West Seattle restaurants 1605 results

Casualty of the Cupcake Clash?

June 1, 2006 5:12 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Thanks to a tipster I’ll just refer to as “C” — we’ve learned there’s one less bakery in the Junction. Remo Borracchini’s, toward the Junction’s south end, has closed up shop. Sign says “Thanks for your years of patronage; visit us at our Rainier Avenue location.”

I’m not too broken up; don’t know if we ever went there, though I do vaguely remember some other bakery there previously, where West Seattle Blogger Spouse remembers trying to get a latte long ago and being told “Oh sorry, the gal who knows how to run that machine is out on break.”

Interesting, though, the west side of Cali Ave has been fairly low-turnover, compared to the east side. The only other recent shutdown I can recall is the tanning salon next to Pagliacci.

Belated Cupcake Royale review, & Junction stroll

May 31, 2006 4:01 am

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| Seen around town | West Seattle restaurants

Used the sleepy holiday morning this past Monday as the perfect occasion to go try Cupcake Royale “for real.” As I wrote here a couple weeks ago, we dropped in on Grand Opening Night, but I didn’t actually have a cupcake — left that to one of my escorts. So this time, it was cupcakes and coffee for breakfast.

Verdict: Great frosting (mint), so-so cupcake (vanilla). Not too sweet, which is good, but not so moist (as at least one other reviewer here had mentioned), which was a little disappointing. The coffee (double-tall latte) was also just OK. I’ll give them another chance next time it’s convenient, but I’m not going to go out of my way to rush all the way to the Junction for a “fix.”

Meantime, we kept the radar up for news while down in the Junction for the CR stop. Seems like there’s more to say about what’s NOT going on than about what IS — the old Neilsen Florist shop still has papered windows, but the grease-penciled message from a glass company is gone; the new Super Supplements (ex-Urban Fitness site) doesn’t have an opening date posted yet; the former First Mutual Bank storefront shows no sign of what will move in next.

Want some whiskey in your water, sugar in your tea …

May 26, 2006 4:17 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

(from a Three Dog Night hit in the sixties)

With the latest 21-and-over-only additions, we’ve got plenty of “whiskey in (our) water” options over here. As for the “sugar in (our) tea,” looks like one more is on the way …. West Seattle Blogger Spouse reports sighting a banner along the lines of “My Tea Place, Coming Soon” just south of the Admiral Junction mailing depot/travel agency/etc.

The next WS “grand opening”

May 23, 2006 3:20 pm

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| Delridge | West Seattle restaurants

Thanks to the Metroblogging folks for reminding me about Skylark Cafe, opening in a week and a half at the Delridge spot that used to be Madison’s. We’re not much for live music but we might go for the food, if the report here (second-to-last paragraph) is true about an ex-Easy Street Cafe person being involved.

We came, we saw, we cupcaked

May 18, 2006 5:57 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants | WS breaking news

Back from a peek at the Cupcake Royale grand opening-fest in the Junction.

As we stood in line for the freebies, along with dozens of other cupcake-curious folks, West Seattle Blogger Spouse hissed at me, “WHAT does it say on her T-shirt?” referring to the chirpy young CR staffer handing out mini-cupcakes “to tide (line-waiters) over.”

“Legalize FROST-itution,” I reassured WSBS. Just one of several mildly suggestive slogans on T-shirts for sale inside the shop, which was busy and buzzing, if semi-spartan. A big blue star dominates the back wall, loosely coordinated with the medium-blue paint gracing the ceiling (though the walls otherwise are off-white).

But I know you’re not here for a decor discussion. Sorry to say, I didn’t try the cupcakes; hadn’t had dinner yet. One of my escorts did try ’em, and describes the chocolate-with-chocolate-frosting cupcake as “airy.” (Side note — the beverage selection includes some old-school bottled sodas, like Squirt and Crush.)

Meantime, Coffee to a Tea with Sugar (aka Sugar Rush Baking Company) across the street bravely soldiered on. Both CTS/SRBC and CR have posted hours till 10 pm. Clearly no one associated with these joints remembers the dim days when the Junction had nothing open till 6, much less 10. P.S. The Super Supplements signage is up in the old Urban Fitness place, and it just looks wrong, somehow.

No need to wait for “The Bite”

May 16, 2006 3:32 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

The Seattle Center’s big food fest is still weeks away. But just one week from tonight, you can check out the Taste of West Seattle — with proceeds going to a great cause. (Tickets on sale now!)
Can’t tell if they’ve had this fundraiser before; I don’t remember anything big under the banner “Taste of West Seattle” since a short-lived mini-“Bite”-style event quite a few years back.

Remodeling must be tough

May 14, 2006 10:17 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

Scenes from the Junction, on the way to and from the Farmers’ Market:

-Cupcake Royale’s still got a lot of work to do before that grand opening party Thursday … IÃ‚Â suspect they’ll be burning the midnight oil.

-Up the block at the former Neilsen Florist store, the posted liquor license application mentions the business name “Think Tank LLC.” Haven’t been able to trace that one yet. But a glass company has grease-penciled onto the butcher-papered door, “WE WERE HERE AGAIN FRIDAY (AFTERNOON), NOBODY HERE AGAIN.”

Clash of the Cupcakes intensifies

May 13, 2006 7:35 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Thanks to tipster Deborah for the news that “Coffee to a Tea with Sugar,” across the street from the about-to-open Cupcake Royale, isn’t just painting “cupcakes” on the window to meet the challenge — it’s rebranding entirely. We drove through the Junction and verified her tip that CtaTwS is rebranding itself “Sugar Rush Baking Company” — that’s painted across the top windows (though the door has the original name, which I have always found so emetic that I haven’t been able to try the place). Gotta wonder if the May 10th review planted here is another form of combat.

Colonization

May 13, 2006 9:09 am

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| West Seattle restaurants | WS miscellaneous

Finally the pattern in all this new restaurant/bar activity has dawned on us … We’re getting colonized by North Seattle.

When we got here more than a decade ago, the persistent perception seemed to be that “no one who’s SOMEONE would want to live THERE — it’s boring, out of the way, rolls up the sidewalks even before the sun goes down.” The population out here was dominated by old folks who’d bought their houses during the real-estate boom around World War II.

But the secret they kept was the true desirability of this side of the bay — water access, fabulous views, proximity to the rest of the city without quite so much urban density, noise, blocked sunshine, and so on. We saw it when we got here, and as the for-sale signs started going up (we had a morbid joke that you could find a new one by following the aid cars around), other “young” (subjective term, we know) people followed us.

What lagged was culture and services for a younger, livelier, better-off population. But now, somebody’s turned on the tap. We started thinking about this after a reputable tipster e-mailed us that he’s heard Queen Anne’s Bricco wine bar is opening an outpost next to Cupcake Royale (could be the space formerly occupied by the used bookstore — we hadn’t even realized that store had left).

The cupcake folks, of course, are from the north side. So are the Matador people whose business is booming just a bit further north on Cali Ave. According to this article, the people behind Talarico’s run successful nightspots in Fremont. Down on Alki, the ex-market is turning into a Cactus Restaurant, previously known only to folks in Madison Park (and Kirkland).

These are just the most recent examples. The colonization of West Seattle REALLY started with a couple of watershed events — Pagliacci opening in the Junction (can we whine again about their delivery-area borders? thanks) and Starbucks expanding beyond the lone Admiral store that for years after we got here remained its only presence in WS. True!

On one hand, we’re happy that WS is finally considered hot ‘n’ happening. On the other, we’re personally feeling a little left out, since we’re not in the snack/sip/hookup demographic many of these places are targeting. But overall, it makes WS a livelier place than the old days dominated by drugstores and diners, no question, and WSB World HQ can at least enjoy the resulting vibes by osmosis!

This is not the site you’re looking for

May 11, 2006 5:41 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

A fair amount of folks find this site because they’re searching for more on some of the new local businesses I’ve been tracking in recent months. Glad to “meet” you all — we’re happy to be “stumbled onto” that way. But OTOH I feel bad that everyone can’t find the exact sites they’re looking for — such as, for heaven’s sake, why doesn’t Talarico’s seem to have a site? (If they do, it’s certainly not coded to come up anywhere in the search results.) I did want to mention, however, that Coyotes on Alki has a bare-bones site up, at least.

Grand opening

May 10, 2006 3:00 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

The Cupcake Royale mailing list just yielded an announcement of the Junction “grand opening” party next week. (Not that I’m any great cupcake fan — cupcakes make me think of childhood birthday parties, no hugely fond memories there — I just got on the mailing list to track our latest local arrival.) Here’s the text, in case this sounds like fun to you:

We’re almost ready to open our doors in West Seattle so we’re going to throw a party to celebrate! Naturally you’re invited, so plan on hanging with us from 6-9 pm on Thursday, May 19th. It’s our treat, so there will be FREE CUPCAKES, FREE COFFEE, AND DJ E.R. spinning the tunes. It happens one night only, so come on by or hear about it from your friends afterward.

We’ll be opening for official business starting May 19th. We’ll be open in West Seattle from 6 am until 10 pm every day.

And ANOTHER restaurant?

May 8, 2006 7:42 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

After a cruise through the Junction tonight, en route to chilly, windy Alki, I went back to the city permit site to look for clues to what’s behind the butcher paper now covering windows at the old Neilsen Florist shop. Lo and behold … all signs point to another restaurant.

Meantime, to the south along Cali Ave, a cupcake war seems to be shaping up. Just as Cupcake Royale starts flashing more gang signs as it gets closer to opening, we’ve spotted the folks at nearby Coffee to a Tea With Sugar throwing down by adding the word “cupcakes” to its window decor.

Mystery flyer

May 3, 2006 8:56 pm

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| Seen around town | West Seattle restaurants

On the bulletin board near the restrooms at the Thriftway, a hand-lettered flyer is up with the following:

CAT’S EYE CAFE + ESTATE SALE + COOKIES

5947 41st AVE SW, MAY 5-6-7 (IN ALLEY)

Went over to the Cat’s Eye Cafe (whose address bears no resemblance to that) and no evidence of anything except the same flyer tacked up to its sadly deteriorating sign.

Will have to send a scout over to the sale on Friday to get the scoop, unless anyone out there knows … is this the end for the months-shuttered CEC? Or a fundraiser?

Howling at the m … enu

May 3, 2006 6:33 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Envelope o’coupons came in the mail today. Among them, one for Coyotes on Alki (as mentioned here just last night), touting itself as “Alki’s Greatest Attraction! Authentic Mexican Grill” and promising “specialty margaritas, salsa dancing Fri/Sat, outdoor dining, mariachi players, daily happy hour 3-6 pm, reservations recommended.” Did it open sinceÃ‚Â we drove by last night? We supposeÃ‚Â we should gatherÃ‚Â our snooping companion and go down to have a look.Ã‚Â A Cinco de Mayo grand opening would be appropriate.

Another restaurant?

May 1, 2006 5:33 am

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| West Seattle restaurants

Started wondering again about what was up with the vastly empty Alki Market space. I hadn’t previously spotted the online minutes of the Alki Community Council with scuttlebutt that a restaurant was heading that way; the city permit site seems to bear that out, with a construction permit accepted recently. Can’t find any online evidence that the specific brand of restaurant mentioned by the ACC is the one that’s nabbed the space, but I probably just haven’t looked in ALL the right places yet …

Adults only?

April 29, 2006 3:04 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

A WSB reader just left a comment here saying the new Junction joint Talarico’s is 21-and-up only. If that’s indeed so, it’s unfortunate. I believe that’s also the case with Matador — at least as far as I could tell from one walk-by. West 5 manages to have a vibrant bar and all-ages restaurant co-exist in close quarters; why lock out families unless you’re truly doing something adults-only in your place, such as, oh, say, stripping? A lot of kids I know are better diners than a fair amount of immature adults. I’ve got nothing against 21-and-over taverns, but if you’re going to bill yourself as a restaurant, it doesn’t make sense to me to shut out the kids. Seattle already has a pathetically low percentage of households with kids — and this won’t help. (rant off)

But they didn’t mention Ben & Jerry’s

April 27, 2006 8:40 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

If I’d written this story about Husky Deli ice cream, I would have highlighted the fact they managed to survive a challenge from Ben & Jerry’s. You can’t tell me the folks at Husky haven’t high-fived each other a time or two over that whole situation.

That was fast

April 26, 2006 9:35 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Drove thru the Junction tonight — looks like the new Talarico’s pizza joint in the old New Luck Toy space (sign flashes PIZZA/LOUNGE/PIZZA/LOUNGE) is open already! Just a few hours earlier, someone had passed by and reported to us that “someone was in there stocking the bar …” wow. Don’t know if this was opening night or not; gonna have to check it out posthaste and report to y’all.

Construction zones

April 18, 2006 8:57 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Stroll through the Junction and you can get a good closeup look at what’s going on inside the ex-Ben-&-Jerry’s-turning-cupcake-joint and the ex-New-Luck-Toy-turning-pizzeria. The former isn’t really much more than a ripped-out shell, though a flyer on the window promises a “mid-May” opening; the latter has made much more progress, and the past two nights, windows fronting on Cali Ave have been so wide open, you could literally stick your head in and watch crews working into the night. Looks like it’s going to be gorgeous in there, BTW. Which reminds me, the very last paragraph of this Seattle Weekly article has a report about who’s behind the pizzeria, in case you missed it.

Pop …

April 15, 2006 6:03 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

… went the Bubble Lounge Cafe, on California a bit north of Morgan Junction. Just noticed it’s gone out of business. Stopped there a time or two, and never saw much of a crowd. A bit of an odd location, too, and being closed on Sundays couldn’t have helped (we would have patronized them a few more times if not for that scheduling quirk). However, hats off to them for trying; entrepreneurialism is never easy.

EBB expansion

April 3, 2006 6:53 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

Seems Elliott Bay Brewing Co. is expanding to a second (albeit secret) location (Puget Sound Biz Journal report via MSNBC). I think I mentioned here a while back that we re-tried them a while back and their burgers definitely passed muster, and then some.

Your 4 favorite WS restaurants

March 30, 2006 7:02 pm

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| West Seattle restaurants

If you were to pick ’em, would they be the same 4 as in this Times roundup (scroll down)?

I think West 5 belongs in that list, at the very least. But maybe that’s only because I’ve never been to Ovio. Peered at the menu a few times — will have to try it sometime — but it sounds a little too fused for me to bring West Seattle Blogger Spouse, who is a meat-n-potatoes type of person (and no, the meat can’t be “adolescent hamster raised on pinenut feed” nor can the potatoes be “spring purple fingerling speckled sardine-infused russets”).

Three weeks later …

March 28, 2006 7:40 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Gosh, I hate to brag. Well, no, I don’t, really …

The P-I will report TOMORROW what you read here on West Seattle Blog back on March 8.

Also sort-of-new tonight: Someone who helps publish the WS Herald finally found this here blog thing and answered my question from last month (scroll down to the comment).

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