Two Whatcom restaurants add locations, plus two new bars coming to Bellingham
Here’s a roundup of recent restaurant activity around Whatcom County:
▪ A building permit application was submitted to put in a Mod Pizza restaurant at the Sehome Shopping Center near Bellingham Ace Hardware.
Mod, which has more than 500 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada, opened its first Bellingham location in November 2016 in Barkley Village.
▪ The North Fork Barrel House & Beer Shrine is scheduled to open in Bellingham at noon on Thursday, Aug. 4.
The new barrel house is at the corner of Ohio and Grant streets in the Sunnyland neighborhood. It shares the building with Bellingham Cider Company, which uses it as a production facility.
North Fork, which also has a beer shrine in Deming, plans to use the Bellingham spot as a bottling facility while also serving customers with its 10-tap tasting room, according to a news release from the company. Five of the taps will be dedicated to serving vintage sour beers, while the remaining taps will rotate ales and lagers from the Deming location. There will also be specialty bottles and cans of Bellingham Cider Company products.
Once open, hours are noon to 7 p.m. six days a week, closed on Wednesdays. At this time there is no food service. Bryce Hamilton of Bellingham Cider said there are plans to eventually have a beer garden in place with food options.
▪ Cryo Rolls ice cream announced that it is having a grand opening at noon on Friday, Aug. 19, for its new shop in the Granary Building in the Waterfront District.
The rolled ice cream products made by Cryo Rolls have very little air, creating a creamier texture. Along with dairy, the menu offers non-dairy and vegan options.
▪ A building permit application was submitted to put in a new tavern at 1313 N. State St., near D’Anna’s Cafe Italiano. According to the permit application, the proposed name is the Parliament Tavern and the business owner is Tom Langen.
▪ The Mexican food truck Monolo Eats announced that it is ceasing operations at the end of July as the operators take on other pursuits. The food truck frequented the Maple Falls area, but also made stops in Bellingham, including Menace Brewing.
▪ A state liquor license application was submitted for a bottle shop and lounge at 1319 Commercial St., currently home to Uisce.
The proposed business name is The Great Northern Bottle Shop & Lounge. The applicants are Ronald Extract and Amber Watts.
Uisce announced that it was closing down its operations on Commercial Street at the end of August. It’s been at that spot for 17 years.
▪ As Frelard continues to work toward opening its tamales shop and brewery in the Sunnyland neighborhood, it is having a one-day pop-up shop at Ponderosa Beer & Books.
According to a company social media post, the plan is to have the pop-up on Saturday, Aug. 27. Along with tamales, Frelard will unveil a Mexican dark lager that was brewed in collaboration with Thunder Island Brewing Company.
Ponderosa Beer & Books opened in early July at a waterfront building on Roeder Avenue, near All American Marine. Frelard is aiming to open its Sunnyland location this fall.
▪ Beer releases are happening all the time among all the local breweries, but here’s one that connects with another two local restaurants.
Kulshan Brewing announced that it has created the Fiamma Frosty IPA as a tip of the hat to Fiamma Burger and La Fiamma pizza. According to Kulshan, the new beer has citrus, berry and floral flavors that go well with pizza or burgers.
The Fiamma Frosty is available at the both Kulshan spots and the two downtown Fiamma locations.
▪ Quantum Leaf, the restaurant in The Herald Building on North State Street, has changed its hours and has a new menu that includes brunch items all day.
The new hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Monday, closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Brunch items include a mochi waffle, while other menu items include soups, salads and sushi.
