Caesar Martinez’s Antojitos Jalisco was just one of the small but still shiny glimmers of hope in 2021 food and drink on Capitol Hill

2020 happened — we know because CHS reported on that year in the neighborhood’s stories of restaurants, bars, and cafes here. Looking back and considering the challenges of that year, a surprisingly robust class of new venues joined the Hill two years ago even as the pandemic first took shape. 2021’s stories are equally full of hope. There are also more crystal clear sad goodbyes. The return to something closer to normalcy brought with it a solidification in the neighborhood’s food and drink economy that penciled out as the end for some much-loved veterans of the neighborhoods dining scene. But when you click through and read the stories, you’ll find that most of those sad goodbyes include the prologue for new projects — and new hopes — in 2022. First, here’s a look back at the year in Capitol Hill food and drink.

THE PANDEMIC
Don’t forget — we finally got the vaccines in 2021 and service workers at Capitol Hill’s restaurants and bars were near the front of the line. By the end of 2021, Capitol Hill food and drink culture had incorporated a new world of pandemic-era service. It’s no big deal, now, to show your vaccination card or test results at the door. Thanks to the early adopters like CC’s for showing the way. Tents and patio tables became ubiquitous and could be a permanent new part of the neighborhood’s street scene. And, yes, this actually happened on E Pike but given how many of the installations there are, that event proved to be a rarity. To-go cocktails and beer are also apparently here to stay. More financial relief arrived but, as has been typical through the pandemic, it couldn’t help everyone. 2021 was not a time to sit still. Even Capitol Hill restaurant veterans had to be prepared to change plans. An example? Nathan Lockwood abandoned Carrello’s signature carts of stuzzichini, antipasti, and salumi due to COVID-19 restrictions but continued to serve its other signature feature — hearty Italian fare. Neighborhood favorite Rondo showed how it was done early in the year when in-person service was still restricted. Eventually, we could sit down again and other neighborhood favorites returned. Meanwhile, some restaurants explored new short-term revenue opportunities to stay afloat while other venues found support and financial help from their communities. How we work and how we organize also changed through the year with growing union activity emerging in surprising places like a Broadway Starbucks. Then the year ended with yet another challenge: Omicron’s surge forced even more plans to be changed. 2021 ended and 2022 begins with some of the greatest staffing and safety challenges of the pandemic.

NEW HOPE

• 

  (Image: CHS)

  After years of growth, the first new Capitol Hill restaurant in a new Capitol Hill space to open in 2021 didn’t debut until September when Kobuta and Ookami Katsu and Sake House opened in new construction on 15th Ave.

• Seasonal Pacific Northwest cafe Finch and Pine from chef Sara Moran arrived on Bellevue Ave, keeping the spirit of Sitka and Spruce — plus, “_____ and _____” restaurants — alive on Capitol Hill.
• Cafe Racer created a new home, new music venue, and new bar in an old space on 11th Ave.
• Counter favorite Carmelo’s Tacos expanded with a new 12th Ave location — and churros.
• Pike/Pine became home to Rey Amargo, bringing a legendary king of Mexican chocolate to Capitol Hill.
• More chocolate? Flight Wine + Chocolate and its pairings touched down in new construction on Capitol Hill.
• A 2020 debutante, we’re adding First Hill’s stylish Di Fiora to the class of 2021 — because 2020 didn’t happen.
• 

  Cornelly

  Another from the class of 2020, the Summit neighborhood didn’t really get to know Cornelly’s craft pizza and pasta until 2021.

• How about one more set of players with 2020 roots that more truly belong in the story of 2021? Light Sleeper and Wide Eyed Wines are now an integral part of Chophouse Row.
• We lied. Here’s another. But this is a reboot. And with the busy year Shota Nakajima had starring on the Portland season of Top Chef, the re-launch of his Taku with “twice-fried karaage nuggets” deserves 2021 love.
• Pike/Pine sandwich legend the HoneyHole got new owners — and added a new, larger second location in the Central District.
• Aki Kushiyaki brought its skewered and grilled meats — and $129, two-hour set-course menu — to E Madison.
• Gay bar Union completed a classic Capitol Hill move — four blocks down E Union.
• Bombay Burger opened on E Madison.
• Spice Waala added soft serve.
• Low scale pizza and wine joint Blotto opened on 12th Ave.
• Broadway’s busiest 80 square feet became home to Antojitos Jalisco and its Capitol Hill fruit cocktail plans.
• Also on Broadway, Eastside favorite Ishoni Yakiniku finally fired up its grills.
  

  Boona Boona

• Renton born Boona Boona Coffee expanded to 12th Ave.
• A new location of the local Kitanda coffee chain brought Brazilian lattes and cheese bread to Broadway.
• Overcast Coffee took over the coffee end of things at Metier on E Union.
• Pelicana’s Korean Fried Chicken debuted at Harvard and Pine.
• T’Juana Tacos moved in with Nacho Borracho.
• Tio Baby was born inside Rose Temple Bar.
• Another bar inside a bar on Capitol Hill, The Canterbury added The Apothecary.
• Sports bar Kessler’s became KJ’s on E Olive Way.
• Karachi Cowboys, with Aloo Sliders, “vegetable forward bowls,” and tamarind BBQ sauce, saddled up on 12th Ave.
• Limited Edition Sushi opened across from Cal Anderson.
• Capitol Hill’s Baltic Room became the Mint Lounge.
• Cakes + Trees cake and plant shop(!) began growing on 13th Ave.
• Jackson’s Catfish Corner and Simply Soulful arrived at 23rd and Jackson.
• Oaky’s Tex-Mex landed on S. Jackson.
• The overhauled and under new ownership Fuel Coffee reopened on 19th Ave E.
• The Cupcake Royale folks brought Wunderground Cafe and its grain bowls, bone broth, and adaptogenic mushroom coffee to E Pike.
• Volunteer Park Cafe reopened with new cooks in the kitchen, new ownership, and a fresh overhaul at 17th and Galer.
• 15th Ave E got a comedy club called — funnily enough — Club Comedy Seattle.
• Rubinstein Bagels expanded to Capitol Hill.
• 

  Inside Passage

  The incredibly over the top Inside Passage arrived deep beneath sibling rum bar Rumba.

• And, we’ll call this one a wash — the company behind Poke Bar shuttered the 12th and Pine location and replaced it with another of its concepts — a Fat Tomato pizza joint.
• One more for the limbo list? Star Fusion ended 2020 announcing it would close but finds itself back in business for who knows how long in 2021.

SAD GOODBYES

• Old School Frozen Custard, RIP.
• E Pike’s Cupcake Royale was repurposed by the business as a new home for mushroom coffee concept Wunderground Cafe.
• R Place lost its lease. The Comeback is underway in SoDo.
• We missed it in 2020 (because who knows WTF was happening), but the Starbucks at Pine and Broadway closed permanently.
• Cafe Barjot made way for Finch and Pine.
• Pho Huy made way for Bombay Burger.
• Juicebox Cafe shuttered and eventually made way for Karachi Cowboys.
• Barca closed after 20 years and is now the home to Cafe Racer.
• Mia’s off Broadway closed after nearly 15 years.
• Vios closed after 17.
• Cafe Presse announced it will close in early 2022 after 15 years on 12th Ave. You still have time to say goodbye.

MILESTONES

Ooink

• Elysian Brewing marked 25 years on Capitol Hill.
• With its last vestiges now on E Pike, Redhook celebrated 40 years in the PNW beer biz.
• Pony’s deck got slimmed down.
• Dick’s closed for six or so months of renovations.
• The Capitol Hill Farmers Market moved into its new home at Capitol Hill Station.
• Aviv Hummus Bar and Due Cucina added new locations beyond the Hill.
• Jeepney’s held onto its title as Capitol Hill’s best Filipino walk-up counter — before, during, and after the pandemic.
• Capitol Hill axe tossing joint Blade and Timber got its liquor license.
• Ooink celebrated five years of refining ramen on Capitol Hill.
• Montana marked a decade.