Roz Edison and Kamala Saxton launched their business with a single food truck, Marination Mobile, in 2009. Now, 16 years later and the truck since retired, their business has grown to three stand-alone restaurants (plus a stand at T-Mobile Park teeming with hungry baseball fans) and a robust catering business. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, their restaurant group is the fifth-largest business in the state by revenue ($7.89 million) owned by proprietors who identify as LGBTQ+.

Edison and Saxton’s restaurants are among nearly 100 eateries, cafes and hospitality businesses owned by proprietors identifying as LGBTQ+ on Intentionalist.com, giving plentiful options for the LGBTQ+ community and allies to celebrate Pride this weekend, culminating with PrideFest on Saturday on Capitol Hill and the Pride Parade down Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle to the Seattle Center on Sunday.

Seattleites are great at supporting their businesses of all flavors, LGBTQ included,” Edison says. “In the hospitality industry and in Seattle, it is value-added to be a small business operated by owners who identify as LGBTQ. Here in Seattle, it is not going to hurt you.”

Laura Clise, founder and CEO of Intentionalist.com, says allyship by heterosexual consumers is critical.

“Being an ally is about three things: awareness, education, and action,” says Clise, who identifies as lesbian. “Are you aware of the historical and present ways in which the community has been and is still the target of violence and discrimination? Are you intentional and proactive about staying informed? What are you doing to make a difference?”

Restaurants Celebrating Pride

• Brandon Barnatto, owner of Bar Cotto on Capitol Hill and Cotto Belltown, is bracing for a busy Pride Weekend. His Capitol Hill location, opening daily at 4 p.m., is mere blocks from Pride Fest activities on Broadway on Saturday and the Queer Pride Festival on Friday through Sunday on 11^th Avenue East between East Pike and East Pine streets. Tickets to the Queer Pride Festival range from $81.01 for single day general admission to $335.04 for three-day VIP passes.  Cotto Belltown, also open daily at 4 p.m., is two blocks off of Sunday’s Pride Parade route. It serves Sunday brunch starting at 10 a.m.
• The W Seattle, in the heart of the Pride Parade on Fourth Avenue, is hosting a parade pre-party from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. June. Tickets are $12.51 pm. An optional pride-themed brunch buffet is available for $44.52.
• Entrepreneur Kimfer Flanery-Rye, who identifies as queer, will open the second sports bar in Seattle specializing in women’s sports, Pitch the Baby, as late as next week. Rough & Tumble in Ballard, opened in December of 2022, is the first women’s sports-centric bar in Seattle.
• Danielle and Natasha Moser, partners in life and in the Eastlake special event space Imperia Lake Union, have been married since 2016. They bought the former Lake Union Cafe space in 2020 and have been hosting parties and events after a remodel in December of 2020, often two events a day. Imperia can cater seated dinners for up to 30 guests.

Natasha says that nearly 70 weddings are already booked this summer — about 20% of those weddings are couples identifying as LGBTQ+. Imperia is the only special events space in the Seattle area wholly owned by proprietors identifying as LGBTQ+ and certified by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

The Intentionalist is also featuring a drawing for tickets to sporting events for shoppers and diners spending money at LGBTQ+-owned businesses. To enter the drawing submit proof of purchase on the Intentionalist website. Among the recommended businesses is kombucha producer Seeking Ferments owned by Jeanette and Lyz Macias, partners in business and in life.

Raising Money

Many LGBTQ-owned businesses are also leveraging the Pride Month rush to fundraise for local organizations.

• Marination is dedicating proceeds from sales of popsicles to the Gender Justice League. The three flavors are inspired by the colors of the trans pride flag: pink (guava lemonade), blue (tropical blue raspberry) and white (coconut-lychee).
• At all five Tutta Bella locations serving alcohol, proceeds from the sale of their special French 75 in June will fund the GSBA Scholarship and Education Fund.
• Cafe Flora, The Flora Bakehouse and Floret at Sea-Tac International Airport are dedicating all proceeds from the sale of slices of their vegan rainbow layer cake and $1 from each cinnamon roll sold in June to Queer the Land, the GSBA Scholarship Fund and the Trans Justice Funding Project.
• Aluel Cellars donates proceeds from sales year-around of “The Scholar” Red wine ($25 a bottle) to the Greater Seattle Business Association Scholarship and Education Fund supporting “rising LGBTQ+ and allied leaders in Washington State.” The wine is available at all three Aluel tasting rooms on Capitol Hill, Queen Anne and Ballard.
• Every Ethan Stowell Restaurant features pride cocktails, with a portion of the proceeds dedicated to Gay City in Western Washington, Spectrum Center Spokane, and The Community Center in Boise.