Himitsu Sushi & Grill opened four months ago at the corner of NW 65th St. and 15th Ave NW. Today the place is empty.
There is a notice on the door from the King County Sheriff’s department that was posted last week. “Be advised,” the sign reads, “that the occupants of these premises have been evicted by detectives of the King County Sheriff, and said premises have been restored to owner by order of the Superior Court.” (Thanks Mathew for the tip!)
Sushi restaurant evicted, says notice on door
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Yikes. Couldn't pay rent, maybe? I never saw anyone in there. One too many sushi places, I guess.
Is the city still the landlord of this building? Or did they sell it back to a private owner?
Things like this make me sad. It's so hard to run a small business these days. :(
That location is cursed! It couldn't hold a Quizno's either. Maybe the lack of both street and garage parking is the cause?
Now you sashimi, now you don't.
I think Quizno's closed because of the defunct monorail project, during which the city did buy the property, not because of bad business. I believe the city has sold it though.
It seems to me that being evicted by “detectives of the King County Sheriff” would mean more than just financial problems.
Might be more to it. They call in the sheriff to evict for non-payment of rent, though, too. Or at least they used to.
Yes, read clearly — if detectives are involved, it's PROBABLY not just an issue of not having enough money to pay or issues staying afloat for a small biz.
Yeah, I noticed it was dark the other night and I had meant to stop by and check. Can't be an easy life in that lousy location. I live just down the street and can see it from my front door- drive and walk by all the time. They were not doing any business, and I can't imagine how the Thai place it making it, either.
It's standard practice for an eviction for the sheriff's office to be involved even if it is just because the tenant could not pay rent. The landlord can say, “You have to leave because you haven't been paying rent” but the tenant can't legally be forced to leave until the landlord takes it to court. Then there's a certain amount of time until the eviction is approved at which point someone from the sheriff's office comes and escorts the tenant out of the building and locks them out. It takes quite a bit of time and paperwork to actually evict someone.
Not sure how many of you posting actually ate here. It was one of the worst restaurant experiences (food, service, everything) I have ever had. I feel for small businesses (in fact, I am one), but you have to offer a half-decent product if you expect to be successful.
Mae Ploy has great food and wonderful service.
Thanks! I often wonder about that place but it hasn't made my list yet. Have to try it out.
I second Mae Ploy for food and service. It's small and family run. I've tried maybe half the items on their take-out menu. They are excellent and have delivery service as well. If you're craving Thai food, they will bring it straight to your front door.
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May Ploy is great. I place my order before getting on the bus and pick it up on my walk home from the bus stop.
That building seems to be a death trap for food businesses.
It's a plot by ZESTO's!! ;)
When I was a student at Ballard High School it seemed that both Quizno's and the other restaurant got quite a bit of patronage from students taking lunch. While I haven't been to Himitsu, I imagine sushi would not be cheap and substantial enough for students.
Seems weird that the process you describe would take place and be completed within four months of them opening. I would have expected it would have taken them a bit more time to get as far behind on rent as you'd need to be to trigger all that. But maybe I'm wrong.
I would strongly urge any business to avoid that place at any costs. There is absolutely no parking anywhere near that building. Bad planning and greed made them design a building that is totally impractical for a business that depends upon drive-in customers.
I went to Ballard too, but I figured lunch didn't do it alone since Briano's (sp?) closed and that place was hopin! Maybe sushi takes to long, I LOVED Philly's but it took to long to be made/ate that the only times I went there were during finals with the extra long lunches. I still can't believe that placed closed, I will really miss it.
I heard from a kid who goes to Ballard now that all the kids just eat fruit from Top Banana.
i gave their pad kee mao a try twice. Worst, most flavorless version of the dish I've ever had (both times). Too many other options to give them a third chance.
Wow! That's too bad, they had great tofu yakisoba. Plus they were across the street…easy dinner when I am too lazy to cook….sigh
Mae Ploy has parking. I'm sure the Sushi place had access to it too. Right there on the south side of the building.
I never went to the Sushi place, but once I was inside Mae Ploy I didn't feel like I was right next to a busy intersection at all. It was surprisingly pleasant, considering the outside.
That's a good point – the process itself takes usually around 3-5 months if I remember correctly. It seems like they have been there longer than 4 months. I pass by that corner frequently and there has definitely been a sushi-type restaurant there for some time.
Mae Ploy is great and their staff is kind.
Unlike Uma, whose staff is utterly worthless and produce a far worse quality.
Are people blind?
Watch where the kids go during lunch…they're not going to Top Banana. They're going south to Tony's Teriyaki, Mae Ploy, Zestos and some as far south as Burger King. As soon as lunch hits, both east and west sides of 15th are packed with kids.
On a slightly different subject, why did Briano's close?
It's a plot by Zesto's WHAT? Zesto's owners, Zesto's customers…who?
Please, complete the sentence.
And the parking lot seems to RARELY be used. I've never seen it full.
I think it was a joke, Elisabeth
and the alleys off of 15th are packed with pot smokers as well.
The City never owned the building, it was the Seattle Monorail Project, a separate entity. I think they unloaded the last of their properties and shut down a couple of years ago.
I work at TB, from day one, the entire staff, myself included, talked it up. Our customers would ask how it was (after glancing at the menus we had at our checkout counter) great we'd say. They were always nice, sometimes they even brought us food they wanted to test out before putting it on special. Every weekend for the first month Song, the owner, would come over to our store and hand out menus and chopsticks to our customers! I once saw her as far south as market st. passing them out! any 2 of us would probably order from them atleast 2-4 times a week, and I can't believe it's gone! We were delighted to have a closer and far superior option for teriyaki than Tony's (also known as Scariyaki among our ranks). they came over and got produce from us and they were always so nice to chat with (unlike the guy from zestos that periodically came over and empties our cooler of wrapped romaine and barks at us that they need 1 dollar bills. Douche. The part that cuts me deepest is that we may never know how Song is doing (about a month before the eviction, Song injured her back). Why can't zestos GTFO and allow good people to set up shop?
End rant.
P.s. Joel if you read this before tree season, be prepared for that snow ball with the icecube inside. You better hope it doesn't snow champ.
I ain't scared o' you!
hey james! this was one of the female waitress at himitsu! ^^ hows business going? Song is doing ok. her backs fine now and she's been working here and there at other restaurants! thanks for worrying about her and hope u guys are doing well!