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To combat Seattle cost issues, Broadway pizzeria makes meaty change as Boca Restobar and Grill

“To combat Seattle’s rising cost of doing business,” a Broadway wood-fired pizza restaurant has retooled and reinvented itself as Boca Restobar and Grill.

The changes have been underway and the signs are now up at the former Pizzeria 88 which will now feature “contemporary Argentine” cuisine and “eclectic traditional foods from Argentina” in an “informal setting” when it reopens after the shore remodeling and rebranding.

Last month, Seattle restaurateur Corino Bonjrada‘s pizza joint posted a message about the planned changes and short closure:

Dear friends, to combat Seattle’s rising cost of doing business, we have decided to pivot for a new concept. We are currently remodeling the dining room and kitchen, and will soon open under a new brand. Pizza lovers: don’t worry, the pizzas will remain! Same team, same oven, same promise to use only fresh ingredients. Stay tuned for announcements when we return.

Bonjrada opened his Pizzeria Ottantotto in early 2016 in the space formerly home to Corretto.

Settling on an informal Argentinian concept might not be the most obvious transition for a pizzeria looking to address cost issues. We’re looking forward to learning more about the change.

The new Boca is slated to open “soon” at 416 Broadway E and planned to be open daily from 4 to 10 PM — 4 to 9 PM on Sundays. You can learn more at bocarestobar.com.

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AdamG
AdamG
6 years ago

I grew up in Boca Raton, FL. I thought I would be free moving to the literal opposite corner of the country, but I guess I’ll never escape Boca

Ray
Ray
6 years ago
Reply to  AdamG

Immediately thought that as well (from Broward).

Bob Knudson
Bob Knudson
6 years ago

This restaurant has changed owners/names/cuisine more often than Carter’s has liver pills in the past few years!

poop
poop
6 years ago

But will we be able to see live Boca Juniors games while eating choripanes?

Phil Mocek
6 years ago

When I hear that a business publicly attributes their actions “to the rising cost of doing business,” I hear it as a coded expression of disdain for the requirements that businesses pay higher wages and take a larger share of the burden of funding our public resources. To me, an announcement like this is like a softer version of the “increased minimum wage fee” some restaurants were printing on people’s checks.

The rising cost of doing business in a place like Seattle comes with the increasing flow of potential customers. I figure the businesses that I want to support share my and others’ desires for their staff to be paid well and for the surrounding community to benefit from the feasibility of providing public services that dense populations provide.

Whining about the increased cost of doing business serves as an indication to me that a business likely tolerates the surrounding community as much as it has to do so in order to make a buck, but doesn’t really belong, and is probably a place I should avoid.

Mimi
Mimi
6 years ago
Reply to  Phil Mocek

Or, it could be the high cost of rent.

Jim98122x
Jim98122x
6 years ago
Reply to  Phil Mocek

I’m a bit confused (maybe I’m not). Are they trying to “combat the rising cost of doing business” by switching to a higher-ticket menu–thus (hopefully) improving profitability?. Is that what they mean? I can see how trying to eke out profitability on Broadway by offering only pizza would be tough.