Welcome back to Eater News, a semi-regular round-up of mini news bites. Have info to share? Email intel to seattle@eater.com.
- Jack’s BBQ, which has built a strong following in SoDo with its Central Texas-style slow-cooked brisket and other meats, is opening an outpost in the Columbia Tower in mid-summer. Owner Jack Timmons is also working on an expansion in South Lake Union, due this fall, and joined the roster of local purveyors at Safeco Field this season.
- White Center is getting a new nautically themed establishment called Can Bar, focusing on canned beer, cocktails, and a low-key food menu that will likely involve sandwiches with smoked and braised meats. The bar itself will be constructed of parts salvaged from a 28-foot wooden boat. The opening at 9427 17th Avenue SW is planned for July.
- Scientists at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife found oxycodone in mussels raised at 18 locations around Puget Sound. Mussels are filter feeders, so they absorb contaminants in the water, and it appears enough of the opioid has flowed downstream — via toilet flushing — to show up in trace amounts in marine life.
- Outlier, the flashy restaurant replacing Sazerac in Hotel Monaco, is adding a private karaoke room. The room can host a group of up to 12 people and comes with a $50 food and beverage minimum. Reservations for the space, called the Electric Feather, start June 15.
- The Space Needle’s glass-enclosed observation deck has reopened after a massive redesign. The revolving restaurant will reopen in the fall, while a new lounge is preparing to open in time for the 4th of July.