After a dozen years on Capitol Hill, 8 Oz. Burger has shut down at Broadway and Union in a change that just might mark the end of an era in Seattle’s burger culture.

In a message to customers, 8 Oz. ownership said they planned to stay in business in Seattle with a commercial kitchen to continue offering their menu for delivery and takeout orders. They also continue to operate a Ballard 8 Oz. location — for now.

“This decision, though difficult, is driven by the realities we face: rising rental rates, increasing labor and food costs, especially as we commit to sustainable, local, and organic products and our concerns for the safety and well-being of our staff and customers in the current environment,” the message to customers reads.

CHS reached out to partners Kevin Chung, Kevin Lee, and Sujin Pang to ask more about the closure and, especially, the “safety and well-being” issues but the owners have not responded to our inquiries.

The closing message echoes sentiments expressed by Portland-based vegan Jewish deli chain Ben and Esther’s when it decided late last year to pull the plug on its E Pike shop.

Seattle bakery Shikorina Pastries is now happily moving into that E Pike cafe space.

There is no word on any plans, yet, for the 8 Oz. space that has served various restaurants including the original La Spiga over past decades on the southeast corner of the Harvard Market shopping center at Broadway and Union.

It is the second recent major tenant loss for Harvard Market after the closure of the shopping center’s Bartell Drugs amid the company’s wider financial difficulties last year.

8 Oz. debuted on Capitol Hill to start 2012 and was part of what was hoped to be a nationwide chain of burger bars inspired by the “California cuisine” of celebrity chef Govind Armstrong.

When the Seattle location opened under the local partnership led by Chung, it joined restaurants already opened in Southern California and at LAX.

Chung told CHS back then he got to know Armstrong during a previous Seattle restaurant project that opened the door to extending the California-style burger bar operation to the Pacific Northwest.

The partners went so far as to register the local 8 Oz. holding company in Delaware, a move typical of ventures planning ahead with larger aspirations.

Twelve years later, there is still an 8 Oz. in Ballard on NW Market as well as inside the Horseshoe Casinos in Mississippi and Louisiana. The LA orginai is long gone as is a Miami expansion.

The days of the mid-scale burger bar might be dying but how 8 Oz. will live on for Capitol Hill customers remains to be seen.

The restaurant’s owners say the next steps will be focused on delivery and takeout. That fits in with the latest nationwide chain concept to grow onto Capitol Hill as Cap Hill Kitchens has brought the “ghost kitchen” concept from ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s CloudKitchens network of delivery-focused food prep facilities to 14th Ave.

Cap Hill Kitchens currently features three ventures offering hamburgers of various sorts including Halal Smash BRGR, Brick’N’Cheese, and American Jacks Vegetarian Restaurant.

UPDATE: Chung tells CHS 8 Oz. will, indeed, be hooking up with Cap Hill Kitchens. “It just makes sense,” Chung said, adding that he hopes his restaurant experience will help him overcome many of the pitfalls and unexpected costs inexperienced owners have run into with CloudKitchens. Capitol Hill customers should soon see the familiar 8 Oz. burger menu — plus possible new concepts from Chung — available from 14th Ave’s Cap Hill Kitchens.

Chung said, after the pandemic, the Capitol Hill 8 Oz. did a remarkable level of takeout business even if its restaurant seats weren’t always full. The big problem? Delivery fees ate up too much of the profit.

Meanwhile, Chung said he’ll miss doing business on Broadway but that keeping the place safe was a growing challenge with everything from a guy running through to steal every to-go bag, to people shooting up in the bathroom, to people sleeping or defecating in the entrace, to the man who came in the other day, chugged a bottle of mustard, and walked out. “The list goes on and on,” Chung said.

HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.