Jones Brothers and Co. Bows Out of Ballard

Only a year after Ballard’s long-empty Balmar space was filled with new life by Jones Brothers and Co., the place appears to be vacant again. A tipster shared that the restaurant was closed this past weekend with work equipment inside, and already last month a Yelper noticed that things seemed boxed up. Owner Kevin Carlson, who named the business after the former Ballard butcher shop Jones Brothers Meats, owned by his grandfather Ken Jones, did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication, and the phone has been disconnected.

Jones Brothers evoked Old Ballard with reclaimed-wood tables, exposed brick walls, and menu items like Swedish-meatball sliders, a nod to the neighborhood’s Scandinavian heritage. A few appetizers, handmade pastas including angel hair with Manila clams, and sandwiches like eggplant or chicken parm rounded out the menu, alongside a few local draft beers, wines, and personalized tweaks of classic cocktails like the Negroni.

Hopefully the space, with its prime location at the intersection of Ballard Ave NW and NW Market St., doesn’t remain empty quite as long this time, but there’s no sign yet of what’s next for either the owner or the venue. Just steps away, longstanding Volterra also closed recently, though it hopes to reopen elsewhere in Ballard soon, while Skal Beer Hall is replacing The People’s Pub, hoping to honor the neighborhood’s past by this summer.