Columbia City Seattle

Last night we had sushi at Wabi-Sabi and peeked in the window at the new Thai place next door - Spice Room 4909 Rainier Ave. S. Noticing us outside, the owner invited us in after hours. While I haven't yet had the food, the decor is well designed and comfortable feeling. On one side are tables that can groups up to six or so. On the other are normal restaurant tables with authentic thai back rests. Care was even taken to have the floor designed to match
the room - notice it.
If nothing else, Spice Room is a sign that our little Columbia City is getting all growns up.

After breakfast at Geraldine's Counter we checked in on the renovation process at 4909 Rainer, which will be home to live/work lofts and two new restaurants. Wabi-Sabi, a sushi bar, and Spice Room, which will be a Thai place. These are two things I love to see coming.

King 5 News did a recent story on Columbia City's efforts to cater to light rail riders with the "Light Rail Sale." It's great to see the Columbia City community make efforts to turn the light rail stop into a valuable asset.  Columbia City has a lot going for it these days: a historic downtown community feel, a diverse and eclectic population and a growing number of businesses offering food, entertainment and services.  A couple of my favorites for food are Columbia City Ale House, now offering "Light Rail Golden Ale" and Geraldine's Counter for breakfast.  

I think Columbia City could become a model for what prosperity may come to communities the light rail touches.  I'm always reminded of the feeling of being in a new city feeling the need to get off the beaten track - to discover a neighborhood that is more local than tourist, to feel that you've explored a little.  This feeling isn't just tourists - I feel that way about my own city.  With the light rail in place, Columbia City can become that community that's ultimately very accessible, but feels a little outside the city.  A destination that's its own little world.  But it will take some effort on the behalf of local businesses to highlight what the community has to offer - I'm happy to see that process is starting now.

Thanks to @columbiacity for the pointer to the King5 Story.

Last Wednesday, we heard through the grapevine at the Columbia City Farmer's Market that a few new businesses were potentially moving in.  We heard sushi, from people involved with Chinoise and ice cream by Full Tilt out of fabulous White Center.  These are two of my favorite consumables. 

Full Tilt looks really interesting, except for the fact that they don't have a web page. Right now they point to a MySpace page.  From said page:

The main focus is going to be ice cream (of course) and pinball. We also now have beer for the 21 and over kids. We 16 pinball machines and vintage arcades. The ice cream is hand made. Sixteen different flavors with some changing weekly. In addition to that we got popsicles. The ingredients are local and organic when available.

Ice cream, beer, pinball. Popsicles? Got em. They get 4.5 stars on Yelp.  I welcome Full Tilt to the neighborhood.

The Columbia City stop looks finished compared to the Mount Baker stop.