White Center Now: The blog about White Center

White Center’s own Salvadorean Bakery has turned up in an unexpected place – featured on the website of Seattle’s new professional-hockey team, the Kraken. Sisters Ana Castro and Aminta Elgin tell their story of 25 sweet years baking and cooking in White Center, and, most recently, battling through the rocky economic times brought by the pandemic. If you’ve visited, you’ve seen their beautiful cakes – and in the story, they even show off one with a Kraken logo!

From Food Lifeline in nearby South Park:

Food Lifeline announced today that it will continue to distribute thousands of emergency food boxes to anyone needing help keeping food on the table during this crisis.

…Food Lifeline – 815 South 96th Street (Two (2) this week)

 Wednesday, May 20th, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
 Friday, May 22, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

This schedule is also available on the homepage of foodlifeline.org

ANYONE can have access to this food. This is a confidential distribution, so there will be no paperwork or qualification. Food Lifeline is only asking for zip codes to track its efforts.

Just announced by Food Lifeline in South Park:

Free Food Distribution for Everyone

Friday, May 8th
2:00 pm. – 5:00 pm

Food Lifeline
815 South 96th Street

Come by Food Lifeline to pick up an emergency food box for yourself and/or your family. Food Lifeline will be distributing 2,000 boxes of shelf-stable food items to help you and your family during this difficult time. This is for ANYONE in the community that needs help. Your zip code is the only personal information required.

Each box will include up to 25 pounds of food such as canned fruit/vegetables, canned meats, non-meat protein items, and breads/grains. Here’s a map. This will be mostly a no-contact drive-up distribution between FL’s two warehouse buildings, while supplies last, but walk-ups are welcome too.

Earlier this month, the Instagram feed for Capitol Hill’s Tacos De La Noche shared that sneak peek inside the future El Buho, which has just been granted its liquor license for 9640 16th SW in downtown White Center. The captioo noted, “We unlocked the door to this space almost 6 months ago. … We hoped to be open two months ago but as always, there are things that will go wrong. It is important to remember that plans exist so that hardships can be endured. The plan, the goal, the light at the end of the tunnel, it guides us. The road has been long and hard and isn’t quite over yet, but We are getting Excited to share what we’ve been working on. Stay tuned, more to come soon.” (El Buho means “The Owl.”)

(Also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

Three and a half months after we first reported that Biscuit Bitch would expand to White Center, its opening date is set. We talked with proprietor Kimmie Spice at the new location (the ex-Brass Knuckle Bistro at 9602 16th SW) today and she told us the opening date will be Thursday, September 5th. Interior work is pretty much done:

Biscuit Bitch has three locations downtown; see the menu here.

Thanks to Gill for sending the photo and word that he had noticed the Blu Grouse (9839 17th Ave SW) open during Jubilee Days weekend. We went by today to check on it and found out that was just a sneak preview of sorts for the bar/restaurant that’s moving to White Center after closing in Georgetown. The crew we found there said they still have a few weeks of work to do before they’ll be ready.

(Photo courtesy Kevin Bui)

Yearning for late-night food? 9:30-11:30 pm tonight (Thursday, February 7th), the Bok-A-Bok Chicken space in White Center will be taken over by the Sin Reglas pop-up. After hearing about it, we asked the chef for a few details:

Sin Reglas: Late Nights is a weekly series every Thursday & Saturday at Bok a Bok White Center. My name is Kevin Bui, and I cook food that I crave late at night from my travels. It’s from 9:30 pm to 11:30 pm, and people should follow the instagram page @sinreglaspopup to see what’s going on. The menu will always have 5 items and 1 dessert. There’s canned beer and canned wine, as well as non-alcohol options for everyone. I do as much as I can by hand, so sausages, pita, falafel, curries, etc.

I’m looking to open a spot in White Center in the future, but right now, it’s about building community.

Address: 1521 SW 98th.

2 AM: Another opening – thanks to the tipster who let us know that Macadons opens its storefront today. This is the macaron maker at what for a brief and bright moment was Mardi Gras Donuts, at 9828 16th SW. It’s been in operation a while without retail, and today that changes, 10 am-9 pm, with a free macaron promised to everyone who shows up!

8:48 PM: Thanks to Gill for the photos added above and below:

He adds a rave review: “The two we tried – Durian & Lychee -were as the old saying goes ‘to die for”. Absolutely amazing.”

Li’l Woody’s in White Center says you deserve a treat on Labor Day, so it’s offering you a free burger 2-5 pm Monday. The caveats:

– No other sandwiches
– Extras cost extra
– Limit 1 burger per customer

As you probably know, Li’l Woody’s is adjacent to Beer Star, at 16th/98th.

Next to each other at 9823 15th SW, you’ll find:

GOOD DAY DONUTS: Husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Erik Jackson and Alison Odowski have opened Good Day Donuts in the former Golden House Bakery and Deli. They’re making and selling donuts, ice cream, and lunch:

Hours are Mondays-Fridays 7 am-3 pm, Saturdays 8 am-2 pm, Sundays 9 am-1 pm.

MR. BUDS: While checking out Good Day Donuts, we discovered another marijuana store has opened in White Center.

Yes, Mr. Buds is in the same strip mall as the new donut shop.

It’s opening day at Brass Knuckle Bistro, as we first noted last month, six months after introducing you to the West Seattle family behind the new eatery.

Check out the art:

Sandwiches are the BKB specialty, along with salads and sides. See the menu here. We spotted today’s samples:

Brass Knuckle Bistro is open 11 am-8 pm Tuesdays-Sundays, closed Mondays.

It’s been almost six months since our first reports that Brass Knuckle Bistro was on the way to the former 3.14 Bakery space at 9602 16th SW. Now they’ve announced that March 6th will be the opening date, with a “friends and family” event this weekend for other local businesses. BKB will focus on sandwiches – you can preview the menu online. (Thanks to Gill for the tip!)

By Linda Ball
Reporting for White Center Now

If the ’70s vibe is your thing, then you are in for a treat when Dottie’s Doublewide opens in White Center.

Nate Rezac, the pit boss and co-owner of Drunky’s Two Shoes, has partnered up with his old bartending friend B.J. Kaiser, to create a new concept where Zanzibar briefly lived at 9609½ 16th SW. We mentioned Dottie’s briefly two weeks ago, and finally got the chance to talk with them this week.)

Imagine walking into a retro, sort of midcentury-modern-looking doublewide trailer with ’70s art and vintage neon signs decorating the interior. That’s Rezac and Kaiser’s vision. Rezac has an old vintage travel trailer that they plan to cut up. The side with the door will become the façade; so to enter the restaurant you’ll be opening the travel trailer door. The other side of the trailer will be used in the back between the restaurant and the kitchen, so the food will look like it’s coming from a food truck. The back of the trailer, where the taillights are, will be used for beer taps.

To add to the fun, they plan to have a CD jukebox as well as a turntable with real vinyl records to choose from – or bring yours, and they will spin them for you! They plan to have house DJs from time to time, mostly on the weekends.

Rezac has been in the restaurant industry since he was 15-years-old, and creates most of the recipes at his restaurants. With family in Mexico, he knows a thing or two about tacos, and Dottie’s Doublewide will feature more than 20 varieties of tacos. Of course there will be traditional Mexican tacos, but also some with smoked meats from Drunky’s, vegetarian options such as portabella-mushroom tacos, avocado tacos, and egg tacos. As Rezac put it, a really “wide net” of tacos. Additionally, the menu will feature Tex-Mex cuisine, marinated carne asada, and al-pastor (boneless pork shoulder with pineapple).

Happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. will be offered seven days a week with two-for-one margaritas. Rezac and Kaiser will have a full bar with an extensive tequila collection, in addition to beer and house wine, plus a selection of better wines. The retro-style bar will seat 20 patrons, with two 65-inch flat-screen TVs behind it. A projection screen will be positioned opposite the bar on a large wall. They plan to show sports or fun video loops – perhaps vintage themed.

Rezac will have a staff of five at Dottie’s Doublewide. He and Kaiser will be in the house as well. Monday through Friday hours will be 3 p.m. to close, with lunch on the weekends and hours of 11 a.m. until closing. Dottie’s will have a capacity of 80 customers.

Kaiser, who is also a general contractor, has built out several restaurants, and Dottie’s is moving along fast since they weren’t changing uses of the building, thereby avoiding many permitting and county headaches. That said, they expect to be open as soon as February 1.

It’s a big weekend for openings around White Center, and here’s another one. Four months ago, as the old McDonald’s at 16th/114th was being demolished, we reported that a company spokesperson told us the rebuilt restaurant would provide “a cutting edge and elevated experience.” Now the golden-arches sign outside declares it’s open, and even without an official tour, some components are visible from outside. The drive-thru has two lanes for ordering. Looking inside, you’ll see two touchscreen kiosks for ordering.

They’re not replacing human help, though – employees were still visible behind the counter, and the company made a chain-wide statement earlier this year about the issue.

Meet Patrick Choy, the namesake and proprietor of Patrick’s Café and Bakery at 10003 15th SW, where it’s “soft opening” day. You’ll find not just baked treats…

… but also savory hot food including pot pies centered on fillings such as chicken or Portuguese sausage, plus beef stew and chili.

Some of Patrick’s creations (here’s the menu) are inspired by the flavors of Hawai’i, where he was born into a family that, as explained on the new café’s website, “owned and operated Sam Choy’s Kaloko … a James Beard Foundation: America’s Classics Award-winning restaurant.” He’s been baking since childhood and built a distinguished career including corporate food-and-beverage leadership, then a neighborhood bakery elsewhere in Seattle, and now he has moved to a larger space in White Center. Hours are 8 am-5 pm six days a week (closed Tuesdays) but keep in mind it’s soft-open mode for starters.

Ever since noticing brown paper over the windows at Zanzibar (9609 1/2 16th SW), we’d been trying to confirm whether it was closure or remodeling (though the former seemed more likely, given it hadn’t been open that long). Now a notice in the state liquor-license application list appears to have confirmed the former. The new establishment seeking a license for the spot is Dottie’s Doublewide, and the applicants are the owners of Drunky Two Shoes BBQ down the street. More to come.

(UPDATED THURSDAY NIGHT with garage-sale dates/times, Saturday and Sunday 10-4)

ORIGINAL EDITOR’S NOTE: We promised more on the Brass Knuckle Bistro when we first mentioned it a week and a half ago. And now – the rest of the story!

By Linda Ball
Reporting for White Center Now & West Seattle Blog

Case Justham says he doesn’t sleep very well, so he stays up and reads cookbooks all night. His mom Linda Justham says her son looks at the science of food, down to the molecular properties of a dish. Case is quick to point out that he’s not a scientist, but he likes to try non-traditional cooking methods.

Case (photo at right), a self-taught chef, is presently the sous chef and butcher at The Swinery in West Seattle. With mom Linda, sister Piper Carscadden, brother Drew Justham, and wife Amy Justham, they are partnering to open the family’s first restaurant, Brass Knuckle Bistro in White Center. Case will be the chef, Carscadden will work the front end and social media and Linda will do the books, eventually turning them over to Carscadden. The others will be mostly silent partners, although Drew has extensive front-end experience and will probably be present in the first few weeks.

The entire family lives in West Seattle but they chose what was until three months ago the location of 3.14 Bakery at 9602 16th SW for the bistro (and are having a “garage sale” there later this weekend – more on that below).

It’s close to home for Case, who resides in the Westwood neighborhood and worked in White Center in the early 2000s; Linda said it’s a place where they were able to find affordable rent. They came close to opening a restaurant on Bainbridge Island, where they all lived at one time, but decided against it when they all moved into Seattle. Case worked at Bene Pizza on Bainbridge before coming to The Swinery, where he’s been for three and one-half years. He appreciates the freedom he was given to be creative at The Swinery. “I wear a lot of hats there,” Case said.

So, where did the name Brass Knuckle Bistro come from? “White Center still has a tough-guy characteristic,” Case said. “It evolved from knuckle sandwich to brass knuckle to Brass Knuckle Bistro.”

It will be a casual restaurant, geared toward lunch and early dinner. He found it frustrating on Bainbridge to find a good Mexican or Thai restaurant so he wants to do things differently, for example, putting his own spin on Caribbean pulled pork. He said his Philly is an “anchor sandwich” which he’s perfected at The Swinery, but the Philly he has planned for White Center will “knock people’s socks off.”

Brass Knuckle Bistro will also offer salads and vegetarian and vegan sandwiches. Instead of gluten-free sandwiches, he’s planning dishes that would be presented like sandwich fillings atop, for example, ribs, cole slaw, or gourmet fries. He said the reason is that he hasn’t found gluten-free bread that he finds suitable. Case said he plans a small fixed menu and a large rotating cast of specials, which he said are where he shines. “I like the idea of a secret menu.”

Keeping the price points affordable is very important to the partners – they want everyone to be able to afford to eat there. They have applied for a beer and wine permit, and have a great deal of build-out to do, so opening isn’t anticipated until sometime in November. Expecting a rush in the beginning days, Case plans to call on some of his industry pals to jump in; then, he will gauge what sort of permanent help he will need.

This coming weekend – (updated) Saturday and Sunday, September 2-3 – the Justhams will be having a farewell-to-3.14 sale, like a garage sale, to get rid of fixtures and items they don’t need – espresso machines, a pastry cabinet, and so forth – from 10 a.m. -4 p.m. each day, so stop by if any of that appeals to you. They want the space empty by early next week, so the remodel can begin in earnest.

The Justhams do have a website started up, though not complete, at brassknucklebistro.com. Tentative hours when they open will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, closed Mondays.

Spotted while passing through downtown White Center tonight: Papered windows and a liquor-license application at the former 3.14 Bakery space (9602 16th Avenue SW), which has been closed almost three months. According to the State Liquor and Cannabis Board‘s online files, the application is for Brass Knuckle Bistro. We’re working to find out more.

As of less than an hour ago, the new Chinese takeout restaurant adjacent to Beer Star and Li’l Woody’s has opened. It’s called CTO – get it? – here is how they explain what they are doing:

We stopped by around mid-afternoon to confirm that they indeed were opening tonight, and they confirmed it. The tables were ready (dine in OR take out):

According to the CTO website, they’ll be open Sunday – Thursday 4 pm – 9 pm, Friday – Saturday 4 pm – 10 pm for starters (9809 16th SW).

12:42 PM: It’s official … the next White Center restaurant opening is this Wednesday (July 19th), just in time for Jubilee Days. Li’l Woody’s announced the opening date today for its 9807 16th Ave SW location, same building as Beer Star (and the future CTO). The local mini-chain also has locations in Capitol Hill, Ballard, and South Lake Union.

ADDED 1:12 PM: More info from the official Li’l Woody’s news release:

… Li’l Woody’s White Center will be open Sunday-Thursday, 11 am-9 pm, and Friday and Saturday, 11 am-11 pm. The telephone number is 206-403-1294.

Li’l Woody’s will be one of two restaurants sharing the building with Beer Star, the expansive, 40-tap beer hall. Li’l Woody’s 1,400 sq. ft space will be cooking-up their beloved grass-fed burgers, shakes using local ice cream from Full Tilt, and hand-cut fries using potatoes grown in Pasco, Washington from Harvest Fresh Produce. …

The White Center space was once home to the Epicure restaurant, a major gathering spot in the 1950s – known to be where “the elite meet to eat.” The “EP,” as it was called, was owned and operated by Joe Boothby, who cooked roast beef on a spit near the front window. The meat became a favorite offering of the restaurant, along with the annual pancake breakfast fundraisers held downstairs. Li’l Woody’s pays homage to the building’s history with the Epicure sandwich: Slow-braised top round, provolone, caramelized onions, and peppercorn horseradish aioli. An extra kick can be added with the addition of Mama Lil’s peppers for $1.

The Epicure joins the club of a special burger found at each Li’l Woody’s location- Capitol Hill has the Chicken Burger, Ballard has the Salmon Burger and South Lake Union has the Turkey Burger.

“We can’t wait to be a part of the White Center community,” says Li’l Woody’s owner Marcus Lalario. “I’m glad that we can celebrate the history of the building and have a part in this new neighborhood development.“