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BIZNOTE: After 35 years, Luna Park Café’s proprietor is ordering up a successor

July 15, 2024 4:45 pm
|      47 COMMENTS
 |   Luna Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

(File photo)

One of West Seattle’s longest-running restaurants has put in an order for a new owner. Luna Park Café owner John Bennett tells WSB that he’s put his legendary burgers-and-breakfast (among other things) restaurant on the market. “It was a tough decision to make after 35 years, but it’s time to pass the torch,” Bennett says. “I am looking for someone who will keep it going as it is for another 35 years or more. The restaurant is doing well and I think someone could step in and take it over without skipping a beat.” He’s keeping it open while it’s on the market so the “new owner can come right in and take over. I’ve got a great staff there and I want to make sure that they can stay and hopefully the restaurant will stay the same.” If somehow you haven’t been, it’s not just about the food and beverages (including famous milkshakes) but also the quirky decor.

(WSB photo, 2023)

(And the history!) If you’re potentially interested, you can contact Bennett at 206-227-1950 or bennettproperties@comcast.net. You can see the listing here.

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47 Replies to "BIZNOTE: After 35 years, Luna Park Café's proprietor is ordering up a successor"

  • Midi July 15, 2024 (5:10 pm)

    So grateful the owner is keeping the restaurant open in the transition period, really hoping the new owner will be someone from this community and that all the staff are kept. Love Luna Park Cafe!

  • West Seattle Mad Sci Guy July 15, 2024 (5:32 pm)

    Barely related – is this place open for dinner on certain nights of the week? I vaguely remember that.  Only saw a lunch menu on their website. 

  • Olive July 15, 2024 (5:33 pm)

    Keep the name.  Make it French Bistro Cuisine….it could be our own little cafe on the Duwamish…sorta kinda like our very own Rive Gauche on the Siene.  Think Le Pischet in Belltown.  THINK!

    • Neighbor 2 July 15, 2024 (5:54 pm)

      Uh, no thanks.

    • Al King July 15, 2024 (5:55 pm)

      Olive. Here’s your chance! Are you going to buy??

    • Chris July 15, 2024 (5:58 pm)

      Yes please!!! Fantastic idea. The baked eggs and Jambon at Le Pichet are to die for. What a massive upgrade that would be!

    • Yeah no July 15, 2024 (6:05 pm)

      French food is something. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide. But that neighborhood and French cuisine don’t go together in my mind. But in fairness sitting on the side of a freeway eating French food would be nostalgic. 

    • Michael July 15, 2024 (9:01 pm)

      It has such a unique interior right now. It’d be so sad to completely change it. I hope the owner does find someone who wants to keep it the same.

    • LP July 15, 2024 (9:10 pm)

      No thanks!!!!

    • Anne July 15, 2024 (10:32 pm)

      No- please don’t change a thing. 

    • SR July 15, 2024 (10:38 pm)

      Why keep the name then? No relevance to anything French. It is relevant, however, to West Seattle and the amusement park that was once nearby, and by extension to the kind of all-American diner food it offers – which the owner is asking to be carried on.  

    • Wsea4ever July 15, 2024 (11:08 pm)

      Yeah, a French bistro is a terrible idea. It’d be much better if it turned into a pizza restaurant.

      • John Edwards July 19, 2024 (3:17 pm)

        We already have more than enough pizza places

    • Arbor Heights Resident July 16, 2024 (9:55 pm)

      What are you even talking about? On the Duwamish? The only thing it’s “on” are the NuCor plant and the West Seattle Bridge. As for changing the cuisine, why? Luna Park is an iconic local spot which is great as it is.

    • RayWest July 19, 2024 (5:09 am)

      No to French Bistro. I love French food, but previous ones in West Seattle over the years didn’t last. Good food, but they were pricey and what people consider a “special occasion” destination rather than a regular dining place. Keep Luna Park as it is. A different owner will have new ideas, but hopefully it stays a casual, 50s style diner.  I hope the business is still doing well because I haven’t been there for awhile. All the street revision has made parking more challenging.

  • sbre July 15, 2024 (5:53 pm)

    The universe was speaking to me this morning when I got dressed, it had me put on my “MEET ME AT LUNA PARK CAFE  WEST SEATTLE”   t-shirt for the day!!!

  • Duffy July 16, 2024 (8:20 am)

    Yeah, let’s take a WS institution where the owner hopes to keep it the exact same for decades to come and turn it into a French bistro! Sounds exactly like what the owner wants 😂

    • Al King July 16, 2024 (9:19 am)

      Wonder why? All those wanting a French restaurant (or something else) aren’t stepping up to buy. They’re missing a great opportunity to put their money where their mouth is.

  • T Rex July 16, 2024 (11:37 am)

    Change is not always good, and, in this case, it is NOT. This is place is a West Seattle go to spot in West Seattle! DO NOT CHANGE A THING.I am a regular customer since the day it opened! And I am not alone. Go there for breakfast and you will see folks standing in line to eat. Good sign if people are willing to wait and parking that can be at times a challenge. And the decor is a one of a kind to say the least. French food, in a semi-industrial area across from a steel plant, viewing the under belly of a HUGE bridge etc. etc. I am sorry but that has to be the worse idea EVER, sorry Olive, no disrespect intended.  

    • Shannon July 16, 2024 (2:27 pm)

      I agree!!! 

    • BlairJ July 16, 2024 (7:15 pm)

      But french fries will stil be OK, right?

  • AK July 16, 2024 (12:03 pm)

    Do Not Change! We love Luna Park the way it is and I feel for the new owner if he/she/they/them try to change it, as it will not go over well!

  • real wanda July 16, 2024 (3:15 pm)

    I would keep the name. But I would transform it into a high-concept restaurant based around… depression era soups, stews and chowders. Think, cold milk soup, Hoover Stew, sour water chowder — the classics. Think!

  • MrWest July 16, 2024 (3:27 pm)

    overrated breakfast spot 

    • walkerws July 19, 2024 (9:35 am)

      Counterpoint: underrated, especially their great vegan options.    

  • Dendeb July 16, 2024 (4:06 pm)

    Wasn’t there a French restaurant just up the street? That didn’t seem to have lasted long. Long live the Luna Park Cafe 😎

    • WSB July 16, 2024 (4:19 pm)

      Alki has had a few French restaurants – Chez Million, Marée, Cassis.

  • Raven July 16, 2024 (4:53 pm)

    Not a bad price at $250k! Wow that’s a good investment
    https://www.bhhsnw.com/realestate/details/42915952/2918-sw-avalon-way-seattle-wa-98126

    • Joe July 16, 2024 (8:20 pm)

      It’s just the business that’s for sale, not the real estate. You’d be paying rent to the landlord. It still might be a fair deal, but just understand that  you’re buying yourself a job. 

      • RayWest July 19, 2024 (5:41 am)

        Very good point that it’s only the business for sale and not the property. With all the redevelopment that’s been going on here with many properties being bought, old buildings razed and mixed-use buildings replacing them, I’d be reluctant to sink money into an older space like this.

        • T July 19, 2024 (9:28 am)

          The person selling the business also owns the building,  so it’s a pretty fantastic deal for him!

      • jhoff909 July 20, 2024 (10:51 am)

        Are you sure?  The listing is kinda unclear to me.

  • Paul July 16, 2024 (6:57 pm)

    Is this one of the locations that is going to have to relocate?

    • WSB July 16, 2024 (7:50 pm)

      The likely light rail routing is further up the Avalon hill.

  • Wsea4ever July 16, 2024 (9:02 pm)

    Why do you guys hate French people so much?

    • RayWest July 19, 2024 (5:34 am)

      Where do you get that anyone “hates” French people? It’s about a beloved restaurant that long-time loyal customers don’t want to disappear. Good food at reasonable prices with a fun, 1950s vibe that fits the area perfectly. Other French restaurants have not lasted long in West Seattle as they’re usually way too expensive.

    • K July 22, 2024 (8:40 am)

      Wsea4ever, it’s post-colonialism.  Our “parent” country, England, didn’t like the French, so it’s a learned behavior from centuries of trying to please mommy Britain.

  • max34 July 17, 2024 (1:38 pm)

    can’t wait until they change the name to OOH LA LA LUNA. viva la revolucion! 

  • Phil M July 17, 2024 (9:10 pm)

    Luna has been in a bad way ever since the remodel / management change.   They dropped so much of the menu and let go of so many staff, some that had been there literal decades.  Sweet Pea is at the alpine diner in White center now. It’s pretty sad this is the way it ends for Luna but hopefully they can return to pre-pandemic glory

  • Bswans July 17, 2024 (9:33 pm)

    Would be interesting if 4 or 5 of us local families wanted to continue this, make some small changes (i.e. live music at times), but keep the feel.

    • Michele August 2, 2024 (9:09 am)

      I’m in for this!

  • Patrick July 18, 2024 (8:34 pm)

    Close it

  • Jeff July 19, 2024 (9:01 am)

    Luna needs to be a live music venue now that Skylark is getting demo’d for lightrail. Make it happen!!

  • Jerri July 19, 2024 (9:39 am)

    I hope the awesome waitress there SweetPea can buy it, she was the best!!   and they very unfairly fired her after she worked there almost 30 years.   Really upset me but it’s a very  cute and fun restaurant. 

  • Laurie July 19, 2024 (5:49 pm)

    Please find a new owner who wants to continue it as is! As it stands, it’s a one-of-a-kind gem! Seattle, including West Seattle already has plenty of expensive, pretentious restaurants, no need for yet another French restaurant.

  • Dinah H. July 22, 2024 (12:39 am)

    The real question: will Sausage still be employed under the new ownership?! I vote yes for Sausage. (ps. if you’re not a reg, Sausage is the void kitty running the place from the ground up…literally.)

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