With 2021 so far taking a “hold my beer” approach to outdoing 2020 in the stress over things you can’t control department, the comfort of a hot pizza from a neighborhood joint should not be overlooked.
Cornelly’s opening last year down on Summit Ave may have been missed by a few — it ranked inside the top 10 of Capitol Hill newbies in our review of 2020 in food and drink but in only ninth place — but you can make up for that now that the new year is here. Continue reading →
For some Capitol Hill small businesses, the coming weeks will be like the rest — making ends meet with reduced capacities and a reliance on new or rapidly scaled up revenue streams. For others, the new restrictions going into effect this week to try to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Seattle are the start of new shutdowns and “temporary closures.”
Restaurants and bars will be particularly hard hit. The prohibition on indoor service begins Wednesday and already some have said they cannot afford to stay open. Broadway’s Corvus and Co.announced it will close “until indoor dining can resume.” Until then, they’re clearing out with a 50% off sale on food. Other Capitol Hill bars will likely follow.
The food, drink, and shopping restrictions are necessary, health officials says, because people are getting sick at work and the virus is spreading rapidly in home settings with friends and loved ones. Monday, Mayor Jenny Durkan said the city has identified “a handful of employer outbreaks” and that bars and restaurants have been the most common source in those business-related situations.
UPDATE 11/18/2020: Industry advocates are pointing out that restaurants and bars are being unfairly singled out. According to the state’s latest sector report (PDF), Washington’s leading employment categories by total case count are Health Care and Social Assistance, Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, Retail Trade, Manufacturing, and then Accommodation and Food Services.
The new lockdown is described as “temporary” with plans for the state to reassess the crisis by mid-December. In the meantime, restaurants and bars are closed for indoor service while outdoor dining and to-go service is permitted. Tables are limited to parties of five. For those venues with a good sidewalk and street setup, the city’s easing of permitting for outdoor dining, tents, and heating should help.
Others, like Mamnoon, for example, have announced they will step up their takeout efforts by adding things like expanded service hours for lunch deliveries.
Below is a selection of updates from Capitol Hill businesses about the coming lockdown: Continue reading →
Comforting pizza and pasta flavors are coming to the Hill this fall as new restaurant Cornelly finishes a buildout of its Summit and Mercer space and prepares for a takeout-centered opening.
Flanked by coronavirus-related delays, first-time restaurant owners Brett Phillips and Sam Carroll have spent the past five months perfecting the recipes and aesthetics of their new eatery that will join a surprisingly robust block of Capitol Hill food and drink home to Top Pot Doughnuts, the Summit Pub, Single Shot, and Sol Liquor Lounge.
“We wanted to do a neighborhood pizza and pasta place where we focus on doing naturally leavened pizza dough, handmade pastas, extruded pastas, and then really hyper seasonal vegetable plates,” Phillips said. Continue reading →
Seattle Police searched the streets of Capitol Hill for an hour and took at least two people into custody after a robbery attempt Saturday night inside a Summit Ave E grocery.
Police were called to Summit Foods around 7:15 to a report of four people wearing masks who had tried to steal a purse and claimed to be armed with a gun before fleeing on foot from the store. Continue reading →
You can clean up, change your look, develop new relationships. But sometimes it is best to just accept who you really are. The Summit Ave food and drink path that led from Toscana to Itto’s to A La Vida has circled back to pizza.
“We’re back!” the sign in the window at 601 Summit Ave E proclaims. As a handful of loyal CHS readers will tell you, Toscana Pizzeria is, indeed, back on Summit. Continue reading →
Usually when CHS hears about a sad passing in the Capitol Hill food and drink economy, we try to check in to find out more about what was behind the closing. The story isn’t usually a surprise. Slow business. Redevelopment. Life changes.
But we don’t have much more to add than some fancy words to the tweets about the end of Summit Ave’s A La Vida. Continue reading →
2018’s year of mergers and acquisitions in Capitol Hill food and drink has continued into 2019. Another new owner on the Hill is hoping to take the take over and transition route to food and drink success.
Manager Jody Claggett tells CHS he has purchased Summit Ave’s Itto’s Tapas from longtime owner Khalid Agour and will set about a quick transformation and overhaul of the restaurant and bar into a more Spanish flavored A La Vida.
Claggett said the name for the tapas, gin, and wine bar was inspired by a customer who turned him onto new music and a song about the joy of life.
“Everybody that I meet, it’s just a great conversation,” Claggett said of life behind the bar and the counter after a career in tech. Continue reading →
Not everything has to change. Summit Ave’s original Sun Liquor may now be Sol Liquor — and under new ownership — but a holiday favorite is scheduled to make a return to the bar this week.
A special pop-up is slated for Friday night at Sol as Sun Liquor’s famous aged eggnog makes a temporary return to Capitol Hill. The first glasses are scheduled to be poured at 5 PM. Happy holidays.
Originally only a seasonal treat for neighbors visiting the bar before finally bottling it for sale on a small scale, Sun has grown its eggnog business into a Santa-sized annual event with retail distribution.
Carmelo Gaspar is at the center of things on Summit Ave E
Tucked inside the Hillcrest Market is Capitol Hill’s newest culinary delight from south of the border. Serving up fresh salsas, homemade tortillas, tender meat, and succulent cactus leaves, Carmelo’s is bringing the flavors of Mexico City to Seattle, one taco at a time.
This family owned and operated business is staffed by four employees, including the owner Carmelo Gaspar, who was slicing asada when CHS went for a visit. Carmelo’s manager Miguel Cruz says they worked close by and knew the owner of the store. “We saw the teriyaki guy was out, so we started talking to the owner and we got an opportunity to start,” he said. Continue reading →
The old Summit Block Party is all growed up. Now branded as the Mercer X Summit Block Party, the 2018 edition that took place Saturday in the streets in the middle of one of the most densely populated centers of Capitol Hill featured bigger acts, deeper pocketed sponsors (thanks KEXP), and, still, no admission. Continue reading →
