Late-night followup: Tacos to teardown to townhouses

Continuing our series of late-night followups when there’s no urgent news at this hour — we noticed today that construction is moving fast on the townhouses at the ex-Guadalajara Hacienda site in the 5900 block of California. First, from last February, the old restaurant’s festive facade just after it closed and the sign came down:

guadalajara.jpg

Demolition day, October 8:

guadalajararubble.jpg

And the townhouses-in-progress, today:

exguadalajara.jpg

17 Replies to "Late-night followup: Tacos to teardown to townhouses"

  • Jan January 3, 2008 (12:58 am)

    :( I kinda liked going there…loved the building…but…seems to be the way these days …

  • cruiser January 3, 2008 (6:52 am)

    Looks like they’re making thoses boxes from left over tacos:)

  • m January 3, 2008 (9:29 am)

    haha cruiser! I drive down California every few days and one day it was an empty lot, the next all the framing was up. Quality work I’m sure… I do think it’s a shame these went up across the street from that other set of townhomes that actually look really nice because I’m sure the views were lost.

  • Rick January 3, 2008 (9:44 am)

    Yeah.I sure like the corrugated steel look of NOMO. Seems the price on those have dropped well in excess of 100k. Sure wish I’d bought one of those(ex)view units. Besides, that horrible old 1890’s brick hunting lodge with the brick carriage house out back was a piece of historic architecture that was so un-box like it simply had to go. I really liked Guadalajara too.

  • coffee geek January 3, 2008 (10:11 am)

    The armchair construction and investment experts are amusing. The finished townhomes across the street are nice, but 5 or 6 (at last count, out of 12) are still on the market b/c they’re WAY overpriced…after almost a year. The new places across the street may or may not be nice; I’m willing to wait and judge the finished product. As for the views, that’s the way the cookie crumbles…I’m sure the developer of the existing places knew that could/would happen. At the very least, maybe the loss of views will drop the price closer to reasonable!

  • coffee geek January 3, 2008 (10:17 am)

    Rick, the list prices haven’t dropped on NOMO according to Redfin and our recent visit. Middle units have always listed at 565K. Isn’t the lodge behind those new townhomes closer to Cafe Ladro??

  • villagegreen January 3, 2008 (10:59 am)

    Visited Guadalajara once and it was awful. Dido for the Mexican joint in the Junction (Puerto Vallarta). Definitely not sad to see it go. Although, losing commercial space on California for townhomes is a waste.

  • J January 3, 2008 (1:11 pm)

    Guadalajara was my favorite Mexican restaurant in West Seattle. I was very sad to see their manager working at Target for the holidays.

  • Sarah January 3, 2008 (1:16 pm)

    Villagegreen, what does Dido have to do with a couple of West Seattle Mexican restaurants? (The word you’re looking for is “ditto.”)

  • WSB January 3, 2008 (1:39 pm)

    I believe the brick lodge Rick mentions is different from the “lodge” behind the Gatewood townhouse complex that’s almost complete near Caffe Ladro (most recent WSB item was in October, link here)

  • villagegreen January 3, 2008 (3:09 pm)

    Sarah, thanks for the correction. I’m operating on three hours of sleep. Don’t know why I wrote Dido, she’s comparably as bad of a singer as the restaurant was at approximating Mexican cuisine.

  • Sarah January 3, 2008 (4:10 pm)

    Nope, I understand, VG! I just thought it was a funny slip-up and couldn’t resist the late-’90s pop singer reference. :-)

  • Bob Loblaw January 3, 2008 (5:56 pm)

    Guadalajara was our favorite family dinner night out spot. We’re no food critics, so I can’t offer an opinion there (Not that anybody want my opinion, obviously). But I can say it was always a warm atmosphere with nice staff. No use crying over spilled leche, though. We’re on the lookout for a replacement and have sampled a few spots in WS and its surrounding with no luck. Anybody have a suggestion for a family-style, sit down Mexican restaurant that comes complete with a heavy dose of tacky?

  • villagegreen January 4, 2008 (10:07 am)

    The other Guadalajara (no relation to the one that closed down – I think) down by the ferry dock is decent (9214 45th Ave SW – across from Endolyne Joe’s). The staff is friendly and the food is ok. As with the one that closed they do rely too heavily on smoothering everything with cheese, but I guess you’ve got to give the white people what they want.

    Otherwise, if you want real Mexican you’ve gotta head down to White Center or South Park. Muy Macho in South Park is my favorite of the bunch.

  • Jenny January 4, 2008 (11:18 am)

    I’ve never been to a Mexican restaurant that serves food as tasty as what they all used to serve before the Fat Nazis from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) ran around a decade ago yelling to the media about their use of lard.

    I don’t know what kind of fats the restaurants use nowadays, but they’re a sad imitation of the real thing.

  • Jenny January 4, 2008 (11:19 am)

    “The Other Guadalajara” is good. Not spectacular, but as I say, none of them are anymore.

  • Todd in WEstwood/S.Delridge January 4, 2008 (2:53 pm)

    Ohhh, that place in Fauntleroy is horrible. Whatever I ordered was smothered with something that resembled shredded American cheese slices. The refried beans were from a can and the salsa tasted like Pace. We ate there once, that is the only chance they get.

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