(Image: Monsoon)

Not every classic of Capitol HIll food and drink is fading away. Monsoon and its family of Vietnamese food and drink are marking 25 years in the neighborhood with a celebration — and a roast pig — on 19th Ave E. The business has been about family from the start.

“Monsoon would not be here today if our mother, siblings and spouses didn’t step up to help us with everything from permits to construction, to cooking to running the front of house,” co-founder Eric Banh said. “After three months of being open we could finally afford to hire people to work in the restaurant and business really started to take off. We feel so blessed by the Monsoon community and the incredible guests we’ve had the pleasure of knowing throughout the last 25 years.”

Monsoon still prides itself on reinventing Vietnamese in Seattle:

In 1998, after finding themselves in Seattle, and with years of restaurant experience under their belts, Eric and Sophie knew they wanted to do something very different. The typical formula for Vietnamese restaurants in Seattle in the late 90s was limited. You could find good phở, and a few places offering sugarcane shrimp wraps, but they wanted to elevate the idea of Vietnamese cuisine altogether. They wanted to use local ingredients, experiment with tradition and push the boundaries of “ethnic” food to introduce the city to something entirely new.

Born and raised in Saigon, Eric and Sophie Banh have grown from the original Monsoon to grow a food and drink family that includes a sister Monsoon in Bellevue and multiple Ba Bar locations.

CHS reported here in February 2019 on Monsoon’s first 20 years of business. Surviving two decades on the Hill’s quieter side, Monsoon has grown — literally — along with the 19th Ave E neighborhood’s food and drink offerings. In 2014, it doubled its capacity, incorporating a bar, and adding a rooftop patio to the restaurant. “It’s amazing how the world turns around,” Eric Banh told CHS about Monsoon’s survival and expansion nearly a decade ago. “We almost became homeless in 2007. We survived. And now we’re growing. A little bit.”

In 2007, Monsoon was getting ready to leave 19th Ave E as one of the early chapters in the story of Capitol Hill’s waves of 21st century redevelopment played out. Monsoon’s landlords were considering a four-story, 52-unit apartment building with 2,000 square feet of retail for the property. The Banhs may have been the only Hill restaurant owners to benefit from the worldwide economic calamity of the late 2000s. The global economic slowdown put the development on ice.

Soon, the Banhs were ready to expand. The first Ba Bar debuted on 12th Ave in 2011 as a younger, more street-focused alternative to Monsoon. There are now thee Ba Bars across the city. Meanwhile, the 12th Ave original is getting a facelift with stucco and paint work as it has zoomed past its 10th anniversary in business.

Catfish Claypot (Image: Monsoon)

Now in 2024, Monsoon is ready to mark 25 years in a 19th Ave E that is again ready for a change. Old friends like the Kingfish Cafe have gone, replaced by new neighbors like Rocket Taco and Zeek’s Pizza. Laotian flavored Taurus Ox has grown into a popular new destination on the street. And an exciting new chef-driven project is coming together across the street in the space left empty by the exit of Bounty Kitchen.

For now, it is time for Monsoon to celebrate. Next week, the Seattle original will be serving a special menu of guest-favorites through the years with items priced at $25 as well as $25 bottles of wine, from February 19th to the 21st culminating in a roast pig party. “On Wednesday, February 21 Chef Eric will be carving a whole roasted pig and everyone who dines that evening will enjoy complimentary roast pork with their meal,” Monsoon promises.

Monsoon is located at 615 19th Ave E. You can learn more at monsoonrestaurants.com/seattle/.