West Seattle, Washington
12 Thursday
-The latest incarnation of the school-closure hearing roadshow is in West Seattle this week. As I write, the Roxhill hearing is under way; tomorrow night, I wouldn’t be surprised to see fireworks at the Pathfinder/Cooper hearing. You can track the developments more closely at the Save Seattle Public Schools blog (run by a Pathfinder mom).
-Speaking of closures, the viaduct will be out of commission 6 am-6 pm both days this weekend for its twice-yearly “is it REALLY still safe to drive on this thing?” checkup. And in The Junction, a closure related to the Cali Ave repaving is scheduled to continue for a few more days.
-Now, an opening: Sometime in the past few days, the GRAND OPENING banner went up at Kokoras Greek Grill in Morgan Junction, on the east side of Cali Ave, just north of Fauntleroy. We’ll run by in person as soon as we get a chance and report back on the menu offerings.
Just a few words before we get back to other business … Yes, I agree with various commenters on the post below that In-n-Out would be the ultimate burger franchise to have here. I didn’t bring it up because there’s no point — they haven’t even expanded into Oregon, much less WA, and until they settle their family trouble, I doubt they’ll go much further than their current Southwest turf. By the way, we just tried the Tacoma Carl’s Jr. — had to go to Tac anyway, so took a side trip (it’s off Highway 16 on the way to Point Defiance, Tacoma Narrows, etc.). Even at 11 am on Sunday morning, the joint was jumping — including a couple members of the Tacoma PD. I predict quick colonization northward. (Bonus trivia question for any other longtime or semi-longtime WS’ites … can you name the burger joint that used to be on the site where Jack in the Box is now? At least, it was still there when we arrived in the early ’90s.)
We haven’t whined about this in nine months, and nobody really knew we were here then. So here we go again. I would never want to see West Seattle turn into a fast-food franchise wasteland, but it’s not going to kill us if we get just one or two more GOOD fast-food burger places. How about Fatburger, a Southern California transplant which has a few places on the east side? How about Carl’s Jr. (also from SoCal), which just opened its first Puget Sound spot (Tacoma)? Or even Wendy’s (which long ago used to inhabit the Ambaum spot that’s now a Peruvian restaurant)? All we have for quick burgers at odd hours are three McDonald’s (yuck) and Jack in the Box. Yes, I know we have some great burgers in non-fast-food-franchise settings (Easy Street, Elliott Bay Brewery, among others), but I’m talking, it’s 10 pm, you’re hungry, you want something fast and relatively cheap. Burien has only half as many people as West Seattle, but at least twice as many burger options. I’m tired of driving there (or to Bellevue) for a decent fast-food burger. Who’s with me? Can we petition somebody? Certainly got the real estate. What’s moving in to the old rental spot on Fauntleroy? How about the boarded-up gas station on Roxbury, west of the Safeway? If we’re going to build all these condos, folks gotta have somewhere to snack!
-A visitor wrote to tell us that Swee Swee Paperie (just east of Cupcake Royale) is now open in The Junction (though its website is lagging; what is it with new businesses and site lag, like the Talarico’s site advertised in the Hi-Yu booklet two months ago, but as of this am still not up?).
-Reminder, tomorrow’s the last day for the ’06 Water Taxi as well as Rainier Roaster (future site of the first WS drive-thru SBUX).
If you were hoping for a comeback of the Cat’s Eye Cafe just north of Lincoln Park (as we sort of were), closed since a crash last winter, finally there’s proof it’s just not going to happen. The sign’s not up yet as of tonight (though the permit application for it is in), but a Web site proclaims the building’s rebirth as a yoga/spiritual counseling business, the Four Aims Center. The center’s offerings sound intriguing — but the official demise of the Cat’s Eye leaves us a bit misty, as it’s the site of fond family memories from the latter half of the ’90s, when various major life events left us quite dependent on their morning muffins as well as incredible takeout soups and sandwiches. (We remember hearing that the people who ran it back then are the same ones who opened Circa in the late ’90s, but can’t find proof.)
Wow, how’d I miss this one? (Probably because we stayed home all day doing yard work!) A reader writes to tell us the Pacific Northwest BBQ Championships are under way all weekend at Alki:
There are 31 different groups bbq’ing all night long, even camping in tents. Judging starts tonight at 6 pm, finals are tomorrow. The one booth you can buy food from is reasonably priced and good.
Till this tip, I had no idea of the existence of the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association — but here’s its site, with some info on the competition. Hope it doesn’t rain on the barbecuers tomorrow till they’ve crowned their winners! (UPDATE from a Saturday night driveby: This is quite a scene on the west end of Alki — including RVs parked along the beach that no doubt belong to some of the camped-out cooking teams.)
-Finally tried Cactus. Tasty food, even better atmosphere. Kept thinking about what used to be in that space two lifetimes ago — the original OLD Alki Market, with a crab tank that had a moldy plastic decoration and always one sad crab, right about where the new restaurant has beautiful colored glass panels near the front door.
-Several people have written to ask what’s up with the other half of the market space, the half that Cactus isn’t using. Still listed for lease.
-An eyesore may be finally on its way out … a renewed notice just went up online for the development permit application at the site of the burned-out Schuck’s at California & Charlestown. Interestingly, it mentions restaurant space … interesting since nearby Charlestown Street Cafe is on its way out.
-The teardown-to-townhomes project on Cali Ave south of Morgan Junction, north of the Caffe Ladro etc. business districtlet, now has a name … sign just went up proclaiming these the “Bayberry Townhomes.” From the mid-300s. Wow.
-Last but not least, for lovers of semi-classic ’70s cars … particularly Fords … we spotted a very clean Pinto on a lawn along 62nd just north of Admiral … then seconds later, along the other side of Admiral, a well-preserved Maverick. Sigh.
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Our trek around The Junction tonight revealed that city crews have done a pretty job roughing up the street surface already. Getting a parking spot along the newly grooved pavement was a cinch — most people don’t seem to realize yet that the NO PARKING signs are posted for DAYTIME only — it’s OK to park at night. (Though a few spaces are out of commission in front of Taqueria Guaymas & Poggie, taken up by monster-sized pieces of city equipment.) Also seen in The Junction tonight: The “for lease” sign is down and the liquor-license-app posting is up at the future home of Garlic Jim’s Pizza.
Despite not being boat owners, we managed to get out on the water anyway — started the day with a ferry ride, ended it with a Water Taxi trip.
Inbetween, some snags and some sightings:
SNAG: Wanted to have lunch at the new Cactus on Alki. We even called — twice — to make sure it would be open for lunch. We were assured yes, it would be. Then we showed up … nope, not open. Through the open roller doors, workers told us, no, it would only be open tonight for dinner. Bummer. We proceeded to Bamboo, which we’d never tried, believe it or not. (Having now tried it, I don’t believe we were missing anything. The sand under the outdoor tables is a nice touch, but the food was meh.)
SNAG: Since we planned to be downtown a few hours, we were glad to hear the Water Taxi was running into the evening. Unfortunately, we discovered belatedly that its transit connections did NOT run into the evening — the shuttle to the Junction stopped about half an hour before we returned, and no regular Metro buses were running past Seacrest. If we hadn’t had someone to call for a ride home, we’d still be walking.
SIGHTING: Still not entirely sure what kind of store “Divina” (north of Hotwire & its adjoining dentists) is meant to be, but it’s now posted as opening tomorrow.
SIGHTING: Interesting things tacked to the front glass of Liberty Bell Printing — a frantic note pleading for the new Homestead menus not to be printed because of some kind of error — and a month-old “lost bird” flyer that says the bird FLEW THE COUP. (Which coup was that, I wonder — have to go catch up on my international news.)
SIGHTING: Dall’s porpoises from the ferry, jumping fish from the Water Taxi. What a cool life.
Well, the Yahoo! Alki group confirms informally what I saw on a tv-news report tonight — cops swarming Alki this afternoon, not for Cruisers Gone Crazy, but for Restaurant Owners Rumbling. Didn’t know till now that the Duke’s and Christo’s bigwigs had bad blood. And as of this writing, King County’s jail roster shows the Christo’s boss behind bars.
About a month and a half after we all found out about the Charlestown Cafe‘s approaching demise, the P-I writes it up today.
It’s been one of those weeks where offline life interfered with online life. Now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging …
-Just got a note from one of the owners of Cactus Restaurants — he confirms that the new Alki location is opening this Monday, and says they’ve deliberately held back on trumpeting a definite date, but now they’re ready to go:
It is very important to us that we do a great job with the first customer who walks in the door. Our goal is to make available the same quality food and service to the West Seattle community that we have been providing in Madison Park and Kirkland for over 15 years. At our core, we are a neighborhood restaurant and look forward to serving locals like yourself and those that read your blog. I suppose the truth is that after weeks of telling people I don’t know when we are going to open, I’m excited and ready to spread the news.
-More food news: One of our most intrepid tipsters got to the latest liquor-application filings before we did, and discovered that Garlic Jim’s Pizza is apparently on its way to The Junction, in a near head-to-head with Pagliacci — the address on the app is for the former First Mutual Bank space on the east side of Cali Ave, near Quidnunc. (But will THEY deliver to my side of WS? Pagliacci still snubs us down here, grrrr …) Incidentally, this will be a return to WS, in a way, for the company’s prez, who according to this article from earlier this year was a founder of Jet City Pizza, which used to have an outlet in Morgan Junction.
-And speaking of tipsters, thanks again to everyone who’s been writing us with what they’re hearing and seeing around WS. It makes this little endeavor not only more informative, but also a lot more fun. (The e-mail link is on our “About WSB” page.)
-The Cactus Restaurant webpage for under-construction Alki has mentioned only “August 2006” as its opening date. So now that August is half over, will that really happen? Just got e-mail from an Alki reader who said she called one of the other Cactus locations to ask and was told they’re “shooting for” August 28.
-Something’s in the works at the former Cat’s Eye Cafe just north of Lincoln Park. Construction permits are posted in its windows; the online info describes the work only as “rewire/remodel studio.”
Turnover in Morgan Junction: The door at Manila Cafe (across from the future monorail site turned future park ‘n’ pub) is papered over, and a liquor-license ap is posted. Says the place is going to become “Kokoras Greek Grill.” The state site identifies the applicant as “Spiros Greek Island Enterprises.” Goodbye, adobo; hello, gyros!?
… is the fact that a fellow blogger is actually claiming to be excited to be “scooping” WSB. And more exciting STILL is what “Robla” has posted — a link to the Westwood Village website (scroll down the directory on the right) revealing that PIZZA IS COMING TO WV!!!!! (oh yeah, and Taco del Mar, too, but we’ve already got that in Jefferson Square)
Now the big question — does anyone have any idea what a “Gionnoni’s Pizza” is? Google draws a big fat blank (aside from the aforementioned Westwood Village link). What is this dastardly trend of places opening without websites where we can find out more about them? (like Talarico’s, which finally advertised a website in the Hi-Yu Festival booklet but as of this writing, that website is still “under construction”)
Anyway, thanks, “Robla”! We had news about a new Junction biz (thanks to a tipster) but now it’ll have to wait till later …
If you wanted to get bread daily from Great Harvest in The Junction, you’d have to skip Sundays — till now. Just passing thru a few hours ago, spotted a giant banner outside the store: OPEN SUNDAY. Funny they didn’t make the move sooner, given the size of the crowd that moves through the area for the Sunday Farmers’ Markets, for starters.
One is good news, the other sad (at least for many of us old-timers).
Sad first: Just found out via the West Seattle Herald (in a letter to the editor from last week; we’ll admit we’re behind in our reading), the Charlestown Street Cafe has lost its lease. We went there a lot in our early years here; not too many WS restaurants back then, plus we enjoyed their breakfasts. Then along came Easy Street, and Endolyne Joe’s, and our tastes shifted. But CSC has given ample warning, so we’ll go back for another round of Montana Potatoes (if they’re still on the menu!) at least once before they go …
Now, happy: The long-awaited Alki Statue of Liberty super-spruce-up is finally under way. As promised, the statue was trucked away this afternoon; read more here about what happens next. And check out a slideshow of what the future might look like when the all-new Liberty 2 arrives.
So I sent WS Blogger Spouse and an accomplice to Summer Fest for Night 1, because my condition after this workweek was a lot like Gerry Rafferty’s line in the classic “Baker Street” — “light in my head and dead on my feet.”
Their report centers around Pagliacci, where they attempted to get pizza before coming home. “One person who was really nice was taking my order,” reports WSB Spouse, “but then this other girl came out and started barking, ‘DON’T YOU KNOW THERE ARE SLICES OUTSIDE? IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG WAIT IN HERE.’ Then,” WSB Spouse continues, “this guy waiting on the bench by the window says to no one in particular, ‘I’M HERE TO GET A PIZZA FOR JOHN DOE‘S WIFE’.”
Ultimately, WSB Spouse and accomplice left with no pizza, and wound up getting something from Spiro’s, which finally seems to have a website.
As for the rest of Summer Fest, I’m told that Mr. Doe himself informed the crowd he had to avoid singing a certain song (or part of a certain song) when he realized there were a lot more kids than he’d expected to see. Last but not least, I’m told the collection of merchants includes a lot of “Home Show”-style stuff — windows, flooring, you name it.
I’ll go check it out tomorrow.
Checking around online for the latest on what people are saying about WS, I encountered a blogger who reviews restaurants and recently visited Coyotes on Alki. This person rates its food “average to above average,” but what struck me more about the post was the photo of the receipt … $5 tip on a $34 tab? Was the service average too? That’s not quite 15 percent. I usually tip 20 percent unless things are really bad (like the last time we went to Azteca in Burien, when our guacamole never arrived, and our chip basket and water glasses never got a refill — the waitpeople were solicitously buzzing around a big group nearby, instead of checking in on us). Meantime, anybody else have feedback on Coyotes? We haven’t been yet. I still find it hard to get over the fact that space is no longer The Point Grill (three names ago), which was our favorite WS restaurant in the ’90s and the site of many family memories (usually starring my old fave, the blackened salmon Caesar, sigh).
-Casablanca Coffee on 35th has changed its name – now it’s the Coffee Shoppe. Just noticed this on a drive-by, so we don’t know yet what’s different inside.
-If you hadn’t already noticed, Super Supplements in the Junction is open. The blue and red neon is still a little much for our eyes.
-You might find this mention a little odd, but we were fascinated to see Don Swanson Insurance in the Junction finally changing its facade. It’s looked the same for all of our years here (including the years when we bought our insurance there, before the GEICO gecko seduced us away, sorry, insurance is so darn expensive, that’s one thing where i will suspend my preference for local vendors).
Just back from Father’s Day lunch on Alki … and the parking-spot-search backups were intense. We went to Duke’s and had to park up near Alki Community Center. Driving back toward this side of town, we saw a huge jam of folks trying to get into the Salty’s lot. At least one person gave up, dropped off someone near the Salty’s entrance, and then went off in search of somewhere to leave the car — we last saw them evaluating whether they’d get away with parking near the Harbor Avenue 7-11.
I mention all this not to say “gee, don’t drive to Alki,” because I am aware we were part of “the problem” by doing that very thing. I mention it because the eateries just keep opening and you have to wonder where the cars will go. For example, compared to the 100-plus capacity for the future Cactus, how many cars does that little underground garage really fit?
BTW, on the Salty’s end of things, Alki Fish and Chips has a flyer up saying they’re adding an “outdoor patio with beer and wine.”
Made it over to get a closer look at “Al’s.” Sorry I got it wrong while driving by the first time — it’s Al’s CAFE and Espresso, not “Deli.” Small hand-lettered sign promises “soups, salads, sandwiches.” It was closed by the time we got there, so I can’t vouch for any of that myself. An interesting sighting nearby, though — a couple doors down, next to West Seattle Cellars, a liquor-license notice is posted for “Vino Verite” — with a handwritten sign promising “Wine Bar Soon!” (I see it’s got a Web site too.) Makes sense, but I’m wondering what’s up with all this “Verite” — that’s the real name behind the Cupcake Royale people, too.
Just noticed somebody new’s moved into the former Bubble Lounge Caffe (that’s the way they spelled it) on the east side of Cali Ave, a few blocks north of Morgan Junction. Big “Grand Opening” sign for “Al’s Deli and Espresso.” Didn’t have time to stop in to find out more — will wander by as soon as feasible.
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