“People still care about that site,” co-executive producer Cynthia Brothers said. Community organizers envision preserving the building and adding low-income housing on the lot next to it. While Bush Garden will return, the fight continues for the historic building that once housed it. It’s a fitting move for Bush Garden, which was also known as Santos’ “after hours office.” Uncle Bob’s Place is owned by the nonprofit Santos started over 50 years ago, Interim CDA.
With furnishings and memorabilia stashed away in current owner Karen Akada Sakata’s storage, Bush Garden is now slated to reopen a couple of blocks away at the new Uncle Bob’s Place, tentatively in 2022. When a developer called Vibrant Cities bought the historic building in 2017, Martin Tran and co-directors Ellison Shieh and Christopher Woon-Chen grabbed their cameras and “started shooting as soon as we could,” Tran said.Ī community rallied around Bush Garden, but eventually, the restaurant had to close due to another factor: the pandemic.
Japanese karaoke seattle plus#
Bush Garden was an ideal meeting place due to popular happy hour items like gyoza, onion rings, and shareable yakisoba, pork kimchi, or steak dishes, plus a generous pour at the bar. Started in 1953, the Chinatown International District’s Bush Garden became a meeting place for local activists like “Uncle” Bob Santos and others who fought against the gentrification of the primarily Asian American enclave. Seattle’s Bush Garden is the first restaurant karaoke bar in the nation and Washington state’s second Japanese restaurant. A selection of the Tacoma Film Festival, the documentary will be screened on Saturday, October 9, at 12 p.m. Chinatown-International District: Bush Garden is a documentary that proves how community support can rally to save them.
Rent hikes and developments have displaced some of Seattle’s most cherished restaurants and gathering places.