Get your last ‘bump’ of caviar — Capitol Hill cocktail bar Laurel ready to pivot to something new

(Image: Laurel)

Kate Opatz continues to create special places to hang out on Capitol Hill. Not all of them work out. The final days for her tiny and very pretty Laurel won’t be the last for Opatz at E Howell and E Olive Way.

Opatz is lining up a pivot for Laurel and a new concept for the cocktail bar.

“I named Laurel after my mom,” Opatz writes in the announcement. “Business owning can be an emotional rollercoaster especially when you care deeply about your staff, are protective of your vision and of course are financially invested. The Libra in me is always wanting balance between holding onto my vision and being a responsible business owner. and in this case I had to make a decision — not to quit but to pivot.”

The change will come after just over a year of Laurel in its full glory. Opatz opened the bar in spring 2025 as a coffee and cocktail hangout with a well designed makeover with lots of plants and colorful tiles in the space formerly home to the Crumble & Flake bakery beneath the Burlingame Apartments.

As with many Capitol Hill food and drink start-ups with day/night ambitions or hopes for extended hours, Laurel jettisoned the coffee and pastries part of its plans somewhere along the way and has leaned fully into the cocktail bar side of things since with an elegant mix of unique mixed drinks, popular standards like espresso martinis, mocktails, and bar snacks including “caviar bumps” and “girl dinner.”

The final night for Laurel will be June 6th.

Opatz hasn’t said much publicly about her plans for what comes next.

Her other nightlife investment on the block, the graffiti-filled and well-loved dive bar Montana, is now in its 15th year serving the E Olive Way neighborhood. Opatz’s other Capitol Hill creations include Nacho Borracho — which she opened on Broadway with her late business partner Rachel Marshall in 2014 — and 2019-born natural wine bar La Dive on E Pike.

You can visit Laurel through June 6th at 1500 E Olive Way. Follow @laurel_seattle for updates.

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