West Seattle restaurants: Beachside Café to be Bada Asian Grill

Change is in the works for Beachside Café, in the space long previously known as Alki Bakery (which closed almost exactly two years ago). Beachside Café/Alki Café co-owner Sharon Bang says the Beachside space on the southwest corner of 61st and Alki is going to become Bada Asian Grill:

We will be closing Beachside Café for remodeling. We will open on Thanksgiving Day and the weekend following. We plan to close our business from Monday November 26th for about 2 months.

When Alki Bakery closed their doors, John and I thought the community was looking for the space to be as close to Alki Bakery as possible. John and I are not bakers by nature, and we found it hard to keep the business as a coffee shop next to Starbucks.

Our restaurant career started in downtown Seattle serving breakfast, however, we found great success in building Asian fusion restaurants unitil we got back in the breakfast restaurant with Alki Cafe. We have decided to change our concept and open up Bada Asian Grill. “Bada” means ocean in Korean. We want to open a restaurant serving families delicious and healthy Asian BBQ and teriyaki along with appetizing side dishes. Our location is an ideal spot for what we want to bring together. We will have open kitchen with char broil grill at the front and have a full bar serving variety of Asian wine, beer, cocktail and sake.

We will continue to have Caffe Vita espresso in the morning hours. Lunch, Happy Hour and Dinner will follow. Construction will start in last week of November, and we plan to open Bada Asian Grill mid to late January.

We believe Bada Asian Grill will be a great addition to Alki and residence living in West Seattle. We want to thank you and so many loyal customers who frequently visited Beachside Café. John and I are excited to bring this new change. We will bring you more details including hours of operation and whole menu in near future.

As for Alki Cafe, we will be open from 8am to 3pm daily. We will open for dinner again in spring time.

28 Replies to "West Seattle restaurants: Beachside Café to be Bada Asian Grill"

  • onion November 19, 2012 (3:39 pm)

    An interesting turn of events. I look forward to trying out the new concept.

    Of course the punster in me notes that West Seattle now has the Bang Bar in the Junction and Bada (Bing) by the water. Hot times in the old town.

    Seriously, best of luck.

  • BaBimBop November 19, 2012 (4:01 pm)

    Babimbop is no where to be found in West Seattle, SW Seattle, or Burien as far as I know. If you folks put a nice version (maybe with burned brown rice and served in authentic black stone bowls?) on your menu, I for one will be over there faster than you can say “put an egg on it!”.

    Good luck

  • Star 55 November 19, 2012 (4:43 pm)

    Sounds wonderful and great new addition!

  • Jack November 19, 2012 (4:50 pm)

    I tried Beach Cafe 3 times and it struck out with me. If the owners have had success with Asian food then by all means stick to what you do best and our neighborhood will thank you.

    Here’s to hoping there is some good Korean BBQ, some Galbi, Kimchi, Bulgogi, Dumplings, Korean marinades! Mmmmm

    If it’s “Korean fusion” I recommend checking out this place’s menu from VA, they’ve done very very well over the last few years. http://www.mokomandy.com/menu/main-menu/
    And Marination is doing it well up at Seacrest.

    Stick to what you’re good at…Good luck!!

  • David November 19, 2012 (4:52 pm)

    Hopefully this change will allow for a resurgence of the Alki Cafe. I’ve been disappointed with it since the opening of the Beachside.

  • Mark November 19, 2012 (4:59 pm)

    I’m excited to see a Korean style restaurant on Alki. There isn’t any Korean food in West Seattle. “Plate lunches” to go would also be a convenience here at the beach, especially in the summertime. Will there be Banchan served with dine in dinners? One would assume that kim chee will be readily available. Will there be individual table grills? Best of luck, thank you for filling a niche that Alki really needs. I’m looking forward to your opening day!

  • Canele November 19, 2012 (5:19 pm)

    If we could have good Korean food in West Seattle, I’d be ecstatic!! I hope the menu includes a variety of Korean dishes… then maybe I won’t need to drive North, South, and East anymore. It would be a welcome addition. Eagerly looking forward to Bada Asian Grill.

  • Swiss miss November 19, 2012 (5:21 pm)

    Ooo I hope they put some kind off Korean sandwich on their menu. That would be so great on the beach

  • Jack November 19, 2012 (6:09 pm)

    Bon-chon style chicken wings! Can’t believe there’s no Bon Chon in Seattle. Hook up the spicy Korean chicken wings and beer!

  • Diane V November 19, 2012 (6:14 pm)

    So excited for this! My family works down the street from your restaurant and we are constantly wishing there was a good place for lunches heavy on the vegies on the beach- this will surely fill a void!
    Wishing you success!

  • chris November 19, 2012 (6:57 pm)

    Bada bing, bada boom…

  • Brontosaurus November 19, 2012 (7:37 pm)

    BIBIMBAP! Please.

    Oh, and bubble tea too.

  • villagegreen November 19, 2012 (9:02 pm)

    Bibimbap Bibimbap Bibimbap

  • DL November 19, 2012 (9:06 pm)

    We drive all they way up to Lynnwood for good Korean. Please open a good Korean restaurant so we can just walk to your place instead.

  • Tre November 19, 2012 (10:15 pm)

    Yes, korean style chicken wings. They closed down wing dome, there’s a big void of wings in WS, let alone this style is way better than the american version. Twice fried….Paaaalease! Have to drive to Lynwood for this. Fingers crossed. For those not aware… http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/dining/07fried.html?pagewanted=all

  • Tre November 19, 2012 (10:27 pm)

    PS..this makes total sense considering Starbucks. If the menu is good and they actually have a GOOD happy hour, meaning drinks below $5 from 5-7, i would go a couple times a week myself. Anxious to see how this plays out.

  • greg November 19, 2012 (11:53 pm)

    Brilliant idea to go Korean. Hard to find in Seattle period. If your menu had a strong Korean section I would be a strong regular.

  • T November 19, 2012 (11:54 pm)

    Teriyaki? No thanks. If it’s good Korean food, however, then I gladly look forward to it. If it’s just a teriyaki joint, oh well, I’ll go elsewhere.

  • Sam November 20, 2012 (2:38 am)

    sounds exciting

  • water taxi rider November 20, 2012 (5:47 am)

    I hope they also reconfigure the space inside and add more tables. Always felt they were not really maximizing the large amount of space inside. Please make it more inviting and with food that you cannot make at home!

  • DR November 20, 2012 (8:13 am)

    Glad to see change, and I hope for the best. My main concern is quality control and management practices. Many coffee shops open next door to Starbucks and do just fine. I’m certain that Beachside Cafe failed because of the terrible service and poor food preparation. Read the online reviews. I hope that these things are “fixed,” before the next set of doors open.

  • ces November 20, 2012 (9:24 am)

    I am so tired of Asian places everywhere. As the first commenter said, there’s already 3 asian places along the beach and marination just down the street. Another asian place is not needed. Actually, another restaurant is not needed.

    How about something else to draw visitors to the beach?

  • Sandra November 20, 2012 (9:30 am)

    A change is definitely necessary in this space – best of luck.
    Sure hope you hire different staff though – that was the overwhelming turn off at Beachside.

  • Ben November 20, 2012 (9:43 am)

    i’ll echo the intense desire stated above for korean food in WS.
    .
    please, offer an assortment of dishes – not just bulgogi and bibimbap but maybe soup (kimchi jigae, soon du bu), noodles (japchae), spicy fried squid (ojingo bokkum), and of course a lot of different banchan to go with the main dishes!
    .
    if it’s good, i’ll be there often, and will bring lots of friends. no more having to drive to south tacoma or lynnwood! (disregarding the few korean dining spots in cap hill and u district, and the new one in greenwood.)

  • Mark November 20, 2012 (11:19 am)

    Sounds like authentic Korean food would be a welcome addition to the beach community! Most of us know the difference between Korean “teriyaki” joints and real Korean cuisine as found in Federal Way and Lynnwood. I hope you don’t underestimate your clientele by providing American version teriyaki. IMHO.

  • Mitch November 20, 2012 (2:21 pm)

    Right on! I hope the bar is cool and not cheesy. I am so surprised no one has opened a NICE sports bar on Alki. The beach is soooo in need of a clean, cool, and nice bar. Everything else is very tired or weird.

  • Mel November 22, 2012 (3:01 am)

    They will have a “full serving bar.”
    .
    That’s all you really need to know — that’s where the money will be made. Hope the neighbors are ready!

  • drb November 26, 2012 (11:55 am)

    I know this is going to be Korean but I have to say I would die for a really good Chinese Restaurant on the Beach…I mean a really good one…not like the ones in the junction.

Sorry, comment time is over.