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Spaghetti Western — Hill’s first and possibly last pasta and BBQ joint — is closing

Just a little more than four months after reopening his Capitol Hill restaurant, Aleks Dimitrijevich has tapped out another classic goodbye message — this time in honor of his Spaghetti Western, the first and possibly last pasta and BBQ joint on Capitol Hill. Here’s his note posted Friday afternoon via Facebook:

And a good day to everyone :) i guess i’ll just make this short and sweet, maybe a touch of bitter to round things out, but such things are to be expected when things just dont seem to go the way you want them to.
i’m going to be closing this space down as Spaghetti Western so to speak. Tonight, tomorrow night and sunday brunch are going to be my last three official services here at the restaurant. five years of exhausting work, no vacations and no free time will suffice as reason enough…

a heartfelt thanks to all the friends and folks who came in and enjoyed round 2, hope you enjoyed everything!

the space will be opened up as a private event space for people to rent for parties of up to 40 peeps, menus will be flexible, i can cook just about anything you want, just pick a genre ;)

secondly, i will still be cooking plenty, food will be available through a couple companies for both business lunch caterings and take out, and will post more when that is ironed out and up n runnin. would personally rather use this place as a catering and commissary kitchen, focus on producing food for various markets and or parties…. which sounds a little less hectic than having to keep tabs of every aspect of a restaurant.

if anyone needs a space to prep i may consider renting kitchen time cheap to those in need, depending on what those needs are… my email can be found on the website.

also…. POP UP’s WELCOME… if anyone has food they want to cook at night in this space and friends they want to invite, by all means shoot me an email and we can chat! there will be a nominal charge for the space to cover basic costs, but beyond that you take the receipts from the food, i cover the drinks (the bar will be non negotiable for liability reasons, and i need to make some cash there as well so i can keep renting the space of course, otherwise this would be pointless!) (unless we do pop up bars! then we could switch it up and i could do food to match the drinks… just sounds like a trend waiting to happen!… or not :-0)

and lastly, if anyone needs any smoked meats (ribs, sausages, brisket, pulled pork or duck legs) i’ve got you covered! available with sides of course! also, baked pastas, mostly lasagnas, both vegetarian and meat varieties available, several sizes as well…. everything will be priced by the pound.

as soon as i get a couple of hours this coming week, a nice couple “days off”, i will work on updating all the information on the website, again email [email protected] for inquiries about food, pop ups, kitchen time etc…

a fond farewell

CHS visited the Bellevue Ave sequel to La Bete after it opened in November and found a tongue-in-cheek nod to spaghetti westerns come to life as your dinner and Dimitrijevich hard at work in the kitchen. “There’s definitely some ‘wink wink’ in it,” Dimitrijevich told CHS.

The restauranteur surprised many last summer when he abruptly announced he was closing La Bete, the restaurant he opened with partner Tyler Moritz in the old Chez Gaudy space on Bellevue just off E Olive Way in 2010. Dimitrijevich, definitely the introspective type, explained the decision to CHS at the time as a combination of personal reflection and business issues around the original restaurant partnership.

We haven’t reached Dimitrijevich yet to confirm details of the closure but will update with more information when we can.

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Aaron
Aaron
8 years ago

Went there once and I live a block away. The food was pretty good. The prices were not. I felt they didnt equal the quality of the food you get. Also their happy hour well drinks were $8. Ummm, that’s not even ok as a normal well drink price.

Brian
Brian
8 years ago
Reply to  Aaron

Get ready for more increased happy hour prices with the minimum wage increasing this week.

Capitol Hiller
Capitol Hiller
8 years ago

Um, where WAS the place? I drive Bellevue and Olive almost every day and have never heard of it. perhaps in addition to their prices, a bit of advertising might have helped?

dc
dc
8 years ago
Reply to  Capitol Hiller

It’s where La Bete was, a little out of the way on Bellevue Ave, by the Saint, around the corner from Montana.

They had sandwich boards on the sidewalk but the idea of combining bbq and pasta never appealed to me, and apparently didn’t appeal to anyone else either.

Here’s hoping something less fundamentally nasty-sounding and more affordable moves in.

mr.b
mr.b
8 years ago

well I really liked it. Best darn ribs anywhere. Just amazing!!!

Quail
Quail
8 years ago
Reply to  mr.b

I agree

Ella
Ella
8 years ago
Reply to  mr.b

Best bbq hands down in this city is at Jacks Bbq on airport way it’s close to Costco. You can smell the smokers a mile away. Try it and you won’t be to upset. FYI it’s not a chain same type of deal as this guy just epic!!!

RWK
RWK
8 years ago

I think the combination of a pasta and barbecue restaurant was a flawed idea….confusing and off-putting to potential customers. I suspect that the real reason for the closure is that business suffered.

Aleks is obviously a very talented and creative chef, and I wish him well.

dc
dc
8 years ago
Reply to  RWK

yeah, to be honest every time I saw the sign I thought, who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to put “BBQ” and “spaghetti” on the same slate? Just sounds nasty, even if the chef is good and makes it work.

Walked by there four or five times a week and never saw more than a handful of people inside, so I guess I’m not the only one who thought so.

Graham
Graham
8 years ago

After missing the last two dinners, I tried to go for Sunday brunch and was met by a sign on the door saying they were closed due to unforeseen circumstances. A real bummer, as I was a fan of both La Bete and Spaghetti Western, and I was looking forward to one last meal from Aleks and his staff.
I was as skeptical as anyone else when I first heard about the Spaghetti Western concept, but it really was good (no surprise) and the old La Bete standards were still there in case you wanted something more familiar.
Thanks for all the excellent meals, Aleks. I’ll miss the salads, pork rinds, burgers, and all the Monday night pop up meals.

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[…] Western may be gone but Aleks Dimitrijevich is putting his lease to good use. Venessa Goldberg, owner for How Pickle […]