Bait Shop, a Capitol Hill neighborhood bar that has operated from the same Broadway address since 2012, is currently looking for a new home as the building housing the business is slated for demolition and redevelopment, according to recent reporting from Seattle Met.
No new address or opening timeline has been finalized, but co-owner Mike Leifur told Whatnow Seattle the team has begun considering what comes next while continuing to navigate uncertainty around when that demolition and the resulting move will ultimately take place.
Located at 606 Broadway E., Bait Shop has long served as a neighborhood gathering spot, offering frozen drinks, margaritas and house cocktails like the Frozen Painkiller and Zombie No. 2 alongside a menu of popcorn chicken, wings, fish and chips and its well-known house-cut fries.
Although a move from Broadway appears inevitable, exactly when that transition will happen remains unclear. Mike Leifur said the lack of a firm timeline from the landlord has made planning difficult, with anticipated departure dates and lease expectations shifting over recent months.
Even with those uncertainties, the team has started considering what Bait Shop’s next chapter might look like.
When asked whether any spaces were already on the radar, Leifur indicated that possibilities are being considered. While no location has been confirmed, he said the hope is for Bait Shop to remain in Capitol Hill.
That uncertainty has also been felt by regular customers, many of whom have treated Bait Shop as a gathering place for years. “They’re very concerned. Everybody’s very sad.”
Rather than using the move as an opportunity for reinvention, Leifur said the goal is to preserve the feeling longtime patrons already know: “a comfortable neighborhood third place.”
That philosophy extends to how he imagines a future Bait Shop. “I hope it is uncanny how familiar it looks to the current Bait Shop.”
Whether the next location ultimately lands in Capitol Hill or elsewhere in Seattle, Leifur said the priority is maintaining the sense of comfort that made the bar resonate with customers in the first place. “I hope that we can bring them the comfort of a familiar place.”
