Well it was only a matter of time.. @jseattle Boom is closing on Sunday. Employees notified yesterday. pic.twitter.com/lswUBscVes
— Nicole Jekich (@NJekich) August 20, 2016
When Boom Noodle was born in 2007, the version of Pike/Pine’s entertainment district we know today was just beginning. Investments like Boom, for better and for worse, made it happen. Over the weekend, the chain concept that never really got off the ground closed for good after a decade of shifting concepts at 12th and Pike.
The farewell message was posted on Boom’s doors letting customers know that Sunday would be the last day of service for the Japanese fusion noodle house from the Blue C family of restaurants:
We’ve been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the Capitol Hill and Seattle area for the past 10 years and it saddens us to announce that this weekend will be our last. Our lease is coming to an end and it’s time to bid our wonderful guests and neighbors farewell.
We have had so much fun along the way while creating deep, lasting friendships within the community and building an amazingly loyal customer base. We hope you’ll have a chance to stop by, say farewell and cheers! We cannot begin to express our gratitude for your patronage over the years. We at Boom look forward to serving you again somewhere and sometime in the future!
The tech money-powered Madison Holdings group opened Boom Noodle in 2007 as a follow-up concept joining the company’s Blue C Sushi chain. In 2014 the investors decided to change course by opening Kaisho at the 12th and Pike space, but the concept only lasted a few months and Boom was rebooted on the block in 2015.
Capitol Hill was the concept’s last remaining location after the parent company opened and closed Booms in Bellevue and U Village. Expansion plans for Boom were put on the back burner in 2013 as Madison Holdings focused on expanding Blue C Sushi. The belt sushi chain currently has nine locations, including three in California.
Russell Horowitz, founder of the Seattle-based company Marchex, has been involved as an investor with Madison Holdings since the inception of the Blue C and Boom.
The E Pike location had served as one of the default Capitol Hill family restaurant experiences. The kid-friendly bento boxes and the table set-up lent itself to a more comfortable sprawl. Others, usually kidless, enjoyed the generous happy hours.
While owners didn’t offer a reason for the closure, CHS is told the 10-year lease on the location was coming up for renewal and that the explosion in Pike/Pine rents over the past decade have the space lined up for a significant increase.
Boom’s last day marks the latest in a small string of summer restaurant closings on Capitol Hill and the second hole that will need to be filled in a building from Capitol Hill developer Liz Dunn. The much-ballyhooed Chop Shop hurriedly closed its cafe doors citing challenges with daytime business and bad timing in Dunn’s Chophouse Row development. B.C.-based sandwich shop Meat and Bread is now closed after owners told CHS they were pulling out of Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, $$$$ Restaurant Marron has exited the Loveless Building.
But don’t worry, there are at least 12 (+Ooink) new food and drink openings still to come in 2016.
Capitol Hill food+drink | Ooink and 12+ new places still to come in 2016
I don’t think it’s accurate to call Boom Noodle “the chain concept that never really got off the ground”. Boom Noodle was pricey for what you got when they opened, but soon settled into being a neighborhood mainstay (perhaps because the neighborhood caught up with and surpassed Boom’s price point almost immediately). It was a quite popular place for several years.
Boom’s downfall was precipitated by an overhaul of the menu, removing most of the favorite items, a few months (maybe a year?) before the completely ill-advised shift to Kaisho, which died a quick and deserved death. I was happy to hear that Boom was coming back last year – but I never went. I just didn’t trust that the menu and prices would be what I remembered, and now there are a lot more options for simple and affordable food.
Totally agree with you. I semi-frequented Boom before they changed their menu and removed some of my favorites. Bummed that they couldn’t make it work, since I liked the concept.
I agree – the original Boom Noodle was great. They lost me when they took favorites off the menu. It was nice while it lasted. Nice staff too.
I really enjoyed the original Boom Noodle. I quit going after the concept change and it seems I wasn’t alone.
Too bad they didn’t leave well enough alone.
I went a couple of times and liked it enough (before the format change). But I also thought even though good, it was somewhat pricy for what you got. Then again– that pretty much describes almost everywhere on Capitol Hill anymore. Is it really a coincidence that what consistently thrives and propagates are more pizza joints? There’s a message in there, and it’s not buried too deep.
I want a national fast food chain and more places with a filling meal that costs less than $7 on the hill.
We had several of the major fast food players on the hill. They’ve all closed up shop over the years.
Mike – places like Jamjuree and Tacos Chukis still exist on the hill.
really good food at cheaper prices and much better than gnarly fast food.
What constitutes good fast food is in the eyes of the beholder. And in any case Jamjuree is not fast food by most anyone’s definition, and isn’t less than $7 either. I hardly think a fast food place (in the traditional sense) here and there threatens to displace the multitudes of $50-75+ pp “fine dining” establishments covering Capitol Hill.
i can think of two subways, there’s the panera bread, dominos, chipotle and, just off capitol hill on first hill, is mcdonald’s and jimmy johns. not to mention dick’s (which, yes, is not a national chain but same quality food). while certainly not suburban strip mall in choices there are places you can get a “gut-buster meal” for $7 or less.
Well at least there’s still Samurai if I want to get ramen on the hill…
yo pete have you tried Kizuki Ramen on Pike?
mm yummy.
Sorry Pete…Samurai Noodle closed on Broadway. Theres a giant sign up that says “healthy pasta” coming soon
Meat and Bread closed? Good.
I’m sorry to hear this. I still liked going to Boom regularly and thought you could get a good meal for what is now an inexpensive price in the neighborhood.
That sucks, the food was back to being pretty good. That concept change really hurt them. Even after the Kaisho was gone and the menu returned to normal, it never really seemed as busy as before.