Sunday with a side of tears

The Continental Restaurant on the Ave in the University District is serving it's last meals today. I heard about it on the radio this morning and so went down early. Probably arrived around 8-ish. It was already full and  there was a line snaking outside and along the windows toward Starbucks. Got a seat just before 10, left close to 11, by which time, the line was all contained inside the restaurant. When I was paying, I saw there was a guest book by the register, but I started to cry and so I just walked out. http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021291093_greekavexml.html

I went on one of my first dates in Seattle in 1987 to the U-District. It was dark, both of us were from small towns, there was a lot of frantic energy on the streets and I was nervous. We probably tried to go the Last Exit (a coffee shop frequented by the free-spirited and which had a fabulous open-night mic on Mondays), and we probably went to Cellophane Square and maybe Peaches (both record stores at the time), I can't recall. I do know that we ended up at the Continental and ordered greek coffee, because it sounded exciting (neither of us actually drank coffee. I didn't drink coffee regularly until I was 25.) It was unexpectedly (to us) gritty, we added sugar and drank it. We were probably wired for days.  I dropped out of college shortly after that, and moved to Wallingford with my sister. I walked daily into the U-District and read poetry while sitting in the aisles of Walden's (which was also on the Ave then.)  My sister and I would go to the Continental and each have a cup of faki (lentil soup) and split an order of greek fries. Sometimes they would add rice to the soup for us. (We were both vegetarian at the time.) It's still my favorite lentil soup. And I had it for the last time today. No one else makes it that good. They were out of greek fries, and bacon, and decaf, this morning. Someone told me they had to close down for a few hours yesterday because they ran out of food, and because the kitchen was overwhelmed, as they were this morning, I'm sure. I've never seen it this busy, people coming by for one last meal; to say good-bye and to pay respects. I got half of a frappe,


Frappe/L Herlevi 2013

they were just about out of Nescafe, I got the last of it. I don't know any place else in town that has them on the menu, and I wanted one last drink of it. (It's an iced drink made with Nescafe and milk.)

Over the years I've frequented the Continental fairly regularly, often alone (it was one of the places I learned to be comfortable dining by myself) but also with friends, co-workers, my sister. I will miss it. There is no other place like it in the U-District. It was community for everyone, and after this afternoon, it's gone.