New information has surfaced regarding Willie Burton’s Community Food and Beverage Hall, the upcoming food hall planned for Bellevue’s Wilburton neighborhood. As first reported by The Seattle Times, the venue is on track to open by midsummer at 600 116th Avenue NE.
The 5,000-square-foot food hall is led by Seattle entrepreneur Marcus Lalario, founder of Sugar Shack Unlimited and the local burger chain Lil Woody’s. The Bellevue location will be his sixth Lil Woody’s and marks the brand’s first Eastside outpost.
The venue will feature three food counters and a full-service bar — The Bar @ Willie Burton’s — where beers and batch cocktails will be available on tap. Outside, a reimagined shipping container bar anchors a 100-seat patio as part of what Lalario describes as an “energetic indoor-outdoor space.”
Joining Lalario is chef Brady Ishiwata Williams — James Beard Award winner, owner of Tomo in White Center, and former executive chef at Canlis. Williams will operate two casual food counters inside the hall, with further details about his concepts not yet announced. In a statement, Williams said the “Eastside is booming, and we want to be a part of shaping what that growth looks and tastes like. This food hall gives us the platform to do that.”
The site is a former car dealership located just south of the planned Wilburton light rail station, adjacent to the Eastrail corridor, a 42-mile multi-use trail connecting Renton to Redmond and Snohomish County when complete.
Willie Burton’s is a partnership between Lalario’s Sugar Shack Unlimited, Kirkland-based KG Investment Properties, and Harrison Street Asset Management. The food hall is being described as “Phase Zero” of a larger 6.6-acre mixed-use redevelopment vision for the site, with long-term plans calling for approximately 600 residential units and roughly 20,000 square feet of retail and dining space. The project is positioned within the City of Bellevue’s 2025 rezoning of the 300-acre Wilburton neighborhood for increased density and transit-oriented growth.
Sugar Shack Unlimited will oversee branding, design, marketing, operations, and event programming. Additional planned features include a beer garden and a children’s play area near the Eastrail corridor.
