It’s the #1 question we’ve gotten lately – when is West Seattle Junction restaurant Dumplings Of Fury reopening? They’ve been closed for eight months while working on an expansion into the California/Oregon corner spot next to their original space. Paper is off the windows in the expansion space, further sparking passerbys’ curiosity. So we checked in with co-proprietor Ben Jenkins, who replied that they’re “super close – have one more permit hurdle to pass.” But he doesn’t have a firm reopening date yet “because in this biz it’s tough to predict.” Nonetheless, he adds, they’re “excited to open!” (The expansion space at 4461 California SW was formerly Many Moons Consignment.)

(WSB photos)

Ezell’s Famous Chicken CEO and co-founder Lewis Rudd is at the new Morgan Junction location today as they open their doors – briefly – for a community “sneak peek.”

It’s been almost a year since we broke the news of an early-stage filing for Ezell’s to move into what was then an AT&T store. Then last month, the signs went up. And now they’re almost ready to open – so they’re doing a trial run, selling food until about 4 pm today (or until they’re sold out).

That’s the West Seattle restaurant’s manager, Kristy – she and her team have some logistics to keep working on, so Ezell’s tells us that while the store may look ready to go, it won’t officially open for a few more weeks (no official date set yet).

Ezell’s is a 37-year-old Seattle-based company with 17 locations in Washington and Oregon – this one (southeast corner of California/Fauntleroy) will be its 18th. Here’s what they serve.

Today we welcome a new WSB sponsor – locally owned Duke’s Seafood at Alki Beach. Here’s their message for you:

People often ask, why come to Duke’s Seafood over any other seafood restaurant in town and our answer is simple, because we know where nearly every ingredient in our food come from. Most restaurants can’t say that, but why should you care?

Partners and father/son, Duke Moscrip (right) and John Moscrip (left), and our Executive Chef, Wild Bill Ranniger, personally source the ingredients in the food we serve – yes, really – and it is local when possible, sustainable, free of harmful chemicals and preservatives, and gluten-free when possible.

Why do we go to this extreme? “Decades ago, I started going to Alaska and I actually fished with the fishermen, not just tour a processing plant. I actually wanted to know how they caught the fish, what they did after they caught them, like did they take care of them, bleed this fish, ice the fish, and keep them cold all the way through the processing. I found out that not every fisherman does it right. So, we only buy from the people who handle the fish the way that we want and to our strict standards, and as a result, we get the most incredible fish,” says Duke Moscrip.

“That’s when I started my quest to only buy from trusted suppliers who understood the proper way to care for fish. I didn’t know it back then, but the standards we set back then are now the industry standards for all quality commercial fishing. True story!,” he adds. “There I was, just one guy who only wanted one thing: great-tasting fish, only to end up setting the standard for the industry.”

We did not stop at fish. We go to the produce fields, the chicken farms, the wineries, even to our exclusive Bourbon supplier, Woodford Reserve. Everything we serve must meet our strict standards to be good enough for Duke’s Seafood or it doesn’t make it onto your plate – ever! Plus, every dish is so flavorful because of the ingredients and the special recipes we developed for Duke’s Seafood.

“I dream about food,” says Duke. He describes flavorful dishes made of crazy combinations: blueberries with goat cheese on grilled salmon, or tarragon and citrus in a salad, or hazelnut syrup, melted butter, and halibut encrusted with crushed macadamia nuts. “In fact, sometimes I drive my Executive Chef, Wild Bill, crazy by sending new dishes back again and again until we get it right. We spend hours and hours in the kitchen together perfecting every recipe.”

“’Wild’ Bill Ranniger is the executive chef; an amazing guy. “He puts up with all my crazy ideas. For the past 23 years, he’s made stuff happen in our kitchens. He’s inventive and creative and we get along so well from a creative standpoint as well as being good friends. But he produces amazing food,” says Duke.

Duke’s Seafood is offering a very special deal through January 22, 2022: Spend $50 and get $10 off your meal. Spend $100 and get $20 off your meal. Reserve today at www.dukesseafood.com.

We thank Duke’s Seafood for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

Thanks for the tips! The former Phoenecia space at 2716 Alki Avenue SW has an awning up announcing its future tenant – Gyros on Alki Avenue, promising (along with gyros) shawarma, falafel, and salads. Online records indicate the proprietor also has been associated with other restaurants including Dino’s Grill in Tukwila and Dino’s Gyros in Burien. We have messages out seeking details such as when they plan to open on Alki. The space has been vacant for three years (as you likely know, Phoenecia has long since reopened in The Junction). As for the other half of the building – the former Alki Cleaners space, it still has “For Lease” signage; we reported four months ago on a tentative plan for a market, and are checking back to see what happened to that.

ORIGINAL SATURDAY NIGHT REPORT: Another restaurant closure in the West Seattle Junction: Thanks to Kim for the tip that a note on the door of Taqueria Guaymas (4719 California SW) announced it’s closing December 12th. We confirmed it today. While those at the restaurant had nothing more to tell us, Kim’s partner was told they were given two weeks’ notice to clear out. We had noticed the building listed for sale a while back, and King County Assessor records show it has a new owner, an Auburn LLC that closed the purchase just last week for $1,650.000.

The purchase involved just the 3,100-square-foot building that houses the restaurant – and various cross-references led us to the discovery that the new owner appears to be the company that owns the Maharaja Cuisine of India restaurant less than a block away (which is a tenant there, not that building’s owner), so we’ll be following up both with them and with the Tacos Guaymas regional mini-chain that the West Seattle restaurant is part of.

ADDED: A further check of nearby records shows the same company, Virk Brothers Properties LLC, bought another building on the block – the one holding Pharmaca, Bin 41, and Flying Apron – in August of this year for $2.7 million.

SUNDAY UPDATE: A text reply from a Guaymas rep: “We do hope to be able to find a new lease nearby. But it is correct (we) were Informed a few days ago we would need to vacate by the 12th. We hope to set up a Go Fund Me account for our employees who we informed the same day of the need to close.”

TUESDAY NIGHT: Here’s the GoFundMe link.

1:00 PM: Ten months after we discovered that Ezell’s Famous Chicken was taking over the commercial space on the southeast corner of California and Fauntleroy, the signs are going up. We’ve been watching the plan progress through the permit files in the five months since the AT&T store moved out, but the company hadn’t commented on a target opening date. We are checking again. (Thanks to Kersti Muul for the sign tip!)

2:09 PM: A company spokesperson replies, “We don’t currently have a firm opening date for West Seattle yet.”

We’ve been checking on the status of Alki restaurant/nightclub J&J Public House ever since noticing it was closed at a normal operating time last weekend, and then seeing a U-Haul truck being loaded with what appeared to be restaurant equipment on Sunday morning.

Today, we walked up to the door and found an eviction notice taped on it, dated this morning. King County Superior Court files show the eviction was sought by the building’s owner over a claim that the LLC to which it leased the space in 2019 changed ownership last year and thereby violated the lease. Documents say the operators were notified of this in July, then served a summons in October, but have not taken action, so the eviction judgment was described as being by default. J&J Public House opened in summer of last year at 2808 Alki SW as the latest concept for what previously, relatively briefly, had been the Pacific Room, preceded by Hawks Nest West, which followed Bamboo Bar and Grill. J&J had been offering live music multiple nights a week.

Four months ago, we reported on thieves taking the Mamacita’s Bad Ass Mexican Food trailer. It was found, but not in good shape. Now proprietor Margarita is finally back in business, starting today, and sent us her announcement:

Come join Mamacita’s for food & fun this holiday weekend!

We will be on the corner of California & Lander, across the street from The Good Society Brewery and Public House.

Saturday 5-8 pm and Sunday 12-5 pm.

This will be our first time out since the trailer was stolen and vandalized, so please come support and show Mamacita’s some love. Can’t wait to see you there!

Here’s the menu.

The “for lease” sign has been down for a while at the ex-West Seattle Licensing location (5048 California SW), but it took a liquor-license application to give a hint at its future. We talked briefly today with one of the applicants, who are seeking a license under the business name Till Dawn. It’s going to be a café, he said, but they’re still a few weeks away from going public with details. (The license application is in the “snack bar” category, which means bottled/canned beer for on-site consumption.) They’re hoping to open by year’s end. The storefront’s been vacant for almost two years.