Rodrigo Parisi and Saulo Cruz (Image: La Fontana Siciliana)
A pizza-focused cousin of classic Belltown Italian joint La Fontana Siciliana is coming to Capitol Hill’s Broadway.
Plans for Capitale Pizzeria are underway in the space left empty by the sad end for the Boca family of food and drink after the death of founder Marco Casas-Beaux at 72 last year. CHS reported here on the closure of Casa-Beaux’s venues amid unpaid rent and legal issues.
Capitale Pizzeria will continue a Capitol Hill history of pizza in the 426 Broadway E space that Casas-Beaux’s Boca Pizzeria and Bakery called home. Before Boca transformed the address, it had been home to Broadway’s Pagliacci before the chain made a 2019 exit after nearly 40 years on the street.
There aren’t a lot of details yet on the plans for Capitale Pizzeria but entrepreneur and restaurant owner Rodrigo Parisi and business partner Saulo Cruz have shepherded Belltown’s long-running La Fontana Siciliana into a new era after purchasing the restaurant from Mario Fuenzalida who ran the Blanchard Street joint for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2022. Now, the attention turns to pizza on Broadway.
Meanwhile, another of the former Boca spaces is about to be reborn. CHS reported here on the plans for the Chandelier Lounge to join the Broadway bar scene in the former Boca Restobar and Grill space. Owners Jansri Parichat and Pranesh Sharma opened Bites of Bangkok on 15th Ave E in 2018. Chandelier says it is ready to open soon. You can sign up to receive updates at chandelierloungeseattle.com.
Capitale Pizzeria will open later this year at 426 Broadway E.
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So wait… That’s not John Turturro in the photo?
Great to see the block filling back up!
Cool; welcome to the neighborhood.
I welcome every new business! That’s how we end visible homelessness and rampant drug use
Good to know you’re okay with “invisible homelessness”. As long as you can walk to a restaurant in peace, huh?
I think most of us wish the best for the visible and invisible homeless. What we want is an end to lawlessness – the crimes that comes with addiction, the violence that comes with gang-involved narcotics dealing, and the crimes the homeless face daily from their predicament. And yes, we want orderly clean streets so we can walk through our neighborhoods to patronize new restaurants.
Don’t just assume that someone who is against “visible homelessness and rampant drug use” is against the homeless and the drug addicted.
It will take activation of vacant spaces and enforcement to get the drug riffraff out of here. We need foot patrol and some political will. Clean this sh*t up.