Broadway’s Boca steakhouse and bakery family mourns passing of Marco Casas Beaux

(Image: Boca Restobar and Grill)

One of the more colorful characters in Broadway food and drink is gone. Marco Casas Beaux, a creator of dining experiences across Seattle for decades, has died, his family of Capitol Hill businesses announced.

Monday, Broadway’s Boca Restobar and Grill and down-the-street Boca Pizzeria and Bakery remained closed to mark his passing. His Boca steakhouse in the old Queen City Grill was also shuttered in his honor after weekend service in his memory. They will reopen for business Tuesday.

“We will never know anyone like him. He was bigger than life and put everything into his work,” the announcement reads. “We ask that you remember his tenacity and the stories he told of a life well lived.” Continue reading

An apparent end to Jai Thai’s good times — and laughs — on Broadway

(Image: Jai Thai)

Speaking of landmarks, it appears Broadway’s affordable food and drink venue Jai Thai is permanently closed.

CHS reported here on the landmarks process underway for the 1903-built building the shuttered Thai joint has called home since the 2000s as a developer prepares the southwest corner of Broadway and Thomas for a new affordable apartment building.

Jai Thai has been shuttered for weeks but attempts to contact ownership to find out more about the status of the longtime Broadway restaurant have not been successful. The company is listed as closed by the state’s department of revenue and the liquor license for the address is reported as “on hold.” The restaurant’s phone number has also been disconnected. Continue reading

CHS Pics | Last days at Cafe Pettirosso

The end is coming too quickly. CHS stopped by Cafe Pettirosso this week as the much loved 11th Ave hangout marks its final days of business.

We were lucky enough to find a special visitor as founder Robin Wright was there to help say goodbye with current owners Miki and Yuki Sodos.

Wright founded Pettirosso in 1994. Now, 27 years and change later, the cafe will close on its “own terms” amid the business challenges of the pandemic and a planned redevelopment of the historic Baker Linen building it calls home. Continue reading

Founded on the belief that every day on Broadway can be brunch, Americana becomes a Capitol Hill COVID-19 closure

(Image: Americana)

The chef who came out of the kitchen to take over and grow a Capitol Hill weekend brunch favorite into a Capitol Hill every day of the week brunch favorite says he plans to stay far away from the restaurant business.

Chef Jeffrey Wilson — a man who loves cooking so much he signs his email Cheffrey — has announced that Broadway’s Americana has permanently closed.

“The seating capacity was not our limitation,” Wilson said.

The restaurant capacity restrictions part of attempts to slow the spread of COVID-19 didn’t matter in the end for Americana, Wilson said. After taking on Ads Paycheck Protection Program loans to pay his workers as he kept the restaurant closed for weeks, Wilson reopened Americana as restrictions were lifted only to find that much of his dining business had disappeared.

His decision to close was made all the more obvious as he watched the numbers at the Broadway Alley restaurant. “The month leading up to it was a drastic decline in sales,” Wilson said. Continue reading

Rapper Malcolm Rebel remembered as ‘True King of the Hill’

A Seattle recording artist “born and raised in the CD,”  Malcolm Rebel has died.

Friends and loved ones are posting messages about the hip hop performer’s life and passing. A fundraiser has been set up to raise money for Rebel’s family and young child.

Rebel was part of a family of Seattle musical talent stretching from Motown to the early days of Pacific Northwest hip hop.

“Seattle lost a legend in Malcolm Rebel. He was a loving father, a caring friend, and an incredible talent,” it reads.

Tug Harris, manager for the Day One Entertainment recording artist said Rebel “taught me how to keep my head up in the hardest times.” Continue reading

16-year-old killed in Capitol Hill protest zone shooting identified

UPDATE 1/6/2021: During Wednesday’s insurrection in the Capitol, many readers have come to this CHS story in search of information about the person who died during the Washington D.C. violence. This story is from June 2020 and reports details of a young man killed during the summer’s protest in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

Antonio Mays, Jr. memorial

The protest camp has created a memorial for the 16-year-old on 12th Ave (Image: CHS)

The King County Medical Examiner has identified the 16-year-old shot and killed in a vehicle at the Capitol Hill protest zone early Monday morning as Antonio Mays, Jr..

His family is asking anyone with information to step forward as the family seeks answers to what happened on 12th Ave an in the minutes prior in the early morning shooting that left the 16-year-old dead inside a white Jeep Cherokee and sent a 14-year-old to the hospital in critical condition.

CHS reported on a night of driveby fears and uncertainty as at least one SUV style vehicle sped across Cal Anderson and through the protest camp before the confrontation on 12th Ave that ended in bloodshed. 911 callers reported a person shooting into a vehicle that had crashed along 12th Ave just after 3 AM. Continue reading

Little Uncle is now closed — Here are five restaurants and bars ‘coming soon’ to Capitol Hill to cheer you up

There are some big holes in Capitol Hill food+drink real estate to fill — Sitka and Spruce’s centerpiece restaurant in Melrose Market will close on New Year’s Eve, the relatively giant space left behind by Trove on E Pike, and the biggest empty cafe on Capitol Hill where Starbucks pulled up the stakes on Roy Street Coffee in April.

And there is now a small one we knew was coming but still makes us sad to report. Continue reading

What’s more painful? Running for mayor of Redmond — or closing down your struggling Capitol Hill coffee shop?

Redmond City Council member Steve Fields should have bigger things to worry about than the closing of a Capitol Hill coffee shop his wife Ronni Fields has run for three years. He’s running for mayor of the Eastside city, the state’s 18th largest.

“I’m the grassroots candidate. My opponent is very well established with lots of support from developers.”

The political match-up, in a way, parallels the August shuttering of Harvard Ave’s tiny Down Pour Coffee.

Fields says the lessons from Down Pour are about making sure you remember you’re going up against a well established system when you’re chasing your dreams of small business ownership. Continue reading

Capitol Hill Tex-Mex bar and grill Rooster’s kisses Broadway — and ‘irrelevant and unnecessary’ critics — goodbye

(Image: Rooster’s)


There is another opportunity on Broadway opening up for a food and drink entrepreneur to make a big, comfortable splash on the neighborhood’s central drag.

After four years of Tex-Mex by way of Madison Park on Broadway, Rooster’s Bar & Grill is set to close at the end of the month.

Owners Stan Moshier and Lori Campbell announced the impending closure with a sign in the window of the north Broadway restaurant. Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Todd for the tip.  Continue reading

Adios: Tortas Condesa will soon make way for something new at E Olive Way walk-up

Monica Dimas is ready to pass along the late night eats torch on E Olive Way.

The restaurateur behind some of Capitol Hill and beyond’s best nook and cranny-filing food and drink goodness announced over the weekend that her walk-up Tortas Condesa will close at the end of the month. Continue reading