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Two restaurants — a Madrona transplant and a ‘super fast’ pizza joint — coming to Broadway’s Joule

It looks like the Broadway Improvement Association won’t have to schedule one of those cool art installations to fill empty retail space in the Joule this spring. Dulces Latin Bistro, a longtime fixture of Madrona’s 34th Ave dining scene, is pulling up stakes from the neighborhood it has called home for 17 years and will be serving its Mediterranean and Latin menu from its new home in the Joule starting this spring. And Dulces won’t be the only new restaurant coming to the Joule. More on what’s next as Joule fills in, below.


CHS has reported on the challenges Joule has faced filling its some 30,000 square feet of retail space in a down economy. But 2010 ended with a new tenant taking over the north-end of the ground-floor retail as Umpqua Bank brought its new cafe concept banking to Broadway. Umpqua is a CHS advertiser.

Dulces owners Carlos Kainz and Julie Guerrero haven’t had an easy go of it through lean times in recent years. Kainz and Guerrero said that the economy was the main factor in the move from Madrona and that making ends meet in the neighborhood had been a struggle. In an email, they wrote that they were “forced to move in order to survive” but hope the new venture will give the opportunity for a new start. They are planning to re-open on Capitol Hill later this spring with a March target.

Meanwhile, CHS has learned of a spendy buildout that will further fill the Joule’s available retail space. In October, we reported that Mod “Super Fast” Pizza was coming to Capitol Hill. We now know that the “on-demand” pizza concept is destined for a suite of the Joule after a $420,000 buildout, according to city records. It will be the fourth location in the Seattle area for the local chain which differentiates itself on providing a fast super fast personal pizza built to your specifications. All pizza are currently priced at $6.28. We didn’t see any notes about gluten free variants but you can check out their menu, etc. at http://www.modpizza.com. CHS is excited about the “hand spun milk shakes.”

Both restaurants will join Qdoba which opened in the Joule last year.

With Joule’s transformation into a food and restaurant space, northern Broadway’s next phase of retail future continues to take shape. This week, CHS also reported on the planned springtime arrival of a new gym in the old Jade Pagoda space as bodyLAB begins its “high energy” workouts on Broadway.

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Tom
Tom
13 years ago

we all know that Pagliacci almost directly across the street isn’t enough pizza on the street?

douglasm
13 years ago

I would love to have a spot that sells slices of pizza on Broadway. Pagliacci doesn’t sell slices with meat on them because everyone who works there is vegetarian. (At least that’s what they tell me every time I walk in there and then leave because I don’t want a vegetarian slice.) I’ve reminded them every six months for ten years that their customers are not vegetarian and I tell them I’ll be walking all the way to Hot Mamma just to buy a slice of pizza and then I do. They don’t seem to care. So, if there’s a spot closer to my apartment (Broadway & John) that will sell me a personal pizza with meat on it, I’ll be spending my money there.

Matt
Matt
13 years ago

At least its not filling up ENTIRELY with chains…I guess? Oh who am I kidding, I want a burger place that is not Dick’s or McDonalds.

kgdlg
13 years ago

Matt, wouldn’t that be the Deluxe? They make great burgers.

lovemeat
lovemeat
13 years ago

I get pizzas with meat every time I go there.

JoshMahar
13 years ago

With Dulces Latin Bistro joining Poppy, Olivar, and Gallerias in the high end food market on North Broadway (not to mention a high energy workout studio), someone would do well to open one of these dessert boutiques in the area. Plus, then I wouldn’t have to trek it down South to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

You know what I think of when someone mentions Joule? Some of the most godawful public art in the city and constant spamming of Craigslist with apartment ads–multiple ads daily that make it far more difficult for all the individuals and smaller property owners to post their legit ads.

On top of that, they’ve built what is essentially a high rent gated community that insulates residents from the neighborhood rather than integrating them. This is exactly why people opposed the development–because people who’ve lived on the hill for years don’t want the place turned into Belltown.

marlowharris
marlowharris
13 years ago

You’ve got The Dilettante at the North end of Broadway and the B&O Espresso down at the other end. If that’s not enough, you can walk over to Pike/Pine and get High 5 Pies, Cupcake Royale and three kinds of gourmet ice cream. No dessert desert here!

songstorm
13 years ago

Not everyone is a fan of Pagliacci and sometimes it is nice to mix it up a little. At least it isn’t going onto 15th where there are already several pizza joints (and another on the way).

songstorm
13 years ago

And if you don’t want to make the trek down to Pike/Pine, I believe the Roy St. Coffee & Tea carries some Bluebird ice cream.

amy
amy
13 years ago

What about Dilettante almost across the street? B&O Espresso isn’t too far, either.

pinguina
pinguina
13 years ago

…and Pagliacci sells the delicious gelato from Gelatissimo. And just as an aside – Olivar has the most SCRUMPTIOUS desserts that are constantly changing (to the whims of chef Philippe and the seasonal ingredients). Pleasing to the eye and to the palate – and reasonably priced.

pinguina
pinguina
13 years ago

Inviting more people into our neighborhood to live can only help it! I don’t think the residents are gated off. I see them walking their little dogs all the time. :-) More street foot traffic, more consumers in the neighborhood who don’t require parking in order to walk and frequent the businesses is the best hope for revitalizing my little neck of the woods. Potential retail businesses (hopefully independent) who are considering opening will see the denser demographic and it might attract them to establish themselves…filling some of the empty storefronts and breathing new life into a part of Broadway that feels like its been slipping in past years.
I, for one, am excited and heartily welcome all the new residents!

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

True, MOD is a chain, but the Madrona restaurant is at least meshes with the culture of the neighborhood a bit.

I am surprised that any of these spaces are filling up at all, frankly. They are massive spaces not really suited for Capitol Hill’s typical (once?) small scale retail and restaurants. The Joule, and Broadway Building to a lesser extent, are really just begging for chains based on the sort of space they offer.

How soon before we see Wild Ginger or Seastar? Eastsiders need something to do in Seattle, right?

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

Anon, I completely agree. I walk by Joule often and wonder why they didn’t just open up those corridors to the neighborhood. They could actual have more human scale commerical tennants and the building would feel a bit integrated into the fabric of the neighborhood.

Countless studies have shown that a safer communinity, a gate does not neccessarily make, but I guess they missed the memo. Hopefully the mega project coming in further south tries to keep that in mind. The probably won’t though.

NRH
NRH
13 years ago

Me too. Meat every time. Like 5 different kinds.

NRH
NRH
13 years ago

Gallerias is in the high-end food market??

chimsquared
13 years ago

Impossible. There are no vegetarian options on The Hill.

CapHillMax
13 years ago

Ditto on Dilettante – awesome deserts (and chocolate martinis)

ZefWagner
ZefWagner
13 years ago

You have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m vegetarian and I always get annoyed at Pagliacci because they always only have one vegetarian option other than plain cheese. They always have at least 2 meat options.

ZefWagner
ZefWagner
13 years ago

I agree about the central gated walkthrough–that should have been left open for the public. People complain about “incentive zoning” in South Lake Union, but you have to admit it has resulted in some great publicly-accessible courtyards and walkthroughs in exchange for a couple stories of height. If we want better buildings in Capitol Hill, we need to adopt something like that.

I actually really like the Harvard size of Joule, however. Once the trees grow more it will be a really nice place to walk. I like that style reminiscent of brownstones with lots of entrances.

ZefWagner
ZefWagner
13 years ago

Pizza is the new ice cream.

surprised
surprised
13 years ago

really? you go there just to tell them that? for that long? could you maybe…get a life?

getlife
getlife
13 years ago

Really? You are commenting on a blog about somebody else needing to get a life…

I guess I need one as well.

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

but pie will be the new pizza.

ME
ME
13 years ago

I agree, we do need a better burger place besides Dick’s.

And I have to disagree about the Deluxe, their burgers are just not that good

JS
JS
13 years ago

is the new cupcakes.

Seriously though, Mod Pizza is real good, so I can’t hate on this. Though that makes at least 3 new pizza joints on broadway or right off broadway in the last like 6 months (zPizza & Big Marios being the other) coupled with Hot Mama’s, Pagliacci, and Amante the hill* is really filling up with pizza joints.

*i don’t go past 12th unless it’s to TJ’s so I don’t know about the pizza joints on 15th somebody else mentioned.

Traevynn
Traevynn
13 years ago

Poppy has awesomely tasty desserts as well. You can order a full-on tray of several different ‘tastes’ or just order one dessert off the menu. The Hot Date Cake with handmade Banana Ice Cream is enough to start the siren call of sweet addiction!

Shawn
Shawn
13 years ago

A dry cleaner would be great somewhere close here to the northernmost part of Broadway…

Veg
Veg
13 years ago

So Zef, you say they have two veg options and two meat options and you have a problem with that. You don’t eat meat and you are still angry.

umvue
13 years ago

Bullshit. Half of Joule building is residences opening directly onto street.

umvue
13 years ago

Not a fan of Pagliacci but when I posted a yelp review they wrote to me promising to bake to my taste. Don’t know if they’d really follow through…

JoshMahar
13 years ago

oiseau: Wild Ginger and MOD are only as chainy as say, Vivace, Vita, Dicks, Tacos Bravas, or any other local company with multiple locations.

I would also argue that the Broadway Building did a really good job of having a variety of space sizes. I believe almost no two spaces are the same size and range from Panera’s large space with ample outdoor seating, to Genki’s deeper space, to ECS’s tiny space.

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

Josh, I agree that Wild Ginger (no real problem with MOD) and Seastar are local chains, but they cater to a specific crowd. I am not even saying that the food is all that bad. It’s just that they seem to price out a specific demographic and if they were located on Broadway, they would definitely be in contrast to a lot of the surrounding neighborhood.

As for the Broadway Building, there are a variety of spaces (much more variety than Joule), but I guess it’s just aesthetics for me. Buildings like the BB, in my opinion, tend to attract places like Panera, and can alienate smaller scale businesses with a bit more personality. The BB is totalitarian, whereas say a traditional block built up over a hundred or so years can have an eclectic mesh pf characters.

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

via a large yellow gate, no?

JoshMahar
13 years ago

Courtyards are an important part of urban residential space.They give people more light, air, and perhaps most importantly, a quiet place to open the window. They are an alternative to set backs and maintain the strong urban edge that keeps our streets fun and vibrant. Go look at a google map of nearly any European city and you will see that almost every building has a courtyard. However, with most of these the access is completely internal, separated from the public sphere. I think it was nice that the Joule at least attempted to blend the public/private spheres because it breaks up the massive building and gives some interesting texture to the block. Sure it would be great if that was public, but I certainly understand the desire for some private outdoor space, just like how other buildings have balconies, roof tops, terraces, etc.

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

Make a trek up to 15th for Olympia Pizza. You won’t be disappointed.

(Though Hot Mama’s is my home base for pizza)

JoshMahar
13 years ago

Price out a specific demographic? Wild Ginger is a hell of a lot more affordable than Poppy or Olivar.

Certainly a newer building is going to be more expensive, new things nearly always cost more than old ones, which are presumably paid off.

Of course that isn’t always the case. Look at the Pearl on 15th. That building, although perhaps not the most aesthetically pleasing, attracted ONLY local, independent businesses (Envy, Anchovies and Olives, the smoothie joint).

My theory on the Broadway Building is that the owner spent a lot of time on the design, along with rehabilitation costs on the buildin next door and the EBBC building, that they needed cash quick, so they took the tenants that could pay.

calhoun
13 years ago

Whenever I take-out from Pagliacci (not very often), there is at least one kind of meat option by the slice, often two. But I must say that they are very skimpy with the amount of meat they put on the slice….a few slices of pepperoni, at most. They could be a bit more generous. I’ll definitely give the new place a try…the price of $6.28 sounds too good to be true, though…wonder what the quality will be like for that.

zeebleoop
13 years ago

i can agree with points in both of your comments.

@joshmahar

oiseau is likely comparing wild ginger/seastar to a genki/z pizza customer which, i think, tends to be closer to college age. would that demographic be able to afford to eat at a mid-range sit down restaurant on a regular basis? no.

@oiseau

while i’m sure there may be a lot of people in the north broadway area who attend sccc, i see that area as slightly older, with steady jobs and the kind of discretionary income to allow them to eat somewhere other than a fast casual restaurant. that said, yes, both wild ginger and seastar would be out of place as i see them attracting the theater/business crowd which is why they likely choose downtown/bellevue for their locations; a spot on the hill doesn’t seem a fit.

overall i think buildings attract the businesses they do because of the demographics but also because of the likelihood of a business to pay their rent. if i owned either the joule or broadway buildings, while i’d love to have a local shop, owned by one of my hill neighbors, in one of the spaces, i have to keep in mind i have a mortgage to pay; and the bank doesn’t take bedazzled hoodies and bike cozies.

calhoun
13 years ago

I don’t blame the Joule developer one bit for making their courtyard private/gated. Although Broadway has been cleaned up alot in recent years, there are still some street people who would likely trash that space if it were open to the public. And residents of Joule pay good money to live there, so they should at least have access to an outdoor space that is all their own.

On the issue of “integrating into the neighborhood,” Joule earns high marks in my book…the large, open entry area on the Broadway side (which divides the building in half) could easily have been instead a solid, filled-in space with a locked door accessing a lobby. And, in my opinion, the retail spaces by themselves are an integrating factor, especially now that they are filling up with tenants, because they are all open to the public.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Joule residents….most of us are very glad to have you here!

Rachel
Rachel
13 years ago

I work in the downtown building with a Mod Pizza location and I can tell you… it’s really disgusting. It’s “super fast” because they basically use a tortilla for the crust and all the toppings are so lifeless, they may as well have been freeze-dried. I suppose with fast-food Qdoba in the building, though, another bland fast-food place like Mod Pizza will fit right in.

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

oops, see below:

oiseau
oiseau
13 years ago

Calhoun, I don’t think anyone has mentioned anything negative about the residents of Joule.

I think one side of the crowd just had thoughts on neighborhood integration as opposed to isolation. Islands in cities have proven to leave the areas around them to be stagnant in the US for at least the last 60 years or so. The reason courtyards work in *some* European cities, would be a different mindset when it comes to street level engagement. In at least all of the European cities that I have been to, I’ve never witnessed a mega project that had such large, unrealistic commercial spaces. Yes these spaces might have courtyards, but they also usually are part of smaller blocks with many more businesses per block, and more people visiting an array of businesses.

Lastly, I completely disagree about the homeless thing. Homeless people would have no reason to hang out at Joule for one “to trash it,” and secondly a vibrant street atmosphere usually makes anyone uneasy about doing anything negative anyway. With shops and restaurants in human scale corridors, there would be too many people around for anyone to have a chance to “trash” anything. Lots of eyes on the street act as neighborhood enforcement quite well.

But, I guess we can all agree to disagree on some things.

calhoun
13 years ago

Appreciate your comments, oiseau. I was not referring to any negative comments about Joule residents…only trying to say that they (and their building) are welcome additions to the neighborhood.

On further reflection, I think you’re right that the street people/homeless would not be a problem if the Joule courtyard was open to the public, but if I lived there I would want that area to be private, as it is.

And I agree completely that more “eyes on the street” greatly enhance neighborhood safety and livability. This is exactly the reason why all the new residents along Broadway (Joule, Brix, Broadway Building, and soon 230 Broadway) are an excellent addition to our neighborhood.