(Image: CHS)
With plans at 11th and Pine for what it expects to be one of the first of hundreds of new restaurants still in motion, “pasture raised” chicken sandwich chain start-up Mt. Joy also is making plans for one of the most notorious locations in Capitol Hill food and drink.
The chicken sandwich venture from prolific Capitol Hill and Seattle restaurateur Ethan Stowell is lined up to debut its Mt. Joy food truck with a grand opening next month at 1600 E Olive Way.
Recognize the address? That’s the parking lot of the Starbucks the coffee giant shuttered in 2022 as part of a ripple of shutdowns over what it said were public safety concerns amid an ongoing labor battle at the Seattle-based company.
“Want to grab a bite of the delicious chicken sandwiches that we’ve been raving about?,” reads the promo. “Come to 1600 East Olive Way on September 7th and get a taste of joy. Can’t wait to see all of you!”
CHS has reached out to Mt. Joy to ask more about the use of the E Olive Way property. CHS reported here on the boarded-up building and graffiti target that has stood empty for months. The parcel’s owners have since added heavy barbed-wire to the fortificiation.
(Image: CHS)
The presence of Mt. Joy will apparently put the space along E Olive Way and across from Summit Slope Park back into motion though it isn’t clear if the security fences are coming down.
Paperwork with the city, meanwhile, doesn’t reveal any work underway for a possible opening of a brick and mortar Mt. Joy in the building. The property has been home to a long history of Capitol Hill food and drink including several large restaurant chains.
The permitting does show something else interesting, however. In spring, construction permits for electrical work were updated for the address including one related to an “on-counter brewer swap from existing Bunn Brewer to the new Clover Vertica, using existing plumbing and electrical.” That sounds like coffee to us. We’ll have to see if Starbucks is mounting an E Olive Way comeback.
Meanwhile Mt. Joy is still cultivating plans for a debut Capitol Hill location at 11th and Pine in a portion of the giant space of the former Stout pub. Permits for the new tenant overhaul were issued earlier this month.
UPDATE: The company says its planned stay on E Olive Way is temporary.
“Our truck is only Phase 1 of Mt. Joy’s mission to heal the planet and food supply chain through regenerative farming. Next up, a brick-and-mortar location on Capitol Hill is coming this Fall,” a Mt. Joy spokesperson tells CHS. “Where people will have a more immersive experience, get a chance to learn more about our food sourcing and the village that we’re creating.”
As for the security fences, plywood, and barbed wire, they’re staying up. Mt. Joy says the plan is to add “a very wide gate on the Olive side of the parking lot for foot traffic to walk into the site during open hours” while the “large gate on E. John” will remain open.
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Please lord put something there again.
Mt. Joy. Saving Cap Hill from becoming a prepared food desert.
Not Another Ethan Stowell Restaurant
There is also Bombo at the convention center!!!!!!!!!
My thought too… can he go away
LOL. “heal the planet” by killing chickens.
You can’t even write comedy like that.
yes! we’ve seen enough. it’s time to stop eating meat.