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Lake City’s Quirky Neighborhood Russian Bar Closes After Three Years

Korochka Tavern’s owners hope for a Wallingford revival

The sign outside Korochka Tavern in Lake City, surrounded by lights and wood trimming.
Korochka Tavern served up cocktails and Russian snacks.
Korochka Tavern/Facebook

North Seattle said goodbye to a Russian dumpling and vodka-fueled favorite over the weekend. Lake City’s Korochka Tavern closed on Sunday after three-plus years in the neighborhood when the owners were unable to renew their lease. One of the co-owners, Yelizaveta Malinovskaya, has set up a Go Fund Me page in an effort to reopen in Wallingford. As of Monday morning, it had raised around $8,000 of its $30,000 goal.

Korochka was praised in the past for its pork and beef-stuffed pelmenis (garlicky dumplings), thoughtfully-crafted cocktails, and playful aesthetics (retro wallpaper, a bear skin rug, a Tetris arcade machine). The bar’s name means “heel of the bread” in Russian, a nod to Malinovskaya’s nickname growing up in Moscow.

Though the closing announcement happened with short notice, there was still one last soiree for customers over the weekend. No word yet on exactly where in Wallingford Korochka 2.0 is going to land.