Hungry for news? Welcome to our Friday Feed, where we run through all the local food and restaurant news this month—and maybe help you figure out where to eat this weekend.
Good Things Can Happen
After an eviction stemming from an ongoing dispute with the landlord, the original location of the Xi’an Noodles is back in business and biang biang-ing out its signature dish on the Ave. Even better, a second U–District shop is set to open down the street next month.
Remembering a Legend
Before Jonathan Gold made writing about a city’s hole-in-the-wall restaurants cool, when major papers rarely reviewed places serving anything besides American and Western cuisine, John Hinterberger chronicled all of Seattle’s food stories. The Seattle Times appropriately extensively outlines the many contributions of its longtime food writer, who passed away in late March at the age of 92. The paper’s first food critic, he wrote about the city’s cuisine for 25 years, including the original ode to Toshi’s Teriyaki, changing the story of Seattle food forever.
Grocery Games
- Asian Family Market, the 19-year-old local group with locations in North Seattle, Bellevue, and Beaverton, Oregon, opened its fourth location in Tukwila earlier this month.
- PCC Community Markets, the 73-year-old local co-op, announced plans to open its 17th store in the Puget Sound region this fall in the former City People’s Garden Store on Madison.
Now Open
Much-Anticipated Sibling Watch
- A few weeks ago, I made a joke in our morning newsletter about how long we’ve been waiting for Asadero Prime’s new carne asada house sibling, Gordo Steak, to open. Perhaps that was the final push they needed to get the new Pioneer Square spot open, because that grill is going now.
- Seattle Met lunchtime fave Onibaba has a new sushi-focused relative next door, called Kakurenbo. The name means “hide and seek” and, well, it has, maybe, been hiding a little too much: Originally, the restaurant from the family behind Tsukushinbo was meant to open back in 2022, before Onibaba. Things change, delays happen, and better late than never.
On the Capitol Hill Beat
- The former Stateside space got a refresh from the folks behind Tyger Tyger and is now Blue Willow, which calls itself a “family-owned Sichuan-inspired Chinese joint.”
- Grab-and-go “globally inspired” meals like mapo tofu and Hainanese chicken lead the menu at CMC (Craft Meal Collection) in the old Gold Bar space on E Olive Way.
- The murals remain, and local grain-focused Cafe Lolo is now serving wheat porridge, ham sandwiches on emmer ciabatta, and einkorn cortados.
Beyond City Lines
- In the ever-expanding world of ever-expanding ice cream chains, both Molly Moon’s and Salt & Straw add another location this month: The former opened last week in Kirkland, the latter expects to unveil in Bellevue on April 24.
- Kent’s individual hot pot spot, Broth & Bowls, expanded its by-the-pound bar to a second location, now open in Burien.
On the Move
- In surprising expansion news, Green Lake’s Caribbean beach and sandwich shop Bongo’s announced that they are opening their second location across the water—Puget Sound, that is. The Poulsbo location will also have a big outdoor location and the space has a terrific view, which sounds like a great fit.
- Pike Place Market affordable lunch staple Michou Deli was purchased last year by the team behind local catering company Lavish Roots, and earlier this month, they closed Michou. Later this month, they plan to reopen as Friends of Carmela, an East Coast-style Italian American deli, serving sandwiches, salads, and hot breakfasts.
- In less surprising news, because nothing good can last, the revival of Ms. Helen’s Soul Bistro in a Renton Harley dealership has come to an end because the motorcycle shop is moving to Tacoma—and the restaurant isn’t going with. Keep your eyes on the Facebook page for updates about where Ms. Helen’s food might land next.
- Back in February, we checked in with Starla’s to include them in our list of the best restaurants in the state outside Seattle, but the Bellingham pizza shop told us to hold on a sec: They might not fit that description—and they have since closed that location. Turns out, the folks who started here as Blotto are bringing Starla’s back to the city—but pack your patience, as opening is late this year or maybe early 2027.
- Capitol Hill's Rain Shadow Meats announced this week that Melrose Market is not allowing them to renew the lease on the space in which they have been for the last 16 years. They have been (and still are) in search of a new location, with their final date in the current one coming on December 23.
Coming Attractions
- Getting your hands on one of Anh Ơi Bake Shop’s Vietnamese American cookies is about to get way easier. The packaged cookies, in flavors like black sesame red bean and fried banana, have been available at pop-ups and online, but now founder Vince Vu announced that he was selected for Seattle Restored and will open a retail bakeshop next month—selling his own baked goods and those from other bakers in a similar style.
- The former Adrian’s Restaurant on Main Street will become Bar da Vila, but there’s no announced date for the Brazilian restaurant from some of the folks behind Novilhos Brazilian Steakhouse.
- Chef Ethan Stowell, now on his own and separate from his eponymous restaurant group, announced two impending openings this summer. The first is Cut Club, a steakhouse inside Hotel Max in the Denny Regrade; the second is a Mexican restaurant in the Village at Totem Lake called Lime Social. Stowell also recently inked a contract with Sodexo Live to reshape the culinary program at Benaroya Hall, starting in September, per Puget Sound Business Journal.
- Speaking of things that make you go “huh” and involve prolific longtime Seattle restaurateurs, steak, and the suburbs, Kurt Beecher Dammeier will open the casual concept Yukon Standup Steakhouse in Redmond this fall. The founder of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and Pasta & Co now operates those under the Sugar Mountain group, which also owns Mishima Reserve American Wagyu Beef—which will supply Yukon Standup. The vertical integration plan seems smart; the description Sugar Mountain offered The Seattle Times of the sauce-centric spot slightly more questionable: “A beefy version of the popular Southern chicken finger chain Raising Cane’s.”
- Did you think we were done with the suburban expansion of prolific restaurateurs with side-eye-worthy concepts? Not yet, because there’s also the new food hall in Bellevue in the pipeline from Marcus Lalario, whose Sugar Shack Unlimited group includes Darkalino’s, Ciudad, and more. Willie Burton’s, the new hall, is slated to open this summer with an outlet of Lalario’s Lil Woody’s, a bar, and two casual concepts from Tomo’s Brady Ishiwata Williams.
Oh, BTW, here’s what you missed last time.