After being closed for over six years, Bush Garden in Seattle’s Chinatown–International District reopened earlier this June with a community celebration of firecrackers, lion dances, taiko, and a City “Bush Day” proclamation.
Founded in 1953 by Kaichi Seko as Washington’s second Japanese restaurant, Bush Garden moved from Jackson Street to 614 Maynard Ave in 1957, where the Seko family created a lavish Japanese village-style space with waterfalls, tatami rooms, and a torii gate. The restaurant hosted celebrities like Shirley MacLaine and Richard Chamberlain and may have helped introduce karaoke to the U.S. in the late ’60s and ’70s.
Karen Akada Sakata, who began working at Bush Garden in high school, bought the restaurant in 1997. Over time it became a beloved gathering place for the CID community, artists, activists, and nightlife regulars, including Uncle Bob Santos, the neighborhood’s unofficial mayor. Then the building was sold to developers in 2016 and Bush ultimately closed during COVID in 2020.
Now, Bush Garden is back and ready for action—that is, late-night karaoke six days a week. Interim CDA partnered with Sakata to revive the restaurant inside Uncle Bob’s Place, a new affordable housing development at 714 S King St. Sakata had originally hoped to reopen Bush Garden in 2024, but the project faced delays tied to construction and funding.
The restaurant is still in the Chinatown–International District and only a few blocks away from its previous location. While more modern in design, the new Bush Garden still pays tribute to the old space with restored shoji screens, ranma transom carvings, and the original decorative irimoya roof mounted above the bar. A TV displaying karaoke lyrics is, of course, a mainstay.
The reimagined Bush Garden is open to everyone, with a separate bar area and plans for daytime karaoke welcoming all ages. Guests of all ages are allowed before 9 p.m., with the space becoming 21+ after 9:30 p.m. In the future, the restaurant also plans to expand into the neighboring Bob Santos Community Room for community events, meetings, and celebrations.
Bush Garden is open daily except Tuesday, serving happy hour and dinner through 9 p.m., followed by a late-night menu and karaoke from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Late-night diners can snack on Japanese-inspired comfort food like ebi tempura, furikake tater tots, and crispy lace-edged pork gyoza between songs.
