#1821 #S1044 - Shilla, Seattle - 7/13/2012

Update: Shilla closed in late 2016 after owner Scott Koh was arrested with several of his employees for the kidnapping and beating of his estranged wife's lover in June of that year. It's small triangular plot was sold to developers who plan to replace the restaurant with a 41-story tower.

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Just as local reviewers said, I'd passed this place hundreds of times and never gone in -- or even stopped to think that it might have a lounge.  Shilla's is a classy, mid-century sort of Korean and Japanese restaurant, which has been around almost 30 years. With my limited knowledge of Korean cuisine and one visit, I don't feel I can opine much on the food, but it does seem to be very popular with Korean families and visiting Korean businessmen.  The lounge is not the most lively of bars, and it won't knock your socks off with the talents of its bartenders. But it does feel like an odd kind of Seattle classic somehow, somewhere between shabbiness and elegance.

2300 8th Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 623-9996
Est. 1985 - Building constructed: 1970 - Closed 2016
Previous bars in this location: Jolly King Restaurant
Web site: shillarestaurant.com 
Reviews: seattletimes - seattleweekly - thestranger - seattletimes - urbanspoon - yelp