Author Archives: AGPhoto

A new era at Tim and Iain’s as a Capitol Hill barbershop’s third generation takes over

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For 60 years, one Capitol Hill barbershop has been a neighborhood staple, providing its service to everyone from longtime residents to curious walk-ins seeking a quality haircut at a fair price.

Tim and Iain’s Barber Shop has undergone a quiet transition, one that speaks to both the passage of time and the power of family legacy in a constantly changing neighborhood.

Original owner Jim Nicholson started the shop in 1966. It operated across the street before relocating to its current location in the 1980s. When Jim retired, his son Tim Collins took over and has been running the shop for decades, building it into a neighborhood institution through consistency, friendliness, and an old-school approach that has remained largely unchanged. The ” J Tim” signage with the crossed-out “J” is a connection across time.

Now, after working alongside Tim for years, nephew Iain Todd has stepped into the role of owner, a transition that happened just a few weeks ago. For Iain, it’s not just a job change; it’s the continuation of a family tradition spanning three generations. “It’s pretty cool being third generation,” he says. Continue reading →

There was another battle in Seattle this week — This one involved warring robots on Capitol Hill

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Farrow

The clatter of robots bouncing off polycarbonate and the whir of spinning blades echoed through the former 15th Ave QFC space as the clunky, charming, and fiercely friendly world of amateur robot combat made its debut in the neighborhood of a Capitol Hill robot maker.

For the robot crews and dedicated fans, it was an event they have been preparing for since summer. For others like Muhammad Ali and his kids, it was a Saturday morning surprise found on their regular walk.

“Every Saturday is my special day with the kids,” Ali said. “We go stroll around. I get my coffee, she gets her drink. And this is on our normal route. So we saw the door open, popped on in, and lo and behold, we got BattleBots going. What a great thing to find.”

Organized by Western Allied Robotics, Saturday’s event drew dozens of builders and spectators to Quality Flea Center at 420 15th Ave E, transforming the vast, street-art-decorated space destined for eventual demolition and redevelopment into a battleground for three, twelve, and thirty-pound machines.

“So we’re Western Allied Robotics. Local nonprofit, been around since 2000,” said organizer Rob Farrow, a veteran of the scene. “I lived here since ‘94, so I’ve been in the neighborhood for a long time.” Continue reading →

‘A little bit of everything’ — How Standard Goods grew from 10 years of retail on Capitol Hill

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Reaching a ten-year anniversary is a quiet victory for any small shop. It is a milestone that feels especially significant on the ever-changing streets of Capitol Hill. For Standard Goods, what started as a storefront next to the HoneyHole back in 2015 has grown into a local fixture with a few locations. But if you ask owner Jeff Gardner, the journey was anything but a straight line.

“I screwed that up so bad,” Gardner says with a laugh, looking back on opening day. “It was terrible. It was so bad.”

Coming from a life in wholesale that had him living out of a suitcase 30 weeks a year, Gardner launched Standard Goods in December 2015 at the location that previously housed occult bookstore Edge of the Circle with big ideas and what he thought was a handle on the neighborhood vibe. He missed the mark, badly, on one key thing: the prices. His initial focus was on premium, American-made goods, with shirts running around $120, a number that immediately felt out of step with the pocketbooks of most Capitol Hill locals.

“I had never lived in Capitol Hill, and I didn’t understand the clientele,” he admits. “My goal was always to cater to the people that lived and worked here, and we were pricing a lot of people out. So we had to pivot.” Continue reading →

One year later: How Bonito Café y Mercadito became Capitol Hill’s newest cultural hub

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What began as a simple pop-up market to celebrate their photography has transformed into something much larger for Ismael Calderon and his husband Daniel on Capitol Hill.

One year after opening Bonito Café y Mercadito at Melrose and E Olive Way, the Bakersfield transplants have filled a distinct gap in Capitol Hill’s coffee landscape, creating a community hub that weaves together Latino and queer culture while reimagining traditional flavors through an innovative lens. From the Calderon’s first space in the old Rainier Brewery, where Aqui photography studio first sparked this unexpected journey, Ismael reflects on how a modest celebration evolved into one of the neighborhood’s most distinctive gathering places.

Bonito’s origin story begins with that impromptu celebration two years ago at the opening of Aqui. What started as a one-off event featuring about 10 vendors quickly grew into something more significant when attendees kept asking when the next market would be.

“There was such a vibe, and there was such a warm feeling that people felt when they came,” Ismael Calderon recalls. “Everyone was like, okay, cool. When are you gonna have another one?”

That market, focused on POC and queer vendors, has grown. This summer, they hosted over 15,000 people at the waterfront in what Calderon called the biggest event of its kind. The success of these markets inspired the couple as they leapt into brick-and-mortar cafe culture and retail.

“We wanted a market that felt something close to us, being queer and Latino,” Calderon explains. “We wanted something that represented us.” Continue reading →

With Petit Pierre Bakery bike shop pop-up, pastry chef brings a cycle of perfectly layered croissants to Capitol Hill

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Pierre Poulin’s passion for perfectly layered croissants has found a new home on Capitol Hill. The French pastry chef, who operates two Petit Pierre Bakery locations in Magnolia and Phinney Ridge, has opened a six-month pop-up inside Capitol Hill’s Metier, bringing his meticulous approach to French pastries to a new neighborhood.

“We do several bakes a day,” Poulin said . “We have our first bake that comes out around 7 am, then we have a second bake that comes out at 10, and a third bake that comes at 1. At one PM, you’re still getting fresh product coming out of the oven, and the difference is just striking.” Continue reading →

A third generation of owners at Capitol Hill cocktail classic Tavern Law

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Capitol Hill’s pioneering cocktail destination Tavern Law has new ownership, with Brazilian/American restaurateur Saulo Cruz and tech industry veteran Kenneth Jones taking over the 12th Ave establishment they hope to elevate while preserving what makes it special.

The duo represents an interesting blend of experience and fresh perspective. Cruz has operated La Fontana in Belltown for four years with another business partner — Rodrigo Parisi, managing partner of Capitale Pizzeria on Broadway.

Jones, who moved to Seattle just a year and a half ago, brings a hospitality-focused background from the tech industry.

Their partnership has an unexpectedly personal foundation. “His wife, I consider my adopted daughter because she is my daughter’s best friend,” Cruz explains. When both families moved to Seattle years apart, the connection deepened. “Her family is far away, so we took her in. She’s part of the family.” Continue reading →

Mintish Coffee House brings Palestinian heritage and community connection to Capitol Hill

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Brothers Nano and Mahmoud Farajallah and friend Abdullah Alabed

Capitol Hill has a new gathering spot. Mintish, a Levantine-inspired coffee shop on Harvard Ave E, represents both a business venture and a cultural bridge for brothers Mahmoud and Nano Farajallah and friend and business partner Abdullah Alabed.

The cafe is now open at 515 Harvard Ave E in a space that the owners transformed themselves from what was once the last vestige of legendary Capitol Hill hangout Bauhaus.

Mahmoud Farjallah, who was born in Seattle but raised in the Middle East, returned to Washington 12 years ago to study accounting at the University of Washington. His friend Alabed grew up in Jordan. Both are Palestinian-American, and their family story reflects the displacement many Palestinian families have experienced over generations. Nano was in Dubai during the interview with CHS.

“My dad was born in Gaza,” Mahmoud Farajallah explained during the shop’s soft opening week. “Unfortunately, I never went to Palestine, but it always grew up with me.” Continue reading →

In court-embattled Denny Blaine Park, a show of defiance, nudity… and puppets

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While the battle to keep Denny Blaine nude is playing out in court, members of the queer and nudist communities that love and utilize the park have continued to visit the popular beach this summer.

In a city where developers and wealthy NIMBYs seem to be nearly constantly scheming to carve up public space for private gain, revolutionary energy is also bubbling up at Denny Blaine in the form of puppets, nudity, and unapologetic queer defiance.

This weekend, guerrilla performances transformed the lakeside park into a stage for radical satire, bodily liberation, and a middle finger to privatization. The shows were part absurdist comedy, part scathing political critique, and directed their ire at figures like Stuart Sloan, the wealthy neighbor who has spent years trying to sanitize Denny Blaine, and Mayor Bruce Harrell’s laughably inept attempts to placate the NIMBYs.

One performance swung between nostalgia for freer times and biting commentary on whose bodies get to take up space. “These are my boobies!” declared an actor, fully nude except for a top hat. It was cheeky but the message hit home. Freedom has some rough edges — and the battle isn’t done. Continue reading →

Pitch the Baby is a Capitol Hill sports bar for everybody — ‘even if you’re not there to watch a game’

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Custer and Dimas

19th Ave E has come alive with the sounds of cheering fans and clinking glasses at Pitch the Baby, the new Capitol Hill sports bar that is rewriting the playbook on gameday culture.

The bar has been open in a kind of preseason mode as the new operations ramps up and prepares for this Friday’s grand opening. CHS huddled with owners Ani Custer and Monica Dimas to learn about their unconventional approach that’s already drawing crowds.

Let’s start with the name which comes from an idea that may seem as far from sportsball as you can get.

“It is a Cocteau Twins song about childbirth from an album that Monica just loves,” Custer says. The owners leaned into the quirky vibe, noting it “kind of sounded to us like cutesy, kind of sportsy, like a little bit of League of Their Own.” Dimas added with a laugh, “It shouldn’t be that deep.”

While the newly installed big screens show plenty of sports action, the owners designed Pitch the Baby to stand out from typical sports bars. “The goal was to make a sports bar with offerings that you would want, even if you’re not there to watch a game,” Custer told CHS. Continue reading →

Fostering communities and open mics, Capitol Hill’s Hopvine Pub is turning 30

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Summer will end on Capitol Hill with one of the neighborhood’s most enduring beer institutions preparing to mark a significant milestone. In September, Hopvine Pub will celebrate 30 years of pouring craft beers, serving comfort food, and fostering communities and open mics at its 15th Ave location.

The story of the Hopvine is fully linked to Seattle’s craft beer revolution. When owner Bob Brenlin first opened the doors in 1995, the city’s beer landscape looked dramatically different.

“Back in ’95, we were one of the first places focusing exclusively on local microbrews,” Brenlin recalls, leaning against the well-worn bar that has borne witness to three decades of stories. Continue reading →