I have heard glowing recommendations for The Backdoor at Roxy's from a lot of people - unsolicited.

Sounds like they did the place right.

Oh, and regrets on the closing of the fine Taberna del Alabardero - it was a great place.

If I worked near there, I might have visited more often.

SF's RN74 is great. Love the train station motif

i have to say that MAYBE The Stranger should pay half as much attention to retail stores in Seattle as it does to restaurant openings and closing.

Bang Bar is going to have to lower its prices if it wants to survive in penny-pinching West Seattle. A LUNCH combo at a Thai restaurant should not cost $12.

I join in the tears being shed for Lake City Way's "Italian Spaghetti House." Best place for American Italian ever (I've never found better chicken parm ANYWHERE).

It was a sad day, recently, when the family pulled up for dinner, hoping that they weren't too busy for us to get seated, only to find the parking lot empty and the doors locked. No signs saying they'd shut down, but we knew there'd been rumors of their demise for a couple of years now...

I wonder if the Italian Spaghetti House closing is a side effect of the Rick's closure. (For serious; weren't both affiliated in some way to the Colacurios?)

I wouldn't get too excited about Potbelly Sandwich Works. Growing up in Chicago, I watched them grow from a single shop which felt very mom and pop, to a small local chain, to the large scale franchise business that they are now. The sandwiches are good, but the author is correct, portions are small. They weren't always that way. At this point, they're essentially another variant of the Jimmy John's phenomenon. Good but not great.