West Seattle restaurants: Pica Border Grill transformation, with spice and art

Pica Border Grill in West Seattle

Story and photos by Katie Meyer
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Pica Border Grill is open for business in The Junction at 4151 California SW (the former location of Jonny Bostons), offering “burgers, tacos, and more.”

We reported last month that new owner Miguel Govela planned to expand the menu and change the name and look of the establishment; he chatted with WSB Wednesday during the “soft launch” of the new menu. The restaurant has new art, too.

First, the food – Pica Border Grill now offers food from “both sides of the border,” retaining the menu of burgers and cheesesteak subs and adding a menu of Mexican fare that includes chicken, beef, pork and fish tacos, quesadillas, salads and a torta sandwich named the Tampiqueña: Beef or shredded pork on a bolillo (French roll) with mayonnaise, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, carmelized onions, homemade chorizo, avocado, Mexican cheese, green salsa, tomato, and cilantro. (This signature torta is named for Govela’s home city of Tampico, in Tamaulipas, Mexico.) There are vegetarian options for several of the dishes — and their variety of salsas and salad dressings are prepared fresh each day.

(Proud proprietor of Pica Border Grill, Miguel Govela)

Next, the art – after painting the building with a southwestern color palette, Govela was pleased to have West Seattle artist Joseph Brooks (seen in the West Seattle Art Walk, featured at Twilight Artist Collective) spraypaint the mural that glows on the south side of the building:

Mural on the wall at Pica Border Grill in West Seattle

Minor fine-tuning to the menu may occur going forward, but Govela looks forward to providing his “both sides of the border” menu to West Seattle.

27 Replies to "West Seattle restaurants: Pica Border Grill transformation, with spice and art"

  • johnnyblegs August 29, 2012 (12:16 pm)

    Sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try it out!

  • Traci August 29, 2012 (12:18 pm)

    I love the mural!

  • datamuse August 29, 2012 (12:39 pm)

    Mmm, looks tasty!

  • Matt August 29, 2012 (12:41 pm)

    Sounds good! Good luck to you.

  • Andi August 29, 2012 (12:47 pm)

    Looks great!

  • Brandon August 29, 2012 (12:54 pm)

    yay fish tacos, i love them and always want to try new ones, see you soon Pica

  • rw August 29, 2012 (1:03 pm)

    I just arrived home with lunch. I wish I had read this first, as I would have loved to be one of the first to sample your menu. Good luck. The description sounds great.

  • hipster! August 29, 2012 (2:00 pm)

    Look forward to trying it out! :)

  • shed22 August 29, 2012 (2:24 pm)

    Had the carne asada tacos for lunch. They were very good and very fresh. Orders for the torta passed me by as I was waiting for my tacos. THAT will be next choice. They looked ridiculous.

  • WSratsinacage August 29, 2012 (3:12 pm)

    Get there before the developers do. :)

  • LAintheJunction August 29, 2012 (3:21 pm)

    Can’t wait to try it out, maybe for lunch tomorrow!

  • JulieB August 29, 2012 (3:49 pm)

    That mural is gorgeous! Can’t wait to give the food a try…maybe tonight :)

  • NotMe August 29, 2012 (4:30 pm)

    Oh, I am looking forward to this. :-)

  • Kayleigh August 29, 2012 (8:34 pm)

    Yum! We’ll be visiting soon.

  • boy August 29, 2012 (9:47 pm)

    Do the cheese steaks come with the wit wiz? As in cheese wiz. The only way to go.

  • Mike August 30, 2012 (6:42 am)

    Went for a cheese steak the other night, got to meet the new owners. Super nice and I look forward to the new additions to the menu.

  • sun*e August 30, 2012 (8:05 am)

    The mural looks great…but why is there a gas meter in the desert? ;-)

  • rawkergrrrl August 30, 2012 (12:48 pm)

    We stopped by yesterday, very excited about this, but being vegetarians, the menu was oddly light on Vegie options. =( I hope this will be one of the adjustments to the menu, which looked wonderfully fresh and unique, since it’s walking distance and would be a welcome addition to our dinner options.

  • Griffin August 30, 2012 (1:46 pm)

    Went here expecting a solid meal. Instead, I found a welcoming family environment and incredible food served with a heartwarming smile. Great job Pica. I can’t wait to come back for more.

  • Christy August 30, 2012 (3:18 pm)

    Thanks for offering vegetarian options. I will definitely check it out for that reason.

  • KD August 30, 2012 (3:44 pm)

    Sun*E, thanks for the funny.. good one!

  • Joey August 30, 2012 (5:49 pm)

    Hey , thanks for mentioning the mural. Miguel and his family are great people. I’m glad to see they have their menu ready for the public. Go here if you haven’t had the chance yet.

    Oh and thanks for the nice comments about my mural. I’m glad the community likes it .

    -Joey

  • JJ August 30, 2012 (6:53 pm)

    Burgers *and* tacos? When is that ever a good sign?

    • WSB August 30, 2012 (7:01 pm)

      JJ – if you missed our earlier story, the new owner didn’t want to just totally abandon the previous menu. Don’t know if he’ll do burgers forever but he’s been mindful of not too abrupt a transformation. That said – many a Mexican restaurant offers a burger too. And Jack in the Box made part of its name with a taco sideline :) …

  • Wendy August 31, 2012 (7:25 am)

    Went there for take-out last night. I had the torta, my husband a cheesesteak and fries. It was fabulous!

  • Katy August 31, 2012 (8:44 pm)

    Just stopped by Pica for dinner and we loved it!!! We had the veggie burrito and a side of (AMAZING) tortilla chips with black beans. We will definitely be hitting Pica up more often!

  • J.R September 4, 2012 (11:54 am)

    Wow! Love the mural… it should draw many to the area (about the meter, well you play with the hand you’re dealt) the artist’s choice of the color/scene is great….puts you in the mood for the southwestern palette…can’t wait to try it out…

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