After 10 years of slinging spaghetti, Asteroid Cafe owner Marlin
Hathaway expects he’ll be out of business within the week. After a long
stint at a small space in Wallingford, the Asteroid moved to Fremont in
2006, and Hathaway says it’s been a struggle ever since.
“I signed a lease two years ago… for this new space,” Hathaway
says. “With rent and utilities, it’s close to nine grand a month. I had
a hard time keeping it up, but I managed.”
The Asteroid’s Italian food has received positive reviews from the
Seattle Times and The Stranger since the restaurant first
opened in 1997, and Hathaway has also used the restaurant as something
of a soapbox. He’s run ads on Air America, hosted meetings for antiwar
groups, and frequently posted articles from lefty papers and magazines
in his front window.
“If there’s anything I want remembered,” Hathaway says, “it’s that
it was about more than money.”
Earlier this week, several local blogs reported that the Asteroid
was closing due to an increase in rent, but Hathaway says that’s not
the case.
He says he’s been struggling to come up with rent for months, but
not due to an increase. He says he’s been hit hard by the nationwide
economic slump. And three weeks ago, he received a notice from his
landlord that he needed to pay $13,000 in back rent or get out.
Hathaway knew he wouldn’t be able to come up with the cash, so he
says he found a potential buyer for the space—someone he believes
will be able to revitalize the Asteroid and make it profitable
again—but, according to Hathaway, his landlord is blocking the
deal.
“I’ve got a buyer; we’ve signed an agreement,” Hathaway says. “I am
behind [on rent] and I can’t really blame [my landlord] for that, but
he could work with me.”
Hathaway’s landlord, Dan Cawdrey, says there are no definitive plans
for the space, but he hopes to open a new restaurant in the location.
“We’re a pretty passive landlord,” Cawdrey says. “If a person pays
their rent, we try to support them as much as we can,” he says. “The
reason no discussions have been taking place is the current tenant is
in default and hasn’t paid for over 45 days.”
Although Hathaway says he is now $50,000 in the hole, he says his
biggest priority is finding a way to pay his crew for their final days
of work. After that, Hathaway will start looking for a new job as
well.
“I just thought there was a lot more potential in [this] space,”
says Hathaway. “I just bit off more than I could chew.” 
