SEATTLE — The Pine Box is a bar and restaurant in Capitol Hill- but it didn't start as that. The building it's housed in, built in 1923, was originally a funeral home. The E.R Butterworth and Sons Family Funeral Business provided mortuary services to the greater Seattle area.
Now, the building provides drinking and eating services to the greater Seattle area- but the new owners have retained many of the historic parts of the building. Drinkers and diners can sit at booths and tables in the original chapel, which seated over 350 mourners.
"This is one of the first ever, purposefully built funeral parlors. Mortuary, casket sales, they did everything under this one roof all for the Butterworth funeral parlor," co-owner Ian Roberts says.
In this historic chapel, you can enjoy Northwest craft beers and other cocktails. Just in time for fall, they have their "The Dudette Abides"- a white Russian with a pumpkin spice twist.
And as you sip your beer or cocktail, notice the tables and bartop- the owners of the Pine Box used reclaimed wood from the original coffin cabinets to make the tables and bar.
So think about that as you chow down on your pizza- like their Turtleship and Way of the Dragon Breath pizza.
The Way of the Dragon Breath pizza is named after a Bruce Lee movie. In 1973, the funeral home provided services for Bruce Lee's funeral. The Pine Box has a mural of Bruce Lee in one of their rooms, across from a mural of Chuck Norris- Lee's good friend and a pallbearer at his funeral.
Even though the building has gone through big changes over the years, the owners are clearly still making sure the history of the building stays intact.
The Pine Box | 1600 Melrose Ave, Seattle WA, 98122 | 206-588-0375
