At the soft opening for the new @KatsuBurger in Capitol Hill! #katsu #burgers pic.twitter.com/wxdxtkujZm

— Jack Parker (@parkerjb7) December 28, 2016

“By demand and popularity,” Katsu Burger is now open on Capitol Hill. The popular Japanese-style burger joint’s 12th Ave expansion debuted this week with a “quiet opening” as the restaurant gears up for life on the edge of Pike/Pine.

A Thursday grand opening is planned. After, Capitol Hill will be the lucky recipient of extended Katsu hours with plans to operate 11:30 AM to 10 PM Sundays through Thursdays, and 11:30 AM to 2 AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

“By demand and popularity we thought Capitol Hill would be a perfect place to open,” owner Stephanie Kang told CHS as we broke the news in November on Katsu’s arrival on Capitol Hill.

Katsu Burger was a sensation when it opened its first location in Georgetown in 2011 with “seaweed fries, green tea milkshakes, and fried pork cutlets on a bun.” After the original Katsu shuttered, Kang acquired the business, reopened the original and set out on a path of expansion that has put Katsus on the Eastside and in Lynwood.

Katsu Burger takes over the space left empty by the financial implosion at The Old Sage. That upscale concept closed its doors in June in the midst of its owner’s $2.4 million bankruptcy. The dark and smoky upscale barstaurant’s interior hasn’t changed hugely with the new tenant though it’s peculiar old-timey mural is long gone. In its place, Katsu has splattered a Japanese comic panel-style mural with Godzilla and friends.

The opening marks the 36th food+drink debut on and around Capitol Hill in 2016.

Katsu Burger is located at 1410 12th Ave. Check out katsuburger.com for more information on hours and any holiday closures.