The folks at Aamrai (Image: Aamrai)

A Capitol Hill food and drink venue where a December 2024 closure marked what many feared would be the start of a wave of Capitol Hill shutdowns is back in motion this summer.

Aamrai Indian Kitchen & Bar is now open on Bellevue Ave.

“Aamrai offers a warm and inviting ambiance, with soft lighting, cozy seating, and gentle background music, making it the perfect place to celebrate those special moments with your loved ones,” the opening announcement reads. “Take your guests on a decadent culinary journey as you feast on our authentic menu, thoughtfully created by our team.”

CHS reported here on the late 2024 closure of The Jilted Siren as the barely one-year-old lounge’s ownership blamed “short sighted, negligent decisions” at Seattle City Hall for contributing to its closure. Small business advocates feared The Jilted Siren’s end might be the start of shutdowns of Seattle’s restaurants, bars, and small businesses most impacted by the 2025 expiration of the city’s tip credit. Six months later, the closure wave never really materialized — but there are signs of change in the neighborhood’s food and drink economy.

(Image: Aamrai)

An example like Aamrai can be found on 12th Ave where Indian restaurant and bar Mint & Martini expanded to Capitol Hill… from St. Louis. The owners of the new addition to 12th Ave built their food and drink experience in Missouri and found a prime investment opportunity on Capitol Hill when the giant 4,000-square-foot space home to Barrio became available after the Mexican restaurant from the Heavy Restaurant Group shuttered to end 16 years of service on Capitol Hill.

Now open on Bellevue Ave in the former Jilted Siren and onetime Kedai Makan space, Aamrai represents a similar investment as first-time Seattle owner Rupesh Naik hopes to grow into a steady contributor to the lower Capitol Hill food and drink scene just off E Olive Way.

The opening is the second new addition to the block this year. Tiny Laurel, the coffee and cocktail bar from Kate Opatz, opened around the corner in the former Crumble and Flake bakery earlier this year.

Meanwhile, a new closure has added a new hole along E Olive Way. More on that soon.

Other recent Capitol Hill openings also are ripe with trends and change. The latest is the debut of smash burger walk-up window Double O’ Burgers at Summit and Pine where the Pike Street Hospitality Group behind the food and drink family including Rumba and HoneyHole are showing another way to survive and thrive in the Capitol Hill food and drink economy. Another big change from the Sea Creature restaurant group as it refines and optimizes E Union’s Bateau will also be a lesson.

But you don’t have to worry about all of that. At Aamrai, focus on the butter chicken, kadai baingan, and paneer tikka masala and enjoy a pineapple sour spritz or the Aamrai mai tai. Enjoy the space with echoes — tile, lights, finishings — of the restaurants and bars that filled it before. And be happy this part of the block is, again, open for business.

Aamrai is now open at 1802 Bellevue Ave. Learn more at aamraiseattle.com.

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