A new restaurant is coming to Lacey at Huntamer Park. You’ll recognize the owner’s name
Rick Nelsen, who founded the steakhouse Ricardo’s and later sold the business, is getting back into the game, announcing this week that he has started work on a new restaurant not far from the old one.
The new venture is an Italian restaurant, serving Italian wines, called Bottega, which Nelsen says translates into a “master’s work place where he perfects his trade.”
For someone who has worked in the restaurant business for 20 years, the name seemed fitting, Nelsen said.
Work has just started on the space, which measures more than 5,600 square feet on the ground floor of the 640 building on Woodland Square Loop, near Huntamer Park. In fact, garage-style doors at the restaurant will open to the park, Nelsen said.
In addition to the restaurant, Bottega will feature a bar, a banquet room, a wood-fired oven and side rooms. He described Bottega as an upscale restaurant, although it won’t be too expensive, he said.
The restaurant is expected to open this summer, Nelsen said.
That’s not the only activity at the 640 building, said Mike McClure, a partner in Kirkland-based MJR Development. The engineering company KPFF also has leased 12,000 square feet on the ground floor, he said.
Years ago, MJR acquired a number of state office buildings in the immediate area and they continue to redevelop them. An office building turned into apartments is almost complete, and then their next big project is to build 376 apartments on a site east of the 640 building. It’s currently a parking lot.
MultiCare Capital Medical Center explores new project
MultiCare Capital Medical Center is exploring a new development for medical specialists northwest of the hospital on McPhee Road. Developer representatives met with Olympia’s site plan review committee on Wednesday.
The hospital owns the parcel and is now trying to determine if it will be feasible to bring a two-story, 40,000-square-foot building to the site, said Capital Medical Center President Will Callicoat.
The hospital has built up its primary care services, but also needs a place to house specialists that patients can be referred to, he said.
Other MultiCare news:
▪ The health system is working to raise $1.6 million for a comprehensive breast center, which would fill existing space on McPhee Road. The center would be set up so that patients could get a mammogram and a biopsy immediately if the mammogram detected something that needed to be checked, Callicoat said. The goal is to minimize the period of anxiety for patients waiting for medical results, he said. So far they have raised $1.2 million.
▪ MultiCare’s fifth Indigo Urgent Care location in Thurston County is set to open in Yelm this May. The location is at 937 Yelm Ave. W. The four other locations are in Hawks Prairie, Lacey, Tumwater and west Olympia.
El Sarape location is now Charro
A reader writes: “I drove by the El Sarape in west Olympia and noticed they have changed their name to “Charro.”
Indeed, they have, according to a social media post on Instagram. Charro is at 955 Black Lake Blvd SW.
“If you’ve dined with us recently, you may have noticed something different,” the post reads. “Allow us to introduce CHARRO. The same mouthwatering menu you love, served by the same friendly faces you know.”
It also doesn’t appear to be part of El Sarape anymore. The El Sarape website shows locations only in Lacey and Shelton.
Tire business looks at Tumwater site
Representatives of Purcell Tire were set to meet with Tumwater’s development review committee on Thursday to discuss an interior remodel of space at 2775 29th Ave SW, according to city information.
Local government site plan and development review committees provide developers with information about what will be expected of their projects.
If you know of a retailer, restaurant, coffee shop or other business that is opening, closing, expanding, remodeling, or changing its focus, send an email to reporter Rolf Boone at rboone@theolympian.com.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
