Another Bok a Bok? New York-style pizza? This batch of new restaurant openings runs the gamut.
Capitol Hill
By The Pound, the deli with a speakeasy bar in the back, is located on the corner of East Olive Way and Harvard Avenue East. Actually, it’s a speakeasy within a speakeasy. There’s also a second floor inside the second speakeasy. You follow all that? Anyway, there are sandwiches, soups and salads, and yes, you can buy meat by the pound. The deli stays open until 4 a.m., everyday. The project is from the folks behind the cocktail bar Alchemy in West Seattle. But its talented chef Larkin Young, according to Eater, has left. Bok a Bok, the popular Korean wings joint in White Center, opens on Capitol Hill and got so busy over the weekend that it ran out of wings. Posted on its Facebook: “You ate all our chicken so now we need to start over from scratch.” The much-anticipated Princi bakery opens inside the popular Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill. Eater reports that instead of a menu, the staff will tell you what pastries and baked goods “are currently available, a selection that will change throughout the day.” The Japan-based Danbo Ramen, which has two branches in Vancouver, B.C., is also on Capitol Hill, which seems to be the hub for good ramen these days. And here some readers were complaining that the Eastside was getting all the good ramen. Also on the Hill, Neko, the cat café opens on Pike Street. Nearby, Itto’s, the popular Moroccan-and-Spanish tapas bar, expands to 601 Summit Ave. E. In the Chop House Row, the bike repair shop Good Weather now has a cafe offering sandwiches, beer and wine.
Downtown Seattle area
Chavez in the Pike Place area is an offshoot of the critically acclaimed Chavez restaurant on Capitol Hill. Same name but different concept. The new Chavez is smaller but built for speed, designed to crank out tacos to handle the office lunch crowd and the impatient tourists. It’s an impressive menu of gourmet tacos (octopus to braised lamb shank) from talented chef Gabriel Chavez. Chavez uses some of the best tortillas in Western Washington. It’s the only tortilla you will want for your taco party. Here’s where you can get them. Next to Chavez sits Mercato Stellina, a Bellevue-based pizzeria. The Seattle version of Mercato Stellina is bigger and includes a pasta menu. In downtown, Rider, inside Hotel Theodore, focuses on local bounties with oysters and other seafood along with fresh pasta. Cafe Opla, a Vietnamese cafe specializing in banh mis and fried-egg dishes, opens along Alaskan Way.
South Lake Union
El Grito Tacqueria takes over the former India buffet spot. It will be interesting to see how it does come evenings and weekends when the Amazon crowd heads home. And check out Seattle Sketcher on El Grito. Nearby, Teinei offers ramen, udon, sushi and small plates. Many of its noodle dishes are offered during happy hour. Sprout, which has a location in Pioneer Square, also expands to South Lake Union, focusing on salads, wraps and pressed juices. Nearby in Denny Triangle, The Moo Bar, with its bubble-tea and Asian desserts, opens its second location in the U.S.
University District
Several cheap Asian spots have popped up near the UW campus this year. Sizzle & Crunch was one of the standout newbies in February. Now comes the new Korean-wing joint, Chi Mac. Wash down those spicy wings with Hite beer. Nearby BB’s Teriyaki Grill, like many new Asian spots for the young and hip, borrows from the fast-casual concept. Pick white or brown rice; chicken or tofu along with a few other options and you’re on your way. Your bill will be $8.75.
The rest around Seattle
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Fremont Bowl might be the most-talked-about opening this season. Poke and big rice bowls cost less than $13 and many sides like gyoza dumplings and karaage (fried chicken) are less than $5.
The Masonry in lower Queen Anne expands to Fremont with an ambitious restaurant. Its m.o., sour beers and Neapolitan-style pizza, continues at the new Fremont location, but there will be an extensive fresh-pasta menu, sandwiches, tacos and a full bar with a biodynamic wine program. The space is almost 6,000 square feet, about eight times bigger than its modest setup in Queen Anne.
Mark Fuller, co owner of the successful New Luck Toy last year, has had a busy few months. He opened his pizza joint Supreme on the main drag of West Seattle and his vegetarian joint ‘Table in the Denny Regrade, the latter in partnership with Doug Kawasaki, who did a stint at John Howie. Supreme has been packed in the first two weeks with locals lining up for his New York-inspired pizza. Fuller also opened the walk-up window Ma’ono UVillage earlier this summer. Also in the shopping center, New York based Juice Press, which Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is associated with, opens as well.
J’Dumpling House opens in North Seattle and does steamed chicken, pork and shrimp dumplings. Sorry, no soup dumplings.
Jerk Shack opens in Belltown. According to the Stranger, this Jamaican jerk fried chicken spot comes from Trey Lamont of the Caribbean-Asian fusion Papa Bois Food Truck.
Kiin Kiin opens in the Greenwood area, hawking Thai street food and curries.
Q.E.D. Coffee opens a block from Seattle Center.
Eastside
Central Bar + Restaurant, from the same folks behind 520 Bar and Grill nearby, opens in the ever-expanding Lincoln Square. Taylor Shellfish also opened up another branch in that shopping center. Around Bellevue, Tiger Bites does Taiwanese fusion with bao buns, small plates and rice bowls in the Overlake area. Another bubble-tea chain, Coco Fresh Tea & Juice opens in Bellevue. Kirkland gets the Chinese restaurant Bite of Sichuan, and Redmond gets Paradise Biryani House. Up in Bothell, fans camped out for the opening of Chick-fil-A in Canyon Park.