BIZNOTE: Alki Café closed after eviction notice posted (updated)

ORIGINAL REPORT, FRIDAY: Thanks for the tips. The handwritten sign on the front door of Alki Café (2726 Alki SW) says “SORRY-CLOSED,” next to an eviction notice posted by the King County Sheriff’s Office this morning. These types of notices are usually posted following court action in an eviction case, technically known as “unlawful detainer,” so we looked up the case. It goes back 10 months; documents say the building owners, Alki Shores, wanted to end the restaurant’s tenancy in February. No specific amount of potentially owed money listed, other than to say the café’s base rent was $7,422 plus $1,337 in “other recurring charges.” In their response filed in June, the restaurant owners – who documents identify as Alki Beach Restaurant Café and NRBM LLC – said they had been dealing with alleged electrical and plumbing issues causing “periodic closures” plus improper electrical metering that they said had likely caused them to be overpaying for that utility. They estimated the alleged issues had cost them about $80,000. The case kept making its way through the system, according to documents, until an order following a six-minute hearing on November 21st, saying the restaurant owner’s allegations were not an excuse for the “failure to vacate” and ordering the eviction. We’re seeking comment from both the building owner and the restaurant owner.

ADDED SUNDAY: The restaurant was sold to NRBM LLC in 2020, noted a representative of the other named entity in response to one of our inquiries, and says it hasn’t had anything to do with the restaurant since then. NRBM LLC is listed with the state as having been “administratively dissolved” – by the state itself – in October because an annual report due in May allegedly hadn’t been filed.

45 Replies to "BIZNOTE: Alki Café closed after eviction notice posted (updated)"

  • Green gurl December 13, 2024 (11:17 am)

    Noooo… We love this place and the servers,!! Great meet up place and the food and espresso/coffee is good too!! We need to keep breakfast restaurants. Please fix the utility overcharging problems and save this restaurant. Please!!! 

  • Alki resident December 13, 2024 (12:02 pm)

    Bizarre to say the least. 

  • Brian Goldman December 13, 2024 (12:04 pm)

    Sad to hear, their breakfast was excellent and the staff was so good. There are so few places to have breakfast down on the beach. Thank goodness we still have Christo’s to enjoy.

  • Pants December 13, 2024 (12:14 pm)

    What is going on down on Alki?! Two closures in the past week? 

    • Luke December 13, 2024 (1:19 pm)

      Winter

      • Pete December 13, 2024 (2:41 pm)

        Not in this case!

  • Neighbor December 13, 2024 (1:03 pm)

    This SUCKS!  Maybe the people who saved the Mission can save this place as well.  

  • I love beer when it's free but it's not really December 13, 2024 (1:16 pm)

    Costs and stress for restaurant owners are through the roof. Almost $7500 for mothly rent, to serve breakfast….just remember, try to always be kind to your local restaurants, especially when you are thinking of submitting some snarky hypercritical review. They just want to earn a living making people (all of us) happy. 

    • rpo December 15, 2024 (1:29 pm)

      Yep, that means they need to net $300/day for rent alone after paying for wages, food, supplies, utilities, etc. 

  • namercury December 13, 2024 (2:48 pm)

    This is so sad,  This is near the top of my most loved West Seattle businesses!  

  • LJ December 13, 2024 (3:10 pm)

    Karma playing a role!Pay your employees back ……….

  • EdChurch December 13, 2024 (3:15 pm)

    Harry’s Beach House on Alki has an outstanding weekend Brunch that has been my go-to for quite some time now. 

    • EL Markey December 13, 2024 (9:20 pm)

      Isn’t it crazy expensive?

      • William December 14, 2024 (7:10 am)

        Yep. Example, – $12 for a barely medium plate of fries. I do like their food but… yeah. 

      • Marcus December 14, 2024 (8:24 am)

        Yes!

      • Molly December 15, 2024 (10:12 am)

        Yes. We went last night… $32 for 3 tiny crab hush puppies (albeit delicious), $10 each for 2 CUPS of clam chowder (also very good) and couple of beers (1 each).  Yummy, but $90 with tip is awful spendy for appetizers and beers.🤷‍♀️

  • Biscuits & Gravy December 13, 2024 (4:18 pm)

    We boycotted this place months ago when someone on their staff stole our credit card and committed fraud. Good riddance. 

    • Al King December 13, 2024 (4:37 pm)

      One of the reasons I always pay with cash.

      • Purple Pilot December 13, 2024 (7:31 pm)

        No question. Why would you pay for anything with anything other than cash these days?  

        • Todd December 15, 2024 (10:59 am)

          Because no one uses cash any more. Many businesses don’t even accept it. That is the complete opposite of the question to be asked.

          • Al King December 15, 2024 (2:27 pm)

            Todd. Umm, clearly there’s PLENTY of businesses happy to, and that do accept cash. I barely need one hand to count the number of businesses that I’ve patronized/encountered that only accepted a card.

    • William December 14, 2024 (7:12 am)

      How do you know it was them? And even if it was, you’re boycotting an establishment because of the actions of one employee?

    • rpo December 15, 2024 (1:31 pm)

      How do you know someone at this restaurant was the cause of your credit card being compromised? I’ve had mine compromised probably 20 times in the past decade, and a handful of times the card had never been used by me (in person or online) and yet still someone managed to make a physical copy in another state and use it in a store.

      • StupidInSeattle December 15, 2024 (4:04 pm)

        Very, very few Restaurants can stay in business in Seattle when minimum wage is $20/hour and rising next year.  Add in inflation on food supplies and profit margins are slim and precarious.  Ask Mayor and City Council what they can do to help struggling businesses.

        • Bill December 24, 2024 (9:50 am)

          Would you prefer the federal minimum wage of $7.25 made effective in 2009? Generally speaking, let’s also take a look at the rent per year for the business and employee. And in this specific case, NRBM LLC if you can track them down.

  • Cox,l@comcast.net December 13, 2024 (4:45 pm)

    This has been one of my most favorite restaurants for breakfast in West Seattle. ……Hope this gets resolved quickly for the owners of Alki Cafe….. Staff & kitchen crew wonderful. 

  • Randy December 13, 2024 (5:18 pm)

    I went here once with Mrs. Kirsten, had a nice breakfast.  Sad to read this, but change is inevitable.  Hopefully, something new comes along.

  • GoodRiddance December 13, 2024 (5:26 pm)

    We stopped going there when the employees were telling customers not to tip them because the owners were not paying out any of their tips. Good riddance.  Hopefully the owners learned a lesson or two about how to treat their employees. 

    • Alki resident December 13, 2024 (6:23 pm)

      This sounds all too familiar with another Alki restaurant for years. I’m hearing more since this post so I agree with you. 

  • No Airflow December 13, 2024 (6:05 pm)

    This place had good breakfast however it was difficult to sit in the restaurant, this place had no ventilation, they had to open all the windows every morning or other customers had to open the windows cause of the smoke and no airflow. 

  • Patricia December 13, 2024 (6:35 pm)

    I have gone to Alki Café and Alki Beach Cafe for years and years. I can attest to the problems that have had with the Electrical and Plumbing.: that’s a fact. As to their wait staff: impeccable! Honest… all I can imagine it’s that someone that they recently hired was a scammer, but in general, the staff there has been squeaky honest and wonderful(I actually accidentally left my credit card there and it was saved for me until the next time I came in and not one dishonest thing occurred) Any business can mistakenly hire a dishonest person and it’s hard to get people in these type of positions. I hope they open up again soon.. It is delicious and fabulous food and perfect service.

  • Abuseintake December 13, 2024 (8:08 pm)

    How this mediocrity survived this long is a testament to Seattle diners apathy for decent food. 

    • Cascadiarocks December 14, 2024 (12:30 am)

      LOL! At the very least for paying more than they prefer for said cooking.Personally, I don’t mind paying more if they are good or good atmosphere

    • Scarlett December 16, 2024 (9:35 am)

      Abuseintake: I won’t bash any particular restaurant as its a tough racket (besides I don’t eat out)  but yes, but I’m not sure Americans know – or have forgotten – what good, simply preparefood should taste like.    

  • Lee Kelly December 13, 2024 (9:41 pm)

    Service and food took a nosedive this year under the new owners 

    • Merna December 14, 2024 (12:55 pm)

      I agree. Like something happened. I used to love this spot, and in the last year the floors got stickier and stickier, and two times they totally forgot to put my order in and it never came so I finally left. I’m a pretty patient understanding person and former waitress so I get it but it was kind of unusually bad. The staff were awesome in that they were friendly but clearly being asked to take on more than is manageable-that place gets super crowded. I also had a weird experience with my card where the person hand wrote the numbers of my card saying she’d have to type them in later because of issues with the card reader while another waiter just went right up and ran someone else’s card. I asked her to destroy that / not do that, and she reluctantly ripped up the paper where she wrote it and I used another card, which ran fine.  I was super bummed when all this started to happen because it was a really good spot for breakfast until then (Januaryish is when it seems to have changed, if I remember right). I was also so curious why the waitstaff had such high turnover. That rent is nuts. Even though I stopped going there mid summer, I feel sympathetic for anyone trying to pay that rent. Yuck.

  • drM December 14, 2024 (6:52 am)

    I loved going to this place…until about a year ago. The staff was nice..but understaffed. The food was almost inedible and we both resolved never to return. I am surprised it has lasted this long under the new ownership. 

  • Local December 14, 2024 (8:02 am)

    Not completely surprised. People who love this place sure do love it but everyone I know says it’s mediocre and can be an unpleasant environment between unfriendly staff, an over-crowded restaurant and a stuffy space.Rent is expensive on Alki and breakfast food does not generate as much income as a lunch or dinner spot.

  • Sandyshore December 14, 2024 (9:29 am)

    Alki Café was purchased in the Covid era by two people. They renamed it, Alki Beach Cafe.. later one bought out the other. The owner opened a new restaurant on first Avenue north of Pike Place downtown and it closed down.. I think that started a financial spiral downward. With the cooking.: depends what day you eat there. Tony is a high-level chef and his food is perfect.. The other cooks are not at that level.. I quit going on the days that Tony was not cooking.. I sincerely hope they open again. It’s a great place to eat, and I’ve had wonderful experiences with the staff.. 

  • B December 14, 2024 (8:07 pm)

    Will the Alki Cafe move to a new location?

    • WSB December 14, 2024 (9:00 pm)

      We have tried multiple contact methods for its owners. Haven’t gotten a reply yet. That would be one of our questions.

      • J December 16, 2024 (3:43 pm)

        I can easily answer this question, and have a lot more information in regards to this

  • B December 15, 2024 (4:14 pm)

    Thank you! Yes, hope Alki Café can find a new spot. 

  • Kersti Muul December 15, 2024 (8:59 pm)

    I stopped going when they quit making gingerbread pancakes 😔

  • Surprised December 16, 2024 (6:16 pm)

    The rent on Alki is insane. I can’t believe any of the businesses make it. 

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