On Monday, September 23 at 3:39 pm, the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) responded to a fire at Moonlight Cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant located four blocks from Garfield. According to SFD, the flames traveled from the inside of the building to the roof, which were thankfully extinguished by 4:00 pm.
As a small woman-owned business in Seattle’s competitive food industry, this isn’t the first time Moonlight Cafe has faced adversity. “It’s been a long time, so we’ve been through many ups and downs,” General Manager Vy Huynh said. Along with many other businesses in the Central District, the Cafe struggled to stay open during the pandemic. “We had to close the restaurant for three or four months,” Huynh said. “Getting up and running again was pretty slow.” The pandemic, while destroying many small businesses and taking away countless jobs, also managed to bring people together–especially those within the food industry. “You know, during Covid, a lot of local restaurants around here suffered just like us,” Huynh said. “We tried to support them as well.” Huynh explained that even in those difficult times, she and her crew tried to give back to the community, delivering food to other struggling businesses and hospitals—some of which were located outside of the city.
Before the Lockdown, Moonlight was known for their laid-back vibe, mostly attributed to their “midnight” karaoke bar. “After Covid, we tried to re-center the atmosphere more around family and comfort,” Huynh said. For Moonlight, this meant shifting away from karaoke. Karaoke needs energy to work–energy that the cafe was no longer getting from the public after the pandemic. But recently, there’s been talk of revamping Moonlight’s beloved karaoke bar. “A lot of customers are asking if we’ll reopen karaoke,” Huynh said with a smile. “I talked to the owner and she’s thinking about it.” As one of the cultural bridges between Seattle’s Central and International Districts, Moonlight Cafe recognizes the importance of versatility, offering both traditional Vietnamese dishes as well as catering to Seattle’s modernized eating habits. “Right now, the food trends are changing,” Huynh said. She reported seeing a shift in customer preferences towards “healthier” vegan and vegetarian options. “Since I first started working here, it’s been a traditional Vietnamese restaurant,” Huynh said. Since many Vietnamese dishes are traditionally vegan and/or vegetarian, Moonlight Cafe has been able to keep up with the city’s evolving taste buds. The restaurant not only caters to dietary restrictions, but customers are even questioning whether the faux meat in their order of vegetarian sesame “beef” is real–because it tastes that good.
While Moonlight Cafe is currently closed due to fire damage, the severity of which still unknown, the Garfield community is left to wonder what the future holds for its favorite Vietnamese restaurant. As Seattle transitions into its infamously harsh rainy season, comfortable and laid-back restaurants like Moonlight Cafe become even more enticing and all the more in need of the Bulldogs’ support.
