Tag Archives: 15th Ave

Inspection finds brick façade ‘stable’ at shuttered 15th Ave E restaurant building

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(Image: CHS)

City officials say the brick facade of the building at the center of the sudden closure of three 15th Ave E businesses has been determined to be safe.

“Our building inspection team evaluated the brick façade on E. Harrison Ave (sic). and found the condition appears stable and does not indicate an ongoing safety hazard to the public,” a spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections tells CHS. “A Hazard Correction Order will not be issued.”

CHS reported on the review and concerns about crumbling brick on the building’s south side as Rione XIII, Rubinstein Bagels, and Bar Vacilando announced their sudden closures last week citing lease and unspecified building issues.

In August, crumbling bricks were reported along the 96-year-old structure’s E Harrison-side masonry facade. Continue reading →

No injuries after Saturday night apartment fire in 125-year-old building at 15th and Marion — UPDATE

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Seattle firefighters quickly extinguished a Saturday night blaze in a small 1901-era residential building at 15th and Marion just south of Madison.

Seattle Fire reports its crews were dispatched shortly before 9:00 PM following reports of a fire inside a multi-family residence. Seattle Fire Department described the structure as a two-story apartment building with a basement with the fire located on the top floor.

Firefighters got water on the flames, brought the fire under control, and initiated ventilation operations. Continue reading →

Building issues and lost leases abruptly darken Capitol Hill block home to Rione XIII, Rubinstein Bagels, and Bar Vacilando — UPDATE

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The crumbling bricks of a 1922-era Capitol Hill building appear to be part of the story behind the sudden closure of three neighboring 15th Ave E businesses.

The corner’s Rione XIII Italian restaurant and its sibling Rubinstein Bagels shop are closed immediately. Bar Vacilando, which just marked its tenth year on 15th Ave E, will close this weekend.

“We can confirm Bar Vacilando’s last day is this Saturday,” a spokesperson for the hangout said and provided a statement on the shutdown:

We are deeply grateful to every employee who helped shape Vacilando, and to every guest, neighbor, friend, and regular who spent time with us. Thank you for giving this place a life. We are grateful we were able to serve you over the years.

A person familiar with operations at the Italian restaurant and bagel shop of the Ethan Stowell–helmed founded One House Hospitality restaurant group confirmed the immediate closures with CHS and said that landlord and building issues were behind the lost leases.

“Unfortunately, ongoing issues with the building have made it so we can no longer continue operating in this space,” the company later said in a statement.

The simultaneous endings will darken a corner of a street already challenged by closures and the paused redevelopment of the neighborhood’s QFC. The grocery is coming up on six years since it was axed by parent company Kroger. Continue reading →

After modern split, Capitol Hill corner home to old-time Canterbury Tavern readied for MOOV movement and fitness studio

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(Image: MOOV Seattle)

Capitol Hill has changed. The corner where the Canterbury Tavern soothed souls and damaged livers for decades will soon be providing curated low-impact wellness synergy.

Seattle boutique fitness studio MOOV is working on a major Capitol Hill expansion, with plans to open a new studio inside the historic Fredonia building at 15th Ave E and E Mercer.

The move will bring the brand’s community-centered fitness concept to the ground floor formerly occupied by the legendary Canterbury Ale House, according to permit paperwork filed with the city. Continue reading →

Facing pushback, Kaiser holds off on ER billing change at 15th Ave campus

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Following pushback over planned billing hikes, Kaiser Permanente has paused a plan to bill walk-in clinic visits at its Capitol Hill Medical Center as emergency room services.

Visits to the Seattle campus’s emergency unit will continue at lower urgent care rates while the provider explores long-term options to host both urgent and emergency care. Continue reading →

Cafe watch: Ha Ha Coffee and Cha Chak on Capitol Hill, plus four more nearby — Yoka Tea, Casa Ella, Visible Coffee Roasters, and Coffee TAB Central District’s grand opening

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The Mango Sticky Rice Sundae (Image: Cha Chak)

The cafe scenes in the neighborhoods across and around Capitol Hill have some new — and new to CHS — additions heading into fall:

Ha Ha is now open — thanks to Harry in the CHS Facebook Group

  • Ha Ha Coffee and Tea: The new owners of a 15th Ave E building have brought milk teas and smoothies to the top of Capitol Hill. Ha Ha Coffee and Tea is now open at 324 15th Ave E. CHS reported last year as book shop Nook and Cranny lost its lease for the space. The building’s new owners include Diem Le who moved the book shop space neighboring the Red Chair Salon through the city’s streamlined change of use process to open the new cafe with a menu of milk tea, fruit smoothies, and coffee. While bubble tea shops and Asian-style tea offerings have proliferated along Broadway and through Pike/Pine, the quieter edges of Capitol Hill have mostly gone unserved. You can check out the Ha Ha menu here.
  • Cha Chak: Another long awaited Capitol Hill cafe opening has taken place. Above Capitol Hill Station next to the plaza across from Cal Anderson you will now find Thai tea and dessert shop Cha Chak. CHS reported in March on plans for the cafe from Montida Lertkiatsakul and Suphanita Roumsak. Lertkiatsakul was part of opening Manao Thai Street Eats at 14th and Pine. Cha Chak debuts with treats including green tea ice cream lattes, Thai tea chiffon cake, and an incredible looking Mango Sticky Rice Sundae. Find it at 118 Broadway E next to the station plaza across from Glo’s. Follow @chachakseattle for updates. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | ‘ROUND AND ROUND THEY GO’ — Tilted Thunder Roller Derby battles on 15th Ave E

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There was a taped-out oval on the floor of the Quality Flea Center on 15th Ave E this weekend and it didn’t get there by accident.

Taylor Sloan, who runs the bar at The Hopvine across the street, spent part of her week free-handing a flat track onto the flea market’s concrete floor, no measuring tape required.

“I’ve taped out a million tracks at this point,” Sloan said. “I use upholstery foam and gaffer tape for the pole covers, because it’s supposed to be like a fun, DIY, punk rock sort of thing.”

Sloan has been skating with Tilted Thunder Roller Derby for 17 years. Normally, that means suiting up on the league’s regular turf: a 6,000-square-foot wooden track the team builds from scratch at the fairgrounds in Monroe, home to a growing in popularity event –polished, bleacher-seated, and fiercely competitive. But this weekend at the Quality Flea Center was something else entirely with a stripped-down expo bout, played bank track rules on the flat surface with skaters squaring off against each other for the fun of it. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Sweet Mary’s Cherries and its Capitol Hill fruit stand

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Here is what a neighborhood fruit stand looks like in 2026, watermelons and all.

CHS reported here on Sweet Mary’s Cherries, the latest temporary pop-up retailer to make its home on a block of 15th Ave E destined for demolition and redevelopment. The space was previously home to fellow short-timer Haunted Burrow Books.

Sweet Mary’s has been bringing the best of its Yakima Valley-grown fruits to Seattle stands and has now added its most robust outpost yet on Capitol Hill. The shop focuses on premium Pacific Northwest Bing and Rainier cherry varieties during the summer harvest season. Sweet Mary’s says now is also the peak season for strawberries, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, apples, plums, peaches, and cantaloupe. August will bring peak pear. Continue reading →

The Quality Film Club: Capitol Hill’s newest movie theater is in an abandoned grocery store

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(Image: Quality Film Club)

By Brenna Gauchat

The Quality Film Club is bringing a little of the neighborhood moviegoing experience to 15th Ave E by building on the power of Seattle’s existing film community. Every first and third Thursday of the month, attendees can purchase a ticket for a 7 PM screening at the Quality Flea Center, the repurposed grocery store home to events including the Punk Rock Flea Market while the block awaits eventual demolition and redevelopment.

Flyers decorating utility poles for a recent screening of the 1999 camp classic But I’m a Cheerleader drew crowds to the makeshift theater.

“The truth is, it’s really just a community movie house,” PRFM’s Josh Okrent said.

With big-time summer releases like The Odyssey arriving with waves of hype and marketing, Most attendees find Quality Film Club through local flyers or social media, with word-of-mouth driving the rest. Okrent and co-organizer Todd Hewitt started the club after getting their hands on a projector and screen. Alongside filmmaker Robert Zverina, they began hosting movie nights when the venue was free of its regular schedule of events and markets.

“We were showing films just for ourselves, just running some funny little films, and it struck us that we had a venue with a good movie projector and a good screen and good sound,” Okrent said. Continue reading →

Sweet Mary’s Cherries — New neighborhood fruit stand pops up on Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E

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(Image: Sweet Mary’s Cherries)

A Sweet Mary’s Cherries stand — On Capitol Hill, Sweet Mary’s is moving into a former bookshop (Image: Sweet Mary’s Cherries)

There’s a new neighborhood fruit stand on 15th Ave E bringing some of the goodness of the Yakima Valley to Capitol Hill.

A seasonal pop-up of Sweet Mary’s Cherries featuring fresh fruits and other goodies like hanging planter baskets full of flowers is now resident in the space where Haunted Burrow Books finished up its temporary stay on the street in June.

With the QFC block redevelopment still on hold with developer Hunters Capital waiting for economic conditions around construction and financing to improve, the Capitol Hill developer has been diligent in finding new short-term ventures to be part of the block. The neighboring old grocery lives on, in the meantime, as the also temporary home for the Punk Rock Flea Market. Continue reading →