West Seattle restaurants: Angelina’s has ‘closed the doors for good’

After almost seven years under its current ownership, Angelina’s in The Admiral District has closed. We went to the restaurant at 2311 California SW to investigate after getting tips from two readers, and got confirmation. West Seattleites Skip and Allison Rich bought Angelina’s from its longtime previous owners in 2009, remodeling it, adding a bar, and removing “Trattoria” from its name before reopening it that fall. Here’s the text of the note that Allison tells WSB they will be posting:

Dear West Seattle,

It is with great sadness that we have closed the doors for good. We could no longer balance our personal lives and the restaurant. We have given all we have to this baby for 7 years and it is time now to start a new chapter in our lives.

We thank each and every one of you for your support throughout the years. We have watched your children grow up and watched lives change in many ways. It was our pleasure serving you! We will miss you more than you will ever know. As you were customers, you were family to us! With every lasagna, chicken parm or Rod’s scramble we served, we did it with all our hearts.

Thank you Admiral District for treating us so well! We will miss you terribly.

All our love and thanks,
Allison and Skip

Their restaurant has been, and still is, up for sale.

BMC May 27, 2016 (1:58 pm)

Wow, this is so sad………….

Wes C. Addle May 27, 2016 (2:04 pm)

They definitely had a lot of long time customers and decent bar. Too bad the food was overpriced and honestly pretty mediocre. Wish them well though!

K.B. June 17, 2016 (9:17 am)

Nothing said would have been better than this. Shame on you.

Brian May 27, 2016 (2:05 pm)

To confirm, it is only the business that is up for sale. Has the property owner provided any comments to the blog as to what the future state of the building may be? Is there any insight to the current zoning and what may lie in store for the next phase?

WSB May 27, 2016 (2:12 pm)

This story is about the business, not the building. But, since you ask, there are no proposals for anything on the site, according to city files. (Added: It’s zoned NC2P-40.) No permits at all sought for anything at that address since the work the Riches did in fall 2009. – TR

HelperMonkey May 27, 2016 (2:07 pm)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This is my favorite place in all the world, and all my favorite people in the world work here. Allison and crew – we love you!!!! we love you more than crispy bacon and turbo elephants. so sad right now.

Gene May 27, 2016 (2:29 pm)

Wes C Addle- to each his own opinion- but couldn’t disagree with you more about food & price. We’ll miss Angelina’s – thanks for the years of great service- & food.

SeattleGrrl May 27, 2016 (2:31 pm)

This is our go to restaurant in West Seattle, we are so sad!!! We go there every other week at least, and it’s always the place we pick when nothing else suits our fancy. We LIKED the food a lot, and the staff even more. Plus it was just a comfortable, nice place to go. We will miss this very, very much. :-(

Morris May 27, 2016 (2:42 pm)

I’m going to miss Angelina’s. Food and service was always excellent.

dsa May 27, 2016 (2:44 pm)

bummer

Fiz May 27, 2016 (2:46 pm)

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Allison, thank for your lovely smile and warm welcomes. You made our day when we came early in the morning, perched on a high chair, and heard “the usual?” Like coming home to family.

You have our gratitude and hugs. Blessings to all of you.

K'lo May 27, 2016 (2:49 pm)

Dang it! Great food and people. Will miss going there.

NAdmiral May 27, 2016 (2:59 pm)

So sad! We loved Angelina’s. Wishing Allison and Skip the best in the next chapter of their lives. You will be missed.

Yeaaaah! May 27, 2016 (3:42 pm)

So sad to hear this! Allison made the best bloody Mary’s in town and breakfast was so good. Many a great time watching football there as well, especially for a full house the year the Hawks won. You will be missed and hope to see you pop up elsewhere with something new (?) in west Seattle.

Huindekmi May 27, 2016 (3:56 pm)

Dang! I kinda liked that place.

I also just received an email that the West Seattle Coffee Company (local coffee roaster who would deliver the product all over the WS area for free) is closing down on May 31st. Double dang!

LB May 27, 2016 (4:02 pm)

Very sad to hear this….always felt welcome, and appreciated Allison’s kindness and attention to a solo, female diner. Mike was the best bartender in the universe, and raised my spirits in so many ways! A pleasure to see Robin through the years, and will miss having this haven in the ‘hood . Wishing Allison and Skip time to recoup and hope to catch you again!

Jake May 27, 2016 (4:54 pm)

This is unfortunate. I think the minimum wage increase and lack of support from Seattle’s leaders for small business owners, especially restaurants, will continue to close down these unique little spaces for spending time with family and friends. There is no more financial incentive for people to take a chance on opening a small restaurant, unless they can sell a lot more alcohol than food.

Josh May 27, 2016 (5:07 pm)

Such an amazing place Allison was nice enough to open early for the World Cup matches and make my off menu breakfast sandwhich. Robin and others were always there for my weekend brunch crab Benedict and the food and atmosphere was amazing I’ll miss my 80s music and sports games. Thanks for the wonderful memories

Such

Jim M. May 27, 2016 (5:26 pm)

Damn it! That was one of my favorite places to grab a bite and a beer.
They always treated me like family and even let me show some of my photos on their walls.
I wish Skip and Allison the best of luck in the future!

MrsJWFowler May 27, 2016 (5:56 pm)

So sad! Allison was so kind…the main reason we returned again and again.

Why does this stuff happen w/out warning?

best of luck to them

AmisMae May 27, 2016 (6:12 pm)

Ditto on HelperMonkey comment! – This was a family favorite restaurant for us, and have been a daddy/daughter date spot for many years. Thank you for the many memories. The restaurant and the staff has been a place of frequent mention in our family stories. From the great iron bead art, to welcoming us and our vocal children, to being the go to restaurant for family celebrations, we will miss Angelina and the staff very much. Thank you for the many years. With much love and well wishes, may your next venture be great.

Kayo May 27, 2016 (6:18 pm)

Angelina’s has always been one of our favorites and we are sad to see it close. Best wishes to the owners. We will miss you!

sc May 27, 2016 (6:43 pm)

My husband and I will miss the Happy Hour menu! Especially the spaghetti and meatballs.

Oh and the chalkboards!!!

Thermo May 27, 2016 (6:58 pm)

Dang! T-Bone and I will miss going there for brunch!

Baffled May 27, 2016 (8:18 pm)

Bummer! Thanks to Skip, Allison and crew for so many great meals over the years. You will be missed!

Erithan May 27, 2016 (8:41 pm)

Dad to see it go, though to be honest it was never the same place I grew up with after the owner change. Still, sad to see it go=(

MSB May 27, 2016 (8:47 pm)

We are soooo sad to hear Angelina’s is closing. This was our go-to weekend place to meet my son, daughter-in-law and adorable grandchildren for the superb breakfasts. They loved those Dutch Babies and we loved seeing them enjoying them while we ate our fabulous scrambles. What a tragic loss.

WSbliss May 27, 2016 (9:21 pm)

Allison and Skip, you are lovely people and I and my family wish you all the best in this this next chapter. West Seattle is a better place for having you at the helm of Angelina’s for the past seven years.

Lisa J May 27, 2016 (10:55 pm)

Brunch 😂 Good Luck in your future endeavors…you will be missed❤

sbre May 28, 2016 (12:02 am)

Now we’ve twice been saddened by Angelina’s;

First when the ‘change’ didn’t prove as good as the original, and now with the closing of this wonderful place to eat and watch our M’s.

Add us to the Unhappy List!!

A&M

dobro May 28, 2016 (12:22 am)

” I think the minimum wage increase and lack of support from Seattle’s leaders for small business owners…”

Nothing in the official statement said anything about wages or lack of support from the city. There are new restaurants opening every day and all the current studies show little or no impact on closures from the minimum wage hike. People that work deserve a living wage.

BJG May 28, 2016 (1:55 pm)

Brokenhearted! Allison, Skip, Robin and all the rest of your wonderful staff will be so missed. You were like our weekend family. You all accommodated us with smiles no matter how big a group we brought through the door. We’ll be standing on the corner Sunday with no place to go. Shoot. But best wishes and good luck to you and your families. You did a great job!

TH&JJ May 28, 2016 (3:59 pm)

Robin : Met you when you were working for Dana & never ONCE saw you without a smile; All Other Waitstaff: Though we sat at the bar 99% of the time, all of you were always friendly & professional; MIKE: We thought we’d ‘lost’ you after TB closed. Remember our surprise when we found you again? Hope that happens again very soon. Allison: You’ll never know how much we truly loved being in your presence (& we’ll miss those Bloody Marias). Best of Everything for you and your family in the future.

Sad May 29, 2016 (10:49 am)

This is terrible news. Where will I get my chicken pacatta fix? This was my favorite place. We’ve been taking our kids there for years! Please share recipes?

Kimberley May 29, 2016 (12:42 pm)

I’ll miss the camaraderie, sharing of dog photos, trying to remember the name of the tasty tasty drink Allison turned me on to, and of course the chicken piccata and chocolate chip scones.

NA Neighbor May 29, 2016 (4:26 pm)

Waa! I just suggested to my husband that we go to Angelina’s for dinner tonight and he broke this news to me. We’ll miss you and your friendly atmosphere!

WSGirl May 31, 2016 (9:12 am)

This is totally sad and such a shame for our community. There are very few super neighborhoody-feeling places left in West Seattle… The Bridge, West 5, Christos… Not too many other places you can go where everyone “knows your name”, or your drink/food order. This city has a complete disregard for small businesses, especially those who contribute so much to their communities, it’s really sad to see us lose another great place. And to whomever said the $15/hour thing hasn’t negatively affected restaurants, well they’re dead wrong. Do some research/talk to people who actually work in the industry (the REAL industry, not McDonalds). Anyway, Allison and Skip are both outstanding people, and I wish the absolute best to them and their kiddos (2 legged and 4 legged, alike!)… They will do great wherever they land.

EROMariner June 1, 2016 (2:16 am)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwi4qpSPvYbNAhUL0GMKHaRHCz4QFggTMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmurray.seattle.gov%2Fminimumwage%2F%23sthash.5vWDKmFI.dpbs&usg=AFQjCNEe5j-1sg4R3uzYzB5PTXjTZJTwzQ&sig2=FqHe8zJu18SPVFFxEG_7Pw WSGirl read up on Ur facts about the $15 min wage before you comment. This establishment would have had 7 years to comply. I highly doubt it had to close because of a raise in the min wage 7 YEARS from now. Sometimes people want to move on from owning a restaurant.

Alki Bum June 10, 2016 (6:03 pm)

Noooo! I’ll miss Mike and Allison so much. Thank you for the GREAT food,(which btw was never overpriced) and excellent service. Truly a loss for west Seattle. Good luck on your future endeavors!

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