Downtown Seattle Just Lost One of Its Top Sandwiches

Post Alley Pizza is now post-sandwiches. On Wednesday, November 1, the acclaimed hole-in-the-wall pizzeria just south of Pike Place Market announced “sad news” on Instagram: It’s sensational sandwiches are going on indefinite hiatus.

According to the Instagram post, Post Alley just lost both of its pizza makers, “one planned and one w/o warning,” and no longer had the capacity to produce both its pizza and its sandwiches. This was greeted by dismay from Instagram commenters who know that the sandwiches are — excuse us, were — works of art, house-baked bread loaded with tuna, Italian cold cuts, or all manner of daily specials. It was a miracle that such a small shop was able to produce both pizza and sandwiches at such a high level.

In a follow-up post, the pizzeria clarified that the change wasn’t just about a lack of staff, but also a lack of space:

The reality is, regardless of hiring, we have outgrown our small shop. We no longer believe we can make hoagies and pizza in the space as is and do them well. So, for now we are going to focus on making the best pizza we can possibly make. And we will figure out how to get hoagies and hot sandwiches to everyone as soon as we can.

So… could the Post Alley crew be on the move out of the alley and enter a post-alley era? We messaged them to ask and will update if we hear back. But silver lining: The owners also run Tivoli up in Fremont, a lunch destination that has the same style of pizza and amazing sandwiches.

Brazilian steakhouse plans a downtown rooftop location

Fogo de Chão,, a Brazillian steakhouse chain with client-dinner vibes, already has locations in Bellevue and Lynwood, but last week announced in a press release that it had leased a space in Rainier Square, a downtown skyscraper on Union between Fourth and Fifth. Set to open early next year, the new steakhouse will be notable for having a rooftop bar called the Next Level Lounge attached to it. It’s another sign that restaurants are increasingly betting on downtown.

Ethan Stowell named ‘Executive of the Year’

One of Seattle’s most prominent restaurateurs just nabbed a big prize from the Puget Sound Business Journal: Ethan Stowell was named the publication’s Executive of the Year. “At a time when many restaurant operators are cautiously moving ahead, adapting to post-pandemic business models,” the PSBJ writes, Stowell and his eponymous brand, Ethan Stowell Restaurants, has been opening restaurants at a brisk clip, including the huge Bomba Italian Kitchen inside the Convention Center and the Mt. Joy, a budding fried chicken sandwich chain. Stowell is the first restaurateur to win this award since Tom Douglas in 2012.

Fair Isle announces pop-up schedule

Ballard brewery Fair Isle has long been a pop-up incubator, and even though a Beast and Cleaver outpost just opened in the back, the taproom is apparently going to continue its tradition of hosting premium, high-end dinners. This week it announced “season four” of its fall-into-winter Tessellate dinner series. On the list are Cameron Henin of pizza sensation Lupo, Nick Coffey of Lopez Island standout Ursa Minor, Boby Pradachith of Lao pop-up Amone, and Amino, an experimental fermentation-focused lawn from chef Jaimon Westing, who is the head chef at Fair Isle’s Beast and Cleaver. For more info, go here.

Correction November 3, 5:56 p.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly implied that Post Alley Pizza was located inside Pike Place Market. Eater Seattle regrets the error.