You have to hand it to the entrepreneurs who target Capitol Hill’s exploding food and drink scene. They don’t do it halfway — they go whole hog. A summer that has seen Blue Moon Burgers rise to Capitol Hill and home-team-backed Lil’ Woody’s join the fun around Melrose will apparently end with a third dedicated burger joint joining the Hill’s previously Dick’s-dominated hot meat sandwich landscape. But the back-story on this one might be more interesting than the foodie news.

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Earlier this summer, Los Angeles’s 8 oz. Burger Bar suddenly shut down after a month-long “renovation” closure. We don’t know the fate of the SoCal operation, CHS has learned that restaurant concept is destined for Seattle’s Harvard Market complex that seems to have a revised restaurant scene thanks to (CHS advertiser) Marination Station.

No confirmation from the Market or the 8oz folks about where in the complex the burger bar will be located but the recently vacated Tidbit Bistro space at the corner of Broadway and Union was sold to an as-of-yet unnamed buyer.

The 8 oz. concept probably won’t surprise you — it, like an uncomfortably long list of comfort food providers, even has the magic blessing of things Oprah loves:

Chef/Partner Govind Armstrong brings his signature California style to our neighborhood burger bar. Armstrong along with 8oz.Executive Chef Jacob Wildman seek out the finest local ingredients and use only the best purveyors of humanenely raised and natural meats. Everything in our kitchen, from the house cured bacon to the homemade dill pickles are prepared with skill and care and we promise to deliver the highest quality food and drinks at affordable prices, in a comfortable and relaxed environment. Our signature burgers are made with the finest quality blend of humanely raised, hormone-free Black Angus sirloin. We grill all of our burgers over a wood burning grill, giving them an incredible flavor that is all our own. Our Estancia grass-fed beef, free-range turkey burger, and homemade veggie burgers can be customized to your liking with a long list of seasonal, house-made toppings. Not to be forgotten our menu also features several seasonal salads, sandwiches, and sides that you will be craving for. Come experience our short rib grilled cheese sandwich with onion marmaelade, and bel paese cheese that Oprah included on her “The Things We Love” episode. 

Those familiar with reality TV’s Top Chef might recognize Armstrong from Season 2 and for his appearance on Iron Chef. He is an expert in “California cuisine,” according to his website.

Armstrong was also a partner in Table 8, high profile restaurants in NY and LA along with a rather notorious backer, Josh Woodward.

In 2009, Table 8 and 8 oz. partner Woodward was arrested by Los Angeles Police after his girlfriend miscarried under what investigators said was suspicious circumstances:

The woman told detectives she had become suspicious after Joshua Woodward, the investor behind restaurants across the country, including Table 8, allegedly rubbed a white powder on her. Soon after coming in contact with the powder, she spontaneously aborted her 13-week-old fetus.

Woodward has, apparently, never been charged.

No word from 8 oz. on whether Woodward is involved in the Seattle operation. We’re checking with them for more details on the new restaurant and the company’s plans for its other locations in Miami Beach and inside a casino in lovely Bossier City, Louisiana. CHS’s call to Miami yielded this contact: “Email Josh,” the person who answered the phone said. Josh who?, we asked. “You’ll need to talk to him.”

Could be interesting. Could just be a guy named Josh. More when we sort it all out.

Learn more at http://www.8ozburgerbar.com/