The Stone Way room that used to be Purple Cafe and Wine Bar at 3400 Stone Way N. now has one ordering counter, one kitchen behind it, pool tables at the back and four names on the wall. Heavy Restaurant Group calls it Nolu Hall. It reached Fremont just as the evenings got dark early. Several of the neighborhood's biggest rooms are heading the same way, and Fremont's winter is settling into a few large, shared, covered spaces.
One room on Stone Way, four concepts
Purple's Stone Way location closed Aug. 1. Fremont Neighbor reported that Heavy Restaurant Group said sales there weren't high enough to keep the location going. The company didn't leave the address. It split the space into separate concepts, and the Puget Sound Business Journal reported Nolu Hall open on Oct. 14. By Nov. 6, Seattle Met reported all four open:
- Mallard Smashburgers
- Corners Tavern Style Pizza, which Seattle Met describes as Midwest-style
- Parcel Grain Bowls
- Bad Mouse Wine Bar
The Infatuation's Oct. 21 review lists the room as good for big groups, walk-ins, kids, people-watching and sitting outside, and it calls Nolu a place to keep in your back pocket "for big-group situations with little to zero notice." The review singles out the crispy-edged smashburgers and the fontina-topped pizza. If you're planning a weeknight dinner where one person wants a burger, another wants a grain bowl and a third mostly wants a glass of wine and a game of pool, one stop covers all of it.
Pickup orders go through Nolu Hall itself. Mallard, Corners and Parcel each have their own delivery link. The phone number listed for the hall is (206) 717-7505. Heavy still runs Purple downtown and in Woodinville, so the wine-bar habit has other homes. On Stone Way, though, it now shares a room.
Seattle Met grouped the Stone Way change with other local restaurant groups that are reworking existing spaces instead of walking away from them. In Fremont, the next building lined up for that kind of rework is much older and better known.
Three concepts for the old trolley barn
The old Fremont trolley barn at 3400 Phinney Ave. N. has housed two Seattle brands. Seattle Met notes that both Redhook Brewery and Theo Chocolate made their products there. My Ballard reports that Theo operated there for almost 20 years. On June 28, 2023, Theo announced that the factory would close, and according to Eater Seattle, tours ended Aug. 30 of that year while the building carried on as Theo's flagship store and confection kitchen. Eater later reported that the flagship would close on Feb. 16, 2025.
The building's next tenant follows the Stone Way approach of several concepts under one roof. In August, Here Today Brewery & Kitchen, whose taproom and restaurant sit on the waterfront at 2815 Elliott Ave., announced three businesses for the space. What Now Seattle reported a fall 2026 target for all three.
| Concept | What it is |
|---|---|
| Good Bones Coffee | Cafe |
| Glitter Paw Lounge | New Here Today taproom |
| Marigolds | Cocktail and oyster bar |
Those three cover morning coffee, an afternoon pint and an evening oyster bar, all in the same Phinney Avenue building. Nolu Hall does the same for dinner on Stone Way. My Ballard quoted Here Today's Instagram post about the project: "What started as a search for our next taproom space led to a whole garden of friends and ideas ready to burst in bloom." The brewery's Instagram accounts for the concepts are where updates will show up first.
Mornings at the corner of Fremont Avenue
MOMENT Coffee at 3401 Fremont Ave. N. occupies another familiar Fremont room, the corner space that used to be a Starbucks and then a Peet's. Fremont Neighbor reported a soft opening from April 25 through May 1. The Infatuation's write-up lists matcha and espresso drinks, flavored cold foam and Basque cheesecake. Seattle Met put MOMENT in a citywide pattern this fall of independent shops taking over former Starbucks locations.
That makes three big indoor anchors on the Fremont map this season. The Sunday routine follows the same pattern of fewer, bigger, covered places.
The Sunday Market goes under one roof
The Fremont Sunday Market runs every week of the year, rain or shine, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. From November through March it moves from its spring and summer spot at 3401 Evanston Ave. N. to 701 N. Northlake Way, near the Fremont Bridge. The market describes that winter site as covered and heated all season. In summer the market spreads across open streets. In winter it all fits in one sheltered space by the canal, under the same roof every week through March.
The market also points visitors to its Sundays Coffee shop. A Sunday can start with coffee at MOMENT, continue down to the heated market by the bridge and end at Nolu Hall's counter on Stone Way without much time spent in the rain.
December dates, mostly indoors
The neighborhood's holiday calendar takes the same indoor approach. Two December events are on the Fremont Chamber of Commerce calendar:
- Mingle and Jingle, Thursday, Dec. 3, 5 to 9 p.m., at Fremont Social, 127 N. 35th St. The Chamber lists a live DJ, food, seasonal drinks, a prize raffle with goodies from local businesses, and Santa photos. Tickets are free for Chamber members and $15 for non-members, and children 10 and under get in free. Event listing.
- Building C's Holiday Open Artist Studios, Saturday, Dec. 12. It's free and features more than 10 artists who open their workspaces for the season. Check the event listing for hours before you go.
Between and around those dates, the Sunday Market's covered site gives every weekend in December a standing gift-shopping stop.
Walking between them on Stone Way
Nolu Hall is on Stone Way, and Stone Way is getting new crossings this season. Wallyhood's Jack McLaughlin, writing in Fremont Neighbor, reported that SDOT work started the weekend of Oct. 17. The project adds pedestrian crossing improvements at N. 36th Street, N. 38th Street and N. Allen Place, near Tutta Bella. According to SDOT's project page, the package includes:
- New marked crosswalks
- Better intersection visibility, so drivers can see people crossing
- Pedestrian islands and median islands
- Flashing pedestrian crossing signs
- New bike markings
SDOT doesn't expect any traffic detours, and the report says no street parking is being removed. Parking restrictions near the intersections will be enforced more strictly, though, to give drivers coming out of side streets a clearer view. That matters if you drive to Nolu Hall on a dark December evening and are tempted by a spot right at a corner. SDOT said the finish date depends on weather. Two more crossings, at N. 41st and N. 42nd streets, are scheduled for 2027.
For the many blocks of Fremont that people mostly walk, the new N. 36th Street crossing connects the neighborhood's core to the Stone Way side. On a rainy weeknight, that's the walk between Fremont Social, the canal-side market and Nolu Hall at 3400 Stone Way N. If getting around without a car is part of your Fremont routine, our guide to car-free living in Ballard and Fremont covers the bigger picture, and the Ballard & Fremont neighborhood page has more on the area.
Fremont's shops and restaurants change fast, and keeping track of which corner spaces are filling and what's moving into them is part of how Stephen Snee keeps up with the neighborhood. If you'd like to talk about how these changes are shaping the blocks around Stone Way, Phinney and the canal, Stephen is glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
