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(Image: CHS)
The HoneyHole’s nearly 25-year reputation for affordable good eats and good times on Capitol Hill may very well be worth saving.
But the sandwich shop’s latest new owner may not be up for the job.
Former employee turned owner Evan Bramer hasn’t responded to CHS’s inquires as the E Pike sandwich joint and bar shuttered last week and remained dark Halloween.
On the door, hastily written paper signs hang. “Closed — Sorry for the inconvenience,” one reads.
“We are closed because he won’t pay us. Sorry,” reads the other, signed by “HoneyHole employees.”
There are more complaints. Here, an employee describes receiving a bad check and being unable to contact Bramer in a social media post created last week:
@maclona7 #badcheck #thief #worktheft #seattle #pike #honeyhole #help #helpmeplease ♬ original sound – Mac Lona
Bramer also did not respond earlier in October when CHS reported on redevelopment plans that look likely to squash his hopes of turning the former E Jefferson HoneyHole location into a new Beck’s Bar and Grill across from Seattle University.
UPDATE: The Stranger has spoken with employees about the situation. Bramer has also not responded to its inquiries about the closure.
The ongoing challenges continue a tough few years for the sandwich and hangout joint’s previously legendary nightlife and cheap eats status.
CHS reported here in late July as Bramer said he was using money from an inheritance to step in to take over the flailing business after a disastrous two years under its previous owners who wrestled with management issues and struggles around diversity. The wife and husband team had moved to Seattle from San Diego to pursue their dreams as first-time owners after purchasing the HoneyHole from its founders in 2021.
Founded by brothers Sean and Devon London in 1999, HoneyHole earned a spot as one of Capitol Hill’s most loved affordable dining and drink options. But the pains of inexperienced management quickly took their toll.
Bramer, who has previously worked at HoneyHole and boasted about his 20 years of experience in the industry, told CHS he hoped to restore the business to its former glory and undo the damage done in recent years.
“I know the HoneyHole standards. I know what it should be brought to. It has always been a 100% inclusive place,” Bramer told CHS at the time.
But the overhaul got off to a rocky start and, by August, employees said the issues around management and worker relations continued under the new owner.
The Beck’s project also stalled and planned opening dates came and went.
Bramer, meanwhile, has gone silent and there have been no social media posts about the closure. Online ordering is listed simply as “unavailable.” A note on the HoneyHole website, meanwhile, informs that someone needs to pay the site’s hosting bill.
A check of King County court records doesn’t show any actions being taken over unpaid rent against the owner or the corporation Bramer created this summer for his new business.
Bramer did manage to live up to at least one promise. He successfully applied for a new HoneyHole liquor license — a last step, he had said, in completely removing the former owners from the business.
Three months later, Beck’s has still not opened — and, now, the E Pike original HoneyHole has also gone dark.
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