Sunday, January 3, 2021

What nearby dining has COVID knocked out?

(Updated January 7)

As we all know, the pandemic has hit the restaurant industry terribly hard. I've gone through my reports and determined whether the restaurants near the office closed permanently during the pandemic (❌), closed temporarily (❓), are still open (✔️), or already closed before the pandemic (⭕). Surprisingly, there's a lot of them somehow still surviving.

There's still no telling when we'll be back in the office, and for now, in the interest of safety, if you do get special dispensation to go in, you should bring food and coffee with you rather than go out.   

Disclaimers: I'm making the almost certainly incorrect assumption that some of these closures were pandemic-timed. An "open" restaurant is likely open only for carry out or delivery. Research consisted of Google searches, Yelp reviews, a few tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagrams, so take their listed status as a best guess, not as a well researched answer. Some of the "temporary" closures will likely be permanent, because restaurateurs are often overly optimistic.

Likely victims of the pandemic:

❌ Biscuit Bitch (closed two of their four locations)
❌ Berliner Döner Kebab (South Lake Union location open)
❌ Cherry Street Public House
❌ Copal
❌ Il Corvo
❌ Grand Central Bakery (other locations open)
❌❓ Kigo Kitchen (Google and Yelp say closure is permanent. Their web site says temporary. I have my doubts.)
❌ Pacifica, the bar across the plaza from Copal 
❌ Phở Fuchsia
❌ Manu's Bodega
❌ Quality Athletics, but see my note at the end
❌ Specialty's Cafe and Bakery
❌ Tenoch (moved to Beacon Hill, which is "being remodeled")
❌ 206 Burger Company (First Hill and Fremont locations open)

Other closures in 2020:

❌ Planet Java Diner (but not due to pandemic: "When the viaduct came down it made our building waterfront property and they are eventually going to put in condos.")
❌ RPM Pizza and Records (was "closed for repairs" for months, and announced closure March 9.)

Temporarily closed. Hope springs eternal:

❓ Box House
❓ Casco Antiguo
❓ Cherry Street Public House
❓ Evergreens (both the 1st Avenue and the Smith Tower locations) 
❓ Flatstick Pub
❓ Fuel
❓ Hole in the Wall BBQ
❓ JuJuBeet
❓ Lady Yum ("Our Pioneer Square location will remain closed until we have more visibility on what the neighborhood reopening plan is." - June 6)
❓ Manu's Tacos ("We want to be smart about this decision, so we decided to hit the pause button for now and wait it out to see what happens." Nov. 23)
❓ McCoy's Firehouse
❓ Mr Saigon's
❓ Starbucks (both nearby locations)
❓❌ Il Terrazzo Carmine (Unclear. Their web site says "closed due to the lockdown" but that their Bellevue location is open for takeout.)
❓ Zaccagni's
❓ Zocálo

Still surviving:
✔️ Aloha Plates
✔️ Altstadt Bierhalle & Brathaus
✔️ Asia Ginger Teriyaki #5 (Yelp review says new ownership)
✔️ Bacco Café
✔️ Bad Bishop (opened in October 2018, closed in August 2019 due to a broken pipe, reopened in October 2020, defying the odds)
✔️ Beecher's Handmade Cheese
✔️ Blue Water Taco
✔️ Caffe Umbria
✔️ D&E
✔️ Damn the Weather
✔️ Dick's Drive-In
✔️ Din Tai Fung
✔️ Dominos
✔️ Dough Zone
✔️ El Borracho
✔️ Fat Shack (it isn't somewhere I've made it to yet, mainly due to their rage-inducing $3 check surcharge, but it appears that they might've removed the surcharge.)
✔️ Ferry Noodle House
✔️ General Porpoise Donuts 
✔️ Great State Burger
✔️ Harbor City
✔️ Ivar's Fish Bar
✔️ Jack's Fish Spot
✔️ Kau Kau (because there's no karma in this world).
✔️ King Noodle
✔️ King Street Bar & Oven
✔️ London Plane (re-opening January 13 after a two-week closure)
✔️ McCoy's Firehouse
✔️ MOD Pizza
✔️ Merchant's Café and Saloon (but they've got a GoFundMe running, which isn't a good sign)
✔️ Orient Express
✔️ Paseo SoDo
✔️ Pick-Quick Drive In
✔️ Ping's Dumpling House
✔️ Pizza Professionals
✔️ Post Alley Pizza
✔️ Salumi
✔️ Samurai Noodle
✔️ 7-Eleven
✔️ Shanghai Garden
✔️ Shawn O'Donnell's American Grill and Irish Pub
✔️ Slim's Last Chance Chili Shack and Watering Hole
✔️ Taco Del Mar (1st Ave. closed before the pandemic; 3rd Ave still open)
✔️ Tat's Delicatessen
✔️ Thai Curry Simple
✔️ Thai Taste
✔️ Von's 1000 Spirits

And for completeness, other places I visited which closed before the pandemic:

⭕ BOKA Restaurant + Bar
⭕ Bakeman's Restaurant
⭕ Calozzi's Cheesesteaks (Georgetown location open)
⭕ Cheese Meats Bread
⭕ Delicatus
⭕ FX McRory's
⭕ Girin 
⭕ Great Northwest Soup Company
⭕ Faerie Queene/Pittsburgh Lunch and Superette (became Kraken Congee)
⭕ Kraken Congee
⭕ Marcela's Creole Cookery
⭕ Meg's (closed Jan. 24; replacement Two Doors Down opened in July and is still in operation)
⭕ Pioneer Square Market and Deli (became Meg's)
⭕ Radici (became D&E)
⭕ Rain Shadow Meats (Salumi moved into the space)
⭕ Tofully
⭕ Windy City Pie (moved to Phinney Ridge pre-pandemic)

As noted above, Quality Athletics closed during the pandemic, but three new concepts have opened in that space, according to The Stranger: Trophy Pizza, Burb's Burgers, and Cookie's Country Chicken.

Also, the two Starbucks closest to the office (1st & Yesler, Jackson & Occidental) aren't on Starbucks.com's map. Closed? Dunno.   

Did I miss any? Do you know any differently? Comment below and I'll update this list.