Pioneer Square's New Bars Arrived as Its Old Guard Left. First Thursday Is the Night to See the Change.

At 419 Occidental Avenue South, on the ground floor of RailSpur, a New York cocktail brand now shares a building with three Renee Erickson restaurants. Death & Co opened there in September 2026. Visit Seattle lists it as the bar's fifth U.S. location. Head a block toward King Street and you pass a 24-seat cocktail room in the former Salumi space, a sports tavern where Quality Athletics used to be, and a Nigerian suya bar. Nearly every food-and-drink opening in Pioneer Square this year sits within walking distance of that corner.

That shift matters on Thursday, November 5. It's First Thursday, and the Art Walk's galleries mostly close by 8 p.m. The new rooms around King and Occidental stay open later and fill the rest of the evening.

What Left After July

The World Cup brought thousands of visitors to Seattle this summer. MyNorthwest reported that once the crowds left, Pioneer Square saw a wave of closures it hadn't expected. Luigi's Italian Eatery, Collins Pub and Magic Mouse Toys closed within days of one another, and each had been in the neighborhood for more than a decade.

Luigi's served its last meals on September 19 from a 3,000-square-foot space at 211 First Avenue South. In a separate MyNorthwest report drawing on the Puget Sound Business Journal, the restaurant's owner named a 40% rent increase and rising food costs among the reasons. The same report said Collins Pub had been open 23 years and Magic Mouse Toys 49. In the same MyNorthwest report, Tija Petrovich, an Alliance for Pioneer Square board member, is quoted from her comments to the Business Journal: "To see a longtime business that made it through the pandemic ultimately close under the weight of rising costs is especially difficult."

The new places did not open in the spaces those businesses left. They opened around King Street Station and the stadium approach. Seattle magazine wrote in September that Pioneer Square had added "at least a dozen new bars in rapid succession" this year. The ones with confirmed addresses and open doors are mostly on that block.

The Cluster at King and Occidental

Here's what's open within a few minutes' walk of one another, using hours from each venue's own listings:

• Death & Co, 419 Occidental Ave. S., a cocktail bar with small plates on RailSpur's ground floor. Seattle followed Los Angeles, Denver and Washington, D.C., in the brand's expansion.
• Lowlander Brewing, at RailSpur. A tank-bar brewery from Erickson's Sea Creatures group serving beer-hall food, open daily 3 to 9 p.m.
• Un Po Tipsy, at RailSpur. New York-style pizza by the slice with wine, draft cocktails and canned beer, open daily 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Mio Oh Mio, at RailSpur. Pork chops, shellfish and seasonal Pacific Northwest cooking, Tuesday through Saturday 4 to 9 p.m., with happy hour from 4 to 5.
• Doris, 309 Third Ave. S., in the former Salumi location near King Street Station. Angela Dunleavy's 24-seat room serves classic cocktails, wine and shareable plates. When it opened in July, Seattle magazine listed hours of Tuesday through Thursday 4 to 9 p.m. and Friday 4 to 10 p.m.
• Sid's Tavern, 121 S. King St., in the old Quality Athletics sports-bar space. It held its hard launch on October 1 and is open weekdays 4 to 10 p.m. On Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park event days it opens three hours before the event. Farshid Varamini, who also runs Gantry Public House, owns Sid's with his wife, Marchelle.
• Suya Palace, 115 Occidental Ave. S., in the former Golden Roosters space. It serves suya kebabs and other Nigerian dishes with a sports-bar setup. The Alliance for Pioneer Square's directory lists hours until 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
• Populus Seattle, 100 S. King St. This one predates the 2026 wave and anchors the same corner. Its ground-floor restaurant, Salt Harvest, is open to the public with dinner daily from 5 to 10 p.m. The rooftop bar, Firn, admits non-guests 21 and older. Its posted hours vary between sections of the page, so check the site before you go.

That's two addresses on Occidental and two on King, plus Doris a block east on Third. Luigi's was at 211 First Avenue South. The RailSpur alleys turn what used to be an in-between walk from the stadiums into the neighborhood's densest evening block.

Two First Avenue Projects Still in Progress

Two projects back on First Avenue will spread things out again once they open. Neither has a firm date.

Bar Tartare is moving into 704 1st Ave., the former Bad Bishop space next to Cherry Street Coffee House. MyNorthwest describes the plan as cocktails and small plates. Seattle magazine says hospitality veterans Jake Whipple and Sara Rosewall of RoseWhip Productions are behind it and have a winter opening in mind.

At 553 1st Ave. S., the 116-year-old Triangle Pub building is being renovated into a new bar, two hotel suites and a rooftop deck. The pub's own site says it isn't fully open yet. It's holding weather-dependent patio events while interior construction continues.

Until those open, the south end has the evening crowd mostly to itself.

Running the November 5 Art Walk Toward King Street

First Thursday is free and self-guided, and the Alliance calls it the longest-running established art walk in the nation. The page notes that many galleries close their shows at 8 p.m. Most listed openings start at 5 or 6, which leaves a two-to-three-hour window for galleries. The new bars and restaurants cover the rest of the night.

1. Start at 5 p.m. with the early openings. Gallery 110 has three shows from 5 to 8: Sarah Barnett's "Spectacle of Being," Matthew Behrend's "Radiant Echoes" and Marcus Lelle's "Reclaimed : Renewed." ArtX Contemporary is showing Fulgencio Lazo's "Iluminando Caminos [Lighting the Way]" and hosting a book release and signing for Chris Maynard. Gray Sky Gallery has Darrell Peterson's "The Visible and The Vanishing." The Apothecary at Shelterwood Collective has Sean Waple's "Soft Return."
2. Move to the 6 p.m. openings. Greg Kucera Gallery is showing "John Buck: Drawings On Wood" and "Ed Wickland: My Labors." Foster/White Gallery has "Tony Angell | In Company," and J. Rinehart Gallery has Kelda Martensen's "First Rain." All three run until 8.
3. Catch the late stops after 8. Gallery Erato runs until 9, Hologram Gallery's "As Light As A Cobweb" until 10, and Europa Gallery's "Mystic Journey To Nonesuch" until 11. Little Italy Seattle hosts "Art in Little Italy" from 5 to 9, and Atelier Gutweis celebrates its newly opened upstairs from 6 to 9.
4. Finish on Occidental or King. On a Thursday, Mio Oh Mio and Lowlander serve until 9, Sid's and Suya Palace until 10, and Salt Harvest's dinner service runs until 10 as well.

If you want dinner before the galleries close, Mio Oh Mio's 4 to 5 p.m. happy hour fits ahead of the first openings.

Parking Points the Same Direction

Free Art Walk parking runs from 5 to 10 p.m., first come, first served, at two garages: Frye Garage at 117 3rd Ave. S., and 450 Alaskan at 450 Alaskan Way, which you enter from King Street. You need a free voucher from a participating gallery or venue. The Butler Garage at 114 James St. is no longer part of the program in 2026.

450 Alaskan has its own exit process. Enter after 5 p.m. and take a ticket. Show your voucher to the valet attendant on P1, who issues a yellow chaser ticket, then feed both tickets into the pay station. The attendant can't hand out vouchers, so pick yours up on the walk. Cars still in the garage after it closes at 10 p.m. pay regular fees plus an $85 after-hours release fee. On a Thursday, the latest kitchens on the cluster close at 10, the same time the garage does.

Both free garages are on the south side, near King Street. So the parking, the late-night food and the newest bars all sit in the same few blocks.

After this one, the next First Thursday is December 3. Its listings include the Tradewinds Native Marketplace at The Metropole Seattle, 5 to 9 p.m. By then Bar Tartare may be closer to opening on First Avenue.

At Deepti Gupta Real Estate, we track how a block's tenants change, because that turnover is part of how we read a neighborhood alongside the market data. If you're weighing a move closer to the city's evening districts, or comparing Seattle with the Eastside, Schedule a Consultation and we'll go through the block-by-block view with you.