Restaurant moving into Olsen’s spot on Market

Geeky Swedes Ballard

From pickled herring to pho. A sign in the window of the old Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods location announces “Pho Big Bowl” will open soon.

No word on when it will open. After 49 years in business, Olsen’s closed and moved out of its Market St. location in July. (Thanks Geoff for the tip!)

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

90 thoughts to “Restaurant moving into Olsen’s spot on Market”

  1. I'm sure it will be a very nice Pho place, but listen up budding restauranteurs… Seattle needs a good authentic Japanese Yakitori joint. Open a decent one and you will clean up! Just look at Vancouver BC if you don't think it will work.

  3. Don't we have enough sushi restaurants and pho places? How about a diner; I want to be able to get a Reuben sandwich, a club sandwich, and a piece of actual pie.

  5. It has pie, but I want GREAT pie. I make great pie, but I don't always want to make a pie. …and then what am I going to do with the other 7 pieces? Plus…I want a Reuben sandwich! A French Dip! Who makes a club sandwich anymore?

  6. There is place in Magnolia called Seattle Pie that has the best pie I've ever had. But, yeah, I have yet to see great pie in Ballard.

  7. Once upon a time, long, long ago when the earth's surface was still cooling, Ballard had many, many soda fountains/diners in Ballard. In my dad's time, there were several on Market, both sides of the street., one on the corner of 24th, 15th,a couple in the middle of the block, a couple on Ballard Ave…When I was a kid, there was one where Lombardi's is now (Lafferty's Drug Store), one in Kress's on Market (middle of the block), one where the Flag store was, TWO in Sunset Hll (one at Otterson's pharmacy was, now Rain City Video, one where the north end of Piccolino's is, Paul's)….they had soda fountain drinks AND sandwiches…reubens, clubs, BLT's, French Dips, turkey, etc. etc. etc. pie, ice cream sodas and sundaes, milkshakes, malts, yum yum yum.

    I miss them!

  12. Nice, I love pho, and consider myself a snob….I hope it is better than Than Bros., cuz that place kinda bloze. I have yet to find a pho joint in Seattle that matches the pho in the Washington D.C. area, though that place up 15th is pretty decent….over next to the lunchbox lab.

    What Seattle really needs, and trust me, this place would make bank here, is a Pollo ala Brasa joint. One of the few things I miss from back east….

    Yer Pal,
    Gel-Sol

  13. There are already 2 Pho restaurants, along with Thaiku, assorted Thai and sushi….you know, ethnic food always existed in the ID.

    Pho is basically beef broth with some veggies and occasionally some meat- possibly the cheapest thing to make possible. bleh.

    Well, some of us who grew up here happened to like it, thank you very much.

  14. At one time it was possible to get decent “American” food in America…now all that really exists is McDonalds and El Gaucho, and not much in between.
    (and I only eat at McDonalds in desperation on the way skiing.)

    BTW, most people who have ever worked in the fishing industry don't eat sashimi. I won't go into details.

  15. Ugh. I have no issue with the sizes of the bowls of pho at other purveyors. I see no need for larger bowls of pho. Seattle needs a good deli, not tureen-sized portions.

  16. Trolling?

    Apart from the multitude of burger places in Ballard, you've also got Mike's Chili Parlor, Jolly Roger Tap Room, Wingmasters, Barking Dog Alehouse, whos-i-whats-it in the old firehouse, Vera's, KISS Cafe…

    If all you see for 'american' food is McDonalds and El Gaucho, you've got to pull your head out of the ground.

  17. This will be a great improvement. There has been a shortage of Pho joints on that particular block. Crossing the street and walking all the way over to 2021 was a drag.

  19. Wow, that is the first time I've ever heard anybody else refer to Paul's- I thought I was the only one who remembered that place! Not surprised it's you, Julie, who remembers it :-). Having that said, I don't remember a fountain at the Beach Pharmacy and there I thought I had a clear recollection of that stuff. Must have been at the south end of the store, and since I spent all my time at the north end in the candy section, I never really noticed it!

    There was also the place up at the top of Sunset Hill on the corner of 32nd and 85th, where the coffee place is now.

  21. Don't forget Olsen Drug Store's soda fountain. I worked my way through UofW working the soda fountain dipping Horluck's (Queen Anne company) for sodas, milkshakes and making sandwiches.

    My end of the school day was spent at Paul's with a GreenRiver soft drink in a glass with a big, fat straw. Question: Are there any oldtime soda fountains around Seattle? I'd love to know about them.

    lee_adama——->nobody's knocking changes. We embrace diversity but we miss soda fountains.

  22. Not another pho restaurant! It's impossible to find good pho that won't make you sick or actually serve vegetarian broth without bone being used to make the broth. It's sad that Olsen's closed, I just wish that something better could've moved in.

  23. “OMG NOT ANOTHER <insert cuisine> PLACE! WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS MORE <insert cuisine>, OR A <insert cuisine> RESTAURANT!”

    I love the comments on this site. So dependable.

  26. I would like a good mom & pop meat and potato kind of restaurant with comfort food like meatloaf and chicken and mashed potatoes. But when Boston Market was on Capitol Hill it went out of business so apparently that is not as popular with the rest of Seattle as it is to me.

  27. There's a new French Dip place on 15th Ave NW and – is it 70th? For a great Reuben you could venture out of Ballard (I know – I wish there was a place IN Ballard!) to Beth's cafe on Aurora or the Shanty on Elliott Ave at the base of Queen Anne.

  28. I've gotten pickled herring from the little place on 15th ave NW and 67th. I can't remember the name of it but it is a newer (as in the last 10 years) Scandanavian shop. I think Ballard Market has it too. I thought my dad and I were the only people not in Sweden who like pickled herring.

  30. Scandinavian Specialties may seem newer (the store's in pretty good condition), but I believe it's been around in one form or another since the 1960s. Love their herring.

  31. I'm thinking our neighborhood could use a good fried chicken place. It's a pain to have to shlep over to Ezell's every time I get a hankering for the tasty fried stuff. (And as a former Southerner, I kindly ask ya'll not to recommend KFC. It doesn't qualify.)

  33. Do you suppose they'll actually cook the Pho for you?
    Or just give you the ingredients, charge you double, and let you cook it at home?

  35. Ugh, Pho is so played out … used to get it at many great shops in the ID for $2 back in the late 90s … now restauranteurs love it because people will eagerly pay $6 or more for a soup that costs less than fifty cents a bowl to make.

  36. I am not sure exactly what kind of pie you're looking for, but have you tired Pauline Bakery for that? Wonky hours, but I liked the pie.

  37. Jules, Ballard isn't the only place in this country that had diners once upon a time and now doesn't. As someone else pointed out there are still plenty of places to get “American Food”, but the diner has fallen out of favor nationwide.
    You can still find a lot of them on the East Coast, but even there the challenge is to find the good ones.

    BTW, most people who work in the fishing industry aren't catching sashimi grade fish. I don't worry about it.

  39. I think that as much as that kind of thing can be appealing, too many people want something that they can't make at home when they go out and spend money on a meal. When they just want to get something “American” and homey, they think meat and potatoes and they don't want to spend a lot on it, thus the meat and potatoes end of the food spectrum has become dominated by the fast food joints, McD's, BK, Wendys, for worse or worse.

  41. It's on Market (2315 NW Market St), on the same side of the street as Snoose Junction, a couple of doors down. A little hole-in-thewall, apparently Nervous Nellie's used to there?

  42. I look no further for my Pho than Monkey Bridge, but I wish them well.

    I forget Ballards reputation for being where the old people live. Seemed so long ago. I would like to thank the folks clamoring for a soda shoppe for reminding me that there are still old people in Ballard.

  44. But that's not the Ballard way!! First, you must whine about how the neighborhood has gone to hell because of all the Microsoft people and hip-hop. Then you have to have fond sentimental memories of the good old days (you know, when people were being drafted to go Viet Nam and those colored people knew their place!) Finally, you have to say that what Ballard needs is a good XXXX restaurant even though we likely already have 2 or 3 restaurants of that style.

    What you're proposing is actually rational – can't have any of that! ;)

  45. Define “American food”! What most people would call “American food” – meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fries, hot dogs, fried chicken, etc. – all came to the US from other countries.

    Also there are still plenty of places in Ballard to get such food. Overall, I'd say Ballard is better than most places in this country. Greek? We've got options. Vietnamese? Yep. Mexican? Not great, IMO, but we've got it. French? Oui. Italian? Yep. Burgers? Definitely. Sushi? Too much. I'm hard pressed to think of a major cuisine that can't be found in Ballard. Sure, it may not be the best examples of a given cuisine but then again if you want the best of a given cuisine you need to travel to where it's from.

  46. Totally! Reality is what most people consider to be “American” food actually came from other countries or is made from ingredients brought over from other cultures. You want American food? That would mean ordering a pizza with BBQ chicken and jalapeños on it from a place owned by a Vietnamese couple, cooked by a Guatemalan, and delivered by a white kid of German descent driving a Japanese Honda. That's American food! ;)

  48. One of the few “Seattle jokes” that I know is:

    Is it true that all the old people live in Ballard?

    No, the old people live in West Seattle. Their *parents* live in Ballard.

  50. It might surprise you to learn that potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers of all kinds, peanuts, manioc, chocolate, vanilla and corn, among many other foods were unknown in the world;d until ol' Columbus 'discovered' the Americas.

    Actually IS pizza Italian. it was introduced here after the WWII GIs discovered it in Italy.

    I like all sorts of food and managed to find plenty of choice in Ballard and all over Seattle.

  54. I really hate to be a pho snob here, but NEVER get pho from a vietnamese restaurant or restaurant that sells other dishes. The way they cut the beef is weird, and you never get the options that you'd get at a pho-specific place. At pho restaurants they focus on the pho, so the broth is usually better too.

    Oh, and that place on 15th I spoke of previously is Pho Vietnam. And if yer a sucker for the Than Bros. creampuffs (which I find highly gimmicky), they have them there too.

    Yer Pal,
    Gel-Sol

  55. It is the goods fo sho! However, you're cooking something that is pretty resilient and difficult to mess up. Fried chicken is like drugs… it sells itself.

  57. Like I said, **major** cuisines. Yummy as Jamaican cuisine can be it's not what you'd call a major cuisine – at least not yet!

  58. Actually I was in a bar and overheard some old time Ballardites whining and one of them actually said “things were better around here when the coloreds knew their place”. Jaw dropping doesn't even begin to describe it.

  61. Here's the difference: the population of Vietnam is well over 80 million and the population of Greece is over 10 million. The population of Jamaica is less than 3 million. Also there are more Greek-Americans and Vietnamese-Americans than there are Jamaican-Americans.

    To be clear, I love Jamaican food – especially goat and bulla bread – and got to sample quite a bit of it when I worked with the Jamaican military years ago. Still, it is a small place and the cuisine hasn't exactly proliferated the way Greek or Vietnamese has (which is a shame).

  65. Really? I tried them out when they opened and thought it so bad, so incredibly insultingly bad, that I still get annoyed just walking past their door to get a coffee from Fiore.

  67. What is a Ballard racist? Is that when a Dane disses a Swede?

    Nothing more amusing than when new Ballard people, in 98% white Ballard, start throwing around the racist epitaph. Afterall, you can tell the new folks here are all liberal and tolerant: they'll let any minority cook for them.

  69. I'd like to have a BoJangles up here. I like their biscuits cooked in chicken grease. Seriously. It's the only fast food restaurant I like. Also, believe it or not, I had some really good fried chicken from QFC on 15th.

  76. Pho Vietnam's broth had no flavor the 3 times I tried it (I really did try to like it!) I don't want to support Than Bros but they have the best pho in ballard. Monkey bridge's broth had waaay too much cinnamon and anise.

  78. First, it's epithet, not epitaph.
    I'm reluctant to revive the Old/New Ballard crap, but I do find it interesting that as a member of the Old Ballard crowd, you cling to prejudice against anyone not born in the neighborhood as a shining example of how you're not prejudiced.

  82. Good one! I can't think of any Korean joints in Ballard. Hopefully one of the sushi or burger places will close up and be replaced with a Korean restaurant.

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