West Seattle, Washington
10 Tuesday
Two updates today from Firefly Café and Creperie (WSB sponsor) – first, proprietor Charell Estby announced today that an organic juice bar is in the works! She tells us she’s “hoping to have it operational by the end of May.” It’ll be incorporated into existing space – and, the reason for the photo above: Official outdoor seating is in the works, pending a city permit, too. (Charell also points out that she found a carpenter by posting a help-wanted ad in the WSB Forums‘ free-to-post “WS Jobs Offered” section.) Meantime, just yesterday, Charell drove a load of donations over to WestSide Baby …
She is continuing to accept car seats (in good shape) and diaper donations for WS Baby through the end of the month (Tuesday, April 30) – and she’s been matching each car-seat donation with a package of diapers herself! Haven’t been to Firefly yet? Northeast corner of California and Genesee on the north edge of The Junction.
West Seattle resident Kendall Jones sends word from Olympia that he is reporting live today for his site Washington Beer Blog, as the Legislature looks at Gov. Inslee‘s proposal to raise education money by extending a tax on brewers, and applying it to small breweries as well as large ones. He says there are two West Seattle angles to this – one, tax opponents are asking 34th District Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon for help; two, one of the small breweries leading the fight in Olympia today is West Seattleite-owned Schooner Exact. You can read Kendall’s ongoing report here.
The weather’s warming, the days are lengthening, and one of our newest WSB sponsors is waiting for you at Seacrest on the West Seattle waterfront. Here’s what 
Marination ma kai proprietors Kamala Saxton and Roz Edison (L-R in the photo) want you to know about their restaurant/bar as they head toward their first spring and summer here:
“There are two things we hear about every single day: our service, and our food. People are a little surprised that a $2.50 taco can be so tasty, and that the gal who served it to them remembers their names from last time. I don’t know how we’re changing lives, but I do know that the world can be a tough place to navigate, and everyone can have a bad day, but when you come to Marination you can count on a friendly face saying nice things and genuinely caring about this one moment in time. It’s the one part of the day where people know they are going to have an overall good experience, even if it’s just for a few minutes. We hear about it a lot. It never gets old. It’s pretty humbling, actually.
“For us and our employees, we choose to keep coming back because no matter how gray and rainy Seattle gets it’s always warm and fuzzy at any one of our locations. And that’s including the truck! We’re a really happy crew, we love being around each other. That love and happiness is definitely reflected in our grub. We’re lucky because we’ve cultivated a really strong clientele of folks who are extremely comfortable telling us directly when our rice is undercooked, or something’s amiss with the pork, and we are all over it immediately. The two things we care about the most in our company are propping up our community through various involvements and donations, and keeping our menu fresh, tasty, and affordable. So I guess if someone asked ‘why you?’ we’d ask if they are down with building a strong community and with eating great food for cheap, and if so, then that’s why. West Seattle is such a strong and awesome neighborhood community. We can’t get enough.”
Find out more about Marination ma kai – including hours (which will change with the seasons) and menu – on the Web, here. Marination is on Facebook, too, and on Twitter. And/or just go to 1660 Harbor Avenue SW (map) and investigate the food, drink, view, and general aloha, firsthand.
We thank Marination ma kai 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.
Thanks to the WSB’ers who tipped us to the impending closure of Pioneer Coffee on Alki. To get details, we talked with the shop’s manager, Lisa Del Rosario. She tells WSB that after five years, Pioneer Coffee is doing well – but recently found out that its lease will not be renewed. They have to be out by the end of March. No word yet what will take over the space (no permit filings so far), but the folks at Pioneer are asking you for help: They are asking for ideas of where they might move – sooner rather than later, so they can transfer permits rather than apply for them all over again. They’ve built up a steady clientele for both coffee and afternoon/evening beer and wine, and say they love their loyal customers and hate the thought of leaving Alki and leaving them behind. Right now, they are planning a going-away party for late March, as a way of thanking those beloved customers; if they find a new location sooner, she says, it will be a grand-opening party. If you have a location suggestion – particularly in the Alki area – please e-mail Lisa at lisadelro@msn.com or call the café – 206-937-0920.
They are the C & P in C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) – Cameron and Pete Moores – and they are celebrating a milestone tonight: Ten years in business! Valentine’s Day 2003 is when their coffee house, community gathering spot, arts hub, discussion-group hotspot, etc., opened in the century-old Craftsman it inhabits at 5612 California SW. Tonight they are greeting friends old and new during a party that was wall-to-wall people when we stopped by for a photo – including a kids’ fishing game on the back porch, and Bob “Bobcat Bob” Rice performing somewhere amid the revelers. C & P hosts a wide range of events every month – keep an eye on the calendar here. Congratulations, C & P!
12:18 PM: Thanks to Kendall Jones from the West Seattle-headquartered Washington Beer Blog for the tip that the new West Seattle Brewing Company has just announced its “first commercial sale” – its “West Pale” has just been tapped at A Terrible Beauty in The Junction. WS Brewing Company is the beer-making enterprise that took over the former Tervo’s/Corner Market spot in The Triangle, as reported here last July. But don’t go THERE to try their brew – it’s not open to the public. Terrible Beauty IS (at Edmunds/California).
8:20 PM: If you’re just seeing this now – all gone, reports WSBC.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 6:08 PM: In March of last year, we reported that a stretch of Harbor Avenue including the Alki Tavern‘s site was up for sale, listed for almost $4 million. Tonight, the tavern has announced via Facebook that it’s closing:
Well, it’s finally true… After 38 years the Alki Tavern will be closing on March 17th… St Patrick’s Day. Let’s make these last 3 months unforgettable!
King County property records show transactions including the tavern site within the past two weeks. We’re following up to find out more.
(Inside Alki Tavern tonight)
ADDED 7:17 PM: WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand has just spoken with Alki Tavern manager Gill McLynne, who is the son of its current owners (and has a brother working there too). He confirms that they’re moving because of a pending project, and says the family does not plan to try to re-create the Alki Tavern somewhere else – you can’t duplicate something that’s one of a kind. So between now and St. Patrick’s Day – a closing day they chose because of their Irish heritage, and the fact it was always a big day at the tavern – watch for some special celebratory nights so people can come by and say goodbye, including, he said, nights to honor some of the former bartenders and servers. He estimates as many as 300 people have worked there over the years. Since it’s a family-run business with many regular customers, it’ll be sad to say goodbye, he said, but he and his family will work to make the final few months special for the regulars as well as for the whole neighborhood.
ADDED 9:36 PM: County records show the sale spanning two transactions on December 21 and 24, with Salty’s Properties listed as selling the entire site to YMSA Co. Ltd. for $3.2 million in one transaction on the 21st (the same day YMSA registered with the state, listing its company directors as two people with addresses in Korea), and the tavern owners’ interests deeded to Salty’s Properties for $392,000 on the 24th. We could not find any specific development proposal filed online so far for any part of the site, though there were land-use consultations in fall of 2011; the land is zoned for up to 65 feet (six stories).
Joining the Christmas Eve/Day church-services list in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, three more lists now ready for anyone interested in advance planning. This year we’ve included Christmas Eve/Day and New Year’s Eve/Day information wherever possible. Here are the direct links:
*Restaurants – here
*Coffee shops – here
*Grocery stores – here
Please also note, this research has taken the better part of the past two weeks, and there’s always a chance a business will change its plan – so we’d advise you to set out (especially on Christmas Day) with Plans A and B. For more information on local establishments, you can also check their listings in the WSB West Seattle Restaurant Guide. (And if you are a businessperson or customer and see something on our lists NOW that you know isn’t correct – or something missing – please e-mail us! editor@wsb.blackfin.biz)
On this busy pre-holiday-shopping day, we welcome one of our newest sponsors – Capco Beverages, the liquor store opened by longtime Junction entrepreneur Leon Capelouto in the spot that was previously the state’s premier liquor store; now it’s a premier private liquor/wine store, as the Capco Beverages team wants to make sure you know:
(WSB photo: Jan, Jane, and at center, manager Dolly)
The word “premier” isn’t just a label; this is not your average liquor store. Capco Beverages‘ stock includes unusual and rare spirits. “We have things you won’t find anywhere else in West Seattle: bourbons, scotches, tequila,” store manager Dolly Amend says. “All the local Seattle area bourbons. Our Scotch section is constantly growing. We want to have the best selection of Scotch, bourbons, gins, liqueurs, tequila and vodkas anywhere in the state.” The Scotch section of the store is absolutely the best in the city, if not the state, says Dolly – single malts, for example, you might never have found in Seattle before, such as Laddie Classic, Ledaig, Tobermory.
Capco Beverages also offers an extensive tequila section, with what aficionados call “fantastic mezcals,” and a selection of liqueurs from all over the world: Italian Amari, pastis from France, Cynar, every possible fruit liqueur. Dolly says that if a product is listed with a distributor, she will stock it. If a customer asks and it isn’t on the shelf, she will try to get it. And dozens of made-in-Washington labels are in stock.
Its merchandise also includes a collection of Alki t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and caps, martini shakers, and just about every tool and ingredient for making cocktails – including tipsy cherries, cocktail onions, many bitters, even a special salt to rim your Margaritas. Plus ginger beer, soda, tonics and many different vermouths. We also have wine and drink gift baskets ready to purchase – or custom baskets can be made.
“Grocery stores wouldn’t have room to carry the 3000-plus brands and sizes of liquor we have now,” Dolly says, also pointing out that Capco Beverages has a “huge, wonderful selection of wine.”
Capco Beverages is at 41st and Alaska, in Capco Plaza (same building as QFC and Petco). You’ll also find the store on Facebook. And you can use a special coupon you’ll find here on WSB to get a discount on your purchase.
HOLIDAY NOTE: Capco Beverages plans to be OPEN Thanksgiving Day – 10 am-2 pm. Regular hours are listed online.
We thank Capco Beverages 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.
This weekend marks the end for Shipwreck Tavern in The Admiral District. After getting a tip tonight from Guy (thanks!), we went there to confirm the reported shutdown, and co-owner Scott told WSB it’s true. The Shipwreck also made the announcement via Facebook:
This is Scott and Chris here, telling all yall, this is the end. The ship is wrecked. We will be closing the doors this Sunday the 18th. We want to thank everyone for all their support and especially to all the wonderful musicians who have graced this bar. Also everything is for sale so come in and have one last beer with to celebrate a new beginning and buy some nautical s–t, and grab your stein if you have one. We love you all and thanks again.
It’s been three years since Shipwreck Tavern opened, meant to be a nautical-themed haven for drinks and tunes.
(Photo courtesy Krystal Kelley)
A new wine/beer lounge opens Halloween night in The Admiral District – and it’s intended to be a treat, says entrepreneur Krystal Kelley, whose Mind Unwind gallery/gathering space at 2206 California SW will also now be home to the Treehouse Lounge. It’s in the gallery of the loft, previously a “greatly unused space,” and Krystal says she’s been working on it for about a month, with colleagues J. Conrad Nivens and Zac Hutchins. It’ll be open Wednesdays through Sundays, 5 pm to midnight, with Happy Hour 6-8 pm – and Happy Hour all night ($5 house wine/draft beer) on Grand Opening night Wednesday. Read the rest of the Treehouse Lounge story on the Mind Unwind website; Treehouse Lounge also is on Facebook, here.
Espresso is back at 16th and Holden in Highland Park! This is opening day for Jenny’s Java Joint, and proprietor Jen Francisco is thrilled to be up and running, with coffee from Zoka. (The congratulatory flowers on the left side of our photo are from family members, as she explained on Facebook.) We brought you her story just four weeks ago – and now her dream is reality. She’s open till 2 today, 6-2 tomorrow, 5-2 Mondays-Saturdays.
In a cozy century-old ex-carriage house on the north edge of The Junction, Lora Swift and her Hotwire Online Coffeehouse team are celebrating 10 years in business. If you’ve been there, you know it’s not just a coffee shop/Internet café with tasty drinks and eats – it’s a nerve center, a touchstone, a launch pad. (As our first sponsor, Hotwire helped WSB get off the ground!) Lora launched herself out of a corporate career to get Hotwire started in 2002, and over the years has become involved in much more than beverage purveyorship – to name just one offshoot, there’s the annual West Seattle Outdoor Movies series in the adjacent courtyard. The crowd on this year’s finale night (August 25th) was wall-to-wall:
If you weren’t at Hotwire today to say “happy 10th,” no worries, the party continues. You even might check on the availability of the T-shirt Lora designed to honor the occasion – see it here – and to celebrate the community she enriches.
If Highland Park had a “Junction,” it would be 16th/Holden, with commercial buildings on two corners and Fire Station 11 on a third. The southeast corner of that intersection once held an espresso stand and is about to get a new one – Jenny’s Java Joint. We talked today with Highland Park resident Jennifer Francisco (you can call her Jen OR Jenny), who plans to open JJJ as soon as September 1st, in the spot where JoJo’s Fine Espresso closed more than a year and a half ago, next to the Seamart convenience store. Details ahead!
(Pride Parade 2012 photo by Seattle Gay News, republished with permission)
August 11th will mark exactly one year since OutWest Bar opened its doors in the former pharmacy storefront at 5401 California SW. Its owners and staff plan a two-day anniversary celebration on August 10th and 11th, and are publicly thanking the community now:
This achievement is not necessarily due to the great business acumen of her two owners, but more importantly to the marvelous work of the tireless team of Joe, Josh, Holly, Nich, Rich, and Shannon, and most entirely to our unfailing patrons who believe in the OutWest Bar as the “LGBTQA community center with adult beverages” in West Seattle. When we marched in the Pride parade this year (our second year, as we also marched last year two months before opening) we were thrilled with the cheering reception of supporters from all over the city and region and knew we’d done a good thing.
We feel very welcome in West Seattle (especially as many of us have personally lived here more than a decade or so) and feel warmly accepted into the larger community. We believe our presence has encouraged a healthy conversation about difference and tolerance in our age and area. We truly are the gay frontier, and as good neighbors we embrace our dual responsibility of honest communication and to advance businesses and provide jobs in West Seattle by continuing to promote local stores and restaurants to our LGBTQA patrons and beyond.
In seeking to create a “small, local, comfortable, neighborhood LGBTQA focused but straight friendly bar”, and although there is no shortage of great ideas and plenty more to do, we believe we’ve attained this fundamental promise. It is no small accomplishment to have survived this year during the Great Recession, and Chad and Bob wholeheartedly and humbly thank our terrific team and our very loyal friends and customers: we are here entirely for and because of you. Please come by to celebrate with us on August 10th and 11th, we open at 4 pm and will have drink specials, our favorite video DJ, Andy, and a sparkling wine toast at midnight on the 11th. And please keep coming by to meet your friends at OutWest Bar and have a drink or two.
Thank you so much,Bob, Chad, Joe, Holly, Nich, Rich, and Petey
OutWest Bar
4415 Fauntleroy Way SW has been a corner store for a long time – first as Tervo’s Market (till about a year ago), then briefly as the Corner Store and Deli – but now the space is being overhauled for a new incarnation as a brewery. It’s the future home of West Seattle Brewing Company. We first got a mini-flurry of tips some weeks ago that the space was being converted into something related to beer, but every time we went by to try to investigate, the doors were closed – till today, when we found Kevin Fawcett. He’s a longtime home brewer (and writer for Northwest Brewing News) who’s awaiting licensing to start making his beer in the Triangle space. Fawcett tells us the space appealed to him because of its large cold case – perfect for storage. He’ll start off by making beer to supply to resellers, but eventually might have a brew pub. We’ll keep you updated on West Seattle Brewing Company’s progress!
EDITOR’S NOTE, ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: Updated Tuesday morning to add the missing “West” before Seattle in the name. Fawcett told us in a followup phone conversation that he’s well aware of that name’s history, and there will eventually be some kind of display in his brewery looking back at the name’s origins.
(8/14 note: To check whether a business is still a current WSB sponsor, please go here)
This morning we welcome West Seattle’s own Siren Song Wines as a new WSB sponsor. Here’s what winemaker Kevin Brown (at right, with Holly Brown) would like you to know about Siren Song – which is part of a special event at a local restaurant this Saturday:
Siren Song Wines is a boutique winery in West Seattle specializing in premium varietals and blends. We’ve won multiple awards including a gold medal for our 2009 “A Night in Madrid” at the 2012 Washington Wine Competition.
Our customers love the high quality and variety of wines that we make. For example, we made 7 wines in 2009, which is challenging for a small winery. They also love the advantages of our wine club.
We belong to the Seattle Urban Wineries group. We are partnered with many West Seattle restaurants including La Romanza, Phoenecia, Pizzeria 22, and Blackboard Bistro, as well as with Bin 41 and West Seattle Cellars.
Siren Song Wines is online at sirensongwines.com. They are also part of the Roast Pigapalooza event at Blackboard Bistro this Saturday:
This will be the party of the summer – one that you don’t want to miss! We will be roasting a whole pig, presenting various small plates, and sipping delicious wines. This will be very “West Seattle casual.” Chef Jacob Wiegner will be preparing this wonderful, imaginative dining experience. Kevin Brown of Siren Song Wines will be presenting a tasting of three wines from his 2009 vintage. Price: $30/person plus tax and gratuity. To purchase tickets, call (206) 257-4832.
We thank Siren Song Wines 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.
When the charity beer Hi-Yu Brü launched earlier this year, as part of an ongoing West Seattle/White Center series of locally brewed beer benefiting charities, some suggested its proceeds should have benefited its namesake festival. Now, the most popular charity beer in the series is re-launching, and its proceeds WILL benefit the West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival. Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) proprietor Jeff Gilbert sends word that Löwman Bräu is relaunching today at his bar and eight other local venues – in West Seattle, West 5, Shadowland, Mission, The Bridge, Löcöl, Beveridge Place Pub, and in White Center, Big Al Brewing and Company. Jeff says it should be available at all nine places as soon as they open today.
Last week, WSB commenter Petert suggested we make a map of who planned to sell liquor in West Seattle once privatization took effect. Today’s the day, so here’s the map. 17 retailers – but please note, we have not directly confirmed that each and every one of them is selling liquor right this moment; we can only verify that these are the places that sought licenses – both former state stores, now under private ownership; supermarkets (WSB sponsors Metropolitan Market and West Seattle Thriftway as well as all three Safeways, both QFCs, Trader Joe’s, and Target); and drugstores (Bartell Drugs, Rite Aid, and Walgreens, each with two locations in West Seattle). Please let us know through a comment or a note/text/call/etc. if you discover any of them NOT selling liquor yet – we know for sure the supermarkets were ready to go, for starters.
Just got an answer to one of tne of the last questions regarding privatized liquor sales in West Seattle. Our inquiry to Ankur Patel, who had won the auction for the right to get a license at the current state-run store location at Westwood Village, says he does indeed plan to operate the store and expects to open on Friday (the first day liquor privatization takes full effect). He tells WSB, “In the short term it will be business as usual. I hope to bring in a diverse array of products for our patrons over time.” The state announced last week it will close that store and West Seattle’s other state-run store, in The Junction, after Tuesday; as reported here earlier this week, building owner Leon Capelouto plans to reopen that one on Friday. (More on the liquor-sales transition later this weekend.)
Two food/drink notes this afternoon:
CHARLIE’S BUNS CANCELS DELRIDGE PLAN: Veronica Weaver of the Charlie’s Buns ‘n’ Stuff food truck confirms she has scrapped her plan for a bricks-and-mortar burgers/cheesesteaks location at 5214 Delridge Way SW. We checked in with her after a new coffee stand opened in the complex (more on that, to come) and a WSB’er asked us if the coffee place was the space Charlie’s was supposed to be taking. No, says Weaver, she had signed a lease for the space next to that one – but she says she canceled the lease because things weren’t working out – “There were issues having them do the improvements necessary to have the space be a restaurant.” But, she says, “We are currently still looking for a space to occupy, hopefully in West Seattle. We will see, what may come our way.”
$2.50 TUESDAYS AT CHACO CANYON: Just got word from Chaco Canyon Organic Café (WSB sponsor) proprietor Chris that they’re starting something new next Tuesday – “organic beer, wine and cider only $2.50 from 3 pm to close!” Chaco Canyon is the vegetarian/vegan café at 38th/Alaska, on the ground floor of Link.
Just spoke with Leon Capelouto, the longtime Junction entrepreneur/property owner, who confirms he will run the soon-to-be-former state liquor store in his Capco Plaza, without much change – for starters – from its current operations. 
The state branded it Premier Liquor Store before opening it nine months ago, and that’s the signage/name that Capelouto tells WSB he is keeping for now. He says it’s “still going to be a premium liquor store, going to carry a lot of items that people can’t find elsewhere – it’s one of the most complete liquor stores in the state of Washington.” He says he is “hiring all the people who worked there, so the personnel will be the same.”
We followed up with Capelouto after reporting the state’s announcement yesterday that it would close most stores one or more days before the official transition to privatization next Friday. The last day for both West Seattle liquor stores will be next Tuesday, May 29th. Capelouto says he is one of a handful of new liquor-store owners who then will be opening their stores the first day possible, Friday, June 1st – as building owner, he said, he was able to “get a jump on” the process. (The state’s auction – in which Capelouto bid $225K for licensing rights – did not guarantee all bidders the right to the locations; they had to negotiate with property owners.)
He has plenty of retail experience, after all – as owner of the Shafrans clothing store in The Junction for more than 40 years, just steps away from Capco Plaza, which also is home to QFC and Petco stores and Altamira Apartments, as well as smaller storefronts on the building’s east side. He also was high bidder for a state liquor store he will operate in Issaquah.
Bottom line for the Junction location, he says, “West Seattle needs a fine liquor store. … I know the community wants to keep that store.” Though it will be open June 1st with, for starters, the same hours as the state has kept, he says it’ll be a work in progress and that there will be an official “grand opening” somewhere down the line.
Other West Seattle retailers planning to sell liquor include eight of the nine grocery stores (PCC Natural Markets [WSB sponsor] still hasn’t decided) and all four drugstores. (We’re checking on the Westwood state-store site.)
Just announced by the state Liquor Control Board, they’re closing the remaining state liquor stores in phases, with many shutting down BEFORE May 31st – meaning that since the private sellers aren’t supposed to start until June 1st, you might have a few days without availability. Here are the local stores affected, according to the WSLCB’s list: May 29th (next Tuesday) is the final day for West Seattle’s two state stores, in The Junction and at Westwood Village, while May 28th is the final day for the store in White Center. Meantime, several of the local grocery stores that will be selling hard liquor already have stocks on hand, though selling isn’t legal until June 1st.
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