Seattle food scene heavyweights will partner on new Bellevue food hall

A new Bellevue food hall showcasing restaurants from James Beard Award-winning chef Brady Ishiwata Williams and the popular local burger chain Lil Woody's will open by midsummer near the Wilburton light rail station.

Lil Woody's owner Marcus Lalario is behind the Willie Burton's Community Food and Beverage Hall. He said Monday that his project, an energetic indoor-outdoor space," will include a bar and three food counters with a shared dining area. A shipping container reimagined as a bar will be plopped outside next to the food hall's 100-seat patio at 600 116th Ave. N.E., across the street from Hotel 116 and just south of the Wilburton Station as the bird flies.

But the big name attached to this 5,000-square-foot complex is Williams, star chef and owner of the acclaimed Tomo in White Center and the former executive chef at Canlis. Williams confirmed last week he'll run two "casual" food counters in the Bellevue complex but was mum on any further details about his plans.

In a statement, Williams said the "Eastside is booming and we want to be a part of shaping what that growth looks and tastes like. This food hall gives us the platform to do that."

This marks the first Eastside project for both restaurateurs. Located in a former car dealership, Lalario's food hall will house his sixth Lil Woody's burger branch as well as a new watering hole, The Bar @ Willie Burton's, where beers and batch cocktails will be on tap.

"This is unique … not just another space in a mall," said Lalario.

The food hall will be part of a new, 6.6-acre mixed-used residential and commercial development from local real estate firm KGIP and Harrison Street Asset Management, according to a press spokesperson for Willie Burton's.

Down the tracks from the light rail station, the food hall also sits near the Eastrail bike-and-pedestrian corridor that will stretch 42 miles and connect Renton to Redmond and Snohomish County when finished.

The new food hall aims to serve as a place "where people get together," Lalario said: a true hub for communal life."

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