Jessica Gifford got her first taste of Belltown in her late teens, hanging out at classic spots like Queen City Grill, Belltown Billiards, and the Frontier Room. “I started going to Queen City when I was 19 or 20 years old,” she recalls. “I was in awe of everything happening in the neighborhood; I thought it was so cool.” Little did Gifford know at the time, but she would go on to open a handful of notable area bars, including Bathtub Gin & Co. and Cottontail Club. Her latest Belltown venture, which opened at the end of October, is the reopening of Queen City as a cozy neighborhood-focused bar and eatery on the northwest corner of 1st Avenue and Blanchard Street.

“I have always loved Queen City,” Gifford says. “I’ve watched it go through every transition, and it’s always held a special place in my heart.”

Before shuttering in early 2024, the spot housed the second location of BOCA, a family-run Argentine grill (proprietor Marco Casas Beaux passed that year, necessitating the closure). Prior to BOCA, Linda Derschang and Trevor Greenwood each held leases, the latter taking over after a 30-year ownership by Peter Lamb, Robert Eickhof, and Steve Good.

The restaurant’s owner, Jessica Gifford, consulted original menus to garner inspiration for its dishes.

Photo courtesy of Queen City 

At Queen City, Northwest-forward bistro food—think lots of seafood and market-fresh produce—is transformed into classic dishes such as tartare, bruschetta, and saffron-bathed shellfish.

Photo courtesy of Queen City 

One afternoon, while having margaritas next door at Villa Escondida, Gifford learned about plans to turn the vacant Queen City space into a Thai joint. Perhaps it was nostalgia for the restaurant of her youth, or the fact that she had witnessed so many changes in Belltown over the years, but something compelled Gifford to want to bring back Queen City in its most beloved form: a neighborhood hangout with solid, good-quality food (elevated but not fussy) and cocktails. 

“So many businesses are dying and being replaced,” Gifford says. “We’re hoping to bring the place back to life in a way that feels familiar to people.” To accomplish that, she reached out to former owners and staff, all of whom proved to have a wealth of knowledge about the restaurant and Belltown in general. Steve Good had a cache of old memorabilia he let her peruse, including menus advertising salad for $1.95 and steak for $20. While they can’t offer food and drink at vintage prices, Gifford says the offerings tap into the original bistro-style dishes. “It will be very Pacific Northwest,” she said on a call before the opening. “I’ve looked over the old menus, and while I can’t replicate the recipes, we’re trying our best to capture the flavors.” 

Queen City’s roots stretch back to 1910, when the Queen City Saloon operated on the corner of 1st Avenue and Blanchard Street.

Photo courtesy of Queen City 

On a recent visit, the martinis were ice-cold and came with bleu cheese-stuffed Castelvetrano olives, the fish of the day (halibut) arrived on a bed of creamy polenta with a garlicy tomato sauce reminiscent of puttanesca. The sleeper hit, a gift from the chef, was a sautéed calamari that I frankly wouldn’t have ordered on my own, but it came in a white wine butter sauce with shallots, capers, olives, and cherry tomatoes. Grilled bread on the side was perfect for soaking up the leftover buttery goodness. Other items on offer include crab cakes, tuna tartare, a classic Caesar salad, scallops, a lamb burger, and more. 

With dim lighting, classic bentwood café chairs, and marble tabletops, Queen City is refreshed, but, like a Parisian brasserie, it retains the spirit of everything that came before. It’s cozy, with flickering candles, dark wood, and a cluster of black-and-white photographs on the wall—the kind of place you could easily dine at before heading to the theater, or pop in for one last cocktail after seeing a show at the Crocodile, which, according to Gifford, is exactly the point. 

Near the front window, a cluster of photographs includes images of famous Spanish artists Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, the latter of which hung in the original Queen City.

Photo courtesy of Queen City 

Near the front windows hangs a framed photo of artist Salvador Dalí, a piece donated by the original owners. “One of the few things I could remember about the wall back in the day is that Dalí,” Gifford recalls, “but I got it confused and thought it was Picasso.”  In the lead-up to the opening, before Dalí’s close-up arrived, she had purchased a photograph of the famous Cubist to hang. In the end, everyone got a spot. “My front wall has Dalí and Picasso,” she says. “They were actually frenemies; they poked at each other a lot. I decided to keep them both because the whole point of this place is bringing people together over food and drink.”