Facing uncertain business seas in Seattle, The Jilted Siren says goodbye to Capitol Hill

(Image: The Jilted Siren)

A Capitol Hill lounge is closing in what small business advocates say could be the start of a year of shutdowns for Seattle’s restaurants, bars, and small businesses most impacted by the 2025 expiration of the city’s tip credit.

The Jilted Siren announced headed into the holidays they were shutting down the Bellevue Ave location and considering a possible reopening in a more affordable location.

Their last night of business came over the weekend. How the city’s food and drink industry is faring, The Jilted Siren’s ownership says, will be part of the decision on whether — and where — to reopen.

“We will see what shakes out w all the changes coming in January. Seattle City council made some pretty short sighted, negligent decisions and there are going to be quite a few casualties from it,” the lounge posted on social media. Continue reading

Man charged with robbery in J’s Quick Stop shoplifting attack — Meanwhile, Capitol Hill quick mart has new owner

(Image: J’s Quick Stop)

A man has been charged in the brutal shoplifting assault at Capitol Hill’s J’s Quick Stop that put the neighborhood market’s owner in the hospital. Meanwhile, the owner is apparently ready to move on from the Bellevue Ave store.

Marquez Echols, 40, has been charged with first-degree robbery in the September attack on owner Charlie Kim that police say stemmed from a dispute over the store’s 50 cent fee on a debit card charge for a 6-pack of beer. Police say Echols pummeled Kim with a can of beer before fleeing the store and leaving the shop owner bleeding on the sidewalk. Continue reading

Fundraiser for Bellevue Ave J’s Quick Stop owner beaten in shoplifting assault

Customers and nearby businesses are rallying to support the owner of J’s Quick Stop after a brutal beating during a shoplifting incident this week at the Bellevue Ave neighborhood market.

Local gym Cap Hill Fitness has launched a fundraiser to help support the recovery of Charlie Kim:

Hello everyone, my name is Clinton Davis and I started this fundraiser for a dear friend of mine, Charlie Kim. Charlie owns J’s Quick Stop, which happens to be next door to my gym. Charlie was viciously assaulted on September 12th by a shoplifter. Charlie will need time to recuperate and will unlikely be able to run his store. Anything you can give to help for his medical expenses would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Seattle Fire was called to the store to treat Kim for injuries in a nighttime assault and called for help from Seattle Police to investigate the assault. SPD has launched a robbery investigation in connection with the case.

J’s Quick Stop is located on the street level of the 2001-built Hawthorne Apartments. City business records indicate the market has operated as J’s since 2009.

CHS will check for more information about the incident from SPD and will update as we learn more.

 

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

 

Harry’s Fine Foods hosts ‘Burgers and Beer for Corey’ benefit for slain employee

More info from Harry’s Fine Foods

Harry’s Fine Foods is hosting a “Burgers and Beer” BBQ Sunday to benefit the family of sous chef Corey Bellett.

The Bellevue Ave restaurant is breaking out the grill for the community event with proceeds from the June 9th 5 to 8 PM gathering going to support Bellett’s wife. “Come together with us as we honor Corey’s memory with an evening of good food, drinks, and the warmth of community,” the restaurant invites.

Bellett was stabbed to death in an altercation on the platform inside Capitol Hill Station last month as the restaurant worker was on his way home after a Saturday brunch shift.

Shawn Moore has pleaded not guilty to charges of second degree murder and intimidating a witness in the case.

An online fundraiser has also been set up to help Bellett’s family through the tragedy.

Bellett was 37 years old.

 

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

 

Victim in deadly stabbing identified, details emerge in fatal Capitol Hill Station altercation — UPDATE: Fundraiser

A memorial has grown outside Harry’s Fine Foods (Image: CHS)

(Image: CHS)

The Capitol Hill chef stabbed and killed in an altercation on the Capitol Hill Station light rail platform Saturday has been identified as Corey Bellett.

The 37-year-old died of injuries suffered in the stabbing on the subway platform 200 feet below Broadway.

Seattle Fire responded to provide emergency aid to the victim and transport him to Harborview but Bellett succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

Seattle Police were unable to immediately locate the suspect seen on Sound Transit security video fleeing with knife still in hand following the just before 6 PM assault. The department announced an arrest in the case Monday night after a U.S. Marshals task force tracked down the suspect and took him into custody in Eatonville earlier in the day. A hearing to determine probable cause and to continue to hold the 26-year-old in jail was scheduled for a Tuesday hearing.

Bellett — A fundraiser has been set up to help the victim’s family

Prosecutors say Shawn Patrick Moore will remain jailed on $3 million bail and a charging decision in the case is expected Thursday. The county prosecutor says Moore has not been charged by its office previously.

In the documents filed for the bail hearing, police say video evidence shows the victim brush by the suspect and another man as he moved down the station escalator Saturday evening. Police say the suspect and the man accompanying him then confronted Bellett on the platform and a fight ensued in which it appeared that Moore pulled a knife from his pocket and began stabbing Bellett. Police say Bellett fell onto the northbound track where Moore allegedly continued the assault before fleeing the station.

Police say the second man later contacted police to provide information about the suspect. Continue reading

For sale: New Capitol Hill developer sought for mixed-use City Market redevelopment

Speaking of neighborhood groceries, it has been 111 days since the “MUP-ready development site” also known as Capitol Hill’s much-loved City Market hit the Seattle real estate market.

November’s unpriced listing — if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it — was the surest sign that much-hyped San Francisco-based property developer Juno is now out of the picture after shepherding the property through several rounds of Seattle process on the way to plans for a mass timber mixed-use building topped with 98-residential units, including 58 studios, 21 “deep” one-bedrooms, 13 one-bedrooms and 5 two-bedrooms, above a future home for the popular Bellevue Ave grocery and new underground parking.

To make way, the existing City Market building and the laundromat next door as well as a small surface parking lot were planned to be demolished. Continue reading

A visit to Harry’s Guest House and mixing uses on Capitol Hill’s Bellevue Ave

(Image: Harry’s Guest House)

(Image: Harry’s Fine Foods)

By Juan Jocom

The Harry’s Good Times family of businesses is growing. There’s a place to come and stay on Capitol Hill when everyone visits.

Harry’s Guest House was once home to a beloved neighbor. Now, it is part of Harry’s Fine Foods and of the few new places to stay on Capitol Hill where recent attempts to develop new hotel projects have been slow to take shape.

Jake Santelli and Julian Hagood opened their first accommodation-based business on Capitol Hill at the corner of E Mercer and Bellevue Ave in November. It is a two-unit bed and breakfast. As their Harry’s Fine Foods restaurant took shape in 2016 out of an old neighborhood cornerstore, Santelli and Hagood were pleased to make friends with the eccentric neighborhood longtimer next door. Winnie, they say, “dined with us, laughed with us, and ultimately became a symbol of community that made the corner of E Mercer and Bellevue Ave just a little bit sweeter.”

When they learned Winnie was moving out and leaving her beloved home behind, the Harry’s guys moved to make the house part of their presence at the corner. Continue reading

Man injured in Thanksgiving morning shooting on Capitol Hill

One person was taken to the hospital and another was in custody as police searched for the reported gunman in an early Thanksgiving morning shooting on Capitol Hill.

Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were called to the gunfire near Bellevue and E Olive St. just before 6 AM where a man had been reportedly shot in the leg, according to emergency radio updates.

Arriving officers began pursuit of two men spotted fleeing the area near Crawford Place and took one into custody after a brief foot chase while the other was able to escape on foot. Continue reading

Calling the heartbroken but happy, the hungry, and the thirsty, The Jilted Siren now open on Capitol Hill

 

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

 

Amy Graham — accompanied by her daughter Kayla — at The Jilted Siren

A new mural by Justice Fox-Hille

A popular neighborhood space has taken new shape as a shadowy and adumbral hangout for creatures of the night and the people who love them on Capitol Hill.

The Jilted Siren calls Bellevue Ave “the heart of the locals’ favorite part” of the neighborhood. It is a dark heart — with a big smile.

The new bar inspired by love and loss from industry veteran and first-time owner Amy Graham has opened in the former home of Kedai Makan. CHS reported in February on Graham’s plans for a “dark and broody” makeover of the restaurant into a neighborhood lounge with “Spice Trade Route” flavors. As for The Jilted Siren name, the veteran bartender knows her way through the human heart — and the classics.

“The Iliad… the Odyssey… this time Odysseus does not get away,” Graham told CHS earlier this year. “We’ve all been heartbroken at some point. Understanding this is the human condition.” Continue reading

Metro holding ‘Madison Street Project’ open house on proposed RapidRide G area service changes

King County Metro will hold the first of two planned open house sessions Thursday night on the proposed changes to Routes 10, 11, 12, and 47 in conjunction with the 2024 start of service on the E Madison RapidRide G bus line.

Open houses
Thursday, April 6 – 6:00PM to 7:30PM
Miller Community Center
330 19th Ave E

Friday, April 28 – 6:00PM to 7:30PM
Yesler Community Center
917 E Yesler Way

CHS reported on the proposals last month. Metro says the new “Madison Street Area” network would alter Routes 10, 11, 12, and 47 in the Capitol Hill, Central District, First Hill, and Madison Valley neighborhoods to “improve public transportation connections and transfers,” reduce duplication with the new RapidRide G line, and “address service that was suspended since COVID began in 2020.”

Under the RapidRide G planning, Metro is making the case to permanently axe Route 47 while proposed changes to Route 10 and Route 12 are being intertwined with a proposal for the lines be “reoriented” to operate along E Pine instead of E John and Madison, until they turn north on 15th Ave and 19th Ave. Metro is also proposing to move Route 11 off Pine. Continue reading