Suren Shrestha is
taking all of his big ideas for 206 Burger Company and finding the
space to make them a reality in North Queen Anne.
Shreshtha came to
the United States from Nepal in 2000, and went to Western Washington
University to study to be a computer engineer. He ended up getting a
job dishwashing, and then cooking at the school’s dining hall.
“That’s where I
found my passion making burgers,” he said.
After a five-year
stint in Colorado, Shreshtha came back to Seattle, where he started a
retail business in the U District in 2007.
“I opened that
right in the recession, so I had a very hard time,” he said.
While working at a
Cash & Carry wholesale restaurant supply store, Shreshtha said he
built a network in the food industry.
He opened Rain City
Burgers in Ravenna with a business partner in 2010.
His first 206 Burger
Company opened in a small space downtown at Third and Marion in 2014,
after Shreshtha found a business owner wanting to sell. He opened his
second spot in First Hill in 2017, also with the support of his
family.
Shrestha said he’s
always working with his broker to find new locations, and he’d had
the opportunity to take the space at 101 Nickerson St. several years
ago, but it didn’t have a kitchen then. Putting one in would have
been too expensive.
Now, Shrestha has
teamed up with his cousin to not only open a 206 Burger in the former
Eat Thai Cuisine space, but he’s also taken over the space next
door, which he’s building into a sports bar. He plans on opening
the restaurant in mid-December, followed later by the sports bar.
“I’m very much
into sports,” Shrestha said, “and all the burgers I have in my
restaurants are named after sports teams we have in Seattle.”
There are some
simple burgers, but then there’s the Supersonics, Mariners,
Sounders, Seahawks and Storm burgers, plus a Blue Masala Burger made
with Indian spices. 206 Burger also serves breakfast all day and
several sandwiches and salads.
The building where
the Marion Food Court is located has long been planned for demolition
and redevelopment, and the First Hill location is larger, but there’s
only so much that can be done there, he said. It’s also less
lively, he said, and so business slows down at night.
Shrestha expects his
North Queen Anne outpost to benefit greatly from its proximity to
Seattle Pacific University, and said he plans on offering a student
discount.
And there’s
parking.
“You don’t get
this kind of parking in Seattle,” Shrestha said, “there’s no
chance.”
The bar side of
things won’t have a full kitchen, so Shrestha plans on having the
restaurant help serve folks on that side of the wall, and he plans on
adding sliders, chicken wings and fried string beans for 206 Bar
patrons.
“I’m very much
about bringing the customers the best product,” he said.
206 Burger has a
large menu now, but Shrestha said his future plans in North Queen
Anne involve scaling down to focus on quality, such as grinding his
own meat.
He’s also working
on improving his homemade veggie burger, which is his mother-in-law’s
recipe and includes garbanzo beans, black lentils and moong dal.
Shrestha said he’d
like to elevate his breakfast menu and offer a weekend brunch at his
new 206 Burger spot down the road.
Find out more about
the menu and sign up for a newsletter to stay posted on the Nickerson
Street restaurant at 206burgercompany.com.