Food News & Notes: A Good Week for Burgers & Pizza

Tacos and liquor, on the other hand, had it rough.

Seattle is not on anyone’s list of America’s most family-friendly cities, but that isn’t to say there aren’t a few restaurateurs out there looking to make things a little easier for those who dine with rugrats in tow. Darren and Janine Pritt are bringing a new family pizza joint to the Central District with Pritty Boys’ Family Pizzeria, opening in the old Dulce’s Latin Bistro space at 1430 34th Ave. in April. And Zippy’s—the West Seattle favorite of burger aficionados everywhere—is moving to 9614 14th Ave. S.W. in White Center, and will gain additional seats, a bigger kitchen, and (hopefully) a beer license. That’s also scheduled for April (or maybe May).

But just when you think things are looking up in this economy, we get word that Del Rey closed its doors on First Avenue and the Capitol Club on Pine went up for sale. So, good week for burgers and pizza, not so good for tacos and liquor. Go figure.

Openings and closings weren’t Voracious’ only focus last week, though. The blog also brought word that Iranian state TV was banning all foreign cooking shows because, apparently, Rachael Ray’s NASCAR nachos are now seen as a threat to state security. We talked about eating cookies for breakfast in Cereal Philanderer—specifically cookies invented by a dog-food company. And we were all over it when The Wall Street Journal did a profile/real-estate story on Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorenson of Portland and managed to out-Portland Portlandia, the IFC show which purports to poke gentle fun at the city’s people but couldn’t have come up with a guy like Sorenson on a bet. Dude won’t cook at home unless it’s with name-checked local ingredients, collects vintage Olympia beer memorabilia, and runs his own coffee company? Come on . . .

In the middle of the week, we looked at cooking apps currently being offered for the iPad, talked cheeseburgers with a double-shot review of Dope Burger and BuiltBurger, and kept our focus on a single issue with the announcement that Hong Kong was going to air the first-ever Naked Lady Cooking Show, in which a pretty model cooks on camera . . . while naked. Genius. But probably never shown on Iranian TV.

Finally, with all the new burger joints opening and moving around, it was inevitable that there’d be some collateral damage. And we saw it last week with the closure of Charlie’s Flame Broiled Burgers at 2608 S. Judkins St. But for fans of coffee and liquor together, The White Rabbit opened at 513 N. 36th St. in Fremont, offering coffee cocktails, tater tots, and a limited menu. Know what kind of coffee they use? Stumptown, natch. And finally, Ivar’s announced a new Fish Bar location: 13101 Meridian Ave. E. in Puyallup. And since three make a trend, Ivar’s, too, is looking at opening in April.

Spring can’t come soon enough.

jsheehan@seattleweekly.com