Four months after Flame vacated its Queen Anne Ave N space and moved in with the neighboring Elliott Bay Pizza Co., a new restaurant is taking over its former space, replacing Flame’s burgers and BBQ offerings with Oaxacan cuisine.
We’ve been hearing rumors that a Oaxacan restaurant was planning to open in the space for some time now, but this month we got some definitive evidence–on June 14 the owners of “Mezcaleria Oaxaca” applied for a liquor license application at the former Flame space, at 2123 Queen Anne Ave N, to offer spirits, wine, and beer in the restaurant/lounge.
One reader, Jenny, thinks the new restaurant might be a second location for popular Ballard spot La Carta de Oaxaca.
“I noticed that there is a liquor license application on the door with the name “Oaxaca” on it. I’m hoping the Ballard location is expanding because if it is, we’ll finally have a decent Mexican place on the Ave,” she wrote.
The new restaurant will join the handful of other distinctly different Mexican restaurants at the top of the hill, including the relatively new La Luna, which opened up at Queen Anne Ave N and Boston back in April, Tenoch Mexican Grill, which opened in Vincenzo’s former corner spot on Queen Anne Ave N and W McGraw in April 2010, and Malena’s Taco Shop, a longtime popular neighborhood spot at W McGraw Street and 7th Ave W.
I’m currently waiting on a call back from La Carta de Oaxaca’s manager to find out if this restaurant is in fact expanding to Queen Anne. I will update this story as to whether or not this new eatery will be a new location for a local chain, or a brand new Oaxacan place under different ownership, as soon as I know more.
* Thanks to Jenny for the tip!