West Seattle, Washington
01 Sunday
Thanks for the tip: Mioposto‘s Admiral restaurant has announced online, and via a note on its door, that it’s temporarily closed:
Our Admiral location is temporarily closed as one of our employees has tested positive for the coronavirus. Out of an abundance of caution, we will be closing the restaurant for a few days while our entire staff gets tested and awaits results. We are having a professional cleaning crew completely disinfect all surfaces later today to ensure a safe reopening. While aiming for a Tuesday reopening, the safety and health of our staff and our community is our top priority and we continue to closely monitor the situation. Thank you for trusting us, we do not take it lightly, and we will see you soon. Take care of yourselves and each other!
Received from the Chelan Café:
The Chelan Cafe will be closed until further notice.
On Friday, July 31st, a staff member from the cocktail lounge tested positive for COVID-19. As a result of this positive test and out of an abundance of caution, we are closing both the restaurant and the Ebb Tide Room temporarily.
During this closure, our employees will be tested and a company will be hired to conduct a deep cleaning. We will not be re-opening until all employees test negative. The well-being of our community, customers, and employees will always be our first priority, and we thank you for your support during this difficult time.
Thank you,
Mary Manning-Smith
Owner- Chelan Cafe
Thanks for the tip! Pho fans – and chicken-wing lovers – will have a new West Seattle option in a few weeks. i5 Pho is coming to West Seattle. It’s takeout and delivery, no dine-in; pho and wings are the entire menu. i5 Pho will be based out of the commercial kitchen at 4611 36th SW (already home to WSB sponsors West Seattle Local Foods and Jet City Beignet). i5 Pho plans to open there on August 8th. If you want a preview, they’re already doing the same thing in White Center, from the commercial kitchen at 10256 16th SW (the former DQ), as well as Queen Anne and Tacoma. They offer online ordering (or by phone).
Three business notes:
MY THREE LITTLE BIRDS: The shop at 4736 California SW is having a sale and food drive this weekend:
Our store is running our Annual Summer Sale this weekend. All customers who drop off their donation to the West Seattle Food Bank get one of our cool PNW stickers.
We are here Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 11-4.
HIGHSTRIKE GRILL: Though bowling alleys can’t reopen yet, the restaurant at West Seattle Bowl just announced it will reopen next week:
We are excited to announce that we are reopening the Highstrike Grill on Wednesday, July 29. We will be open for both delivery and dine-in. Tables will be limited to 50% capacity and maximum of 5 people of the same household per Governor’s orders. We have missed you and look forward to seeing you soon!
In addition to getting your favorites, we will be offering both food and beverage specials. Our hours will be Monday through Thursday Noon to 8:00 pm and Friday through Sunday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Friday through Sunday we will be serving breakfast items from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.
The restaurant is on the corner at 39th/Oregon.
LA RUSTICA: The 4100 Beach Drive SW bistro has launched something new:
We are now offering our first ever Happy Hour!
Hours are 8:00 pm until close, Tuesday- Sunday.
Our Happy Hour includes both food and drink choices. We wanted to offer our guests another safe option to dine out with us while we all try to find ways to support each other.
As ever we are adhering to all safety standards as required and consider our employees and guests safety first. Continued thanks for your support during these trying times. We are ever grateful.
See La Rustica’s Happy Hour menu here.
The city says it’ll make street space available to restaurants and other businesses – if their neighbors are OK with it. From the announcement:
Building on the City’s free permits for sidewalk cafes and curb spaces, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced today an expansion of street closure permit options for one or more blocks as part of the City of Seattle’s efforts to support businesses during the ongoing public health crisis. These new permits will give restaurants and retail stores more space to operate while providing their patrons and passersby more space to move following Governor Jay Inslee’s Safe Start plan. The City will begin accepting applications for these street closures on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. …
Last month, the City announced free sidewalk café and curb space permits, which allow restaurants, retail stores, vending trucks and carts to operate in the sidewalk or curb space in front of their business. These new, temporary permit options help a business owner successfully and safety reopen by expanding their footprint outside. The permits are available for up to six months, and SDOT is expediting permit review to ensure eligible businesses can quickly access this new resource. To date, SDOT has received 92 sidewalk café and curb space permit applications. Business owners interested in applying for this type of permit should visit SDOT’s website for more information. ..
As part of the permitting process, permit applicants will need to notify and demonstrate support from neighboring businesses and residents of proposed street closures. While typical SDOT permit costs are waived, applicants are responsible for any expenses related to the street closure proposal – such as barricades, temporary no parking signs, and tables and chairs. Applicants will be required to conform to all relevant state and local public health guidance. Permit review times vary based on the complexity and the preparedness of the applicant, so we encourage you to use our coaching resources. Stay tuned for more information regarding the eligibility criteria for these new street closure requests.
For more information or to schedule an applicant coaching session about these new temporary permit types, please visit our website or e-mail publicspace@seattle.gov.
The former Pacific Room on Alki has reopened with a new name – but not the previously planned one. Now the establishment at 2808 Alki Avenue SW is J&J Public House. They emailed us an update:”We are only open for takeout and patio service from 11:30 am-9 pm, Wednesday-Sunday. We plan on continuing the live music (when we can, of course), and our cuisine is now considered ‘international gastropub’ with a more casually priced menu. Currently, we have a limited takeout menu that gives people just a glimpse of what’s to come. We are doing to-go cocktails and growlers, we also have bottles of beer to go. Our most notable item is our to-go flavored margaritas made fresh daily (with rotating flavors).” You can order takeout here or by calling 206-829-9695.
Thanks for the tip! Another local restaurant has announced a COVID-19-related closure – but with unique circumstances. Supreme in The Junction announced on social media that it has closed both locations because an employee at its U-District location tested positive: “Due to the circumstance, we have decided to close both Supreme locations for now to allow our team two rounds of COVID-19 testing to be 100% sure we will reopen safely. We will also be tracking this testing experience so that we will be prepared for if and when it happens again in any of our places.”
(WSB photo, last week)
Six days after Public Health Seattle-King County closed Duke’s on Alki because COVID-19 was spreading among its staff, the restaurant says it has clearance to reopen today. (The PHSKC website confirms the reopening.) Subscribers to its email list received a message from founder Duke Moscrip, including:
… When the health authorities examined our Alki location and took the action to shut us down, we were devastated. Frankly, we thought we were following the safety protocols precisely. After cooperating with them fully over the past few days, we earned their approval to reopen today. Specifically, they approved the distance between our tables and the occupancy levels that allow us to keep everyone safe.
As a new layer of safety at Duke’s restaurants, we ordered and are installing new air purification technology over the next few weeks at all our locations to stop COVID-19 particles, other viruses, and bacteria in internal spaces.
Safety. That is the only thing important to us as we all begin to venture out more and enjoy our unique way of life here in the Pacific Northwest.
Despite every safety measure available, we expect we will see more cases of COVID-19 among our valued team. Today we are better prepared to properly react.
I know that many of you believe that Duke’s let you down. For that, we are truly saddened.
The message also says an unspecified number of staff members remain quarantined. This statement from the restaurant following last week’s shutdown noted 7 Alki employees had tested positive for the virus.
(ADDED 12:55 PM: PHSKC has since published this statement about the reopening.)
Before the shutdown announcement, after our previous report about two cases at Duke’s, we had asked Public Health some questions about how outbreaks are handled; we’d noticed while covering other businesses that no two seemed to be handling cases the same way. We have since received the replies, published below in Q&A format, with our questions and Public Health’s answers:
WSB: “What if anything are businesses required to report to PHSKC regarding employees testing positive?”
PHSKC: “Notify health department within 24 hours if you suspect COVID-19 is spreading in your workplace, or if you are aware of 2 or more employees who develop confirmed or suspected COVID-19 within a 14-day period.”
WSB: “What are they required to tell customers?”
PHSKC: “No requirements.”
WSB: “Under the new state guidance, what circumstance constitutes “spreading” at a workplace that would need to be reported?”
PHSKC: “We would consider ‘spreading’ when any person in the workplace, whether an employee, contractor or customer, might have been potentially exposed in the workplace. We would recommend that a workplace call us if they have any questions or concerns as it generally takes some investigation to try to determine the most likely location of exposure (e.g., community exposure vs. workplace exposure, etc..).”
WSB: “Once PHSKC gets a report of ‘spreading,’ what will you do with that information? How/is it investigated? Might orders for closure ensue?”
PHSKC: “- We first try to confirm any reported cases through our public health databases and if any non-household contacts have been identified already.
“- We then do an initial investigation call to (i) confirm whether transmission occurred in the workplace, (ii) identify any exposed workplace contacts (coworkers or customers), and (iii) assess steps that employers have taken to reduce the risk of transmission within the workplace and provide technical assistance when necessary.
“- If this investigation identifies conditions indicating a higher risk to employees or the public, we may schedule a site visit to the workplace. A public health order or closure could ensue if the risk level is deemed to be very high and we believe there is an ongoing risk to employees or the public that isn’t being mitigated.”
WSB: “What about employees who feel their employer isn’t taking appropriate action – is there anything they can do?”
PHSKC: “Workplace safety complaints about coronavirus or other issues can be filed with L&I (1-800-423-7233). Employees can also file a written safety/health complaint.”
(Again, we had those questions out to PHSKC *before* the Duke’s closure – the first of its kind in our area – was announced.)
A reader texted that photo last night after finding the “TEMPORARILY CLOSED” sign on the recently opened Westwood Village MOD Pizza. It didn’t explain the closure, nor could we find an explanation online, so we contacted company spokesperson Charlotte Wayte, who just replied: “Unfortunately, we did have to close temporarily due to a an employee testing positive for COVID [once we were informed, we immediately closed the store and performed a deep cleaning following the guidance of the CDC, and any impacted employees were immediately contacted and isolated per CDC guidelines], but we were able to safely open this morning.” (Closing is not required, by the way – here’s the Public Health Seattle-King County guidance for food-service businesses.)
Thanks for the tips on this: Grillbird Teriyaki announced this afternoon that it’s closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. The note posted online and on Grillbird’s door:
We are closed until further notice
On Wednesday July 8th, a staff member at Grillbird tested positive for COVID-19. This individual was not customer facing and was immediately sent home to recover. Our entire staff will receive testing over the next couple days.
As a result of this positive test, we will be closing our doors temporarily so that we can wait for the results and disinfect/clean the restaurant. Our hope is to re-open as soon as possible, but until we can test everyone on our team, we cannot re-open. Your health and safety along with the health and safety of our team are of the utmost importance to us. We will be taking every precaution to ensure that when we do re-open, the environment will be safe.
We share this so we can be 100% transparent with all of our loyal customers and community that have been so supportive of Grillbird since we’ve opened.
We are grateful that our staff member who tested positive is not exhibiting any symptoms. We operate with a strict mask-wearing policy in our kitchens and at the counter, and will continue to reinforce this and rigorous daily cleaning practices. Please stay tuned about our reopening dates. We love you all and look forward to serving you again soon.
Matt & Danette
3:46 PM: We’ve reported twice in the past two weeks on COVID-19 cases among employees at Duke’s on Alki. We had followup questions out to Public Health Seattle-King County after reports of more cases – and PHSKC has just announced that the restaurant has been closed because of “ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in employees” and “potential for workplace and customer transmission.” PHSKC also cited “non-compliance wth Washington State’s “Stay Safe, Stay Healthy” requirements.” The restaurant had closed for three days last week because of the initial outbreak, reopening on July 3rd.
4:45 PM: More from Public Health:
“At this time, all the cases have been in employees of Duke’s restaurant and we are not aware of cases among customers. The risk to diners is generally lower because they are typically not in close contact with employees for prolonged periods of time. For these reasons, customers do not need to quarantine, but should monitor their health closely for any symptoms and get tested at any sign of COVID-like illness,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, Public Health- Seattle & King County.
“With the recent increase in cases, everyone – including all restaurants, businesses and individuals – needs to remember the importance of physical distancing, limiting the number and duration of contacts with others, use of face coverings, good ventilation, and hand washing to the reduce risk of COVID-19 to customers, employees and the community. Anyone who knows they were in close contact with a COVID-19 case or has symptoms of COVID-19 should isolate themselves away from others and seek testing. And older adults and people with risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection should take extra precautions and limit activities to the extent possible.”
In response to rising COVID-19 cases county wide, Public Health is expanding efforts to educate and enforce compliance of Governor Inslee’s Safe Start COVID-19 reopening requirements in food establishments.
Information for customers of the restaurant
If you were a customer at Duke’s at Alki, watch closely for any symptoms daily until 14 days after you were at the restaurant. Symptoms of COVID-19 infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or a change in smell or taste perception. Other symptoms include recent or increasing tiredness or weakness, headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, chills, and sore throat. These symptoms occur within 2–14 days of your last exposure to a person diagnosed with COVID-19.
If you do not have any symptoms you do not need to quarantine. You can continue to go to work and out in public spaces as normal, but you should wear a face covering and stay at least 6 feet from people who do not live in your home.
If you develop any symptoms, even if minor, call your doctor or healthcare provider for a medical evaluation. Explain that you might have been exposed to a person with COVID-19. Follow their instructions for testing.
If you do not have a doctor or healthcare provider: free or low-cost testing is available at several King County locations to anyone, regardless of immigration status. Call the King County COVID-19 Call Center at 206-477-3977 for assistance. The Call Center is open from 8am to 7pm, 7 days a week. If you need an interpreter, say the name of your language.
6 PM: We went over to Duke’s to verify the closure. They are indeed closed, but no explanatory note on the door.
ADDED EARLY THURSDAY: Duke’s posted a statement on social media confirming the 7 Alki cases that commenters have reported, The restaurant’s owners contend they have been “strictly following CDC and local health department guidelines.”
We’ve received lots of questions in recent weeks about the status of Sunfish (2800 Alki Avenue SW) – and today we can finally report that it has reopened. We drive Alki just about every evening, and saw no change in the hand-lettered CLOSED note on the door – until last night, when we noticed that was gone. So we just went back for an early check, saw the open door, and went in to confirm: Yes, they’re open, for takeout only, 11 am-6 pm.
The reopenings continue.
EPHESUS: Thanks for the tip! The Turkish restaurant at 5245 California SW plans to reopen Wednesday (July 8th). For dinner reservations, call 206-937-3302.
IRASHAI: The Japanese restaurant at 2352 California SW (which changed ownership last year) has a big banner announcing it’s reopening Tuesday (July 7th).
Two sweet notes that arrived in the WSB inbox almost simultaneously this afternoon:
BENEFIT JAM SALE: The photo and announcement are from local students Sasha and Annika:
Hello West Seattle Neighbors,
My friend and I will be selling homemade strawberry jam – that we made from homegrown strawberries from our yard – this afternoon starting at 2:00. We have 60 jars of super-sweet strawberry goodness. We will be at the corner of Genesee and 51st on the sidewalk at the back of the Genesee Hill Elem school. All money will be donated to Black Lives Matter, Seattle-King County. We will set up so we can safely distance from each other – though please wear a mask. If you are out on an afternoon walk or running afternoon errands, swing by!
NEW FROZEN TREATS: From Evan at Lady Jaye (4523 California SW):
We have an awesome soft serve machine and we are creating our own magic shells and toppings. Stop by if you have a sweet tooth!
Three more restaurant reopenings to report:
SALTY’S ON ALKI (WSB sponsor): The waterfront restaurant at 1936 Harbor Avenue SW reopened today, for outdoor and indoor dining. Salty’s says 2,500 people responded to their pre-opening survey about safety.
ALKI CAFE: Thanks for the tip on this! A hotline caller said a note on the door announced the restaurant is opening tomorrow; we went down to confirm:
As the note says, Alki Café (2726 Alki Avenue SW) will reopen tomorrow for takeout. (206-935-0616)
THE LODGE: The West Seattle location (4209 SW Alaska) reopened this week.
Eat and drink local! Here’s another way to do that – ordering from West Seattle Local Foods, which has joined the WSB sponsor team. Here’s what they want you to know about what they offer:
West Seattle Local Foods is a website where you can order the food made by talented local chef entrepreneurs who share a love of food and have the courage to bet their livelihood on the food they make. Our chefs are from all over the country and have landed in West Seattle, where they are making some of the best food right here in your neighborhood. We are constantly evolving to improve on our current products and innovating new recipes and culinary delights.
Each of our companies is a stand-alone business, but we have come together in the spirit of symbiotic survival and cooperation to create West Seattle Local Foods, a one-stop shop for all of our tasty food and beverages. Some of our chefs have been cooking in this kitchen for years, and some of them only a few months, but we have a great group of people who challenge each other on a daily basis so we all grow together.
The most common compliment we get is about the food and how tasty and fresh it is, perhaps due to people eating so much frozen and processed food that they are blown away by our products. People often become repeat customers because the food is excellent. Every one of our chefs pours countless hours into their creations every day because they take great pride in their work, and find joy in customers loving their food enough to continuously support our small businesses. We find that people feel better about their food when they know the people who create it and can connect with them. We don’t just have robots creating your pot pies, chocolates, cheesecake, or coffee. We don’t have famous names or cooking shows, we just make great food because we are passionate about great food and we want people to enjoy it.
The businesses are:
Ace Laboratories
Byte Food Truck
Girls Gone BBQ
Green City Kitchens
Hot Chocolat
Jet City Beignet
NW Texas BBQ
Panchito’s Lunch Box
Pot Pie Factory
Precise Catering
Renee’s Roca
Seattle Sorbets
Seeking Kombucha
Sifted Tea
Temple Pastries
Town & Country Coffee Co.
West Seattle Local Foods is a chef community within the West Seattle community, and with your help, our businesses will survive this virus season and you will get to enjoy fresh, local food with your friends and family. Our commercial kitchen has been in West Seattle for over 25 years and we plan to be here for another 25 years with your support. Here’s where to order!
We thank West Seattle Local Foods for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
6:07 AM: Good morning and welcome to the 101st morning without the high-rise West Seattle Bridge.
ROAD WORK
Lane reductions continue for the Delridge Way project – here’s what they’re working on this week.
TRAFFIC
Here’s the camera for the restricted-daytime-access low bridge:
The main detour route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – which has up to 14 overnight closures planned later this month. Meanwhile, here’s that camera:
The other major bridge across the river is the South Park Bridge (map) – this camera shows the SP-side approach:
If you’re going through South Park, neighbors have reminders for you.
P.S. Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed for info about any of those bridges opening for marine traffic.
You can see all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.
TRANSIT
Metro – Some service has been restored – details here.
Water Taxi – Some service has been restored on the WT too, plus the 773 and 775 shuttles – see the schedule here.
HOLIDAY TOMORROW
Since July 4th is on Saturday, Independence Day will be observed Friday – no Water Taxi, and Metro will be on its Sunday schedule.
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
Many have asked about when – and whether – Kamei Japanese Restaurant in The Junction (4512 California SW) would finally reopen. We’ve been checking almost daily for any hints – and this evening, while driving by, we spotted activity (cleaning the windows) out front. So we turned around and pulled over in hopes of getting the good news – and indeed, we learned Kamei plans to reopen next Tuesday, July 7th, usual hours.
While restaurants are allowed to open for some indoor dining in Phase 2, some have chosen not to – and now, one that did, has decided to “revert.” Here’s the announcement we received from Arthur’s proprietor Rebecca Rice:
I just wanted to reach out to let you and your readers know that Arthur’s is reverting back to phase 1 with outdoor dining and takeout only. We have watched the spike in cases here in West Seattle and have decided the dangers for our staff are too great to ignore.
The staff that worked in the last 3 days has all been tested and we’ve come back negative. This doesn’t change how worried we are that the spread is happening with the reopening.
Arthur’s is at 2311 California SW in The Admiral District.
Duke’s on Alki is closed until Thursday for a “deep cleaning” after a second employee tested positive for COVID-19. We contacted Duke’s after this was first mentioned in a new comment today on our Saturday report about the first case. Here’s what CEO John Moscrip told us: “To confirm, we have had 2 total positive cases, and we are closing today and tomorrow for a professional, deep cleaning using an Electrostatic spray, as well as so our team members can get tested. We anticipate opening again on Thursday.”
We’ve heardd from two more reopened West Seattle food/beverage businesses:
PHO AROMA: Today is the first day back in business for the Vietnamese restaurant at 5605 Delridge Way SW. They’re open noon 7 pm Mondays through Saturdays, closed Sundays.
EMERALD KITTY CAFE: Open for pick-up coffee at 3422 Harbor SW, Tuesdays-Saturdays 7:30 am-2 pm (closed from 11-11:30 for lunch break), closed Sundays and Mondays. And they remind us that “100% of proceeds go back to the pet rescue” (Emerald City).
Two business notes – both focused on beverages. First, from C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor):
We are open daily from 8 am-4 pm with outdoor seating available. To-Go window is located in the back yard, with alley access between Findlay and Juneau streets.
And from the new Kickdown Café:
We are opening and have nailed our regular hours down.
Monday- Friday 8 am-12 pm
And Saturday 9 am-12 pm.The Kickdown is located in Nepenthe at 9447 35th Ave SW. We have window service for coffee, tea, juices, and light snacks, ALL FREE. Outside distanced seating available.
Another local business confirms an employee has tested positive for COVID-19. This time, it’s Duke’s on Alki. The restaurant posted this on social media tonight:
The restaurant was open tonight; an employee who contacted us about the situation says the cleaning was done on Thursday and that employees were notified that day.
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