The Slip Restaurant, 80 Kirkland Avenue, Kirkland, WA (2026)

02/06/2026

When we announced the closure of Kirkland’s beloved burger institution last fall, it came with a lot of mixed emotions. We were sad to let it go, but also grateful for the gift of change and a little more free time. I had some health matters to attend to, and as we headed into another long off-season, it became clear it was time to let go.

What made it hardest was knowing how deeply The Slip was woven into your lives - family lunches, anniversaries, birthday dinners, and everyday routines - and how much our lives revolved around each other and you. Letting go was just as hard for us as it was for many of you.

And we heard you.

Today, I'm really happy to share some great news: The Slip has a future.

Later this spring, Ricky - the owner of BeachHouse Bar + Grill just down the road - along with his wife Maria, will be taking over the space and relaunching The Slip in time for summer.

For the past eight years+, you showed up for the awesome location, fresh custom tri-blend burgers, creative cocktails, cold local beers, and of course, the people - hardworking residents and local students home from school, ready to serve you.
We worked hard to honor that loyalty: upgrading the kitchen, expanding the menu, building a beautiful deck, adding the little view bar, improving systems and staff training, shortening wait times, offering delivery, and maintaining a clean, welcoming space with Excellent health department ratings - all while keeping the soul of The Slip intact.

We also want to honor the original founders, who started it all nearly 30 years ago creating something truly special for this community.

This next chapter continues that trajectory.

Ricky and Maria are a wonderful local family already operating right here in Kirkland. They are deeply committed to honoring The Slip’s legacy while bringing their own energy, ideas, and care to the space - and a renewed commitment to being the best little burger spot in town.

Running a small, family-owned restaurant isn’t easy these days, especially one that’s seasonal and moderately priced. If The Slip is going to thrive long-term, it needs love not just on sunny July weekends, but all year round. It’s cozy, the food is great, and it’s a special place - even (or maybe especially) in the quieter months. The value is second to none.

As burgers in our burg creep toward $25 and dinner pushes past $40 an entrée, The Slip remains one of the last places in Kirkland - indeed, the greater Seattle area - where you can enjoy a great meal near the water for under $20. It’s part of Kirkland’s history, and one of the oldest restaurants and buildings in town.

For many Kirkland kids, it’s been a first job. We’ve seen staff return year after year through college, or land here when those plans changed. Locals who walk or bike to work. Neighbors serving neighbors. The Slip is just a building - but the people make it special. The food makes it hum. The vibe makes it unique.

This will be one of my last posts as The Slip. There will be a new page for the next chapter, as Meta wasn’t able to transfer this one. It’s been a joy sharing the behind-the-scenes moments with you over the years, and I look forward to supporting the new team from the sidelines.

Thank you for your support, your loyalty, and your friendship. It’s been a great run. I’m still in the neighborhood helping Milo at our other spot across the parking lot, Vovina, where some of our amazing Slip staff have landed - cooking, bartending, and serving. We’re proud to continue being part of this community.

We also wish the very best to our wonderful neighbors - from the mighty Grape Choice, authentic Prosecco, tiny Coffee & Cone, bubbly Pop Culture, and so many other small businesses that make downtown Kirkland special. May they continue to thrive as we welcome a new neighbor.

If small, locally owned, family-run businesses matter to you, we hope you’ll continue to show up - November through April, as much as summer. Keep sharing your feedback, keep spreading the word, and keep The Slip in mind when choosing where to eat.

Stay tuned - I’ll share how you can follow and support the new Slip team as they get ready to reopen.

Let’s keep Kirkland full of real, authentic mom-and-pop places - and keep the burger legacy alive.

Cheers to The Slip, and best wishes to Ricky and Maria!

10/12/2025

A (bit delayed) update from us:
It’s been almost two weeks since we flipped the grill off for the last time at The Slip - and we’re just now catching our breath (and finding the last fry hiding behind the fryer).

Our final weekend was everything we could’ve hoped for - sunshine, familiar faces, live music, great burgers, and our incredible crew holding it all together like pros. It was the perfect sendoff.

Since then, we’ve been busy doing all the glamorous post-restaurant things: cleaning, hauling, scrubbing, closing accounts and notifying suppliers, and wondering how so much stuff fit in one little burger shack. The building’s much emptier now, but our hearts are full. I had the super fun opportunity to spend some time in the hospital but am home now. Time to focus on health, happiness and an update for you.

It’s been an amazing stretch for the Slip, both my time and the prior team’s. Rick and Sara are staying busy with other projects, still fixtures in Kirkland. I'm settling into this new thing called “free time,” and I am slowly getting used to life without lime juice in every pore and ketchup under my fingernails. It will be weird not to check the weather every hour. Change is strange, but also kind of reinvigorating.

I really hope to have an announcement soon on who will oversee the space and the future of burgers at 80 Kirkland Ave. Cross fingers everything goes as planned, send your positive thoughts our way!

Thank you for all the love, laughs, and memories. You made The Slip what it was - and we’ll miss it (and you) like crazy. ❤️

09/28/2025

Welp, this is it! The last hurrah. The final goodbye. An era passes. This weekend has been fun, busy, emotional. Today will be, too. The last Sunday for the Slip after 29 years (7 for me), and we've loved every minute being part of the community in Kirkland.

Availability may be limited as the day goes on, but we're here slinging burgers, frying fish, pouring beers, and mixing cocktails for you all day from 11:30 - 8:30.

The first and last hours (and maybe 3-4pm) are usually quieter if you want a shorter wait. Thank you for your patronage and support over the years, it means the world.

09/26/2025

To celebrate a great run for The Slip, we're going out the way we came in - burgers, beers, music, and a whole lot of Kirkland sunshine (ok, the sunshine part isn’t guaranteed, but the forecast is looking good).

This Saturday, Mark and Leemo will be rocking the deck with live music from 3pm – 5pm, we’ll have the Husky game streaming (go Dawgs!), and we’ll be flipping burgers & cranking out fish and chips like it’s 1996.

It’s our last weekend, so if you’ve ever said, ‘I really should stop by The Slip sometime’… well, this is the time. Come raise a glass, share a laugh, and help us give this Kirkland institution the sendoff it deserves. We promise not to cry in your fries… much.

Brought to you by the Seattle dog.

09/24/2025

The Slip’s Last Call

This Sunday, September 28th will be our last day. We’ll be open 11:30 - 8:30 every day until then, flipping burgers, making cocktails, and pretending like we’re not getting teary about it.

It’s been an incredible ride being part of the Kirkland waterfront community - so many burgers served, beers shared, fish and chips fried, music enjoyed, and stories told on this little deck of ours. We’ve loved it all.

So come by this week—grab a burger, raise a glass, tell us your best Slip story, or just soak in the last of this Indian summer sunshine. Let’s send this place off with the laughter, good food, and good company it deserves.

Here are a few memories from over the years - thanks for being part of them. ❤️

09/16/2025

Big news from The Slip.

It’s happening…I’m (mostly, somewhat) retiring, and The Slip will be closing its doors soon.

What a ride these past 7 years have been. Together we:
• Remodeled the space, built a view bar, and added a beautiful deck.
• Survived and thrived through a global pandemic; pivoting to takeout for a year, creating a tented outdoor space, and keeping Kirkland fed when dining in wasn’t possible.
• Revamped the menu with creative burgers, fried favorites (fish and chips ++), fun beachy cocktails, and local beer & wine. Added online ordering and delivery. Honored the legacy of an old favorite while creating something new.
• Worked with dozens (hundreds?) of amazing staff - giving many their first job, a great summer spot while in school, a fun team & a guaranteed meal, and a chance to learn the hospitality trade.
• Made a lot of burgers!

And the memories - Fourth of July parades, lake jumps, hot summer days, warm breezes from the beach, ice pops & snacks, cute dogs on the deck, summer concerts, season end parties, and babies playing peekaboo. Good times.

I’m proud of what we built, the community we served, and the friendships forged here. Thank you to everyone who came along for the ride. It has been an honor to steward this ship. Special shoutout to Rick and Sara in particular for their above and beyond efforts, friendship, and support. So many more contributed, you know who you are - and we thank you so much.

What’s next? I’ll still be around, helping Milo at Vovina and working on some new projects. The Slip may have more life under a new owner, I'll keep you posted if that comes together.

Hope to see you this month so we can celebrate one last time together at The Slip.

09/13/2025

Best deal in town? Happy hour is daily now at the Slip! Yep, every day from 3pm to 5pm, swing by for deals on bites, burgers, beers, and cocktails, for our dine in guests only. See you soon!

09/12/2025

Burger Confessions: Week 1
Someone confessed the other day that they eat their burger… upside down.

At first, I thought they were joking. But nope - they flipped that burger over, buns in the air like they were about to do a magic trick.

Me: ‘Um… why?’
Them: ‘Because the top bun is thicker and sturdier. It holds the burger together better.’
Me: (staring at them like they just discovered gravity) ‘Wait… does that actually work?’

So of course, we had to try it. And guess what? It kind of does. Suddenly I’m questioning everything I know about life. Have I been living a lie? Is the real way to eat a burger upside down? Do I need to apologize to every burger I’ve ever eaten the wrong way?

The only thing I know for sure is: it looks silly. But hey, if it keeps the burger intact, maybe ridiculous is the new genius.

Brought to you by the Thai PB&J, which I may need to reshoot, upside down.

09/03/2025

🎶 It might seem crazy what we’re ’bout to say… 🎶
Labor Day is in the rear-view mirror, Fall is knocking on the door, and we’ve got good news!

🍻 Daily Happy Hour is here - 7 days a week! 🍻
Burgers, beers, fish & chips, and more… every single day at special prices for in-house guests. We're still open daily for your deck and burger pilgrammage.

Come along if you feel like happiness is The Slip!
Come along if you want more Happy Hour at The Slip!
Come along if you feel like a deck without a roof!
Come along if you feel like that’s what you want to do! 🎵

See you soon at the Marina - we’ll be the ones making “happy” happen.

08/28/2025

Can you believe it’s the last week of August already? Summer will soon pull its “Irish goodbye” on us—one day it’s sunshine and patio beers, the next month it’s 4 p.m. and pitch black.

But for now, we’re living large. The rest of the world is dealing with dust storms, floods, tornadoes, and plagues of locusts (probably), and here in the GPNW we’re just casually enjoying one of those amazing 70-80° breezy stretches with air you can breathe and humidity that doesn’t feel like a wet sock.

Tonight is the last free Marina concert of the summer! They’ve been packed this year, but if you grab your takeout and plant your chair early, you can catch the sound check (a.k.a. the bonus track). Officially it runs 7–8:30, but we’ve seen it spill over both ways. The Slip takes orders until 10pm, so you can swing by after if all that dancing makes you thirsty.

This is the stuff we’ll be reminiscing about come November, when we’re rain-damp, vitamin D deficient, and talking about “that one perfect night at the Marina.” Don’t miss it.

08/21/2025

I’m scrolling this morning when I see a video about “influencers eating fish and chips on the deck of the Space Needle.” Normally I regret clicking anything with the word influencer in it, but hey - it’s sunny, probably a beautiful view, I love fish and chips, why not?

They start talking about how excited they are to make the fish and chips, which is odd, because… how? Did they bring a fryer up there? Did they pack them from home? Wouldn’t they be cold and soggy?

Nope. They pull out salmon & mayo, chop some onion, and open a bag of Lay’s. Mix up a salmon salad and put it on a paper plate with the potato chips. Fish. And chips. Get it? Except they weren’t joking. Pretty sure.

At that point I closed my phone and got hungry for the real thing.
Golden, crispy Pacific cod. Piping hot fries. Housemade tartar on the side. A wedge of fresh lemon. Now THAT'S fish and chips. And luckily, you don’t need the Space Needle—you just need to swing by The Slip for a lovely meal outside.

We'll let the food speak for itself.

Available in two, three, or four piece servings*, with an upgrade to Caesar salad / sweet potato fries / onion rings / pickle fries instead of French fries if you prefer.
*weekday happy hour 3pm to 5pm you can get a one piece fish and chips (9.95) too.

The Slip Restaurant

02/06/2026

10/12/2025

09/28/2025

09/26/2025

09/24/2025

09/16/2025

09/13/2025

09/12/2025

09/03/2025

08/28/2025

08/21/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category