Summer isn’t over yet and OOLA Capitol Hill’s patio at its new 14th and Union bottle shop, cocktail bar, and restaurant is ready when you are.

It has been a few weeks since the craft distillery returned to its home turf with the new hangout in the former home of Marjorie. CHS reported here on the opening as Kirby Kallas-Lewis and KT Niehoff put the final touches on the overhaul with help from their new teammates executive chef Liz Blacker and beverage director Devan Lenning.

The new OOLA is across the street from where it began distilling craft spirits in 2011. Now, three years after its move to a larger, easier to manage production facility in Georgetown, OOLA is back with a space dedicated to showcasing its gin, vodka, and whiskey along with farm-to-table pairings and creative cocktails.

At the time of its birth, OOLA was part of a tiny wave of craft spirit makers putting some of the neighborhood’s light industrial zoning to use under loosened state liquor laws. But the challenges of production in the densely packed neighborhood outweighed the benefits. In late 2020, CHS reported OOLA’s pandemic-rushed plans to move its distilling facility to Georgetown.

The former distillery space on the northwest corner of the intersection will soon make way for this new 7-story apartment building that will wrap around Chop Suey and the Madison Pub.

Marjorie, meanwhile, will return but in a new space in the midst of the new mix of Black-owned and neighborhood businesses in Midtown Square at 23rd and Union.

For Kallas-Lewis and Niehoff, the opening is a homecoming — they still live nearby. “It is a dream come true to be returning to their all time favorite spot in their all time favorite neighborhood to carry on the tradition of offering a gathering place for the neighborhood with a world class vision and a down home vibe,” OOLA said about the plans for the project when CHS first broke the news earlier this summer. “They thrive on offering their vision of hospitality, and yummy goodness to the authentic voices that keep Seattle real and strive to make it better.”

OOLA Capitol Hill is located at 1412 E Union. Learn more at oolacapitolhill.com.

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