Washington Restaurant Owners Want a Crackdown on Unpermitted Food Vendors
The Seattle Times reports that a coalition of more than 200 restaurant owners around the state wants Washington health departments to do a better job shutting down food trucks and stands that operate without the proper permits, and sometimes without regard for health and safety regulations.
In the past, notes the Times, King County has rarely issued fines to such operators and instead offered educational resources to allow vendors to get in compliance. But now, a county official tells the paper, some vendors have been operating without a license on purpose in an effort to skirt costs that are required to legally operate restaurants and food trucks. These vendors, the official said, “seem to also be centrally organized. We’re not dealing with independent, one-off operators.”
SAM food is getting a refresh
Market, the seafood-centric restaurant inside the Seattle Art Museum, is closing down at the end of the year and being replaced by Mexican Asian restaurant Bar Dojo. Both restaurants are owned by Shubert Ho’s Feedme group, which is a power player up in Edmonds. Bar Dojo will open at the museum this spring; in the months between Market’s closure and the new restaurant’s opening, museum-goers will be able to get basic grab-and-go stuff.
Homegrown shuts down its remaining sandwich shops
Last year, sustainability-conscious sandwich chain Homegrown closed most of its shops, leaving only one in downtown Seattle and one on Mercer Island. Now those two shops appear to be closed as well, reports Puget Sound Business Journal, with a notice taped to the downtown location notifying the business it owed more than $472,000 in unpaid taxes and fees.
Christmas Dive Bar is back
Beloved boozy seasonal holiday pop-up Christmas Dive Bar is reopening on Friday, November 14. Located at 1518 11th Avenue on Capitol Hill, this bar from husband and husband team Joey Burgess and Murf Hall (who own Elliot Bay Book Company, Oddfellows, and Queer/Bar) will serve Christmas-themed snacks and drinks, and also host weekend drag brunches. “It’s like Rudolph got drunk, raided a thrift store, and threw the wildest holiday party Capitol Hill’s ever seen,” said Burgess in a press release.
