Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers
With multiple football games on screens in the background, co-proprietors of The Westy shared the news they wish they could have shared many months ago: Their official opening date.
It’ll be Wednesday, November 26th, JP Vidican and Paul Ritums (L-R above) told WSB today. That’s when The Westy will finally open its doors at 7908 35th SW, a new establishment that looks nothing like what you’d imagine – in either space or decor – from passing by on the street, where you’d mistake it for a relatively tiny storefront (recent former identities included an electronics-repair shop and medical-marijuana dispensary).
November was the hoped-for opening month when we first talked with them in summer 2013 – November **2013**. Permit and utility challenges stretched out the buildout, like the final minutes of a sports match with seemingly endless timeouts.
Now they’re ready for kickoff, and hoping you’ll decide The Westy was worth the wait. We took a look inside this afternoon, noting details from the handcrafted wooden tables to small-but-vital touches like purse hooks and power outlets under the bar with USB slots where you can charge your phone:
Of course we talked sports, food, and beverages too:
First, the beverages – for beer, they have 12 tap handles, including 1 focused on “nitro,” 1 on a rotating cider, 1 on a local domestic (they plan to poll customers to choose between Rainier, Olympia, and PBR), plus a 13th with a rotating sour. They’ll have some grand-opening specials in collaboration with Reuben’s.
As for the food, the menu is “90 percent there,” and their supplies start arriving Monday. Christopher Hartfield is their chef, with more than 20 years of experience, including stints at Serafina, Bandoleone, and Paragon. You’ll find “sports fare” and “upscale options,” burgers and beyond, with vegetarian and gluten-free offerings too, as well as food that Vidican says is aimed at being, overall, healthier than your average sports-bar menu.
And we’d better get back to sports. 16 screens with eight cable feeds, “full sports packages,” including Direct TV, Comcast, PAC 12, NFL/NHL/NBA/FOX Soccer packages, which they insist comprises just about “any sports option” you would want to watch. You can play games as well as watching them – skee ball and shuffleboard are in the upstairs area:
Here’s a wider look at “upstairs,” really half a level up from the front of the house:
In the background of the photo, you can see a bit of the private area, which gets privacy behind these repurposed doors (previously seen in our January update):
Also on the east side, along the alley, are two parking spaces set aside for disabled guests.
After the “grand opening” on November 26th, likely starting around 3 pm, they plan to be open all day Thanksgiving (when the Seahawks play the 49ers at 5:30 pm) with a “limited menu,” then starting regular hours, 11 am-2 am Mondays-Fridays, 9 am-2 am Saturdays and Sundays, with some brunch dishes added for those weekend mornings – not a full breakfast menu, they caution, since they’ll be offering their full menu from the moment they open on weekends, too.
But first, they’ll be training this week as well as stocking – most of the staff is hired. They’ll also be adding more information to the official website – thewestyseattle.com.
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