40 Replies to "West Seattle food/drink notes: Alki Starbucks, Blue Moon Burgers, Mioposto in Admiral, Terra Cole Butchery, WS Brewing, and ..."

• NeoYogi March 20, 2015 (3:40 pm)

  I soooo love WSB :) You are the only way for me to keep up with all the goings on around my hood and I’m very grateful! Thanks for the updates and I wish all of these business owners, whether opening up new or moving on to new adventures, the best of luck!

• onion March 20, 2015 (3:48 pm)

  Terra Cole had the best pastrami sandwich that I have ever had. Epic. I never saw them sell any fresh meats, and the sandwich counter was never particularly busy — especially considering the size of their space and the quality of their food. I am bummed, but not totally surprised if they go under. But I hope the owner tries again as strictly a deli, possibly in a more appropriate space, and with better (or at least some) marketing.

• forgotmyname March 20, 2015 (3:55 pm)

  I’ve heard from some other brewery folks that West Seattle Brewing is closed, for a while for sure, but probably permanently. Not surprised, Kevin is a great guy, but the beer wasn’t very good and parking was impossible.

• emcat8 March 20, 2015 (4:14 pm)

  I’m really excited about Blue Moon–even if I know getting there will be a pain because parking (wish I lived close enough to walk). Their waffle fries are to die for and I don’t even like fries that much. West Seattle proper has had such a dearth of good, fast burgers; I wish the new burger places weren’t all on Alki but at least it’s closer to home.

• sam-c March 20, 2015 (4:52 pm)

  Bummer about Terra Cole. The sloppy joe/ blue cheese thing was tasty. We had some caprese salad from their deli case that was the best I’d ever had (maybe it was the type of vinegar they used ?)

  Excited that Blue moon is gettin closer to opening.

• CandrewB March 20, 2015 (4:54 pm)

  I always parked in that giant parking lot behind the building. Never had an issue. Was that not WSB’s?

• onion March 20, 2015 (6:00 pm)

  CandrewB, I assume you are referring to the parking lot behind Terra Cole? Only once did I bypass them due to parking difficulties, but I don’t think lack of parking was their problem. Lack of awareness, and possibly the size of their space/rent, were problems. It’s too bad because the sandwiches they offered were outrageously/best-in-the-city good.

• AHNeighbors March 20, 2015 (6:23 pm)

  Terra Cole was THE place to go to get humanely raised and fabulously delicious meats from wonderful, local (individually named on their board) family farms. I sincerely hope these friendly and ethical folks find business success.

• Paul March 20, 2015 (6:50 pm)

  I only went to the West Seattle Brewery once. Bought a couple of growler fills – one good the other flat w/ no CO2. My take was a brewing enthusiast who built a clubhouse that was fun for friends and family, but not commercially viable. Did any bars or restaurants in the area carry their product? Hard to pay the rent, labor, and payoff the equipment with a few pints and growlers a day. Wonder if the business plan was sound? Still, sorry to see them go. I remember when Elliot Bay was just getting started & I never thought they’d make it. They certainly proved me wrong.

• West Seattle since 1979 March 20, 2015 (7:09 pm)

  CandrewB, did you mean the parking lot behind West Seattle Brewery? I always thought that belonged to them too–it belonged to Tervo’s mom & pop store when they were in there.

• L March 20, 2015 (7:55 pm)

  From what I can tell from driving by, it looks like West Seattle Brewery has a sign up regarding a liquor license, but I can’t read the details. Also, on their FB page it now says CLOSED.

  • WSB March 20, 2015 (8:25 pm)

    L, that is an old sign; we looked at it yesterday when we went over to see if an in-person visit would yield any info. Faded but dated sometime last year. Some sort of minor change – name on the license or type of license, too faded to tell, but I recall seeing it go by, since we check the liquor-license application files several times a week. – TR

• Wsrez March 20, 2015 (8:52 pm)

  Unfortunate. These awesome business’ that belong here keep closing, think maybe they were too soon for our current density. Ballard, people shop in Balard for their meats, clothing, beer- everything. That obviously isn’t happening here yet if these smal kitchy business’ keep going under. Tera Cole had amazing meat. WS brewing had great beer. As a new mom (who used to frequent these joints prior to being a mom and never goes to either) we need more truly family friendly joints besides Elliott bay. Marination ma Kai’s business is BOOMING a because they support/encourage the west Seattle family. Have money, want to go out on a weekend, with my child, have a brew and some food in a cool spot, will walk.

• jeff March 20, 2015 (9:06 pm)

  Okay, so… the animal is dead, you are eating it, and you are feeling good about the ethics.

  That is fantastic!

  Me? I like a good ribeye, medium well, and I’m happy to not think about the ethics of it all.

• KT March 20, 2015 (9:36 pm)

  Word on the street was that the former La Romanza Bistro is to be some kind of Italian sandwich shop.

• rob March 20, 2015 (10:35 pm)

  All the talk about burdening business with MORE expense with the future of $15 coming on… We can see even now how expensive and complicated it is to keep a business open. Owners take on all the risks while workers demand they get paid.

• teacher1 March 20, 2015 (10:42 pm)

  What a shame that so many businesses are closing, one after the other. Maybe West Seattle should consider being more proactive about the state of the “downtown” area. It is too old fashioned and needs to be more inviting and fun. Take a look at what Edmonds and Bainbridge have done. This will continue to happen if we don’t draw more people here.

• Egigik March 20, 2015 (11:01 pm)

  Too many apartments and people now here in West Seattle. As a lifetime resident i despise trying to park on California Ave. I go out to eat on the beach only if its cold or cloudy which is almost every week.

• Tim March 21, 2015 (12:47 am)

  I am a newer resident of W.Seattle, previously from beacon hill. Alki is nice to visit but the parking and prices for me are not things that encourage me to go there. Living by the Fauntleroy/California area I have good food/drink within walking distance. Thanks WSB, I truly appreciate your writing and the local community and information that you bring.

  • WSB March 21, 2015 (12:49 am)

    Tim, thanks for commenting, and welcome (however belatedly) to West Seattle! – Tracy (WSB editor)

• West Seattle since 1979 March 21, 2015 (5:34 am)

  More apartments mean more people which means more customers, not fewer.

• m March 21, 2015 (7:46 am)

  What west Seattle needs is a good Caribbean restaurant.

• ACM March 21, 2015 (8:10 am)

  I think a lot of these businesses suffer from “hipster marketing” – meaning they are too cool to do any king of marketing. Terra Cole had a great space, but I never saw any outreach to people walking by. Imagine if they offered free samples – would probably increase sales a ton. I feel the same way about Pecado Bueno (had to look up the name, can never remember it even though I walk by it every day). There is hardly ever anyone in there, but god forbid they put any effort into attracting customers. Marination Ma Kai is exactly the opposite – and they are thriving. Opening and running a restaurant is so time-consuming and expensive. You’d think they put some thought and creativity into trying to get people in the door.

• Jenn March 21, 2015 (9:04 am)

  WSB was my favorite place to go for a pint, also a great place to catch a sounders game (when it was standing room only).

  They just brought in brand new seating and updated the bar, and were in the process of getting the licenses to serve food, wine, and cider.

  I thought the German-Style beers were great.

  From what I’ve heard, they are closed because of an owner dispute, and trying to work out ownership terms and finance split.

• WSDave March 21, 2015 (9:50 am)

  Just another reminder to all us West Seattleites that we need to support all the local business. Otherwise we will just end up with a bunch of franchises. Seems like everybody often days they are sad that a business went out of business… But never went there. Suport out local businesses or loose what we love about our neighborhood.

• Marcus M March 21, 2015 (10:15 am)

  Bummed about Teral Cole. Super friendly & knowledgeable staff & loved knowing what local farm I was buying from.

  Now I have to drive to PCC for (possibly) similar quality meats.

• WSKyle March 21, 2015 (10:52 am)

  I’m not shocked about Terra Cole. There food was incredibly delicious but I found their customer service left something to be desired. I wanted to go in more often but I never knew if I was going to have to stand there for 15 minutes while they fumbled around.

• Ducky March 21, 2015 (12:09 pm)

  ACM: The very expense and time it takes to run a local restaurant can overwhelm plans for marketing. I doubt it’s a conscious decision to go the route of “hipster marketing.” It’s more often too many tasks to do and bills to pay than there are the funds and/or staffing to get it all done. Sad reality.

• onion March 21, 2015 (1:02 pm)

  Marcus and others bemoaning the loss of Terra Cole as a source for high quality meats should check out The Swinery. They are doing a gangbuster business in a location that is more “out of the way” than Terra Cole (that is, not in one of the Junctions). Great sandwiches, extremely high quality locally sourced meats, and other interesting goodies. Swinery could actually use a larger place, in my opinion.

• wetone March 21, 2015 (1:51 pm)

  With less and less parking to access junction shops many home owners I know including myself are going elsewhere as we are not within walking distance. Junction shops will have to make it more and more from walk-ins limiting business. Rents are getting very expensive and for small shop owners makes it hard to be successful, unless one owns multiple businesses to help with cost. The new restaurant(maybe)on beach drive is interesting as that area has extremely limited parking.

  • WSB March 21, 2015 (2:54 pm)

    The privately owned free lots remain, as does free street parking (things that not all Seattle neighborhoods have). Jefferson Square has parking for its businesses. Capco Plaza has parking for its businesses. And as we’ve pointed out before, most of the big under-construction mixed-use developments will have a LOT of parking. Spruce (Fauntleroy/Alaska) – 184 apartments, 484 parking spaces. The Whittaker (Fauntleroy/Alaska/Edmunds) – 400 apartments, 600 parking spaces. Junction 47 (California/Alaska/42nd) – 203 apartments, 265 spaces. I’m not even counting the offstreet pay lots that have sprung up around The Junction (off Edmunds and off 44th, particularly). A portion of the spaces at each aforementioned development is for retail customers.
    .
    Parking aside, a reminder about the story above – We are reporting that two of these businesses have not been open for a while, but have not reported nor confirmed that either is permanently closed. (Still no responses to any of our inquiries.) One or both could reopen. If either or both has closed … be aware that business closures don’t always mean they couldn’t make it. So the fact that you didn’t get A+ customer service or whatever might be completely beside the point. Family or other personal circumstances can lead to decisions not to continue with a business, even a successful one. Running a business is tough even in the most joyful of times. – TR

• dawsonct March 21, 2015 (2:36 pm)

  “Me? I like a good ribeye, medium well, and I’m happy to not think about the ethics of it all.”
  —
  Jeff, while the ethics ARE important to me, of FAR greater importance is the flavor of the non-factory raised meat. For me, CAFO meat is little more than an insipid, pale imitation of the real thing. It’s a poor substitute for tofu as a protein delivery system.

• G March 21, 2015 (3:48 pm)

  Thanks, WSB.

• wetone March 22, 2015 (10:23 am)

  WSB since you post new builds that have or that are going to have parking would you please inform all us on how many other new and recent builds that don’t. To be fair on subject. Like total units in junction area going in now and going back 5yrs and total parking spaces added in that time. Thanks

  • WSB March 22, 2015 (10:33 am)

    Don’t have the time or the personnel to do a five-year total survey and this information is not available in CSV from DPD. However, you can look at our google map of local development, last updated in April of last year, for a big-picture look at offstreet-parking info on a variety of development projects – click on any marker to see the project info:
    .
    https://westseattleblog.com/2014/04/west-seattle-development-mapped-3272-units-planned-under-construction-almost-done-recently-opened
    .
    And ever since parking became an issue a few years ago, we take pains to include that in reports on multifamily projects of note (see for example our Design Review coverage from last week).

• dw March 22, 2015 (10:53 am)

  What’s getting lost is that the density coming in is what will help future small businesses. Look at Ballard/Fremont in comparison to WS. Those who bemoan the fact that it’s not 1979 anymore would do well to remember that.

• KM March 22, 2015 (4:11 pm)

  Was told that WS brewing is closed indefinitely from an event a few weeks back.

  Bummed about Terra Cole, however. Last trip in there was a new crew and nobody I recognized. We used to get our meats almost exclusively from there–sad they are not around.

  • WSB March 23, 2015 (9:32 am)

    I heard very early today from Drew of West Seattle Brewing, who says they will reopen. Will be publishing a separate business update a little later today.

• West Seattle since 1979 March 22, 2015 (6:23 pm)

  dw– Exactly! Just because some people are unhappy about density, it seems they want to blame anything negative on that. Since when does more people mean fewer customers? I don’t understand it.

• jwright March 23, 2015 (1:50 pm)

  Really, really, really hope Terra Cole is not a goner. We’ve been cutting down on meat but when we do eat meat, we always got it there. Keeping fingers crossed this is just a temporary blip!

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