very well hidden.

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Make a Space in your Heart By:  Jessica Baxter

Bengal Tiger

We'd passed the signs countless times. "NW Source's People's Pick for 2006 and 2007!" Every grocery receipt from the neighboring QFC had a coupon on the back. But I've never even heard of NW Source and besides, the Mister and I are Taste of India devotees anyway. Is there really room for more than one Indian restaurant in our lives? Well, in January, they had a new sign. Apparently, the People picked them again for 2008! We finally caved and gave it a try. And it was...pretty good! I love any place that gives you freebies and here you get Papadums (the Indian tortilla chip!) and a delicious lentil soup started included in your meal. Our curries were excellent, albeit a little spicier than we'd ordered. But what do those stars mean anyway? The sauce on my Garlic Wala was creamy and pleasant. The gentleman had the house special, lamb with mint sauce, and it was tender and...minty. No complaints about the service either. And the tiger motif is adorable. Bengal Tiger IS grrrrreat! But we live just as close to Taste of India. And frankly, it's still OUR people's pick. Sorry, Tiger. 

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Check out their website  - they have free downloadable guides, maps, gear, and of course, the travel guide books. Not to mention, they are pretty funny people. I am always laughing when I visit their site, or read their newsletter.

They also have sections of their guidebooks available for download at only $1.50.

Not For Tourists has offered a coupon for Wandering Educators - please use the coupon code: WE for a 10% discount.

 To visit Not for Tourists, please see: https://www.notfortourists.com/