Bellevue’s Lunchbox Laboratory, situated within the Elements Apartments building at 989 112th Avenue Northeast, has officially closed its doors. According to retail management for the Elements building, the restaurant will not be reopening.
Lunchbox Laboratory, known for its distinctive burgers and Snoqualmie ice cream shakes, initially made waves in 2012 when it opened at this location, serving both lunch and dinner. As the restaurant’s second branch following its South Lake Union spot, Lunchbox Laboratory quickly gained attention for its innovative approach to burgers, featuring over-the-top flavors and a commitment to high-quality ingredients.
Over the years, the eatery expanded its footprint within the Elements building. In 2014, an adjacent space was transformed to include a banquet room complete with a full bar and menu, equipped to host parties with audiovisual connections and retro arcade games. However, the journey was not without challenges.
In 2018, Lunchbox Laboratory faced a setback when flooding forced the closure of its doors for two months, prompting a substantial renovation. Shortly after reopening, King County Public Health intervened, mandating another closure due to the restaurant’s failure to provide hot water. This led to the establishment receiving a “Need to Improve” rating, the lowest possible rating, based on four inspections dating back to 2015, as reported by the Bellevue Reporter.
Now, the Lunchbox Laboratory space is up for sale at $200,000. The listing describes it as a “turnkey restaurant opportunity,” boasting essential features such as a 16-foot type-1 hood, two walk-in refrigerators, shared restrooms, a private dining room, event space with a bar accommodating 20–70 people, free onsite parking for guests, and paid onsite parking for employees.
Gosh I wish I knew about it before they closed for good!
I’m surprised the proce is so low for a turnkey restaurant in Bellevue of all places!
I remember that KC Health Dept sign posted. I had assumed it was the usual stuff, like fridge temp not right, or chlorine too weak in the cleaning bucket. But “failure to provide hot water?” What does that mean? In the bathrooms, for hand washing? Failure to provide hot water to customers for hot tea? So confused. They had good food. Too bad they are out.
It was a shell of is original Ballard location. Not surprised.
Failure to provide hot water means employees and patrons are unable to properly wash hands. It also impacts the ability to wash dishes.
What does “closing for good” mean? I will miss this restaurant… Any other places offer a wide variety of burgers like them?
I ordered food from them online the day after they closed. The website took my order and charged me as if they were open. This was between holidays, so I spent over two hours on the phone with my bank, on hold, to stop payment (Irony, when I ordered I gave them a 20% tip wth). If they ran their restaurant like they did their website I’m glad they went out of business.
I really enjoyed this place myself, I always ordered my food to go so never knew about the hot water thing. It’s too bad they had to close. Are the other locations open still?
Now the new owner just needs to call Auto-Chlor, so they can have a better dishwashing company in there.
“Uh oh, back to the lab again”
Tho I guess not anymore, you will be missed.
It looks like all locations shut down with no notice and the website and online ordering systems were left running. I have to wonder how many employees showed up for work to find a paper sign and no final paycheck.
The restaurant business seems really sketchy as all heck. They will just shut down without notice, no answered calls, no nothing. I hear Lunchbox’s website still accepts online orders and charges your card and…. you won’t of course ever get any food. How is that even legal? Aren’t there laws? It’s amazing the sort of fly-by-night operations that small restaurant chains seem to operate by. Local Burger on Main was about the same, just up and closed. And remember Marie Callenders? Customers kicked out mid-meal. It’s astonishing how “screw the customer” the whole industry seems to be, and we just let it all in the name of “free enterprise”