Tag Archives: madison

Metro says Summit/Bellevue bus service could be saved as it moves forward on changes to Routes 10, 11, and 12 in advance of RapidRide G opening

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“Option B”

King County Metro says there is wide support for plans to maintain higher frequency while shifting streets used by key bus routes along the coming Madison RapidRide G corridor but that community feedback could help save the planned cuts to bus service on Summit and Bellevue Ave north of Olive Way.

The agency has released new proposal maps and details of updated plans for its “Madison Street Area” network service revisions. CHS reported here earlier this year on the planning and survey process designed around optimizing bus lines in advance of the expected start of RapidRide G service hoped to begin in 2024.

Under the revised plans, Metro says it is moving ahead with changes to Route 10 and Route 12 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 going ahead with the plan to move Route 11 off Pine.

“The Route 10 and Route 12 proposals were supported by respondents to bring more frequent service to important destinations along Pike Street and Pine Street. The Route 11 proposal had strong support from survey respondents,” Metro said about the decision. “The Route 11 proposal (along with the Route 8) would provide all-day, all-week, frequent service between destinations along Olive Way, John Street, and Thomas Street – such as the Capitol Hill Station, Safeway, Kaiser Permanente, Meany Middle School and more.” Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s new Sakana ready to stand out in Seattle’s sushi scene

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Paul Kim, owner and head chef of Sakana Sushi and Kitchen

You can get sushi in almost every neighborhood in Seattle. While some bars stand out for their adherence to traditional technique, others stand out by shaking things up a bit. Now open at 15th and Madison, Sakana Sushi and Kitchen chefs are more than just skilled at traditional sushi dishes like nigiri, rolls, and sashimi, but their uniqueness comes from dishes created by owner and head chef Paul Kim.

Combining traditional Japanese sushi with innovative fusion flavors, Kim creates new dishes with flavors that fit together. With over 20 years of experience, his beginnings as a dishwasher in his uncle’s restaurant keep him grounded. Kim found passion, motivation, and a creative outlet by creating dishes that feed his community as he has stepped up from chef to owner.

Before that, he also stepped away from a path that took him out of the kitchens he grew up in with a possible future as an architect.

“What I liked was people, hospitality, and making food,” Kim said. Continue reading →

The Bottleneck Lounge has new owners, same 845 square feet of neighborhood bar goodness along E Madison

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(Image: The Bottleneck Lounge)

By Soumya Gupta, CHS Intern

Neighborhood bar The Bottleneck Lounge has new owners looking to make a start in the city’s food and drink scene starting with the tiny but comfy 845-square-foot E Madison hangout.

Appetite Influencers is sticking with the Bottleneck name as it figures out what comes next for the 16-year-old venue — and the partnership’s hopes for Seattle.

Started by Jody Hawkins, Tice Azure, and Whitney Traylor, the company aims to hold onto the bar’s status as it reopens the venue this Friday under their new ownership with the partners exploring the neighborhood and Bottleneck’s place in the mix.

“We were mainly looking for a small neighborhood bar, which already had a good standing and ambience,” Hawkins said. “Bottleneck Lounge had a wonderful spirit to it.”

With a new food and drink menu, Appetite Influencers plan to upgrade Bottleneck, hoping  to contribute to the artistic and lively nature of this area between Capitol Hill and Madison Valley. Continue reading →

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

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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 →

CHS Pics | Pony spending Pride 2023 ‘on the surface of Mars’

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(Image: Pony)

Capitol Hill gay bar Pony can be hard to get into during any Pride but this June is extra challenging.

“It’s true that the Pony building currently appears to have been deposited on the surface of Mars,” the E Madison queer party spot quipped in a social media post this week. “It’s also true that we are continuing to serve drinks on Mars—you just have to go around to Union St and walk around the side of the building to get in.”

Pony, of course, isn’t really celebrating Martian Pride. CHS reported here in 2021 on owner Mark Stoner’s negotiations with the city to scooch over a smidge for the under-construction Madison bus rapid transit project.

Under the deal, the city acquired a 247-square-foot portion of the Pony property along E Madison as part of the $134 million+ RapidRide G project to provide speedy, regular Metro bus service in the busy corridor. Stoner told CHS at the time he had hoped to work out a trade with the city taking what it needed on the Madison side of the bar and Pony getting new ground on E Union but land swaps with the city are against the law. In the end, Pony’s patio got a little slimmer and the bar got some cash from the city.

Part of the deal for businesses up and down Madison through the years of construction are scenes like the one currently outside Pony as crews have ripped up pavement to do needed utility and infrastructure work along the route, put new temporary pavement down, and are again ripping the streets up as part of the construction process expected to wrap in 2024.

SDOT says the last steps include installing this new underground stormwater detention tank under 10th Ave, installing a new water main,repaving the street and rebuilding sidewalks. Then, later this year and into 2024, crews will start to install shelters, ORCA readers and rider information signs at the new RapidRide stops, and the platforms for the new center-running bus stations.

Pony, meanwhile, isn’t letting the lack of pavement get in the way of playing its part in Capitol Hill Pride festivities.

And another Capitol Hill extraterrestrial hangout is marking its fourth anniversary. Life on Mars opened on E Pike in June of 2019.

 

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Indian grocery store Spice SPC now open on the edge of Capitol Hill

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Indian grocery store Spice SPC has reopened after its move from its original home just off Rainier Ave to just off E Madison.

“We are a social purpose Indian grocery store which I believe is the only SPC Indian store in the area,” Aditya Bajaj tells CHS. “SPC is recognized as a corporation to pursue profits and social good in WA state. We care about our customers, communities, and suppliers.”

And, for those of you wondering where the border falls, Bajaj considers the north of Madison location as Capitol Hill.

Continue reading →

The Rise — ‘the largest building constructed by any affordable housing provider in Seattle’ — opens on First Hill

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(Image: The Rise)

Tuesday’s ribbon cutting ceremony at the latest affordable housing development to open in Seattle will be extremely unusual — it will take place on the 17th floor, at the top of The Rise, the new set of First Hill structures in a joint project from Plymouth Housing and Bellwether Housing.

“The new building is the result of innovative solutions to development of affordable housing and strong partnership between local and state leaders and nonprofit developers,” the affordable housing providers said in a statement on the opening. Plymouth’s collaboration has risen on surplus Sound Transit land at Madison and Boylston, “the largest building constructed by any affordable housing provider in Seattle.” Continue reading →

SDOT adding 57,000-gallon stormwater tanks as part of Madison RapidRide G bus line construction

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(Image: SDOT)

One major reason construction of the Madison RapidRide G bus line will take years not months is the heavy load of utility and infrastructure work the city has piled on to the project. The latest extra digging accompanying the transit project is taking place on Capitol Hill’s 10th Ave E where a stretch of the street will be closed for two months for the installation of a massive stormwater tank system to capture runoff.

The Seattle Department of Transportation says a short stretch of 10th between Union and Madison was closed for two months starting Monday for the project where crews will dig a trench in the street and install piping to build the stormwater tank in sections. Once sections of the tank are installed, the trench will be filled with dirt and the next segment’s work will begin. Water testing of the tank will follow and then the street must be repaved. Work crews will first remove the remaining street surface and then grade the entire area and repave it, SDOT says.

The new storage tanks are designed to be able to hold up to nearly 57,000 gallons of water when needed. Continue reading →

Where Starbucks fears to tread, Papa Johns comes to Capitol Hill

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Only a few national restaurant chains have been tough enough to last around Capitol Hill and the Central District but a new player has entered the arena along E Madison.

Pizza chain Papa Johns is now open in the Avant Apartments across from fhe Central District Safeway at the fuzzy dividing line between the neighborhoods.

The pre-pandemic development has slowly been filling its ground floor retail spaces. The new fast food pizza shop joins local handroll bar Uminori that took over the space where this upscale Japanese binchotan charcoal concept never caught on and plans for a new Indian grocery to fill the Avant commercial footprint.

The arrival of the built on “conservative values” chain is probably less interesting than it might have been a few years ago before a racist conference call forced company founder and face of the corporation John Schnatter out of power. Continue reading →

SPD says suspects caught on video in Temple De Hirsch Sinai campus graffiti attack — UPDATE

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(Image: Temple De Hirsch Sinai)

Seattle Police say they have video evidence showing the suspects in a fresh round of vandalism targeting Temple De Hirsch Sinai.

The house of worship again saw its campus between E Pike and Union above Madison vandalized with spray-painted graffiti in what temple officials called “an antisemitic and anti-Israel attack.” The vandals struck Sunday night as communities prepared to mark Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Continue reading →