West Seattle restaurant notes: Porterhouse, Spring Hill, Red Star

Three quick notes about local restaurants:

PORTERHOUSE MAKEOVER: Krista Maes, operations director for Porterhouse in the Admiral District, tells WSB they’ll be closing the restaurant/pub tomorrow (Tuesday) “for our own semi-extreme restaurant DIY makeover and re-opening Wednesday July, 27th at about 5 pm for dinner service. The major changes will be seen in styling, menu, and dining room layout and functionality.” Once it’s done, Krista says, “We look forward to any and all critiques,” and will offer “avenues for feedback.”

SPRING HILL AND BIN 41 TEAM UP … for monthly “Juice Salon” sessions at Spring Hill, with small bites and local wines, plus winemaker Q/A. First one is just a week away. Read about it on the Spring Hill website.

RED STAR REOPENING: After a six-day closure, Red Star Pizza in Sunrise Heights is set to reopen tomorrow, per notes on both their door and their website.

coffee July 26, 2011 (6:58 am)

Redstar is THE BOMB! They really put out a great product and very inexpensive.

cjboffoli July 26, 2011 (8:48 am)

Re: Spring Hill/BIN 41: I’m delighted to see them giving WA wines some more attention. Too often here in Seattle I see lots of really prosaic pinots from Oregon on restaurant menus. Washington State wines are world-class, especially Walla Walla Valley syrahs. I wish more restaurants and wine stores would offer them.
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I’m also excited to hear that Steve Brooks is their first featured “Juicer.” Really nice guy. A native of Decatur, Georgia. He’s basically a one man operation: making wine for the love of it. I always visit Trust Cellars while on tasting trips through Walla Walla. And I was pleased when Spring Hill added Steve’s wine to their wine list a couple of years ago!

Amy July 26, 2011 (9:16 am)

Oh, this explains why when I called Red Star last night the phone rang several times, then I got a simple, recorded “Goodbye.” A recorded message stating that they were closed until a certain date or even “until further notice” would have been helpful, but perhaps whatever issue caused them to close didn’t allow for this. Anyway, I’m moving in just a few blocks away and I look forward to trying Red Star in the future.

drummr July 26, 2011 (10:10 am)

I hope that Porterhouse’s makeover includes changing out the Henry art. Never liked his art when I lived on the north side and was horrified to see it on our side of the pond when I visited Porterhouse the first time. No offense to those who appreciate it; I would appreciate too if it was limited to elementary school playgrounds. Unfortunately, the way his “mural” art has spread around the north side is just visual pollution to me and I am someone who loves street and mural art.

P.S.: Glad to have Red Star Pizza back! They are awesome!!

Hoyne July 26, 2011 (10:24 am)

We love Red Star!

dawsonct July 26, 2011 (11:20 am)

Hopefully, Porterhouse is changing their menu with some attempt at food/beer pairing, something they have never seemed very adept at, or even interested in. Their menu seems to say, “here are some calories to soak up alcohol.”
I’ve offered my services…..

ummm July 26, 2011 (12:00 pm)

*No offense to those who appreciate it; I would appreciate too if it was limited to elementary school playgrounds.

Wow. That’s so…rude. Didn’t your parents ever teach you ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’?

george July 26, 2011 (12:56 pm)

PH hasn’t really impressed my with their menu. Glad RS is just temporary, we needed a pizza fix last weekend.

KT July 26, 2011 (3:39 pm)

@drummr – Are you talking about the Kevin Sensei art? I actually enjoy looking at his drinking monk pieces while sipping my beer and think it is quite appropriate for the setting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sensei23/4609240526/in/set-72157604957655044

ML July 26, 2011 (3:59 pm)

PH food is bad. Why can’t ANYTHING in that sad spot be any good. Get rid of it period.

Admiral935 July 26, 2011 (5:22 pm)

I’ve got a serious hankering for the Red Star Supernova. Really, srsly. I’ll prolly try the The Graham Street Garlic Delight as well.

drummr July 26, 2011 (5:38 pm)

@KT No, I absolutely was not talking about Sensei’s art. I’ve enjoyed his work since I first saw it at Brouwer’s in Fremont. Love his sense of style. I actually wasn’t aware that his work was up at Porterhouse as I haven’t been there in a while. I was referring to the Ryan Henry Ward mural art which was actually painted onto some of the walls and if you venture out to Ballard and/or Fremont is all over the place. Usually his work consists of “whimsical” barnyard animals and garden gnomes.
http://www.artsjournal.com/anotherbb/2010/02/henry-ward-gives-seattle-a-bad.html

@ummm Was not trying to be rude and was actually quite serious about my statements. I understand that some people think it’s nice, but I don’t and I don’t have a problem saying as much when I have to see it all over town. My parents taught me to speak my mind and stand up for what I believe in. In this case it would be better street and mural art. Anyways, I was just putting my two cents in as the owner of the Porterhouse seems to be open to critique and feedback per her quotes in the blurb about the Porterhouse’s makeover.

Owlish July 26, 2011 (6:39 pm)

RED STAR must still be closed – not answering their phone… been trying for quite awhile :(

Brian July 26, 2011 (6:54 pm)

Hopefully Porterhouse’s work will help improve their workflow. We stopped going after the third time it took 20-30 minutes to get a beer. New food menu would be great too.

SarahScoot July 26, 2011 (8:45 pm)

Sigh. Red Star apparently did *not* reopen as scheduled. I called many times between 7:45 and 8:30 hoping to order a pizza for takeout, but no one answered. Finally the husband drove by and confirmed that they are still closed. :-(

WSB July 26, 2011 (9:23 pm)

Sorry to hear that. Note on door plus Twitter feed had all said reopening today. They JUST Tweeted, literally a minute ago, that they will reopen TOMORROW (Wed) at 11 am, “sorry for the delay.” So try again tomorrow … TR
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http://twitter.com/RedStarPizza/status/96072906274111488

SarahScoot July 26, 2011 (9:49 pm)

Ha! I even checked their Twitter feed while trying to contact them. Oh well, I still love their pizza! We’ll probably try again tomorrow… we’re moving this weekend and have run through basically all the food in the house in preparation. :-) Pizza is a filling and cheap choice!

WSB July 26, 2011 (10:01 pm)

SS – it was almost eerie; while typing the above comment, I checked the Twitter feed just to be sure I hadn’t missed something, and at that moment the Tweet that said “sorry for the delay, we’ll reopen Wed 11 am” was **thirty-five seconds old** …

kate July 26, 2011 (9:58 pm)

Anybody have an update on Pan Africa? Sounded like they were planning on opening up late spring/early summer but I haven’t seen an activity over there.

WSB July 26, 2011 (10:00 pm)

We’re working on a followup – several people have asked in the past week. – TR

SarahScoot July 26, 2011 (10:23 pm)

Love those moments; the other day I was thinking about calling my dad, and as I was about to call, the phone started ringing. Yep, it was him. We go weeks without talking to each other, and then decide to call each other at the same moment.
*Insert Twilight Zone theme*

Admiral935 July 26, 2011 (10:23 pm)

Dear Red Star Pizza,
please move to Admiral.
your friend,
Admiral98116

rmd July 26, 2011 (10:38 pm)

We really loved Porterhouse when it first opened, for about the first year maybe? Now the food is abysmal and service is always hit or miss. Get rid of the complacent kitchen staff and find people who have some kind of passion for food. Beer selection is stellar, btw.

dawsonct July 27, 2011 (12:21 am)

rmd, the disinterest in the PH menu seems to stem from the top. It’s a HUGE missed opportunity. Their selection of beers always seems to be exceptional, but there never seems to be a conscious effort to pair it with the food on the menu, which is extraordinarily vapid in any case. It’s like run-of-the-mill bar food designed for unadventurous geriatric diners. A terrible pity.

rmd July 27, 2011 (3:39 pm)

dawsonct, perhaps, but the menu items that actually sound kind of good are prepared badly, which was not the case during the first year.

alkijack July 27, 2011 (3:54 pm)

We’ve been weekly regulars at the P’House for about a year and love the beer, staff, and food. Of course it’s bar food BECAUSE IT’S A BAR!!!! duh. But then we’re “unadventurous, geriatric, vapid diners”. What a snob.

Corra July 27, 2011 (10:10 pm)

The food and the menu is ho hum at best at PH. When you have to read the menu 3 times and finally settle for the burger is very disappointing. I look forward to the new and hopefully innovative menu.

dawsonct July 28, 2011 (1:34 am)

I’m not a snob jack, their food is just boring; the menu is a missed opportunity. like owning a Ferrari and using it to haul garbage to the dump.
If it’s your Ferrari and that’s what you want to do with it, fine, just don’t be surprised when someone tries to get you to trade for their old pick-up truck.
I’m not talking fine dining here, just saying they need to ditch the bland.
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If I DO someday convince the owners to allow me to take over their kitchen, and the menu suddenly becomes interesting, something that mirrors the quality of their beer list, will you still continue to frequent the place jack?

Badger July 31, 2011 (3:03 am)

dawsonct…..if you are such an accomplished chef please walk in the front door and save that kitchen as I hear they need you. Design your own menu and have it shot down by the owners who have their own vision for the place. I’m sure you’ll do well……

AdmiralRob August 9, 2011 (1:49 pm)

We went to Porterhouse last night. I like the new look inside – those booths were a little painful & not very open. That was the only good news for the night though….. The menu is changes and more a-la-carte. I got a burger & then ordered fries too. I’m sure I paid more in this new manner, but can’t recall what old price was. I like tarter sauce with my fries. When I got the bill I see a charge for tartar sauce! 50 cents. My wife got hit with a 50 cent charge for additional dressing for her salad. This is just silly! I expect a few condiments to come with my damn meal. I didn’t get a refund for the ketchup I didn’t use from the bottle on the table.

The nickel & dime job last night was it for us – we won’t go back. Too bad – we would go there at least once a month before. No more though! Feels like I got hustled.

Sorry, comment time is over.