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(Image: Starbird Chicken)

The mystery of new commercial life hatching in the failed 10,000-square-foot Amazon grocery on E Pike has been revealed. The arrival of Starbird Chicken on Capitol Hill will mark new energy for a block that has been darkened for two and a half years.

It will also be an example of what happens when highly optimized, fully leveraged, and fluidly designed corporate strategies cross lines, overlap, and push all their eggs into the same basket in a neighborhood with finger lickin good demographics and spending habits.

“Starbird has built something truly special by reimagining what a chicken restaurant can be, from the bold flavors and hospitable, modern restaurant design to the overall guest experience,” Vin Mehta, the Portland-based entrepreneur and franchisee leading a 17 location expansion of the chicken chain into the Pacific Northwest, said in a company press release quoted by industry tracker FastCasual.com. “Together, we’ll combine Starbird’s innovative approach with our team’s operational experience and passion for building lasting connections.”

CHS reported this summer on signs of new life in the Pike at Belmont space in the AVA Capitol Hill mixed-use redevelopment of the neighborhood’s old Mercedes-Benz dealership where the massive Amazon Go was abruptly shuttered in 2024 as part of what would become a nationwide retreat for the global giant.

This week, Starbird’s construction team filed new paperwork with details of their plans for a new 3,000-square-foot restaurant to serve the company’s tenders, wings, and sandwiches in a major chunk of the former cashier-less, tech-powered grocery space. An ambitious $620,000 base construction budget is attached.

The expansion has already been on the burner. A West Seattle Starbird is scheduled for its ribbon cutting on Fauntleroy Way SW on Monday.

Starbird is a Northern California-born, premium fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 2016 by culinary incubator The Culinary Edge, a company that operates as a gun for hire in revamping menus and operations for large national chains while also establishing its own brands.

Starbird specializes in “fresh, scratch-made food” and “always antibiotic-free, never frozen” fried chicken including tenders, sandwiches, wings, and “house-made sauces,” positioning itself around “reinventing the fast-food experience” with “feel good crispy chicken.” With an emphasis on “tech-enabled, omnichannel dining” and virtual kitchens alongside brick-and-mortar restaurants, the brand has expanded beyond California through multi-unit franchise partnerships.

The name also has a familiar ring. Yes, it sounds like Starbucks. And, hey, we’re not sure what the folks at the 1910-era Starbird Apartments around the block on Boylston will think.

One of the most recent Starbird openings was in Colorado (Image: Starbird Chicken)

The first Starbird opened in 2016 in Sunnyvale, California, on W El Camino Real a few miles from Apple Park and a shorter drive from the LinkedIn headquarters. The Silicon Valley debut served as the pilot location for the concept, testing their app-based curbside pickup model alongside standard dine-in service. Like most big chains, in-store ordering is heavily automated via digital kiosks and integrated mobile app check-ins.

Starbird’s traditional real estate footprint favors car-oriented, suburban-style corridors over dense, pedestrian neighborhoods but there a few different formats of stores. In San Francisco, Starbird developed a commercial ghost kitchen hub in SoMa, serving the area through bike and scooter couriers and delivery apps.

Capitol Hill, circa 2026 and 2027, is up to its ears in chicken joints. And the flock is growing even with the now permanent loss of neighborhood favorite Bok a Bok.

This month, CHS reported plans from Puget Sound-based Conscious Hospitality Group for a re-start of its 11th Ave restaurant space with a new roasted chicken venture fronted by celebrity influencer chef Matt Broussard. The Seattle Times gushed over the prospects but didn’t report that the plan is a re-heat. The 11th Ave space was originally the flagship location of the company’s scuttled “1,000 location,” sustainable, and tech-optimized chicken sandwich chain concept Mt. Joy.

Starbird, meanwhile, has pushed past the 20 location mark and is on a skyward trajectory.

“From day one, we saw something special in Starbird. This innovative concept is in a league all its own,” investor Greg Dollarhyde said in an announcement five years ago as the company raised $12 million in funding. “Starbird continues to beat every expectation.”

Starbird Capitol Hill is under construction at 600 E Pike. Learn more at starbirdchicken.com.

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Councilmember Dan Strauss, chair of the Select Budget Committee, emphasized community participation as the council evaluates funding priorities. Residents can weigh in during six regular comment sessions and two dedicated public hearings featuring both remote and in-person testimony.

Public Hearings

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Happy Dolly Parton Day, Seattle.

The city officially proclaimed September 25th as “Dolly Parton Day” to celebrate the legendary artist and philanthropist’s contributions to music, culture, and childhood literacy following her passing in August.

City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck presented the proclamation during a tribute story hour at the Queen Anne Library branch.

In August, the AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza above Capitol Hill Station was the gathering place for a vigil following Parton’s death at age 80.

The September 25th date serves as a nod to Parton’s iconic hit “9 to 5.” Citywide celebrations also feature a silent disco and a screening of 9 to 5 at Denny Park, honoring Parton’s program that has provided nearly 4.5 million free books to Washington children.

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Pictures of the rogue signs that appeared earlier this month on E Pike were sent to CHS by an area business — “This has been a nightmare,” they said of the city’s sewer work at 12th and Pike

A new group planning a business-friendly street party to try to give the neighborhood a boost around a much longer than expected street and utilities project has had its event permit denied by the Seattle Department of Transportation.

“This permit application was not approved because there will still be active construction happening at this intersection on proposed event date,” a spokesperson tells CHS. “Seattle Public Utilities is replacing sewer infrastructure at 12th Ave and E Pike St. The intersection is closed for public safety.”

CHS shared this Capitol Hill Community Post inviting people to join the Thursday night event from the group Destination Pike, a new community group that says it spun off from Central Seattle Streets for All in partnership with the Capitol Hill Community Council.

The group said it was planning the popsicle party on Pike between 11th and 12th with music, tables and discounts for takeout at local restaurants.

But the city nixed the plan, citing the nearby construction that has shut down 12th Ave and knotted driving access to the area for weeks. CHS reported here in August on the city’s approach to sewer work that tips things into emergency territory in a neighborhood with a busy history of development like Capitol Hill. The construction timeline on the project had to be doubled to six weeks of closures after excavation crews ran into unmapped wiring, old concrete, and tangled utility lines.

The city tells us SPU’s contractor is working to finish up major construction and reopen the intersection as soon as the end of this week. “However, construction will continue through October as crews return to build accessible curb ramps at the corners of this intersection,” a spokesperson said.

Area shops, cafes, and bars have said the longer than expected project has been a drain on business. Two weeks ago, guerilla “SDOT KILLS SMALL BUSINESS” signs appeared in the neighborhood but were quickly cleared away over the weekend.

Destination Pike, meanwhile, is hoping to become a neighborhood presence and advocate as the city shapes a new “Low Pollution Neighborhood” initiative here that could remake streets as part of a $9.2 million effort across Capitol Hill, Lake City, and South Park/Georgetown.

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A recent Charlie’s author event (Image: @grandmajoysroadtrip)

(Image: Charlie’s Queer Books)

A scene from the 2025 fire

A neighborhood tragedy that left a valued Pike/Pine business space critically damaged is giving way to a happy new story.

Charlie’s Queer Books will open a second location on Capitol Hill this November, expanding to E Pike to join a community of businesses including the Wildrose and Elliott Bay Book Company, The Stranger was first to report.

The new Capitol Hill Charlie’s is under construction just west of 12th and Pike in the building where the Post Options business center and mailbox service was damaged in a destructive 2025 electrical fire.

Just over a year later, work on the new Charlie’s Queer Books is creating a new space, fully ADA accessible and roughly double the size of the Fremont original. Plans include a 50-seat event space, a coffee shop, and a wine bar, with robust plans for open mics, silent book clubs, and author readings.

Owners Charlie Hunts and Madeline Burchard told The Stranger adding a second store addresses shelf and event space limits at the flagship while expanding access to LGBTQ+ literature during a national surge in book bans and restrictive legislation. The couple noted that serving as a queer community anchor on Capitol Hill brings real responsibility, particularly for young trans patrons looking for a welcoming third space, while crediting Stephen Romano at 12th & Pike St. Associates with offering manageable lease terms.

Hunts started Charlie’s in 2023 as a mobile pop-up, hauling curated queer titles in a “disco”-tiled cart across Seattle Pride events. Later that year, the operation established its brick-and-mortar storefront on N 43rd N 36th in Fremont.

Inside the original Charlie’s (Image: Charlie’s Queer Books)

Charlie’s Queer Books sells books by LGBTQ+ authors and featuring LGBTQ+ themes and characters. For Capitol Hill longtimers, its shelves will bring reminders of the special sections at long gone at Bailey/Coy Books on Broadway or the Beyond the Closet Bookstore that also made E Pike home.

As for Post Options, the mailbox and small business center that served Capitol Hill restaurants, bars, shops, salons, tattoo parlors, etc., and an amazingly diverse roster of B corps, C corps, S corps, LLCs, and more for 13 years, its story also had an eventually satisfying if not fully happy resolution. CHS talked with owners Veti Cmoesongrsi and Nongnuch Paungpornsri agonizing about the hard but ultimately best decision to close permanently after the fire, buoyed with financial support from customers who contributed to a community fundraiser.

Now, the old Post Options space is also moving on to a satisfying new chapter.

Charlie’s Queer Books will open later this year at 1122 E Pike. Learn more at charliesqueerbooks.com.

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