Downtown Bellingham restaurant listed for sale as owners pursue new snack line
A downtown Bellingham restaurant known for its live-fire cooking has been listed for sale as its owners pursuit a line of prepacked meat snacks.
“After five amazing years and more than 130,000 guests, we’ve decided to put the Carnal restaurant space up for sale so we can focus on expanding our premium meat snack line — born in our kitchen — to a nationwide audience,” Carnal co-owner Skip Williamson told The Herald. “We’ll be taking Carnal’s food program on the road with pop-ups and residencies in Austin, New York and Los Angeles, while making sure the space here gets passed to the right next owner.
Carnal will remain open and operating at full capacity through the transition to new ownership.
“We’re not in a rush — we want someone who will bring fresh vision and continue the space’s legacy, from the legendary Up & Up to Carnal. Until then, Carnal will operate at full capacity, and our sister restaurant, Accomplice, will remain open next door,” Williamson said.
“This isn’t a farewell — it’s an exciting handoff. We’ve loved every moment of bringing Carnal to Bellingham, and we’re so grateful to this community for embracing us. Now we have the chance to focus on growing Carnal in new ways, while passing the torch to someone who can bring fresh vision to this space and build on the legendary reputation it’s earned — from the Up & Up to Carnal,” Williamson said in a news release.
Carnal’s meat stick snack line will now become Williamson’s main focus. Snack line items are crafted with ingredients that include sundried tomatoes, fermented garlic, black truffle and shiitake.
“Once the sale is finalized, Carnal’s sister restaurant, Accomplice, will remain open next door, featuring its popular burger menu alongside rotating Carnal specials to keep fan favorites alive in a more casual format. The Accomplice by Carnal space will also serve as the hub for the brand’s growing consumer packaged goods line,” the news release states.
“Bellingham has been so good to us, and we’re not going anywhere,” Williamson said. “We just hope the next chapter for this space is one that continues to make downtown proud.”
Carnal is listed for sale online for $175,000. The listing says the sale includes all furniture, fixtures and equipment.
“Over $800,000 was invested into this distinctive live-fire culinary concept, allowing a new tenant to bring their own compatible vision to fruition in a thriving culinary destination,” according to the listing.
Carnal is open regularly from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at 1234 N State St. in downtown Bellingham.
This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
