Local

Random car hits popular Belltown bar

SEATTLE — A bar in Seattle’s Belltown had its outdoor seating area destroyed after a vehicle slammed into the space Thursday morning.

The bar named “Some Random Bar” has been popular with locals and survived the pandemic on 1st Ave at Vine Street in Belltown.

According to Seattle Police, it was shortly after 5 a.m. when police received reports of a vehicle “that struck an awning in the 2600 block of 1st Avenue.”

SPD said that officers arrived and found a car crashed into the patio awning seating area. The collision caused severe damage.

SPD also said the driver of the car walked away from the scene before the police arrived.

The road was shut down for debris and to investigate.

The bar’s outdoor seating area at 1st and Vine has become a fixture in Belltown, but it was left in tatters Thursday morning -- destroyed, collapsed into the road and on the sidewalk.

Several lanes of 1st Ave. were blocked at one point, as crews came in to survey the damage.

Belltown resident Kate Kack was shocked by the sight of the damaged patio this morning.

“I came around the corner and I was like (speechless) - I can’t believe it!”

To Kack, it’s a loss for one of the few bar-eateries that still call Belltown home.

“I can’t even imagine what the owner feels like. This is a small business and Belltown is already struggling, (and) as you can see, the retail down here is desolate,” Kack says.

By the time KIRO 7 cameras arrived, the car that smashed the seating was gone, and the driver was nowhere to be seen either.

Kack lamented that a random strike by a vehicle would take down Some Random Bar’s refurbished seating area.

“Some Random Bar was here. They made it through (the) pandemic, they had their little ‘streatery’ they got during the pandemic,” Keck noted.

“I was shocked. I do construction and traffic control and I saw WSDOT out here, and I was like, ‘Oh, something big happened,’” said Hana Kim, who came out Thursday morning to see the damage up close.

The Belltown resident lives around the corner and a few floors up from Some Random Bar. Kim suspects a lot of people slept through the incident, even though the crash was probably quite loud.

“I’ve stopped in there once or twice,. It’s a nice spot, I feel really sorry for the owners,” said Kim.

The danger from the sloping structure was evident, as crews sealed off lanes and redirected traffic.

The actual building where Some Random Bar is located escaped without any damage.

Now, some people are hoping SRB gets some random love from patrons as it tries to recover from all this, including Kate Kack.

“(I) hope the owner and this bar can make it through and recover.”