Between August and the end of September, Hewitt Avenue lost two nighttime businesses and gained one that fills up after school. Tony V's Garage, a live-music bar at 1716 Hewitt, confirmed in August that it had closed for good after 17 years. Obsidian Beer Hall poured its last pint at 1420 Hewitt on September 13. On September 30, owners Nabel Sawiris and Kate Gordon cut the ribbon on The Side Quest: Coplay Arcade & Lounge at 1313 Hewitt, where kids were already playing vintage Ninja Turtles and Mario games before the ceremony started.
Taken one at a time, these are ordinary small-business stories. Lined up by address, they show a pattern. The businesses opening or moving onto Hewitt this year count on daytime traffic, all-ages visitors, or food and retail alongside the drinks. The two that closed ran on evenings.
Hewitt, West to East, as of Early October
Here is the street in address order, with each storefront's status as of this week.
- 1313 Hewitt: The Side Quest: Coplay Arcade & Lounge. Opened September 30. The space is more than 3,600 square feet, with play billed by the hour and a shop selling pop-culture items such as LEGO sets.
- 1420 Hewitt: Former Obsidian Beer Hall. Closed September 13 after more than two years. The space was home to Toggle's Taphouse before Obsidian.
- 1502 Hewitt: Grand Leader Mercantile's old shop. The store moved a few blocks east this summer.
- 1709 Hewitt: Coffee Beans & Bourbon Lounge and Breakfast. Planned, based on a state liquor-license application reported in July. No opening date had been announced.
- 1716 Hewitt: Former Tony V's Garage. Now listed for lease.
- 1909 Hewitt: Kel's Cafe. Open since a June 18, 2025, ribbon cutting, with a downstairs bar in the works and no opening date announced.
- 2110 Hewitt: Grand Leader Mercantile. Reopened at this address on July 10.
Two of the seven addresses are dark right now, and both were evening businesses. Every address that is open, newly arrived or planned does business before dark.
What Closed, and the Reasons Given
Live music has filled the 1700 block for a long time. Before Tony Verhey opened Tony V's Garage in 2008, the same bar ran as Jimmy Z's for about 25 years. Jimmy Z's brought regional and national rock, punk and alternative acts to Everett. Tony V's became known for alternative, hard-rock and metal bands, along with burgers and beer. In 2016 it expanded into the space next door at 1716 Hewitt, bringing the venue to 7,500 square feet. A "summer break" sign went up in July, and the Facebook page had been quiet since early April. In August the business posted a photo of the for-lease sign with a short goodbye: "Thank you for 17 wonderful years."
Obsidian's owner was more specific about the reasons. The 1420 Hewitt space had no kitchen, and adding one wasn't possible because the building is up for sale. In a message to customers reported by Everett Post, the owner explained that beer alone carries a thin profit margin, which makes it hard to stay in business without food sales or another source of revenue. Obsidian called itself a 21+ beer hall with "Hip-Hops and R&Beer" and took part in the Everett Art Walk. Its owner has said the goal is to reopen at a site that can support food service.
That economic point explains much of what has come next on the street. A beer-only business needs a full evening crowd to cover rent. The businesses moving in have spread their revenue across more hours and more types of customers.
What Opened, and Who It Was Built For
Sawiris and Gordon describe themselves as a gaming family. Their vintage-cabinet collection began with The Simpsons arcade game because four people could play it together, and it grew until it filled their basement. The Side Quest has no shooting games and sells snacks. An hour of play costs $10, and a "play all day" pass costs $25. Pool and foosball tables are there for anyone who wants a break from screens. Older visitors will find Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam and a Neo Geo, and the owners are still hunting for Dance Dance Revolution.
Gordon said the goal was a safe place to hang out, get snacks and enjoy the kind of mall arcade she grew up with. Sawiris pointed out that many cities have no third place built for kids. In the days before the official opening, the after-school crowd was already coming in.
At the ribbon cutting, City Council member Paula Rhyne connected the arcade to the city's plans for the street:
"Businesses like this really fulfill the vision of what we all have for downtown Everett."
The quote was reported by The Herald.
The other new and planned businesses fit the same pattern. Grand Leader Mercantile chose to stay on Hewitt and moved from 1502 to 2110 instead of leaving the corridor. Kel's Cafe started with daytime hours and is adding a bar downstairs. The Coffee Beans & Bourbon name lists breakfast and a lounge in the same breath. The July report on its liquor-license application said details were still sparse, so until the doors open it remains a plan.
The two spots with bar plans, Kel's and Coffee Beans & Bourbon, are building alcohol in alongside food. That model is close to the one Obsidian's owner said the old space couldn't support.
The Downtown Calendar Keeps Daytime Hours Too
The organized events downtown this fall follow the same clock as the storefronts. Most end by 8 p.m., and one runs at midday.
- Everett Art Walk, Thursday, October 15, and Thursday, November 19, 5 to 8 p.m. The free walk takes place downtown on the third Thursday of every month.
- Downtown Trick-or-Treating, Saturday, October 31, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participating downtown businesses hand out candy.
- Wintertide Sip & Shop, Thursday, November 19, 4 to 8 p.m. This Downtown Everett Association event falls on the same evening as November's Art Walk.
- Downtown Tree Lighting, late November. The Downtown Everett Association's event page lists two dates, November 27 and November 28. Check with the association before you plan around it.
November 19 is a good evening to see the new Hewitt lineup in one trip, with the Art Walk and Sip & Shop overlapping from 5 to 8 p.m.
Where the Loud Nights Went
Late-night live music is still downtown, just in a different format. Kings Hall at 1611 Everett Ave., a block north of the Hewitt storefronts, has a run of tribute shows on its calendar.
- Friday, November 6: Like a Version, a Madonna tribute, with Jealous Dogs, a Pretenders tribute
- Saturday, November 7: 80s Dance Party
- Friday, November 13: Queen Nation
- Friday, November 20: Noise Pollution: The AC/DC Experience
Jimmy Z's and Tony V's spent roughly four decades booking rock, punk, alternative and metal bands on Hewitt. The nearest live-music schedule this November is made up of tribute acts. Whether someone opens a new live-music venue at 1716 Hewitt, as My Everett News hoped when it reported the closure, is the biggest open question on the street.
Two Larger Projects at the Edges
If you drive in from the south on I-5, you'll see the Pacific Avenue underpass. Seattle artist Will Schlough started painting it on Monday, September 14, and expected the work to take about three weeks. The mural on the north wall is 120 feet long and 15 feet high. It shows a Giant Pacific Octopus building a rocket ship for a hermit crab, a nod to Everett's manufacturing industry, and a new sign with the city logo directs drivers to downtown and the waterfront. The project cost about $100,000. The City of Everett, the Port of Everett, Kaiser Permanente and private donors paid for it, and Everett developer C.J. Ebert first proposed it.
The proposed downtown stadium is still unsettled. As of September 3, the city had bought parcels for the site, including 2303 Pacific Ave. for $3.5 million, but the City Council had not approved building the stadium, and a full financing plan was expected by the end of September. Neither the September 30 council agenda nor the agenda posted for October 7 includes a stadium financing item. Until a plan is published and voted on, it's too early to say what the stadium would mean for Hewitt's foot traffic.
Meanwhile, two Hewitt storefronts sit empty. One is a 7,500-square-foot former music venue at 1716. The other is a beer hall space at 1420, in a building that is up for sale.
If you own a building or a home near downtown Everett, the businesses that fill those spaces will help decide what this part of the city feels like for years. Haines Huff Properties follows those changes block by block. To see how they affect what your property is worth, request a free home valuation and we'll walk you through what we're seeing downtown.
