SEATTLE — New Year's Day is usually about beginnings. This one marked the end of the Hurricane Cafe.
"I think it's really sad because it's a place that had character," said customer Ann Alexander.
She and Guy Evans have been eating at the Hurricane, and its more famous predecessor, the Doghouse, for decades.
The restaurant must go because the property owner sold the whole block, reportedly for more than $50 million, to Amazon.com, headed by Jeff Bezos.
"It's just seeing Jeff come in and mow down another one," Evans said. "Just walking here, we got lost because the landscape was changed so much and this is a touchstone that will be missed."
New, taller Seattle just doesn't have room for an old low-rise greasy spoon.
"It seems like it's all oriented toward privilege and big money, and I'm really kind of sad to see that happen it's not good for the common folks around here," said customer Joel Ware.
Owner Neil Scott has no plans to re-open the Hurricane somewhere else.
"There's so much history here it's not something that you can move, the walls could tell stories," Scott said.
He closed earlier than expected January 1 as the restaurant ran out of food.
Lee Hagen was among the customers turned away.
He's sad to see the closure, but also works for the construction company building the new Amazon headquarters.
"It's gotta happen eventually because this place is booming," Hagen said.
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