Obviously the solution is to massively increase MFH building with 2 stories of retail on the bottom citywide, and restore our original 1933 Seattle zoning that allowed this in all the areas that are now zoned SFH

@1 Won't the corporate landlords who own those potential future mixed-use properties be just as risk-averse as the corporate landlords described in this article? I mean, the problem here is that property owners are unwilling to take a risk on a unproven business with limited resources: a zoning change won't directly address that issue.

That’s an awful lot of anti-capitalist BS to hang on a couple of restaurants closing.

Geeze... where to begin. Basically this is the cataloging of regrets and lamentations of multiple, clueless individuals who wanted to play "restaurant owner" .

One can be a good cook (not chef, because most of these individuals haven't even graduated, let alone gone to a culinary arts academy, school, let alone apprenticed) or a decent waiter, but that doesn't make one a restaurant owner. It makes you a good cook or a good waiter.... and that's about it.

A restaurant is first and foremost a business... and as these folks found out, the hard way, its a very complex, costly and complicated one at that. It requires a real tool box of skills, which was sadly lacking in the stories which spilled forth on the pages of this lengthy article. It also requires capital, lots of capital as Laura Miller points out... she's a very astute person with lot of experience in this industry.

The casting of this as some type of heinous landlord rent issue or failure of the capitalist system is par for the course at The Stranger. The biggest hurdle in reading this was "lack of capital" to open, lack of business skills and a real challenge in these new pups trying to manage food and labor costs.

To their credit the latter - food and labor comprise about 75% of the cost of anything served on a plate in a glass. The hideous rent comprises about 8% to 10% of total costs... so the smart owner focuses on controlling food and labor costs.

These poor folks had to contend with rising labor costs (thanks $15 Now... which is now $18.67/hour, plus payroll taxes = , L&I, Unemployment, paternity Leave, Sick Leave, Medicare, Social Security...and on and on.) + Food Costs (rising inflation) + (not knowing how to control them in a kitchen) --The Stranger, like a bad marksman focuses on the rent.

Listening to Rivera rant was like a "20 year old throwing a temper tantrum". He was passionate, but arrogantly thinks he sets the bar for what guests will and must like and the price they will pay to enjoy his work". How naïve can one be.... it works the other way round. Let's see how he does in Nashville and Raleigh ... at least he will have better odds than Seattle's high labor, crime riddled environment.

The future of the Seattle food scene is about as bleak as it comes... when you see veterans leaving like Tom Douglas, Donna Moodie, Thierry Rautureau, etc... you know its bad... very bad.

Well, not for The Stranger of course, they still think the problems are capitalism and rent.

“It's fundamentally impossible to run a business within the capitalist framework … that’s still values-driven.”

LOL