(Image: Skillet)
Capitol Hill’s Skillet Diner is permanently closed after 14 years of service on E Union.
The food truck-born concept that grew into a chain of high-end diners announced the immediate closure of its Capitol Hill location along with its diner in South Lake Union. Its Post Alley location will close in December. The company says it will continue to operate its counter inside the Seattle Center Armory and locations inside Sea-Tac Airport.
SKillet ownership blamed costs for the shutdowns saying it was “time to shrink the Skillet footprint.”
“Like many other businesses, we have been unable to survive the balance of what we can charge for a meal with the increasing costs of what it takes to produce a meal,” the announcement posted Wednesday reads.
Henderson during the Capitol Hill diner’s construction (Image: CHS)
After its growth as a mobile food truck, founder Josh Henderson opened the original Skillet in the newly constructed Chloe building at 14th and Union in 2011 adding a bonafide diner setup to Capitol Hill’s food and drink lineup. When it first opened, the plan was for late night hours with midnight closings and last call service up to 2 AM on the weekends. Times have changed.
Lost Lake followed with its booths and diner swivel seats in the heart of Pike/Pine in 2013.
The latest in Capitol Hill new-era diner projects, meanwhile, was the opening of the new Glo’s above Capitol Hill Station in 2023.
The original Skillet’s 14th and Union intersection has been busy with construction. Across the street, the Tanager Apartments project broke ground in the summer of 2024 and is one of the few major multifamily housing development currently under construction in the area. The seven-story, 138-unit mixed-use development is being built to jigsaw into the block between Chop Suey and queer bars Madison Pub and Diesel at 14th and Madison. Those businesses remain open through the ruckus and growth.
A search of business records and permits didn’t reveal any plans for the Capitol Hill Skillet space. Its neighboring restaurant space formerly home to Marjorie before its move to the Central District remains busy with Asian grill venture 8 Ping Yang.
The Skillet company is now owned by investor Greg Petrillo who helped grow the chain to four locations plus the airport presence. In 2023, the chain settled a $324,000 wage theft case over violations of paid sick leave laws after the city said Skillet fired employees over sick time and in retaliation for raising issues over the restaurant chain’s policies..
Petrillo and Skillet ended the closure announcement with a callout for its employees. “To our friends in the hospitality business, we have a talented and dedicated team of people who will be looking for jobs,” it said. “These are folks who are skilled, hardworking, loyal, and pleasant as can be.”
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Something better will go there I hope. Skillet way overrated and overpriced
Every time I tried Skillet the service was terrible (not just inattentive servers but dirty dishes) and it was overpriced from the moment it opened. Never understood the hype. No loss.
Here’s another flashing red light for the City Council. How many jobs will be lost? Will the Council continue to ensure that only ginormous corporations can thrive in Seattle or will policies be redrawn to encourage local businesses?
This blog shows a new place opening every week or two………. as many that close, another place opens
That’s cold comfort to businesses that have closed, often depleting a small business owner’s life savings. The vast majority of these closures are small businesses, not cost cutting efforts by corporate ownership. I don’t want us to discount the struggles of small businesses in this conversation. A small business holds hopes and dreams – as well as personal savings – and is often a pathway to generational wealth for women and many minority business owners. A little compassion in the comments is not too much to ask.
Yes but many of these places that are replacing them are either small chains or franchises which means the $ that is generated there mostly leaves the state or the country. We want to stay with local ownership as much as possible and the people that have been able to make it are places that have multiple biz’s to share some of the costs.
Really? What about Amazon’s money? It leaves here too!
Amazon employs 25,000 people in this city. That money stays here and it goes a long way towards supporting small, medium and large businesses in our area.
no kiddin’? Then what about the other money? You jumped into this conversation. So you tell me.
you could for sure total up all money that locals spend on amazon and it would be less than local amazon salaries – by a lot.
pretty sure that amazon brings in more money from elsewhere to this area lol – they’re responsible for bringing in too much and too little i guess?
I lived a block from there when it opened and ate there multiple times a week and every single time it was delicious and the service was great. I moved to a different part of town 4 years later and I’ve only eaten there two times since and each time it wasn’t very good. One of the times my burger was pretty much raw and when I sent it back the waiter was kind of a dick. And one of the times the food was so salty I couldn’t even swallow it. I haven’t been back since.
I’m sad to hear this, but also unsurprised. High end diner was a great concept when it opened, but there is now a lot of competition in that market. I live right by Skillet, and every time since covid that I’ve considered ordering or going, the soaring prices have changed my mind. After the wage-theft settlement, I stopped looking.
I will miss the memories of those first great years
Skillet was good ten years ago and pre pandemic was already on the downfall. I kept giving it chances over the years but I kept leaving absolutely disappointed. I won’t be surprised if someone tries to blame this on anything else but the business itself
You all are hilarious. In the article the owner states he is closing because his pricing can not keep pace with the rising costs yet several are you claim he is overpriced? lol. This is the same crew that will say if a business can’t pay a living wage in Seattle they should close them turnaround and bemoan a long time shop closing. Please tell me how another business with similar costs is going to go into these spaces and also not be overpriced. Total disconnect from reality.
This is the only place I was ignored/denied service when I first moved here. Good riddance