My Ballard

Back in November, we posted a blurb about food blogger Molly Wizenberg (known as “Orangette”) and her husband Brandon Pettit’s plans to open a pizza restaurant on 70th St. near 14th Ave.

That’s it there on the left. Now Orangette says it will be called “Delancey,” and she has posted some photos of the renovation work underway inside. No word when it will open. (Thanks “Alonzo Neighbor” for the link!)

My Ballard reader Padraic sent us an email this morning explaining that workers are disassembling the interior of Austin Cantina on 24th Ave.

Sure enough, we stopped by, and it looks like the Tex Mex restaurant has closed for good. A worker told us that other businesses are looking at the space.

The tables are gone, and workers are cleaning the interior. Chef and owner Jefe Birkner warned last month that the restaurant may not make it beyond the holidays after business declined sharply with the economy.

From the owners of Phuket on Queen Anne comes Uma, a new Thai restaurant in Ballard that just opened in Thai Cafe’s old location on 20th Ave.

Uma opened on Monday with a remodeled interior. It’s still awaiting a liquor license and only accepts cash for the time being. We have yet to give it a try, but if you do, please post your thoughts in comments below…

We’ve been a little slow responding to your email and adding new restaurants to our directory, but we just published a new batch: Anita’s, Bad Alberts, Ballard Brothers, Cocina Esperanza, Lockspot Cafe, People’s Pub, Pho Than Brothers, Ristorante Picolinos, Sopranos and Veraci Pizza. Have an opinion of any of them? Please leave a review. We now have 61 Ballard restaurants in our directory, and we’re starting to add bars, as well. Coffeehouses and bakeries, coming soon. (Thanks everyone for your email!)

Zaw Pizza has just opened its third Seattle location here in Ballard. It’s located in the new Canal Station building along Leary Way near Market Ave.

Zaw’s specialty is eat-at-home pizza made with fresh ingredients and organic crusts (here’s the menu). “We are very excited to be introducing a brand new way for people to eat at home that not only celebrates fresh and local food, but also supports sustainable local farmers, food suppliers, vintners and breweries,” said co-founder Greg Waring. To celebrate the store’s opening, Zaw’s will be giving away half-size pizzas and Jones Soda to their first 100 visitors beginning at 4:30 p.m. next Monday and again on Tuesday. (Thanks, Geoff!)

As feared, Austin Cantina on 24th Ave. may not last beyond the holidays. “We’ve been very fortunate to have a solid base of neighborhood regulars, positive press, and Texan ex-pats who came in to eat, but our peak summer business did not last long enough and did not create enough of a cushion to carry us through a slow, cold, dark winter,” said chef and owner Jefe Birkner in a press release with the title, “No bailout for Austin Cantina.”

Birkner says the restaurant will be serving dinner only the week of December 16 through 20th (closed on the 18th for a private party), “and then will be closing for 2 weeks to determine if there is enough interest, business, and reserve cash to re-open for business on January 6th.” We’ll let you know what happens.

Earlier this week: ‘All the Kings Flags’ may have to close
Last week: Bella’s Boutique is going out of business

It’s no secret that Ballard restaurants aren’t as busy as they were earlier this year, and Austin Cantina on 24th Ave. is no exception.

Peggy Sturdivant from At Large in Ballard says the restaurant is struggling with the economy and all the construction in the area. Ballard on the Park and the Danielle condos have been under construction for months, blocking parking spots and diverting foot traffic. “Austin Cantina is between a rock and a hard place,” she writes of the Tex-Mex restaurant and owner Jeff Birkner. “Help him fight the odds of a restaurant not making it.”

We wrote a few months ago that Thai Cafe on 20th Ave. was for sale, and now the space is getting spruced up. Turns out, new owners have purchased the restaurant — we’re told they also own Phuket on Queen Anne — and they plan to open a new Thai restaurant there in the next few weeks.

Right next door, a Greek restaurant called Plaka Estiatorio is coming soon.

You knew it was only a matter of time before a media company in town did a story on the density of pizza places in Ballard. The Seattle Weekly calls it “comical,” and they gave newcomers Veraci, Via Verde and Picolinos a taste test. (Interestingly, they failed to mention two more places coming to the neighborhood: Zaw Pizza and the soon-to-be-named place coming to 70th Ave.) In the end, the Weekly gave the nod to Veraci as the best of the three.

A few days ago, we wrote that we heard rumblings that a new pizza place may be going in next door to Honore Bakery along 70th St. near 14th Ave. Now a popular Seattle food blogger is revealing the new restaurant is her husband’s enterprise, and the lease has just been signed.

“It happens, yes, that the emphasis will be on pizza, but there will also be wood-fired vegetables from local farmers, seasonal salads, charcuterie, and rustic desserts, the kind I like to make at home,” writes Molly Wizenberg, author of the nationally-known Orangette, who says she’ll be helping her husband Brandon with the menu. She says Brandon is “obsessed with pizza,” so it sounds promising. They hope to open in the spring. (Thanks Jennifer for the tip!)

Some big news in Old Ballard. Two local businessmen have purchased the historic buildings at 5305, 5307 and 5313 Ballard Ave. with plans to start a French restaurant, reports the Seattle PI. James Weimann, who has owned six restaurants in town, and Deming Maclise, who launched Caffe Fiore, purchased the buildings last month for $3.63 million.

Obermaier Machine Works has occupied this building for 50 years but closed late last month. The French restaurant will go in here.

Just to the north, Seattle Custom Cabinets has operated out of this building for 25 years, and they’re looking to relocate, reports the PI. High end retail shops are planned for here. As is required by the Ballard Avenue Association, the new owners plan to keep the exteriors of the buildings largely the same. (Thanks DJ and Loree for the tip! Photos from Google Street View.)

We’re not making this up. The fire department responded to Mike’s Chili Sunday afternoon for a gas leak in the restaurant’s basement.

The leak was capped in a matter of minutes. Again, Mike’s has proven it has some powerfully good chili.

Veraci Pizza opened on Wednesday at 500 NW Market St., and it hasn’t taken any time at all for Ballard’s new restaurant to draw a crowd.

Long lines are becoming the norm in the evening hours, especially on Halloween night when we stopped by for Tuscan, Chicken Peso and Amante di Carne pizzas ($19 each). You can see the full menu here (Word doc. download). Veraci’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

If you were wondering, we noticed that Anita’s is still serving up crepes at the Ballard Farmers Market even now that her new restaurant has opened.

Because some people need their Sunday crepes.

My Ballard reader Gooner saw police in front of Hamburger Harry’s as he passed by on the bus this morning. “Two cops had just walked up inspecting a broken window in the front,” he emailed us.

Sure enough, the far window at Hamburger Harry’s has a sheet of black plastic over it. Last night someone broke into the restaurant and stole some alcohol. According to one of the employees, the burglar took open bottles of inexpensive liquor. Nothing else. If you’ve never been in Harry’s, they have valuable sports autographs lining the walls and some pretty nice big screen TV’s. (Thanks Gooner for tipping us on the story!)

We stopped by the Veraci Pizza oven at the Fremont Market on Sunday to get an update on their preparations to open their first restaurant.

They said they’re planning to open October 29th on Market St. and 6th Ave. That makes two restaurant startups in the same month launched by successful food vendors at the Ballard-Fremont markets.

Earlier: Farmers market standout opens Anita’s