The Seattle Times’ Tan Vinh dropped a Twitter bomb on Saturday when he announced that beloved Ballard burger shop Lunchbox Laboratory was shutting down on Sunday, December 19, with hopes to reopen in South Lake Union sometime in January.

We followed up with Lunchbox Lab co-owner Allegra Waggener, who said she and partner Scott Simpson are currently negotiating a lease on a new 5,000 square foot space in SLU—more than 10 times larger than the Ballard shop. Plans for the new restaurant include sit-down service and a more formal menu that extends beyond the massive burgers that made it famous.

“We’re constantly amazed how many people come to our 400-square-foot space," said Waggener. "It’s just not comfortable, and the building has really fallen apart in the last few years. We didn’t always used to be just burgers—we had to focus on them when people went crazy for them. We figured we better do one thing well in the space. Now we’ll be able to do more of the original concept.”

Waggener says she hopes the new SLU space will open by late January.

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