Category Archives: Food & Drink

It’s no ‘Pine/Pike’ but you can celebrate April Fools’ 2025 with a Poop Donut

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The great Pine/Pike prank of 2011

There have been some great Capitol Hill April Fools’ pranks over the years. 2011’s Pine/Pike sign switch stands out. 2014’s Costco Coffee? Also a winner.

2025? At least one neighborhood prank planned for April 1st is looking pretty sh…

…ockingly chocolately.

CHS doesn’t receive a lot of press releases with subject lines like “Poop Donut” but when we do, we open the email. Take it away, Mighty-O:

This month we have a highly anticipated launch of our Poop Donut that we roll out once a year in honor of April Fools Day!

We’re a local business that is turning 25 this year. Would you be able to help us get the word out? Any exposure would help us immensely! Here’s some info:

Seattle’s Mighty-O Donuts is selling a specialty “poop” donut for April Fool’s Day! Grab this dookie donut to play the ultimate prank on your friends, families, coworkers, and strangers by taking a big delicious bite!

The poop donut pre-orders open on March 18th for pick up on March 31 and April 1st. Limited supply will be sold in store on these two days so be sure to plan your pranks & place your poop pre-orders now!

You can order yours today or swing by the 12th Ave and Madison location and hope you get lucky Tuesday. CHS recommends splurging and adding the googly eyes for a quarter.

Meanwhile, another Hill doughnut shop will also join the April Fools’ Day prank trend. You can check with Summit’s Top Pot to get your hands on their limited edition Habanero Old Fashioned — “โ Allergen Warning: Please note these spicy treats do contain real peppers. Please be mindful of food allergies when attempting this prank,” Top Pot notes.

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‘The backbone of a neighborhood’ — Capitol Hill leather bar The Cuff has new owner

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CHS reported on 30 years at The Cuff here in 2023

Through 32 years of changes in the neighborhood and changes in ownership, people have been getting lost in the dark corners and good times at The Cuff.

The quintessential Capitol Hill leather bar is now stepping out again on its own.

Scott Walent, a first-time nightlife owner, is stepping up and taking over the sprawling 13th Ave venue and center of Seattle queer culture as part of a rare downsizing of the Queer/Bar family of Capitol Hill businesses.

“We understand the weight of this responsibility and are committed to honoring the legacy of the previous owners, who so wonderfully navigated The Cuff Complex through the past five years,” Walent said in a statement to the Seattle Gay News who was first to report the changes. “We plan to maintain many of the values and traditions that have made The Cuff such a vital part of our community while infusing new vibes and programming into the calendar.” Continue reading →

With sibling Agua Verde, the food and drink family that saved HoneyHole making plans for Cantina Del Sol on E Pine

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The bar at Agua Verde (Image: Pike Street Restaurant Group)

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(Image: Mercado Luna)

The food and drink business family behind E Pike rum barย Rumba,ย its post-Tiki siblingย Inside Passage and the revival of Capitol Hill sandwich bar favorite HoneyHoleย is working on plans to make a new investment in the neighborhood.

Early paperwork reveals plans for a new Cantina Del Sol to open in the sprawling multi-level E Pine complex where Mezcaleria Oaxaca shuttered last September.

The project would be the latest on Capitol Hill and in the city for the Pike Street Hospitality Group, the family of food and drink businesses shaped by Travis Rosenthal whose 2006 purchase of classic Capitol Hill date spot Tango with his wife Carrie Rosenthal was the start of building a small empire in Seattle food and drink. Continue reading →

City Attorney puts nightlife gun violence at center of Seattle proposal for new after-hours club regulations

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The Seattle City Attorney’s office is putting concerns over 2 AM “last call” shootings at the center of the debate over proposed legislation that would regulate after hours clubs in Seattle.

Chair Bob Kettle’s council Public Safety Committee will take up the proposed ordinance Tuesday morning. CHS first reported in October on the proposal from then-councilmember Tanya Woo that would create new rules for “any business that allows gathering for socializing, smoking, or dancingโ€ after last call between the hours of 2 AM and 5 AM.

Woo lost her bid to retain her seat on the council but the proposal is now moving forward with support from Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison. Davison’s office points at what it says is a proliferation of late night shootings “connected to select after-hours locations, many with multiple shooting events” as a driver for putting the rules in place. Continue reading →

With Eggslut coming to Melrose Market, breakfast sandwiches are hot stuff on Capitol Hill

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(Image: Eggslut)

Eggslut already has a location on Melrose in Los Angeles — Las Vegas, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuwait, and London, too.

Soon the hyped breakfast sandwich chain will be in Seattle at Capitol Hill’s Melrose Market.

Permits have been issued for the buildout for the latest location in the “chef driven” company.

The price of eggs may be soaring but Eggslut hasn’t slowed down after growing from an L.A. food truck into a dozen high profile locations worldwide. Continue reading →

Black Coffee Northwest: How Seattle City Hall, Vulcan Real Estate, and the goodwill of creating ‘a vibrant core for Black businesses’ in the Central District could not open a coffee shop at 23rd and Jackson

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A design rendering of signage for Black Coffee Northwest at 23rd and Jackson

Depending on who you ask — and if they are willing to speak on the record — there are lots of failures to blame at 23rd and Jackson. But the bottom line is this: Despite years of work from the city’s Office of Economic Development andย one of its leading developers in Vulcan Real Estate, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office, District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth, and the goodwill of rebuilding Black ownership in this key core of the Central District, it seems unlikely Black Coffee Northwest will ever open at the corner.

“We have a staff trained and ready to go. My grand opening was planned,” owner DarNesha Bowman told CHS earlier this month.

Bowman went public this year with what she says has been a lack of support from Vulcan and the city falling short on promises to help the small business entrepreneur usher in what many hoped would be the start of a new era at 23rd and Jackson with her Black Coffee Northwest taking over a space being left behind by global coffee giant Starbucks over public safety concerns in the area. Continue reading →

Gyro Saj Mediterranean Grill coming to Broadway

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(Image: Gyro Saj)

First Hill’s Gyro Saj is expanding to Broadway.

A person with knowledge of the plans tells CHS the 2022-born Madison shawarma and falafel joint is readying the space formerly home to Ian’s Pizza on the Hill.

The Wisconsin-born chain exited Broadway to begin 2025 as its 10-year lease came up.

The new Gyro Saj will join a mix of restaurants neighboring Blick Art Materials in the Hunters Capital owned and managed Broadway Building at Broadway and Pine. That group includes FOB Poke Bar and its new siblingย Old Street Malatang.

While northern Broadway has grown lately with some elevated approaches including the opening soon Nomadic Wine Dispensary in the former Rapport space, and the new chef-driven Saucery in the Corvus and Co. kitchen, Broadway’s food and drink options have trended toward the fast-er food end of the spectrum on its southern end near Pike/Pine including recent additions like a Broadway Wingstop.

Fans of more affordable food on the move will also appreciate the coming soon Burritos California which is taking shape — and readying the drive-thru — at the old Rancho Bravo on E Pine across from Cal Anderson Park.

Gyro Saj will open soon at 1620 Broadway. Learn more at gyrosaj.com.

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Chuck’s Hop Shop CD has lots a beer, a new ‘crappy food’ menu, and still room for food trucks — including Jackson’s Catfish Corner

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(Image: Chuck’s CD)


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Chuck’s Hop Shop CD is mostly about beers on tap and refrigerated cases of brews from across the region and nation. After 11 years on E Union, it is ready to move beyond the glizzy when it comes to the food it serves to help soak up all those hops. It is upgrading its pretzels, too.

“Weโ€™re thrilled to announce that weโ€™re leaving behind our outdated crappy food and bringing you some exciting changes!,” the Chuck’s CD announcement reads.

The new Chuck’s CD menu now includes a French Dip Sandwich with “Mama Lilโ€™s Peppers, Boarโ€™s Head roast beef, havarti, creamy horseradish, and a side of hot au jus” and two versions of the classic Reuben Sandwich. “For those who love meat, we have a corned beef version, while our veggie-friendly option features a pickled beet Reuben,” Chuck’s says. Continue reading →

Around the world in 3,650 days, NUE celebrates a decade of global experimentation on Capitol Hill

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(Image: NUE)

Fried chicken for two (Image: NUE)

By Caroline Carr

Ten years ago, a food blogger opened a restaurant on Capitol Hill. After a decade of culinary experimentation on a global scale, NUE continues on 14th Ave with the same experimental spirit.

โ€œWe wanted to become [a place] where it feels like you’re on vacation and willing to talk to anybody and try anything,โ€ says Uyen Nguyen.

In early 2015, Chris Cvetkovich, a computer animation entrepreneur and food blogger, stepped out of his home kitchen to bring his experiments in gastronomy to the people as NUE debuted on Capitol Hill. At the time as it joined the newly opened REO Flats building, it was neighboring Omega Ouzeri from Capitol Hill restaurant legend Thomas Soukakos.

โ€œJust donโ€™t do bad Greek food,” was the veteran’s only advice for the rookie restaurateur.

A decade later, Nguyen and Cvetkovich are the grizzled vets. Soukakos has retired and new neighbors Ramie have moved in. NUE is continuing its global tour. Continue reading →

ๆ„Ÿ่ฌ — With Taku closure, Chef Shota says goodbye to Capitol Hill (and maybe Seattle?)

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(Image: @chefshota)


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After five years on E Pike and a decade of his work in the neighborhood, celebrity chef Shota Nakajima is kissing his latest Capitol Hill creation — and maybe the Hill and the city — goodbye.

“After an incredible run, itโ€™s time to officially say goodbye to Taku. The sign may say ‘temporarily closed,’ but letโ€™s be realโ€”itโ€™s time to turn off the lights, toast one last drink, and close this chapter,” Nakajima posted this week.

Nakajima’s 2020-born, Osaka-inspired karaage bar had been closed in recent weeks as the chef announced he was hosting a series of pop-ups inspired by his first Capitol Hill creation — the meticulous 10-course Japanese kaiseki joint Naka at 15th and Pine where Kedai Makan now lives.

This goodbye seems to ripple beyond business.

“The past 10 years have been a wild, beautiful, rain-or-shine, wouldnโ€™t-trade-it-for-anything kind of ride. The late nights, the shared meals, the communityโ€”Seattle, youโ€™ve given me more than I could ever ask for,” Nakajima writes. “But this isnโ€™t goodbye forever. Just like the hunt for the best foraged finds, change is part of the journeyโ€”I canโ€™t wait to share whatโ€™s next ๐Ÿ„โ€๐ŸŸซ.”

CHS is checking in to make sure we fully got the chef’s drift — but this sounds like goodbye. Continue reading →