Tag Archives: union

With a new home in the city, Koko’s now open on Capitol Hill

Posted on by

With reporting by Alex Garland

It has arrived a few Cinco de Mayos later than expected but Koko’s is now open on 10th Ave.

Gibran Moreno and Alexi Torres say they are happy to have created a new city version of the Koko’s original that adds to the neighborhood’s inclusive and open-minded communities.

“Capitol Hill is the place for me,” Moreno says. “As a gay couple, we feel safe and comfortable.”

Moreno — he’s the talkative one — and Torres created and grew the first Koko’s with Mexican and Salvadorian flavors and a beachtown vibe in the Pacific Northwest beach town of Seabrook. They have brought some of that relaxed energy to the backside of Pike/Pine where they now neighbor Capitol Hill fine dining veteran Lark and its Slab Sandwiches sibling.

The newly transformed space is filled with plants and light and art including creations from Oaxaca and a monkey from Michoacán.

CHS reported here on long delays to open the new restaurant due to pandemic challenges that slowed permits and construction for the Koko’s expansion to fill this 10th Ave space formerly home to a Heritage Distilling tasting room.

The first Koko’s was born in the planned Olympic Peninsula community of Seabrook, Washington and has grown into one of the “Best Restaurants in Washington State.”

Moreno and Torres hope their new Koko’s can fill a sweet spot on Capitol Hill as people return to more pre-pandemic ways. Continue reading →

It has been a long road to open on Capitol HIll but delays could be blessing in disguise for Koko’s

Posted on by

(Image: Koko’s)

By Juan Jocom

The folks at Koko’s know what they are doing. They built the original restaurant into a widely respected dining destination despite its far-flung location in the planned Olympic Peninsula community of Seabrook.

Gibran Moreno and Alexi Torres also know their way around Capitol Hill, hoping to grow their new Koko’s Restaurant and Tequila Bar into the LGBTQ-owned food, drink, and good times community of the neighborhood.

But the long waits and slow processes of doing business in a booming again Seattle have been a challenge even for the experience Koko’s team.

“We’ve been working on this project for over a year and two months… But we are getting close. We are just waiting for our final inspection from the health department and then we should be ready to go,” Moreno said.

But even the final push comes with challenges. Continue reading →

With Bok a Bok-Stoup link, you can now order Korean fried chicken to your Capitol Hill beer hall table

Posted on by

(Image: Bok a Bok)

You can now order food that will be brought to your table inside one of the great hangout spaces on Capitol Hill.

Yes, Stoup Brewing Capitol Hill has invented… the restaurant.

It’s more fun than that.

Thanks to the new partnership, you can order from nearby Bok a Bok and have your Korean fried chicken delivered to you at the E Union beer hall with QR codes with promised “secret deals” on the Stoup tables.

As an added bonus, according to this post to the CHS Facebook group, the food will be brought over to the brewery across the couple blocks of Pike/Pine by a Bok a Bok employee and not a delivery driver. Meanwhile, Stoup Capitol Hill’s schedule of food trucks including Birrieria Pepe El Toro, Bella M’Briana, El Gran Taco, MexiCuban, and Tummy Yummy Thai is still in rotation.

Meanwhile, you can also still order Bok a Bok at its 10th Ave counter or inside The Runaway bar.

The pairing marks a new connection for Bok a Bok which moved into the neighborhood next to Neumos in 2017. Stoup, meanwhile, celebrated its 2023 move into the neighborhood by releasing its first Capitol Hill-brewed IPA earlier this winter.

Stoup Capitol Hill is located at 1158 Broadway.

 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻 
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍 

 
 

 

CHS Pics | Stoup Brewing celebrates Capitol Hill Magic Hazy IPA, its first brew at Broadway and Union

Posted on by

Stoup Brewing has made its first Capitol Hill beer.. The decade-old Seattle microbrewery that expanded onto the Hill last year with its acquisition of the neighborhood’s Optimism Brewing held a party Thursday marking the release of its new Capitol Hill Magic Hazy IPA.

“We went through a whole lot of it last night which we must say felt pretty damn good,” Stoup posted about the fun. Continue reading →

Skillet settles over fired employees, wage theft and paid sick leave violations

Posted on by

(Image: Skillet)

Capitol Hill-born Skillet has been nailed for wage theft and violations of the city’s paid sick leave laws after firing employees over taking sick time and in retaliation for raising issues over the restaurant chain’s policies.

“Working in restaurants for a decade, I always assumed there was a legal exemption which meant we were not entitled to rest or meal breaks. There is not. That is illegal. It does not matter where you work or how busy you are. It does not matter if it is the holidays, or someone called in sick,“ Zara Sedore-Mallin, former Skillet employee, said in the announcement from the Seattle Office of Labor Standards of a $324,000 settlement over the company’s practices. “We have amazing labor laws in Seattle. You deserve to be able to eat, rest, and earn your full wage when you are at work. You are legally entitled to do so.” Continue reading →

Seattle Police investigate E Union gunfire and bullet damage

Posted on by

Seattle Police found bullet damage across multiple blocks but there were no immediate reports of injuries after a reported shootout involving people on foot and in at least one vehicle Monday night near 21st and Union.

Multiple 911 callers reported around 20 gunshots just after 9 PM including callers reporting bullet damage to structures and vehicles on 18th Ave, 22nd Ave, and E Pike. Continue reading →

As Central District businesses mark Black Black Friday, The Postman vows return and expansion in 2024

Posted on by

The Postman’s indefinite closure will end with the Central District small business’s owner Keanna Pickett vowing to overcome fear and expand at MLK and Union.

“Despite the challenges faced, The Postman remains committed to the community it serves,” Pickett said in an announcement earlier this week reported by Converge Media. “We have actively been a part of finding solutions to the issues of gentrification and gun violence that have plagued our neighborhood.”

CHS reported here in October as Pickett decided to close the mail services shop after early morning gunfire shattered the business’s windows on the anniversary of the shooting that took he life of her husband D’Vonne Pickett, Jr. outside the business a year earlier.

Keanna Pickett is now vowing to reopen and grow The Postman with a new, larger space in the same building and and expanded services including work space and inclusion in Amazon’s hub system. Continue reading →

911 caller reports accidentally shooting themself in the foot on Summit Ave

Posted on by

A shooter who accidently hit themselves in the foot brought a large police and medical response to the 1400 block of Summit Ave Monday night.

Police and Seattle Fire were called to a building in the area where a caller reported having accidentally shot themself around 10 PM. Police says the 28-year-old suffered a self-inflicted, non-life threatening gunshot wound.

Seattle Fire provided treatment at the scene before the subject was taken to Harborview for further treatment.

There were no reported additional injuries or damage, and no arrests.

Elsewhere in the East Precinct, police responded to a report of gunfire in the Central District Monday night. Multiple 911 callers reported the gunfire around 20th and Cherry just before 11:15 PM. No injuries were reported.

 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻 
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍 

 
 

Another cool old Community Roots Housing apartment building hits market but affordable developer says Capitol Hill sales are not a trend

Posted on by

(Image: Community Roots Housing)

Affordable housing developer Community Roots Housing has put another of its classic Capitol Hill apartment buildings on the market but the organization says not to expect a continued selloff of its smaller-scale holdings around the central city.

“We’re not in the business of selling buildings,” a representative said about the planned sale of the Park Hill building, the 1907-era, three-story masonry apartment building at 13th and Madison.

The organization announced plans to put the 30-unit building on the market last month and began the process of working with residents to find new homes. The spokesperson said people living in affordable units can be placed elsewhere int the Community Roots “portfolio” and that the developer has gone “well beyond city requirements” in assisting those in market-rate units if they choose to move out. Continue reading →

Support for The Postman after gunfire damages Central District mail shop on anniversary of owner’s shooting death — UPDATE: Indefinite closure

Posted on by

(Image: @Omarisal)

Gunfire shattered glass Friday morning on the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of business owner D’Vonne Pickett, Jr. at MLK and Union. Teens with a more recent beef may have been responsible.

Police were called to Pickett’s mail services shop The Postman early Friday after reports of multiple gunshots just before 5 AM. Arriving officers found shattered windows but no injuries. According to East Precinct radio updates, witness reports described three male teens fleeing southbound on foot on MLK after the shooting. There were no reported arrests. Continue reading →