We marked the September passing of Pike’s Bar & Grill because, well, somebody had to. It was only 3 months old. Not to continue kicking the poor little guy around but to illustrate what is left in the, um, wake when these things go belly up, we note this public post taped to the shuttered grill’s front door. If you can’t read the number, check out the second image. That’s $30k in rent the law firm says the people behind Pike’s owe.
Saw similar notes when Rainbow Grocery went under on 15th Ave E.
And we wonder why small businesses can’t make it on the Hill. Thirty fucking “k” is the reason. Hope the owners lose their ass and shirt.
When I say owners I mean the property owners.
Thanks for the info. It’s funny, a restaurant tries to get your business by making you feel warm and welcome. Then when they close abruptly without telling you why, it leaves you feeling like a jilted lover. Just tell me why.
I agree that 30k sounds high (how many months?), but that is one of the ultimate prime spots on Cap Hill. 12th and Pike gets a whole lot of foot traffic and I bet the rent is market rate. The restaurant owners knew the rent going in, and I’ll bet they didn’t have a business plan, or if they did, it was overly optimistic. I think some business owners think “if I make really super fancy, it will be really successful.” Doesn’t work. Not on Capitol Hill. We don’t have the incomes to support an upscale restaurant. Look around. If you make it upscale, people only go there for special occasions.
From the beginning, I thought the name and the style were a total mismatch. The fancy ambiance felt nothing like a Bar and Grill.
I agree with SeattleBrad that $30K may not be an exorbitant amount of rent for that location, given that it goes back some 4 or 5 months, but given the current economic downturn & parallel real-estate melt-down, I doubt the property owners are going to get that same amount of monthly rent from any new lessee.
I’m guessing this may be a first step toward allowing the property owner to recover some of this back-due rent by taking over the physical assets of the space, which in turn would be a step toward being able to re-rent the space to another tenant. Regardless, it’s still going to be a tough sell, what with the neighborhood being suddenly swamped with new eating establishments already.
What about Quinn’s and BOOM Noodle? These are both very expensive for what they serve but they are both very popular. For whatever reason I think the hill is yearning for high end food but maybe more casual ones like BOOM and Quinn’s.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I won’t go back to Boom Noodle or Quinn’s anytime soon because the food didn’t live up to the prices. Their spaces may be pretty, but I can enjoy pretty interiors elsewhere and not have to pay out the nose for cheap, unsatisfying food.
It amazes me when people spend a ton dressing up a restaurant when they don’t have the food to back it up. It seems to me that you should put most of your attention on getting the taste right, then friendly service, then fancy mood lighting as your last priority.
That’s what I’d demand if I was bankrolling a new place, anyhoo!
I think Boom Noodle is over priced because noodles are cheap and are supposed to be cheap. But Quinn’s? I think they are actually a tad underpriced… That $10 wild boar sloppy joe is tour de force of flavor, it could easily go for $10.75
The Quinns sloppy joe is dry and sub par.