Personally I think that Ballard is the nicest part of the city these days. It's not always the easiest to get to, but that works in its favor sometimes. If anyone ends up in the area, I'd rec Hattie's for a dive bar and The Matador for mexican food/steaks. You can't go wrong with anything on Ballard Ave though, not to mention any of the actual breweries.
If anyone wants some recs more dependent on where they're gonna be staying, give a shout and I'll see what I can see. Seattle can be a weird place to travel around once you get outside of downtown, so I wouldn't want to give recs that are way out of the way for you.