(The Center Square) Vince Zhao is severely reducing the hours at his Seattle restaurant in the Chinatown/International District because concerns about crime, drug dealing and homelessness are keeping customers away.
He said customers aren’t in immediate danger from crime, but the area’s seediness can’t be denied.
“Customers aren’t being attacked,” he said, noting that patrons aren’t in personal danger.
But he conceded car break-ins have been an issue in the past and open-air drug dealing can be a problem outside his South Jackson Street restaurant, along with homeless encampments.
On July 9, Zhao closed his Joyale Seafood House on weekdays because business had dropped to a trickle over the last several years at the South Jackson Street location.
The restaurant was open for lunch and dinner every day except Wednesday.
Hours are now restricted to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for the restaurant, which has been open for a decade.
Even then, he is not sure that there will be enough customers to stay in business.
Last Saturday, around 30 customers occupied the 600-plus seat restaurant at lunchtime as waitresses brought trays of dim sum specialties such as steamed shrimp dumplings and bao steamed barbecue pork buns.
“I don’t think this is going to last,” he said of the restaurant.
Zhao believes that perceptions of crime are as much a deterrent to his business as real crime.
In addition to the drug dealing, he said the homeless encampments scare people.
“It’s unsightly,” Zhao said, even though the unhoused leave his customers unscathed.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced last month that the city is launching a new effort to dismantle open-air drug markets and curb chronic crime around the South Jackson Street area.
Wilson said in a statement that Seattle will “no longer tolerate” open-air drug use, drug dealing, and the sale of stolen goods in the area.
She promised more police presence and arrests or orders to participate in alternative diversion programs for criminal offenders.
Wilson said the city was allocating $1.1 million dollars for increased police patrols and community teams to make the area safe.
Zhao said the effort is welcomed, but is too late. He remembered that before the pandemic, lines formed around the block to visit the restaurant.
Back then, he said the area was more vibrant, and the drug dealing and homelessness weren’t a problem.
Zhao pointed to the almost-empty Pacific Rim Center, the restaurant’s location, as an example of the neighborhood’s decline.
While an optical center still survives, bakeries and other food establishments have closed, leaving Zhao as one of the last survivors in the almost-empty mall.
Former City Council member Tanya Woos said in a post on Instagram that Joyale isn’t merely a restaurant, but “one of the few places large enough to bring the CID (Chinatown International District) together.”
“This one hurts. I’ve watched too many legacy businesses close their doors,” she said.
“Every time it happens, we lose more than a business, we lose jobs, history, culture, and another piece of our community. This is not okay,” she said.