Big Mario’s Northlake Tavern burglarized less than a day after reopening

SEATTLE — The celebrated reopening of the former Northlake Tavern & Pizza House was short-lived.

Now known as Big Mario’s Northlake Tavern, the pizza shop welcomed hundreds of people on Wednesday.

They were hungry for that new, yet still familiar feeling after seven months of careful restoration and renovation.

But less than a day later, there was a burglary there.

Surveillance video shows a man climbing to the second story at about 4 a.m. Thursday. He then broke out a window and managed to get into a safe.

He got away with just over $1,000.

We spoke with owner Jason Lajeunesse about the burglary.

“Where maybe a few years ago it would’ve been more of a jolt to the system, (but) we’ve been through so many break-ins over the last few years at various businesses,” he said. “It didn’t really trigger a whole lot of emotions. It was just like, ‘OK, how do we fix it so we can get on with our day and do service?’ And that’s it. That’s the world we live in right now.”

Lajeunesse said the burglar was in and out of the shop in about 10 minutes.

If you recognize the burglar or know anything that could help with the investigation, call Seattle Police.

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