Bounty Kitchen exits Capitol Hill — UPDATE

Even a patio like this couldn’t save Bounty Kitchen on Capitol Hill (Image: Bounty Kitchen)

Originally designed as a Linda’s joint, changes in the restaurant space on the southeast corner of 19th and Mercer will continue.

The Capitol Hill location of the Bounty Kitchen is shutting down to make way for a new food and drink project.

Bounty Kitchen customers of the 19th Ave E location are finding out about the closure but the next food and drink venture lined up for the space remains a mystery.

UPDATE: Bounty Kitchen’s final day of service on Capitol Hill will be Saturday, December 23rd.

Born into challenging times, Bounty Kitchen never really took off on Capitol Hill. Continue reading

Capitol Hill’s St. Joseph School: a century in its school building — and new hopes for a playfield/parking structure

(Image: St. Joseph School)

The kids at Capitol Hill’s St. Joseph School sometimes probably can’t wait to go home and get out of the place but they joined together recently to mark a big milestone. The school marked the 100 year anniversary of its 18th Ave building by recreating a historical photograph of the student body across the ages.

The school has continued to grow with an expansion to the campus about ten years ago and plans for a new playfield structure in the works.

The photographic celebration came on the 100th anniversary of the school building but a few years short of the present-day church structure’s centennial. They’ll mark that milestone in 2030. Continue reading

Culinary diplomacy: The Capitol Hill Korean fried chicken trend stretches east with Sodam Chicken coming to 19th and Madison

CHS truly did once find a City of Seattle construction permit for a food and drink space on Broadway that simply read, “Replace the old Thai restaurant with a new Thai restaurant.”

In the new era of Capitol Hill restaurants, Thai has given way to Korean fried chicken.

Permit paperwork shows the U.S. subsidiary of South Korea’s Sodam Chicken is preparing to open its second stateside location on Capitol Hill after debuting in Shoreline last year.

When the Chicken Factory opened above Broadway and Pike last summer, CHS compared the trend to the proliferation of coffee shops that once dotted the Hill — a Korean chicken shop on every corner. Continue reading

‘United to stop Russia’: Victory Day protest targets Capitol Hill’s Russian Community Center — UPDATE

Thanks to CHS reader Ryan for the pictures from Tuesday night

UPDATE: An organizer says the RANDOM group representing pro-democracy Russians in Seattle was also part of the protest

A march and protest targeting the Russian Community Center on Capitol Hill Tuesday night was a reminder that war in Ukraine has now been raging for over a year and that the impacts from the conflict can be felt as far away as 19th Ave E.

“Our rally serves as a powerful reminder of the immense sacrifices made during World War II and the ongoing conflicts, such as the one in Ukraine,” the event posting promoted by the Ukrainian Association of Washington State read. “We gather to honor the memories of those who bravely fought against the horrors of Nazism, which inflicted tremendous pain and suffering upon the world. Today, Ukraine finds itself battling against Russia, a nation driven by imperialistic ambitions reminiscent of Hitler’s Nazism and Stalinism, but now manifested in a modern form—rusсism.”

UPDATE 5/15/2023: A representative for the Russian Action Network– RANDOM, an organization of pro-democracy Russians in Seattle, tells CHS the group was also part of the protest. Agata Ianturina says the group had been targeting the Victory Day party on May 9th but also screenings of “Soviet films related to WWII” that were being shown at the center.

Continue reading

The Interlaken sinkhole is growing — and nobody knows why — UPDATE

 

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Thanks to @GordonOfSeattle for the picture

A hole appeared recently in the pavement at the intersection of E Galer and 19th Ave E above Interlaken Park — and nobody is 100% sure why. Meanwhile, a ring of orange safety cones hasn’t contained the modest but gaping maw which continues to grow and crumble the pavement, ever so slightly.

The Seattle Department of Transportation said Thursday city crews were “continuing to work to assess this damage and determine the best repair plan.” Seattle Public Utilities is assisting in the repair effort “by testing the water to verify that it is not connected to their underground pipes,” SDOT said. Continue reading

Chin up, this neighbor has added a new place to work out at their Capitol Hill corner

Lots of neighborhood mysteries pop up in the CHS Facebook GroupWhat were those sirens? Why is that business closed? When will that business open? — but a recent post had neighbors stumped.

What is this structure at the corner of 19th and John Thomas?

“At first I thought it was a pull-up bar and dip bars .. so I was like: ‘Oh sweet … the city is installing some sort of fitness trail around the neighborhood,'” the poster wrote. “But at second glance the pull-up bar is awfully high … So now I’m wondering if these are some sort of structures installed by the homeowner to grow plants around.” Continue reading

Metro holding ‘Madison Street Project’ open house on proposed RapidRide G area service changes

King County Metro will hold the first of two planned open house sessions Thursday night on the proposed changes to Routes 10, 11, 12, and 47 in conjunction with the 2024 start of service on the E Madison RapidRide G bus line.

Open houses
Thursday, April 6 – 6:00PM to 7:30PM
Miller Community Center
330 19th Ave E

Friday, April 28 – 6:00PM to 7:30PM
Yesler Community Center
917 E Yesler Way

CHS reported on the proposals last month. Metro says the new “Madison Street Area” network would alter Routes 10, 11, 12, and 47 in the Capitol Hill, Central District, First Hill, and Madison Valley neighborhoods to “improve public transportation connections and transfers,” reduce duplication with the new RapidRide G line, and “address service that was suspended since COVID began in 2020.”

Under the RapidRide G planning, Metro is making the case to permanently axe Route 47 while proposed changes to Route 10 and Route 12 are being intertwined with a proposal for the lines be “reoriented” to operate along E Pine instead of E John and Madison, until they turn north on 15th Ave and 19th Ave. Metro is also proposing to move Route 11 off Pine. Continue reading

With RapidRide G starting on Madison in 2024, Metro planning changes to Routes 10, 11, 12, and final elimination of the 47

Metro’s plan is to keep the electrified trolleys of Route 12 and 10 rolling once RapidRide G comes along (Image: CHS)

With construction of the new line now at “50%,” officials are collecting feedback on proposals to alter existing bus routes that will connect with the Madison RapidRide G line when it begins service in 2024.

The new “Madison Street Area” network would alter Routes 10, 11, 12, and 47 in the Capitol Hill, Central District, First Hill, and Madison Valley neighborhoods to “improve public transportation connections and transfers,” reduce duplication with the new RapidRide G line, and “address service that was suspended since COVID began in 2020,” Metro says.

The new configurations could also fit better with the streetscape overhaul currently underway that will make Pike and Pine one-way between downtown and Bellevue Ave.

Metro’s plan is to roll the proposals out now and collect survey feedback through May before possibly revised revisions go out later in the year and are finalized in time for RapidRide G’s start of service in 2024.

Metro is promising “a final proposed bus route network that reflects community input from this survey, conversations with community members, and equity analyses” by fall 2023. Continue reading

If you want, you can pretend 2022 never happened — Kedai Makan ready to make new start on Capitol Hill

(Image: @larira)

Kedai Makan was mourned as one of the sad goodbyes of food and drink in 2022. In 2023, it will be reborn at the top of Capitol Hill.

The short-lived Money Frog project at 15th and Pine is being transformed this week into a new home for the Malaysian favorite that settled onto Bellevue Ave as part of its decade-long path from the Capitol Hill farmers market to years of brick and mortar service just off E Olive Way. CHS reported here in October on the decision by husband and wife team Kevin Burzell and Alysson Wilson to bring their part of Kedai’s lifecycle to a close on their own terms after ten whirlwind years.

Kedai Makan will now live on under the ownership of the Money Frog team who are busy learning the recipes and art of Burzell and Wilson’s approach to Malaysian cuisine. Burzell and Wilson told CHS last year they would be “happy for the right person to give all of our secrets away” as they looked for a possible buyer as part of their exit from the business.

The plan is for a quiet reopening this week at 15th and Pine.

If it was a 10-year whirlwind for Kedai Makan, it has been a Capitol Hill food+drink cyclone for Money Frog, the collaboration from Khampaeng “KP” Panyathong with Joe and Lucy Ye of Hangry Panda that never really found its spot in Capitol Hill food and drink. Continue reading