Bar Abajo and The Upstairs to Close in Belltown

Two Belltown bars, The Upstairs and Bar Abajo, have lost their lease and will close after service on December 10, which also happens to be The Upstairs’ sixth birthday. The building that houses the bars has a new landlord, who has decided to convert the space into a dental office. Owners Amanda and Cory Chigbrow will try to rehome Bar Abajo, but The Upstairs will not resurface.

The Chigbrows, who also own Spanish tapas restaurant Pintxo and Kentucky-themed bar Commonwealth, had just opened gins-and-tins-focused Bar Abajo in July. The bar filled a space formerly occupied by Pintxo, which the Chigbrows relocated to a bigger home over the summer.

“We are really disappointed that this space is closing,” Amanda said in a statement. “Part of the reason we expanded and moved Pintxo earlier this year, beyond outgrowing our 2nd Ave space, we saw the sale of the building looming — buildings all over Belltown are being sold and small businesses displaced. We didn’t want that to happen to us. Sadly it did with our newest venture Bar Abajo and our longtime bar The Upstairs. We are sad to leave our Second Avenue location. It's where our dream of owning a restaurant and bar began.”

Bar Abajo and The Upstairs staff will be absorbed into the Chigbrows’ other restaurants, and some of Bar Abajo’s gins and tins selection has been incorporated into the Pintxo menu.