Andalucia, the Moroccan restaurant at 5327 Ballard Ave NW, is closed after nine months in business.
Owner Taufik Ridani opened the restaurant on Nov. 22, 2025, in the former Parish NW space, as My Ballard reported. By August 2026, he said, the weight of running it alone had become too much.
Ridani cited rising food costs, high rent and city systems he described as "built against the independent owner." He also pointed to personal pain, including months without seeing his children.
He built the restaurant's interior himself. He plastered the walls with tadlakt and fabricated the brass light fixtures by hand. On Instagram, he wrote that the menu carried five centuries of Moroccan culinary history to a table in Seattle.
The closure adds to a pattern on Ballard's restaurant corridors. Kahlo & Loyal, a tapas restaurant at 5608 17th Ave NW, closed in October 2025 after five months, according to My Ballard. Its owner, Sheldon Raju, told the site he was relocating to Napa after an investor showed interest. The Seattle Times cataloged 20 Seattle restaurant and bar closures in 2025, citing rising costs and lost leases among the causes.
Parish NW, the previous tenant at 5327 Ballard Ave NW, closed in August 2024. Its owner, Tommy Patrick, also operates The Ballard Cut on NW Market Street. No tenant has been announced for the space as of mid-October.
Ridani is not done telling the story. He plans a memoir and digital series called Rihlat Andalucia, to be published through Instagram and a forthcoming website. "Rihlat" means "journey" in Arabic. The project will document the recipes and cultures behind the restaurant. Ridani said he plans to travel to Morocco and Spain to trace the origins of his dishes.
"The full story is complex, and I intend to tell it honestly … thread by thread, through Rihlat Andalucia," Ridani told My Ballard.
