Wallingford’s Blue Star Cafe and Pub Is Closing Permanently | Eater Seattle

"A laid-back neighborhood icon in Wallingford, this diner and pub is ending a decades-long run, with its closure set for February 1. The restaurant’s history stretches back about 50 years, beginning in 1975 when Wendy Morales’s father opened a diner called Eggs Cetera in Madison Park and later expanded to several locations before buying the Blue Star in the mid-’90s. As his other restaurants closed, he kept this one going, and when he retired in 2009 Morales took over the business; when he died in 2016, the family even celebrated his life there, underscoring how central the place has been to them. Morales is closing the restaurant due to rising operating costs for labor, food, taxes, and utilities, combined with fewer people dining out, saying that years of financial pressure without relief made shutting down the only viable option." - Harry Cheadle