After deal for Pike/Pine Mexican joint, Poquitos and Tavern Law are now Capitol Hill siblings

(Image: Poquitos)

Saulo Cruz’s Capitol Hill collection is growing. The food and drink entrepreneur is the new owner of Pike/Pine’s Poquitos.

“We told you we were building something. We weren’t building from scratch,” his post to social media about the acquisition reads. “We were picking up something Capitol Hill already loves and making sure it keeps going.”

The Mexican restaurant and bar at the corner of 10th and Pike was closed Monday but will reopen Tuesday under new ownership under Cruz who is also a co-owner of Capitol Hill’s Tavern Law. A new company registered to Cruz now holds the licenses for Poquitos at 1000 E Pike.

The exit brings the unwinding of Poquitos by its founding ownership after it closed Bothell and Tacoma expansions in recent years. CHS reported here in 2024 as the restaurants and taverns created under founders James Weimann and Deming Maclise banded together to form the new-era Seattle restaurant group Yes Parade. The group continues to hold its other brands including 12th Ave’s Rhein Haus. The multiple venues under the Yes Parade umbrella currently operate as non-union establishments.

Weimann and Maclise opened Poquitos on Capitol Hill in 2011,settling for the corner of 10th and Pike after one time planning the project for Melrose Market. The Poquitos corner itself had been lined up for a brewpub plan that fell through.

Fifteen years later, the restaurant’s mix of colorful Talavera and wrought-iron steel persists though its building is undergoing a major round of turnover. CHS reported here on this summer’s closing of neighboring nightclub Havana after 20 years of DJs and dancing. Next door, the massive Glossier showroom has been targeted for closure as part of the company’s worldwide retail changes.

For Cruz, the investment is his latest in Capitol Hill. CHS reported last year as Cruz partnered in the takeover of popular craft cocktail joint Tavern Law.

Poquitos is located at 1000 E Pike. Learn more at vivapoquitos.com.

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