MorningSheetSeattle restaurant build-out permits, read weekly
A build-out permit is the first restaurant signal backed by real money: a kitchen hood, a grease interceptor, a tenant improvement at a specific address. We read King County's permit record every week. Here is what it says right now.
- 8In build-out or earlier
- 12Past build-out (finishing signals)
- 29Opening signals · last 30 days
- 135Signals · last 90 days
In build-out right now
Every row below is a real Seattle food business in the permit record, still unnamed here because its opening is ahead of it (the names, addresses, and filings go to subscribers). What we can show: the concept where one is declared, how far along it is, and when it filed.
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Restaurant × 7 · Seattle · liquor application filed — expect a bar program, signals dated July 2026
the card processor has to be live for the soft open, so payments and POS are the first vendor decision.
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Restaurant × 3 · Seattle · laying the groundwork — build-out underway, signals dated July 2026 – August 2026
the card processor has to be live for the soft open, so payments and POS are the first vendor decision.
In total, 8 Seattle food businesses are in build-out or earlier and 12 are past it, finishing their last signals (inspection, liquor application, or completed build-out on file), as of August 25, 2026.
Source: MorningSheet, fused from King County public records · Seattle · as of August 25, 2026. Counts are estimates from public filings and lag real life by days to weeks.
Pull the permits yourself
The raw record is free. Seattle's Department of Construction and Inspections publishes every permit through its online portal and the Shaping Seattle map; filter to commercial and tenant-improvement work and watch for restaurant tells: a Type I kitchen hood, a grease interceptor, a walk-in cooler, a service-line electrical upgrade. Our guide to reading a building permit covers the fields that matter, and the six free Washington lookup tools cover the rest of the paper trail.
The catch is cadence, not access: permits post daily, under contractor names as often as trade names, and a single missed week is a lost lead. That is the reading we do for you.
From permit to open doors
A build-out permit typically runs weeks to months ahead of first service. When these projects make it to an active license or health permit, they show up by name in our weekly Seattle restaurant openings roundup.