Hungry for news? Welcome to our Friday Feed, where we run through all the local food and restaurant news this week—and maybe help you figure out where to eat this weekend.
Farewell to Firni
Even those who haven’t eaten at Wallingford’s Kabul can likely picture the building, its mural collage with Sharbat Gula's piercing eyes, the arch of Qala-e-Bost, and other iconic Afghan scenery displayed to those stuck in traffic on 45th. But the landscape will soon change: After 33 years, owner Wali Khairzada will close the restaurant by the end of the month, reports The Seattle Times. Khairzada, who is 74, cites the cost of food and labor, noting that he hasn’t taken a salary in five years.
Kabul started serving kebabs, qorma, and kabuli palaw in 1992, just after the Soviet Union spent a decade losing a war in Afghanistan and well before the US spent two doing the same. It opened in an era when few Americans could place Afghanistan on a map. It survived an era when slightly more could—and often did so only to point a racist finger at the country. Kabul spiced up the Seattle food scene with Central Asian food for more than 30 years, and it will leave the city just a little blander when it closes.
Jarr Bar’s Spanish-inspired gin and tonics brightened the tiny space in better times.
So long, and thanks for all the fish: Charming Pike Place Market sliver of a spotJarr Bar has been closed since March, and owner Bryan Jarr announced this week that it won’t be reopening. “We presented what we believed was a strong and sustainable plan. Unfortunately, the Market has chosen a different direction,” wrote Jarr on Instagram. He does finish his post with a plea to stay tuned for future events, projects, and potential reincarnations.
So long, and thanks for all the slices: The U-District location of Supreme Pizza went dark last week, with a handwritten sign announcing it has closed. There’s been no further word from the company yet, and the West Seattle location remains open.
The Roll Pod nails all the textures inherent to a good kathi roll.
Scandi style: Swedish food goes beyond its traditional stomping grounds as the star of the recently opened Lingon, on Westlake Park downtown. The menu covers the obvious—Swedish pancakes, Swedish meatballs—along with plenty of seafood and a chanterelle soup topped with the namesake berry.
No longer winging it: A pandemic-era pop-up turned smash hit at local events has settled into a permanent location. Mangosteen Chicken Shop now serves its signature wings and noodle plates, with more to come, from the former Cajun Crawfish location by Othello Station.
Kpop sandwich hunters: Korean egg sandwich shops continue to pop up around town, with the latest being Egg Squared, which opened on Yesler Way last month.
Rolling to a stop: Once a food truck, now well on its way to a full-fledged mini-chain, Indian quick-serve spot the Roll Pod opened its third location (Bellevue, White Center) on 22nd near E. Madison.
Rolling north: The team behind Olympia’s Garçon de Donburi moved into a space near Northgate. Per Instagram, it’s a pop-up called the Corner, serving “Modern Australian cuisine, redefined,” though the menu leans slightly Japanese and heavily on seafood.
From Roatan to Rainier: Hillman City scored itself a new Honduran restaurant, El Sabor Katracho, this week. While broader Central and Latin American restaurants like La Cabaña and El Patio serve Honduran dishes, this one focuses specifically on not just the food of Honduras, but of the family behind its home island of Roatan.
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Tacos Cometa will bring its beef inside next year.
Broadway debut: After making a name for themselves off-Broadway—near Cal Anderson Park—brothers Rey and Osiel Gastelum will bring Tacos Cometa to a brick-and-mortar space on Broadway. Capitol Hill Seattle has more about how the move came about after the stand was cited for selling food without proper permits. The Gastelums use their fine-dining experience to take their stand up a notch, with dark chocolate pot de crème served alongside Sinaloan-style charcoal-grilled meat and cebada—toasted barley agua fresca.
Another chain in the link: Sushi Tei, a Singaporean chain serving Japanese cuisine, will open its first US location in The Bellevue Collection come September 2026. The 6,290-square-foot restaurant will join a slew of fellow international chains and a few local ones, too, in the Collection’s various properties—Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place, and Lincoln Square.
Grow-cery news: Homegrown Asian supermarket (and home to many hard-to-find fruits) Lam’s Seafood announced this week that it is taking over the former Island Pacific Seafood Market location on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. The company’s third location (Tukwila and Little Saigon) is scheduled to open in March.
Tacos Cometa will bring its beef inside next year.
