"We are really sorry to be leaving West Seattle," Portage Bay Café owner Amy Fair Gunnar told West Seattle Blog when she announced that the café's Junction location will close. Its last day is Sunday, October 25. That's the same morning California Avenue fills with costumes, a marching band and a chili line for Harvest Fest, close to the café's door at 4725 42nd SW.

The reason she gave says a lot about how the Junction works in October. Her four other locations are doing well, she said. This one had a basic problem: not enough indoor seating to get through fall and winter, on top of what she called the "soaring costs" of running a restaurant.

A restaurant's seat count gets tested when the weather turns, and the businesses moving in and out right now are sorting themselves by how they handle that test.

A corner that has turned over three times

The 42nd SW space has a long record. Portage Bay opened there in January 2023 and is closing almost four years later. Agave Cocina held the space for three years before that, and Fresh Bistro for nine years before Agave. That makes three restaurants in this spot in roughly sixteen years.

Gunnar placed the closure in a wider count. She told West Seattle Blog that the Washington Hospitality Association has tallied roughly 2,000 restaurant closures in the state this year. By her account, that's more than closed in the first year of COVID. She also said the West Seattle staff are being placed at the chain's other restaurants, "pretty much everybody."

So the last Junction brunch at Portage Bay lands on one of the busiest Sundays the district has. If you've been meaning to go back for one more plate, the timing works out, as long as you plan around the crowd.

Sunday, October 25, in order

Three things share the same few blocks that day, and they overlap. The West Seattle Farmers Market runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday, year-round, at California and Alaska. The West Seattle Junction Association's Harvest Fest runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on top of it. According to Westside Seattle's event ledger, California Avenue closes for the festival.

Here's one way to fit it all in:

1. Early brunch at Portage Bay, 4725 42nd SW. It's the café's final day, and the festival crowd shows up at 11.
2. Farmers market from 10 a.m. Shop before the street fills with costumes.
3. Parade at the 11 a.m. start. The West Seattle High School Marching Band and a costume parade open the festival.
4. Chili early. The West Seattle Food Bank Chili Cook-off runs "till the chili's gone." The Junction Association lists an 11 a.m. start, and Westside Seattle lists 11:30.
5. The All-Ways intersection. The Seattle Thrillers perform there, and the A La Mode Pie Eating contest has rounds for both adults and kids.
6. Trick-or-treating along California Ave, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Merchants hand out treats during the festival.

The Junction's trick-or-treating happens on this Sunday, six days ahead of Halloween. Families who wait for October 31 to walk California Ave will have missed the merchant handout.

Where the tables are turning over

Portage Bay's exit is one of several moves within a few blocks this season. Some storefronts have filled again within weeks of closing, and others are emptying out.

The quickest refill on the list happened at 4752 California Ave SW. Great American announced its closure at the end of June, and Taste & Best was open in the same space by July 24. Mashiko's move is slower. When West Seattle Blog reported its White Center address on September 11, it said the restaurant would announce its final Junction day the following week and expected a short renovation closure before reopening in the new spot.

Chicken comes in as brunch goes out

The two chicken arrivals bracket the season. Starbird opened at 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW on September 28. West Seattle Blog described the opening as having "plenty of pomp." A week later, Dave's Hot Chicken put up its sign in the former Haymaker space at California and Alaska, and the blog then reported a planned opening date of November 12.

Dave's has been coming for a while. West Seattle Blog first reported in October 2025 that Dave's and the bubble-tea chain Gong Cha were taking the Haymaker space at 4706 California Ave SW, and that the franchisee hoped to open both at the same time. A June 2026 update described construction starting on Dave's and a bubble-tea café. The November 12 date reported in October applies to Dave's.

The café leaving said it couldn't seat enough people indoors once the patio weather ended. The businesses opening or about to open are fast-casual chicken counters, plus a studio that will draw people inside for classes all winter. Whether each new place holds on past its first winter is a question for next spring.

After the costumes come down

The Junction's calendar doesn't stop when Harvest Fest packs up at 2 p.m. One week later, on Sunday, November 1, Day of the Dead with West Seattle Junction runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fauntleroy Way SW, with live mariachi, face painting and a community ofrenda. The farmers market keeps its Sunday 10-to-2 hours through the winter. Dave's Hot Chicken's planned November 12 opening comes about two weeks after that.

At 4725 42nd SW, the space Fresh Bistro, Agave Cocina and Portage Bay each held in turn will be empty after October 25, waiting for a fourth tenant.

I keep an eye on which Junction storefronts go dark and which ones light back up, because that's how the neighborhood actually changes from month to month. If you want to talk over what's opening near you, or just compare notes on the Harvest Fest chili, Kelly Zuger would love to hear from you. Let's Connect.