Author Archives: jseattle

About jseattle

Justin is publisher of CHS. You can reach him at [email protected] or call/txt (206) 399-5959. Follow @jseattle on Twitter or be best pals on Facebook.

Ch-ch-changes as some of the last remaining parents of Pike/Pine hand over the keys to the Cha Cha — UPDATE

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(Image: Cha Cha Lounge)

Some of the last remaining progenitors of Pike/Pine cool are handing over a key neighborhood hangout to a new generation. New permits and state corporation filings show E Pike’s famed Cha Cha Lounge is moving into 2026 in new hands. Its street-level sibling Bimbos Cantina is apparently along for the ride.

“Viva La Cha Cha!,” is all owner Jeff Ofelt said in reply to a string of calls, texts, emails, and social media messages over the past week as CHS tried to pin down the Cha Cha’s iconic ownership group to learn more about the deal.

The business face and voice of Cha Cha and Bimbos over recent years, Ofelt first crafted the Mexican lounge and cantina vibe 30 years ago with its original location on E Pine with co-owners Rebecca Olson and future husband and Pike/Pine founding father Wade Weigel. Continue reading →

Whereas the 8 is pretty much always late, Seattle mayor calls for plan to speed up clogged bus route

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WHEREAS, Route 8 has such terrible on-time performance that they call it the L8, Mayor Katie Wilson is making a bid to improve the vital bus line’s performance with an executive order issued Thursday that calls for a dedicated bus lane and “other transit improvements” on Denny Way.

Part of two executives on the day including an initiative to speed the creation of new shelter and housing projects launched Thursday, Wilson’s Denny Way executive order is taking on a Seattle transit issue that has decayed for years.

CHS reported last summer as advocates said they were renewing their push — Can they ever really fix the 8?, we asked. The Transit Riders Union Wilson founded and Central Seattle Greenways said yes despite  King County Metro and SDOT’s failure across decades to arrive at solutions. Continue reading →

13 Capitol Hill food and drink joints to look forward to in 2026

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(Image: Fire Tacos)

(Image: CHS)

By CHS’s count, 35 new bars, cafes, and restaurants opened across the Capitol Hill area in 2025. There are, of course, plans for more in 2026.

A core of the Capitol Hill economy and a source of jobs and opportunities across the area, food and drink joints are also centers of their neighborhoods and, often, a big part of the connections we feel when we look at the streets around us.

After the challenging years of the pandemic, some of those connections might feel frayed with boarded-over windows and shuttered spaces. Here is a look ahead at 2026 where, hopefully, some of those papered windows are ready to open back up and re-connect you to the spaces in your neighborhood.

  • If you count months before opening, Fire Tacos Cantina on 15th Ave E will be the most highly anticipated food and drink opening of the year on Capitol Hill. CHS first reported on the project in September… 2024. Owner Erika Torres confirms the project is still a go more than a year later after the long path through small business growth and City of Seattle permits. Fire Tacos will put the former Coastal Kitchen space back into motion with an expansion of the food truck venture and Alki Beach-born original to bring birria tacos, margaritas, and more to the center of the 15th Ave E neighborhood. When? Expect Fire Tacos to finally fire up in February. Continue reading →

Wilson issues executive order on homelessness and shelter

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Neighborhood news site MyBallard has details on Mayor Katie Wilson’s decision to pause a planned encampment removal near NW 41st St and the Burke-Gilman Trail as the new mayor shapes her administration’s approach to homelessness:

The encampment is located at NW 41st St and the Burke-Gilman Trail, where 17 people are currently residing. On Monday, camp residents were given notice to vacate within 48 hours. Wilson visited the site on Tuesday to “understand in detail for myself what’s working and not working in our current approach,” Wilson said in a statement. A few years ago, the city installed large concrete blocks to discourage people from camping there, and it’s been cleared multiple times in the past.

In her Wednesday statement on the pause, Wilson said her administration “will soon be announcing concrete steps to expedite the expansion of emergency shelter and will move quickly to open new shelter space.”

Thursday morning, Wilson was scheduled to announce a “significant action on transit and homelessness” involving the city’s shelter resources at a meeting of her transition team.

Despite the Ballard pause, the city’s ongoing process around encampments has continued with more than 100 sites reported as “resolved” so far in the first weeks of 2026.

Near the stadiums, RVs and tents were reported cleared this week as the Seahawks are preparing to host the 49ers in the NFL playoffs Saturday night.

(Source: City of Seattle)

UPDATE 10:30 AM: Wilson has announced an executive order to speed up the creation of new shelter and affordable housing in the city with a new “interdepartmental team” tasked with identifying “options for financial incentives, permitting changes, and other policy changes.”

The order also calls for the process to identify city-owned public land “and other public lands” which could be used to site new emergency shelter and housing.

According to the order, the team is planned to complete its recommendations by March 2026.

Accelerating the Expansion of Emergency Shelter and Affordable Housing

Mayor Wilson is ordering immediate action to bring people inside by expediting the expansion of shelter and affordable housing.

Her executive order to accelerate the expansion of emergency shelter and affordable housing will:

  • Rapidly expand and expedite the provision of new shelter and affordable housing by immediately launching an interdepartmental team to identify options for financial incentives, permitting changes, and other policy changes.
  • Identify and prioritize city-owned public land and other public lands which could be used to temporarily or permanently site new emergency shelter and housing.
  • Coordinate with regional partners to identify shelter programs that have capacity to add units to existing programs.
  • Identify best practices working with organizations with expertise in behavioral health to support substance use disorder treatment and mental health counseling for housing and shelter programs.

The mayor’s executive order accelerating the expansion of emergency shelter and affordable housing is available here.

 

The order comes as sweeps and clean-up policies continue. According to the city, there have been more than 1,500 “open” encampment reports filed by residents in the past three months through services including the Find It, Fix It app.

 

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‘Shame on the arsonist!’ — SPD asks for public’s help tracking down suspect in Capitol Hill cinnamon roll shop fire

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The Seattle Police Department is increasing its efforts to track down the suspect from last month’s intentionally set Christmas Day fire that singed the E Pike building home to the Cinnaholic cinnamon roll chain.

Wednesday, SPD posted security images of the suspect and called for the public’s help in identifying the alleged arsonist:

The Fire Marshall determined the blaze was intentional; it started after cardboard outside the business was set on fire. First responders did not see anyone in the area as they arrived. SFD requested a police report documenting the suspected arson. Video surveillance cameras captured footage of the suspect, yet the quality of the images are low. If anyone recognizes the person in the photographs, they are asked to call the SPD Non-Emergency Line at 206-625-5011.

CHS reported on the holiday fire as it happened last month and Cinnaholic owner James Prop added security images to the CHS comments. Continue reading →

Central Area Youth Association makes plans for new community space and 37 new affordable Central District homes at 23rd and Yesler

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(Image: Allied8)

(Image: King County)

A project to build 37 new affordable Central District homes — and new space for a nonprofit dedicated to the area’s Black communities — will further equitable development efforts in the neighborhood and is ready to take shape at 23rd and Yesler.

Officials say after years of advocacy, planning is underway for the groundbreaking of the four-story project that will replace the Central Area Youth Association center on the busy corner. The 1920-era building will be demolished to make way for the new development but the project will create a new street-level community space for the organization below 37 new homes above. Continue reading →

ICE protest disrupts Seattle City Council meeting

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A group calling itself the Seattle chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression including former District 3 representative Kshama Sawant disrupted the Seattle City Council Tuesday forcing a short recess as they demanded city officials end “all collaboration” with ICE.

The disruptions came amid an hour of public comment Tuesday afternoon as newly elected council president Joy Hollingsworth engaged in dialogue from the dais with the protest crowd and offered to meet privately.

After repeated disruptions, Hollingsworth called the recess. The demonstrators were cleared out of council chambers when proceedings continued. Continue reading →

Wilson campaign was hit with $250 ‘Momgate’ fine

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Future Seattle mayoral candidates be warned — Money given to you by family members to help with personal expenses during your run for City Hall are subject to campaign finance rules. The Katie Wilson campaign was fined $250 after the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission director ruled $10,000 given to the candidate by her parents for childcare should have been reported as campaign contributions.

“In line with this advisory opinion, and in order to avoid creating an avenue for our
campaign finance regulations to be easily circumvented, I conclude that the funds from the
candidate’s parents to help her with childcare expenses incurred because of her candidacy are campaign contributions,” SEEC director Wayne Barnett wrote in the December decision. Continue reading →

Seattle has a Capitol Hill renter in the mayor’s office — Does it need a mayoral mansion like New York City?

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(Image: City of Seattle)

The Bullitt House is available

This week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani moved into Gracie Mansion, the city’s 1799-built Manhattan mayoral residence overlooking Hells Gate.

In Seattle, as Mayor — and Capitol Hill renter — Katie Wilson sets about her goals of creating more housing for more types of people in the city, shouldn’t she also get her own place.

“While the mayor is certainly interested in publicly-owned, permanently affordable, mixed-income housing, I don’t think she’s looking to acquire public property for her own residence,” a Wilson spokesperson tells CHS. Continue reading →

Born into the pandemic, Chophouse Row wine bar Light Sleeper is closing

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Light Sleeper was born with a mask on into the teeth of the pandemic and made the best of things with takeout and bottles to go

Honey, wake up, Chophouse Row’s “vins sans intrants” and “roast chicken, fries & pizza pies” hangout Light Sleeper is closing.

“Opening a spot as an independent operator is very personal. Lots of dreaming and sacrifice. Lots of fear and joy. The costs to do this in Seattle are insane… some can pull it off, others can’t,” sommelier owner Ezra Wick said in the announcement that wine-focused restaurant is set to close in February after six years inside 11th Ave’s Chophouse Row.

“I started my career in restaurants on Pike/Pine, cooking breakfast at the Puss Puss Café over 30 years ago. I’ve been pouring wine on this block for 16 years, Osteria La Spiga, Bar Ferdinand, Sitka and Spruce – I met and fell in love with my wife on this block. Shit, I was born seven blocks away. It’s personal.” Continue reading →