San Fermo makes great use of its location in a historic single family home on Ballard Ave NW. It serves hearty Italian fare (think thick homemade noodles, buttery sauces and grilled branzino) for dinner and weekend brunch. While some changes have been made to the home's interior, the rustic charm remains in the minimalist decorations and old-world design.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. GS Sanborn Building

0.03 MILES

The GS Sanborn Building is Ballard’s only example of Romanesque architecture, a style that was popular on the East Coast in the 1880s. It has a sandstone…

2. Portland Building

0.04 MILES

A great example of the decorative brickwork that graces many of the buildings along Ballard Ave, the Portland Building has housed all kinds of businesses…

3. Commemorative Bell Tower

0.05 MILES

On the corner of Ballard Avenue NW and 22nd Ave is the original location of Ballard City Hall, sometimes called ‘Hose Hall,' which also contained the jail…

4. Scandinavian American Bank Building

0.08 MILES

The second-empire-baroque–style Scandinavian American Bank Building is a nice example of the early-1900s tendency to flatter by imitation: its concrete…

5. Bergen Place Park

0.08 MILES

In case you forget where you are or the origin of the settlers to whom Ballard owes its existence, a quintet of flags fly over diminutive Bergen Place…

6. Ballard Building

0.12 MILES

Ballard’s only major terracotta structure was built in the 1920s by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. It once held a community hospital and now houses shops,…

7. Junction Building

0.14 MILES

Now lacking its decorative 3rd-floor corner turret, the narrow Junction Building (dating from 1890) has had all number of reincarnations in its 125-year…

8. Cors & Wegener Building

0.16 MILES

Once the offices of the early local broadsheet, Ballard News, this is still one of the most impressive historic buildings in Ballard and one of the oldest…