New Bobabucha Cafe brings together boba and, yes, kombucha at 15th and Pine

The Pike Place Tea with Grass Jelly at Bobabucha (Image: Bobabucha)

As spring turns into summer, the teen blocks of E Pine have added some new Pacific-flavored food and drink options including a new sibling to Poke Bar and a new hybrid cafe specializing in the wonders of both kombucha and boba.

Bobabucha Cafe opened Memorial Day weekend on the corner of 15th and Pine in the storefront formerly inhabited by Honor Coffee.

“We want this place to be somewhere people can come hang out. Boba and kombucha have been around for a while, but people have recently started to catch onto them, so Bobabucha is dedicated to both drinks,” Matthew Chaw, son of cafe owner, Linda Chaw, said. Continue reading

Capitol Hill currently down one coffee shop

(Image: Honor Coffee)

Honor Coffee, a Seattle-area chain that got its early start on a hoped path to market in China with a 2015 opening on Capitol Hill, has quietly closed one of its two cafes in the neighborhood.

The Honor cafe at 15th and Pine is dark and empty this week. CHS was told by a person familiar with the situation that Honor decided not to renew its lease for the space. We have not heard back from Honor Cafe’s Hana Hu about the closure.  Continue reading

Plenty of Clouds settles in at 15th and Pine

Travis Post and Lisa Zack at Plenty of Clouds

Flavors of South Central China by way of New York City have settled in at 15th and Pine.

Plenty of Clouds debuted over the post-4th of July holiday weekend as two Ethan Stowell alumni have started a new restaurant generation in the space formerly home to his longtime Capitol Hill favorite Anchovies and Olives.

For first time restaurant owner and veteran chef Travis Post, Plenty of Clouds is all about the flavors of China’s abundant — and cloudy — south. “There’s the spice,” the chef-owner says. “But there’s a lot more to it than that. A lot of the freshness, fresh veggies, herbs, lighter flavors.”

Continue reading

25 years of Rudy’s Barbershop on Capitol Hill — and, why they called it Rudy’s to begin with

Eight million haircuts. Rudy’s, the Capitol Hill-based haircutting empire, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and the company estimates they’ve given more than 8 million haircuts in that time.

The first Rudy’s was opened in January, 1993 on E Pine, by friends Alex Calderwood, Wade Weigel and David Petersen. According to company lore, the trio was looking to make a place where they could hang out with their friends.

In those grunge-era days, Capitol Hill was a very different place in terms of the demographics, and sheer numbers of people, but that was starting to change. Rudy’s opened, along with now-stalwart Linda’s, and once-beloved Bauhaus coffee. Those three were one factor in changing the neighborhood into the one we recognize now, said Danny Segal, director of marketing and brand for Rudy’s. Or at least they were a factor in changing it into the neighborhood we used to recognize, but now don’t anymore, depending on how long you’ve lived here. Continue reading

Intrigue Chocolate and Coffeehouse warms up at 15th and Madison

Chocolate and coffee? Intriguing.

The new Intrigue Chocolate and Coffeehouse has been warming up with some test runs serving friends and family at 15th and Madison. Neighbors should be able to stop through for a quiet opening later this week as things get fully up to speed at the new cafe.

Aaron Barthel and Karl Mueller started Intrigue in Pioneer Square as a forum for chocolate as an art, not a science. “Aaron likes to use chocolate as a medium to express what he knows about flavor,” Mueller told CHS when we talked to him in October about their plans for 15th and Madison. Continue reading

Authorities seize hundreds of pounds of meth after drug bust in Capitol Hill parking lot

A Capitol Hill parking lot was the scene for a big drug bust last Tuesday afternoon that authorities say resulted in the seizure of more than 300 pounds of methamphetamine.

The U.S. Attorney announced that Adrian Perez, 41, was arrested and charged for possession of cocaine with with intent to distribute after a March 13th bust in the parking lot behind the Vox Apartments at 15th and Pine in which police say the suspect “tried to take possession of 18 kilos of cocaine he intended to transport for a Canadian drug trafficking organization” — Continue reading

With buyer lined up, 15th Ave’s Patrick J. Sullivan House to be considered as landmark

The house in 1905 (Image: Seattle of Today Architecturally)

The nearly 120-year-old house at the corner of 15th and E Olive hit the market last month just in time, we joked, for Halloween. Listed at $2.2 million, the property is also a prime candidate for redevelopment. Before anything moves forward, the old Patrick J. Sullivan house will get its turn to be considered for landmarks protections:

Landmarks Preservation Board to consider nomination of P.J. Sullivan House for landmark status

SEATTLE (November 22, 2017) – Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board will consider nomination of the P.J. Sullivan House in Miller Park located at 1632 15th Avenue on Wednesday, December 20 at 3:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in Seattle City Hall (600 4th Avenue, Floor L2) in the Boards & Commissions Room L2-80.

The public is invited to attend the meeting and make comments regarding the nomination. Written comments should be received by the Landmarks Preservation Board at the following mailing address by 3:00 p.m. on December 19:
Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
PO Box 94649
Seattle, WA 98124-4649

The property is currently listed as pending according to real estate records. The nomination packet was prepared by Castanes Architects but there is no indication of what any new buyer has planned for the property.

December will be a busy time for old Hill buildings potentially facing demolition. On December 6th, the landmarks board will consider Broadway’s 1960s-era Bonney Watson Funeral Home as an official landmark. CHS reported here on the unsuccessful first design review of the twin seven-story mixed-use apartment buildings destined to rise on the coveted funeral home property.

In addition to attending the December 20th hearing on the nomination, you can add your comments here by email. The full 1632 15th Ave nomination packet is below. Continue reading

Metro will reroute the 10 to better serve Capitol Hill Station

Rt 10King County Metro asked and the people responded: Change is coming to the 10. After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback in a recent public survey, Metro’s decision to reroute the popular Capitol Hill bus comes as part of its preparations for the start of light rail service to Capitol Hill Station next year. Under the change, slated to go in effect in March, the 10 will scrap its E Pine and 15th Ave to E John sections to travel up the Hill on E Olive Way to serve the Broadway station.

With the 43 set to drastically reduce its service, the E Olive Way/E John Street corridor would have only had the notoriously unreliable 8 connecting it with the light rail station. Metro retreated from its proposal to reroute the 11 up E Olive Way and E Thomas to get to Madison Park, citing problems with turning at 19th Ave and E Madison.

The 11 will continue to serve E Pine, but a handful of 15th Ave blocks between E Pine and E John will be left without service. Here’s how Metro explained its decision:

Despite concerns, we think this change would better meet ridership demand along East John Street and in the Summit neighborhood, where there are nearly 1,000 bus boardings every day (940 people getting on and 1,300 getting off buses) on current Route 43. The Summit neighborhood and Olive corridor are the densest parts of Capitol Hill. Residents in this part of Capitol Hill face a steep climb to the light rail station. While the Route 43 will continue to operate in the peak periods, making this change avoids a significant net reduction of service at other times of day.

45% of 1,269 respondents approved of the changes (PDF) in the survey Metro put out earlier this month. The revamped 10 would also provide easy connections from the light rail station to Group Health, the 15th Avenue retail core, and Volunteer Park. To address concerns over bus capacity on the 11, Metro says it will use 60-foot-long articulated coaches during peak hours.