Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya served its last bowl at 42nd and Alaska Street SW on Sunday, Oct. 25, ending a 10-year run in the West Seattle Junction.
The Seattle-founded chain blamed slow business for the closure, according to Westside Seattle.
A staff member confirmed the decision to the West Seattle Blog, saying corporate cited slow business. The blog noted the restaurant was busy when a reporter stopped in to verify.
Kizuki's remaining Seattle-area locations on Capitol Hill and at Southcenter Mall will stay open. In a social media post, the company thanked the neighborhood for "every visit, every slurp, and every familiar face" over the past decade and directed customers to those two locations.
The closure leaves three empty storefronts on a single block of the Junction. Portage Bay Cafe, located just up the street at 4725 42nd SW, also closed Oct. 25, according to West Seattle Blog.
A former Rudy's Barbershop space nearby remains vacant after that salon consolidated into its Fauntleroy Way location in August.
Taiwanese American entrepreneur Yi-Chen "Brandon" Ting founded Kizuki in Seattle in 2012. The chain has grown to 17 U.S. locations and announced a partnership with Japanese restaurant giant Yoshinoya Holdings in July, according to KOMO News. Ting remains CEO.
The West Seattle departures fit a pattern Westside Seattle described as a broader contraction in full-service dining across King County.
The outlet reported that regional tracking in 2026 shows more than 200 food-business closures across the greater Seattle area, with an opening-to-closing ratio hovering between 1-to-1 and 1.2-to-1.
Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, warned in a September interview on KIRO Newsradio that Seattle's restaurant economics are unsustainable.
Seattle's minimum wage will rise to $22.14 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027, MyNorthwest reported.
Anton said labor now accounts for more than 40% of what customers pay.
"You spend $100 for your family with dinner, which is probably not out of line in today's prices," Anton said. "The restaurant's taking home $1.50."
Anton said workers are losing too, as restaurants cut lunch service and weekday hours. Without what he called a "dynamic change," he said the state is on track to lose about 9% of its restaurants.
Not every storefront on the block will stay dark. West Seattle Blog reported that Anchorhead Coffee opened Saturday, Oct. 24, on the southwest side of the same Junction block, with Dave's Hot Chicken and Gong Cha both expected in mid-November.
