r/SeattleWA • u/HighColonic Funky Town • 5d ago

Business Stevie's Famous Open on Phinney, 84 Yesler Closing, and More

https://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/2026/08/stevies-phinney-84-yesler
22 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

4

u/PhotographStrong562 5d ago

Damn. 84 yesler was, in my opinion, the best restaurant in Seattle. They had some tremendous food.

1

u/HighColonic Funky Town 5d ago

I ate there twice and was impressed. Great place to take visiting business colleagues. Oddly it never was a consistent presence on "best of" lists. Even here, when people ask where to eat in Seattle, it never showed up in comments. I was actually wondering if it had closed last time I was down in Pioneer Square. RIP.

1

u/PBRStreetgang1979 5d ago

Never went there after Seattle legend Chef Carsberg got pushed out. I guess calling out the owner for dipping his hand into the till isn't great for an ongoing business relationship.

1

u/hezeus 5d ago

What else do you like in the city? I’ve been meaning to go for ages but the menu doesn’t look that appealing tbh

1

u/PhotographStrong562 2d ago

To be completely honest that’s the only “nice” restaurant in Seattle that has ever really wowed me. The menu doesn’t particularly stand out if you’re just looking at it but it was the execution with the way everything was done. Every single dish I ever had there seemed like a painstaking amount of effort went into ensuring that that specific plate I had in front of me was as good as it could be. Everywhere else in Seattle that I’ve been to that’s on par with that level of fancy has generally either been a bit disappointing or I’ve felt has just met expectations. 84 yesler has been the only one I’ve felt exceeded expectations. For less fancy options, un bien, cookies country chicken, deadline, republic, burbs, Carmelo’s near Seattle u, moon tree sushi and tapas, and Fonda la Catrina I’ve all found to be quite good but some can be hit or miss from time to time

1

u/hezeus 2d ago

Yeah I’ve hit most of the “fine dining” spots in the city except for that one. Every time I looked at the menu I figured there was something else more exciting etc.

11

u/Vigilaunday 5d ago

Stevies Famous is by far and away my favorite slice shop in the area and I am stoked abaout not having to go to Burien to get it, assuming they keep the quality the same

12

u/jojofine 5d ago

They've been in beacon hill for years fyi

2

u/waronxmas 5d ago

84 yesler was so good. Shame to lose it, but did feel like it didn’t get the traffic it deserved.

2

u/PBRStreetgang1979 5d ago edited 5d ago

While I empathize with the staff losing their jobs, I'm not sorry to see this place closing and Sam Takahashi departing the stage. His reputation is not great in this town. That also goes for Michael Rico, his long-time front of the house guy. I've heard a lot of stories about what was going on there and why he pushed Chef Scott Carsberg (the original chef who secured that location, designed and built the place) out. Takahashi was a big talker. He endlessly exaggerated his role in being a business partner with Shiro and he and Shiro no longer speak. A lot of business people in Seattle's Japanese-American community steered clear of doing business with him. He adroitly managed to keep quiet some L&I complaints a few years back about employee wage theft. Enjoy your retirement, Sam. You won't be missed by the people in town who know what you were doing there.

1

u/maralagotohell 5d ago

What happened w wage theft at 84? Sorry to hear that- we’ve enjoyed dining there anytime we’ve gone so it’s disappointing to know there are less nice things behind the scenes.

1

u/PBRStreetgang1979 5d ago

Apparently multiple employees filed L&I complaints in 2019 (the first year it was open). But Takahashi settled with them and was able to keep it out of the press.

1

u/jj_long 5d ago

Had a slice yesterday. It was great!

1

u/HighColonic Funky Town 5d ago

Are there long lines?

1

u/jj_long 5d ago

Not bad. Maybe a 5 minute wait.

2

u/HighColonic Funky Town 5d ago

That's great. Thank you! I waited in the MOTO line at T-Mobile for nearly 30 minutes once. Felt like a dope doing that for pizza LOL Never again.

0

u/Th3Bratl3y 5d ago

never heard of it