Iconic Seattle Restaurant China Harbor to Close This Month
After three decades, the waterfront landmark bids farewell
By Sarah Stackhouse September 20, 2024
If you’ve ever driven along Westlake Avenue, heading north or south along Lake Union, you’ve noticed China Harbor. Its towering shiny black facade and circular gold door frame — which my kid once mistook for a cruise ship — has been a landmark since it opened in 1994, offering what it called the “tastiest view of Seattle.”
The family-owned Chinese restaurant, which changed hands in 2019, shared in a Facebook post that it is closing: “Five years ago, with a deep love for the restaurant industry, a passion for sharing traditional Chinese cuisine, and confidence in the Seattle community and economy, we took over the historic China Harbor Restaurant.”
Despite hosting more than 400 private events — weddings, political rallies, and family gatherings — and serving more than 500 guests on their busiest days, the new owners faced significant challenges. These included the pandemic, labor shortages, inflation, and structural issues that temporarily closed the building in 2021. “This decision was not made lightly and comes with heavy hearts, but we believe it is the right choice at this time,” they wrote.
The owners expressed deep gratitude to customers and staff for the countless memories created over the years. The fate of the lakefront space and banquet room remains unknown.
Follow Us
Restaurant Roundup: Holiday Cheer at SLU BRU, StarChefs, and Kabul Closing
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
Fusion food has an innate ability to bring us together. In the blending of two (or sometimes more) cultures, new perspectives are unlocked and we are all better for it. Esquire is in agreement, as the magazine has selected Lupe’s Situ Tacos, a Mexican-Lebanese taqueria in Ballard, as one of the 33 best new restaurants…
Counter Culture: Sansonina Ristorante Italiano
An Italian escape hiding in Renton.
Tucked just off Rainier Avenue, across from a Safeway, Sansonina Ristorante Italiano—which opened early in 2019—is the kind of place you drive past for years without noticing until you walk through the door. Once inside, the outside world dissolves, the hum of traffic fades, and suddenly you’re not in Renton anymore. You’re in a dimly…
5 Things to Eat in December
This month’s assignment: Take the pressure off.
There’s something about the end of the year that adds pressure to everything we do. Despite all the talk of holiday cheer and “merry and bright,” heightened expectations can bring a sense of weariness. We’re fretting over feasts and gatherings while working fervently to tie up loose ends—gifts, work, everything—with a pretty bow. Each month,…
Ahead of the Cut
How a tech-minded home cook turned years of tinkering into a chef’s knife powered by 40,000 vibrations per second.
Scott Heimendinger traces his love for knives back to college, when his dad taught him how to cook over the phone. By his junior year he had saved for his first real knife, a JA Henckels Santoku. Compared with the $9 IKEA knife he had been using, “it felt like a laser… things that used…