West Seattle Blog…

West Seattle restaurants: Inside Pan Africa Grill, opening Tuesday

September 25, 2011 at 8:05 pm | In West Seattle news, West Seattle restaurants | 34 Comments

Story and photos by Bill “Hutch” Hutchison
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

We had a chance today to catch Mulugeta “Mulu” Abate and his sister Ruth Abate as they put the finishing touches on their new West Seattle venture, Pan Africa Grill, two days away from opening in the former Ho-Win space at California/Juneau.

“The renovation is pretty much complete and we will be ready on Tuesday,” Mulu said. Here’s a sneak peek inside the Pan Africa dining room:

As mentioned in previous coverage – we first reported on this new restaurant back in May – Mulu and his family also own Pan Africa Market in the Pike Place Market area and hope the new West Seattle eatery will be another successful venture.

See more of the renovations, plus a peek at the food, and even the art, ahead:

Mulu is a former West Seattle resident and has wanted to return to this area for a while. The empty Ho Win space afforded him this opportunity. “We’ve always wanted a neighborhood location where there is ample parking and we can get to know our customers.” Parking is available behind the restaurant. Here’s what you’ll see in the renovated lobby:

As mentioned in our original story, they will be serving a “core menu” (Eastern African/Ethiopian/Vegan) and adding many grilled items to this location.

The menu will include grilled chicken (whole and half), curried goat (photo above), as well as beef, lamb, fish and varied dishes from other regions of Africa. In the future he will also be adding a rotating menu that will focus on a specific region of Africa and will run for 1-2 months at a time.

Dinner items will include an Ethiopian combination plate served on injera, with greens, cabbage & potatoes (photo above); beef and chicken “tibs”; red-lentil stew and carrots and green beans; a curried goat and basmati rice; and a peanut stew with yams, also served with turmeric infused basmati rice. Dinner hours will be Tuesdays-Thursdays, 4 pm-9 pm; Fridays & Saturdays, 4 pm -11 pm; and Sundays, 4 pm – 9 pm.

“We will be serving dinner only for about a month and then we’ll expand into brunch on the weekends,” Mulu added. Everything can be ordered to go, but Mulu hopes customers will eat in and experience the new space.

Dessert offerings will be minimal to start– most likely the same as what he serves in his downtown location. He is also still waiting for the liquor license to go through all the channels, so only non-alcoholic beverages will be served for now.

One added feature to the new décor is custom art made by the restaurateur’s friend, artist Yegizaw “Yeggy” Michael, who told WSB, “All my art in the restaurant is for sale and I also have a website for customers to see more” – find it at yeggystudio.com.

The restaurant’s website is still a work in progress, but you’ll soon find more information at panafricagrill.com.

34 Comments

1. What a great addition to the West Seattle restaurant scene. Can’t wait to try it.

   Comment by Beth — 8:19 pm September 25, 2011 #

2. Ethiopian in West Seattle? Awesome! Thanks for the heads up WSB, can’t wait to try it out.

   Comment by Gene — 8:24 pm September 25, 2011 #

3. Fantastic! I hope to be there Thursday!

   Comment by Al — 8:29 pm September 25, 2011 #

4. Fewer and fewer reasons to leave the island.

   Comment by newnative — 8:38 pm September 25, 2011 #

5. Looks delicious, welcome!

   Comment by jmks — 9:16 pm September 25, 2011 #

6. If the food is as good as it is in the Pike Place Market location, WS is in for a real treat!

   Comment by enviromaven — 9:37 pm September 25, 2011 #

7. AWWWWWWW YEAH!

   Comment by kate — 9:40 pm September 25, 2011 #

8. oh my granny YES! Can’t wait to get my fork into some curried goat! Emailing the sitter NOW!

   Comment by CynthiaT — 9:57 pm September 25, 2011 #

9. Oh man, I’m hungry already.

   Comment by datamuse — 10:32 pm September 25, 2011 #

10. I saw the paint and wondered what was going on. This is WAY better than I could’ve expected. I can’t wait go to here!

    Comment by jc — 10:39 pm September 25, 2011 #

11. omg omg omg omg.

    :)

    Comment by grr — 10:50 pm September 25, 2011 #

12. Mmmmmmm! Can’t wait!

    Comment by Jasperblu — 7:03 am September 26, 2011 #

13. Wow. The inside look amazing!

    Comment by bsmomma — 9:26 am September 26, 2011 #

14. Heaven has finally come to me!

    Comment by Lola — 10:06 am September 26, 2011 #

15. Definitely looking forward to trying the place out once they settle in. Welcoem to West Seattle!

    Comment by Jim P — 11:21 am September 26, 2011 #

16. I’m so glad they are opening – I’ve been eagerly waiting.

    Lisa

    Comment by 55thAlki — 12:57 pm September 26, 2011 #

17. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cannot wait for them to get up and running. Ethiopian/Eastern African food is the best ever. And a place where I can go out to eat with my vegan friends without them having to just order salad? YES!

    Comment by A — 12:57 pm September 26, 2011 #

18. This is such great news. The weather is absolutely perfect for warm comforting Ethiopian food. See you on Tuesday Mulu and Ruth!

    Comment by kate — 1:58 pm September 26, 2011 #

19. Oh, heck yeah! I can’t wait!

    Comment by meander — 3:11 pm September 26, 2011 #

20. SO EXCITED. My favorite cuisine.

    Comment by luckie — 3:41 pm September 26, 2011 #

21. Yay!

    Comment by jessiesk — 8:14 pm September 26, 2011 #

22. Been waiting for Ethiopian food in the neighborhood. Can’t wait!

    Comment by mehud7 — 9:00 pm September 26, 2011 #

23. One of the only places in West Seattle with good vegan options (based on my experience at the downtown location).

    Comment by GBH — 8:48 am September 27, 2011 #

24. I’ve never had Ethiopian food and everyone’s comments are making me think it’s worth a try. I will ALWAYS miss letter “A” at Ho-Win though. :-(

    Comment by sun*e — 8:52 am September 27, 2011 #

25. Oh heck yeah! I’m so excited to try it! I love Ethiopian food!

    Comment by tizadora — 11:40 am September 27, 2011 #

26. Woo hooo!!!! No more having to drive downtown for Ethiopian food. Can’t wait to try this place.

    Comment by Ronnie — 7:22 am September 28, 2011 #

27. Great Food! My partner and I dropped in last night and were greeted with kind smiles, great space and unique menu. We had the black eye pea cakes for an appetizer and had the Pan Africa Platter (lots of lentils) for our entree. We loved it and will definitely be back.

    Comment by Tom — 12:06 pm September 28, 2011 #

28. I’ve eaten at the downtown location many times. Very excited to have them in West Seattle now! They have great food. I highly recommend it!

    Comment by April — 8:37 am September 29, 2011 #

29. Pan Africa at the Market is one of my favorite restaurants.
    I’m thrilled to now have them nearby in West Seattle.

    Comment by Joe — 9:18 am September 29, 2011 #

30. Three cheers for the Pan African!! We could not be happier about our newest WS restaurant. Welcome to the neighborhood, Mulu and Ruth! Your food is the best!

    Comment by Sarah — 8:31 pm September 29, 2011 #

31. Can’t wait to try them out!! Anyone know if their injera is gluten free? ie. 100% teff?

    Comment by Laconique — 10:09 am September 30, 2011 #

32. Ate there last night. Delicious and satisfying! The injera is light in color and texture, so I’d guess it’s made with a blend of wheat and teff flour. Perhaps if you called several days in advance, they’d be willing to make some 100% teff pancakes, as some other Ethiopian restaurants have for my family in the past? Give PAG some time to find their rhythm at their new site, though, first.

    Comment by Andrea — 12:23 am October 1, 2011 #

33. YAY!

    Comment by soosan — 9:46 pm October 17, 2011 #

34. Looks really interesting! Thanks for putting a link in recent post cause I missed this one.

    Comment by cj — 5:02 pm October 18, 2011 #

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