While one downtown Bellingham restaurant opens, another shuts down
Here’s a roundup of recent retail activity in Whatcom County:
▪ Carnal is the latest eatery to arrive in downtown Bellingham, having opened on Friday, Aug. 28.
The restaurant is at 1234 N. State St., in the former Rudy’s Pizzeria and the Up & Up Tavern space. Co-owner Skip Williamson said they did quite a bit of renovation work on the 1898 building, taking it down to its shell and putting in a new kitchen and seating area.
Williamson said in a news release that they’ve assembled a core team of chefs, including Jame Zamory, Aaron Saurer and Sean McDermott, who met while opening NoMad Restaurant in New York City. Most recently the threesome had a food stand at the popular Smorgasburg food market in New York City. Williamson said the food stand was known for its slow cooked bone-in beef short ribs, something that will be served at Carnal.
The menu will be highlighted by other wood-fired meat, seasonal vegetables and seafood. For now the restaurant is open for outdoor seating and takeout; indoor seating will start in October depending on where things are with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hours are 4-10 p.m. every day. More information about Carnal can be found online at eatcarnal.com.
▪ Sabores de Mexico has apparently closed, but the space at 1200 Cornwall Ave. could be filled with a new Mexican restaurant.
A state liquor license application was submitted for a restaurant to go into that spot called Senior Lopez Mexican Restaurant. The applicants are Apuleyo and Natalia Lopez.
Sabores de Mexico was reported permanently closed by Yelp users, its Facebook page has been deleted and phone number disconnected. The restaurant first opened in May 2019 by Enriqueta Vasquez de Magana and Lucy Ayala, with the focus to bring fresh and local ingredients to customers.
▪ Bellewood Farm announced that it has plenty of apples this season and will be starting up its u-pick season on Labor Day Weekend.
Once it gets started, u-pick hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday in September and October. The farm will have a variety of activities, like the corn maze tour, that are allowed during this period of COVID-19 restrictions.
Updates on which apples are ready can be found on Bellewood’s Facebook page. Two popular varieties, Honeycrisp and Tsugaru, are expected to be ready in mid-September.
▪ Downtown Bellingham bars are making adjustments with outdoor seating and expanding food service while the weather is still warm and dry.
Red Rum, the tiki bar at 113 E. Magnolia St., reopened last week with a revamped outdoor seating area. According to its Facebook post, new hours are 4-10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
The Temple Bar at 306 W. Champion St. also introduced its expanded outdoor seating area last week. It’s hours are 4-10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
These two bars are part of a growing trend to expanding outdoor seating, joining several Holly Street and Railroad Avenue bars and cafes that recently expanded outdoor seating.
