Rudy’s Place for sale

July 28th, 2011 · 42 Comments

Rudy’s Place restaurant on 34th Ave. W. is for sale, according to the listing agent, Melanie Smith. “There has been lots of interest,” she adds.

(photo by Brian Gregory)

Magnolia Voice has learned that Rudy Finne, owner of Rudy’s, is retiring from the restaurant profession. He is selling the building and land for $599,000. It has been previously assessed at $585,000, before major renovation work was performed. In addition, the restaurant business, signs, and equipment are offered for sale at $75,000. The business is offered with liquor licenses and permits included.

Many restaurants have tried to make it work at that location, including the Limelight Cafe and Magnolia Ristorante. You can contact Smith at John L. Scott at 206-369-3404.

Thanks to contributor Steven Smalley for this story.

Tags: Uncategorized

Guest

I heard it had already been sold….to another Magnolia resident, known in the restaurant community.

Jolinda

It’s in the works but with the liens, back taxes and unpaid mortgage lates and numerous unpaid bills it’s going to be a huge challenge for him to purchase it. In an attempt to try and save foreclosure Rudy is trying to salvage his neck with a quick sale which won’t happen as the liens and 1st and 2nd mortgages add up to way more then it’s even listed for. As for this realtor she is lying about the brisk business I know Matt and he is not so optimistic about Rudys future.

val

I checked King County records and it looks like the property owes $660,000 to the banks:

http://146.129.54.93:8193/imgcache/OPR20060802001690-1-7.pdf
$220,000 owed since 2006 to Coastal Community Bank

http://146.129.54.93:8193/imgcache/OPR20051010000934-1-8.pdf
$100,000 owed since 2005 to Coastal Community Bank

http://146.129.54.93:8193/imgcache/OPR20051007002690-1-14.pdf
$300,000 owed since 2005 to US Bank

val

Sorry, I can’t add … $620,000 total.
Westinyy

Get a life Val……………………. Don’t you have anything better to do than comment on EVERYTHING!

val

Obviously not. How about you?

guest

No, it hasn’t been sold yet to anyone. Just rumors!
MagnoliaHusky

Is that the same Rudy Finne that got the UW and Billy Joe Hobert in all that trouble over a $50,000 loan many years ago.

Hatethehuskies

That was his father in law who gave him the money…

deepconcentration

i don’t mind saying that rudy’s was easily the worst dining experience of my life. far and away. this isn’t hyperbole. the people were shitty, the food was shitty… the only thing that didn’t suck dead dog anus was the few block journey i had to travel to get there.

they should just turn this place back into a decent single-family dwelling. this building will live with the curse of rudy’s failure for at least 10 years. you could put a starbucks in this location, and it would lose money, thanks to the black stench of rudy’s that will undoubtedly live for the imaginable future.

every so often, i’d tell friends that i lived in magnolia, and someone would look at me funny and say “wait, by that horrible restaurant?”, and i’d instantly know they were talking about rudy’s.

so long, rudy. you sucked at this, let’s hope you’re better at your next endeavor. i recommend you stay away from people, food, and anywhere where people might be interested in food.

Tootie12

We had fun and the food was good there for years. His Monday night specials were great and we all talk about missing that. Why be so rude and insult the guy personally?

val

The food was alright at the start, then it became consistently bad (along with the service), while prices stayed high.

LISA

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Jolinda

Here is the true story of what’s happening… Rudy ran the place into the ground, did not pay bills, owes a lot of money to the IRS, department of revenue, L&I etc… Liens, back taxes, crappy remodel and a bad economy spelled doom for this place. On a last ditch effort he had someone come in and take control of the place to see if he could turn it around all along while Rudy and his wife Jolinda are in the process of getting a messy divorce… The place is in pre-foreclosure check my facts it’s true… Anyways the wife who knows nothing about all the debt racked up and unpaid bills and mountains of debt is trying to sell the place for 599K… Let’s do the math..I checked King County records and it looks like the property owes $660,000 to the banks:http://146.129.54.93:8193/imgcache/OPR20060802001690-1-7.pdf$220,000 owed since 2006 to Coastal Community Bankhttp://146.129.54.93:8193/imgcache/OPR20051010000934-1-8.pdf$100,000 owed since 2005 to Coastal Community Bankhttp://146.129.54.93:8193/imgcache/OPR20051007002690-1-14.pdf$300,000 owed since 2005 to US Bank .

So that’s $620K owed, then there is the $47K IRS tax lien, the $17K department of revenue judgement plus multiple lines of credit owed with various investors…

Jolinda declare bankruptcy cause you aint getting out of this!

Anna Ernaga

That place was turning around with the new guy and his cook Ellen… She was great!

Tiffany

Jolinda is an idiot! Dumb blank stare in the headlight bobbing head snatch!

Shane

That place blows!

Allie

Rudy equals 23 coors light and a stay at the casino hotel to stay away from the dunbest lady in Magnolia named Jolinda.
Sharla

Agreed about her!
Don’t Believe Stuff

All of these above comments are not true on this thread. Someone used all of the former employees names to make these up. No former employees have said anything bad about the place. To the person that made these up, you think your funny but people know the truth.

I agree with the above comment regarding the magnolia voice, you need to change your policy here. This is a bit ridiculous.
BicycleJoe

The internets are a dangerous place. Read and type at your own risk.
BicycleJoe

The internets are a dangerous place. Read and type at your own risk.

disgusted!!!

Whoever is making all these FASLSE comments needs to stop. If you think you are being funny, you aren’t. You are being beyond immature and I guess have nothing better to do with your time. I like how you somehow know all of the former employees names and are using them and making false accusations.

Magnolia voice…… you need to change your policy on here. Its not right that people can just log on and use someone else’s name. Learn how to practice correct journalism. This site makes me sick, you allow people to bash on others and slander. The below comments better be removed or legal action will take place.

deepconcentration

this, coming from someone who didn’t use their real name either.
Jolinda

These are the facts… The Place is racked in debt go do your research all the liens and judgements and mortgages owed are public record these are not FALSE statements.
BicycleJoe

Is “disgusted!!!” your real name? Dont blame the site for what has been written on this topic, true or false. It doesnt matter. If you feeel a need to correct something, do it. If you have more accurate facts, post them.

Everyday we get up we attract our “results.” These are the “results” that Rudy has attracted through the operation of this establishment. To deny the “results” that we have attracted or created is to live in a state of painful denial.

disgusted!!

BicycleJoe… if you read the post correctly I was referring to all the false statements that were posted under former employees names. I know all the liens, etc are true. I don’t think it’s right for someone to post other peoples names and use false comments under those peoples real names. I could give a flying F about Rudys.

Kristinlittle

Yea, it sounds like someone has a personal grudge- which unless there is relevant information for buyers is just plain distasteful. I just hope that the place sells to someone who can make it a nice place to have a beer and take out the TV’s.
deepconcentration

i’m going to say this one more time, since my… uh, salty language got my last post removed.

this place was terrible. i went here three times: twice to eat, once to drink. both times, the food was inedible. the service was worthless. i had to laugh during my second visit: the girl waiting tables was arguing with her friend on a cell phone the entire time i was there. being that there was no music or anything else to listen to, i heard every word of it. there was even a point where she said “hold on, i have to go see what this guy wants”, while glaring at me from the hallway.

the one time i went to drink there, i felt totally unwelcome, it was as if i had barged into some stranger’s basement rumpus room. i was ignored for a good ten minutes before anyone even said a word to me. i had one drink and left as soon as possible. i should have just left.

but to bring the point back, the food was just abysmal. cold. undercooked. oversalted. burnt, in places. a rank amateur would actually have to work hard to make food that bad.

i’m not the only one. my neighborhood friends hate it. i’ve actually told people that i live in magnolia, and had “OMG, near that horrible rudy’s place?” as the response. cripes, look at the yelp reviews!

a place this poorly run deserves to fail. i’m sorry these were your friends, or whatever, but this was a total abortion of a restaurant. maybe they have a bright future in some other field, but restauranteurs, they are not.

and, if any of the other online documents are to be believed, they are not financial geniuses either.

as i’ve said before, this building now has the black curse of death over it. i hope it’s next incarnation is an antiques store or an accountant’s office, because i’m loathe to eat anything that comes from this poor little shack.

Tims23

Deepconcentration…. why don’t you concentrate on something else instead of ripping Rudys apart. Lets see you run a successfull restaurant in this economy. Rudys was not as bad as your post says to be. Obviously you have a personal grudge with someone at that place.

deepconcentration

the more i think about it, the only person i feel bad for in this whole mess is melanie smith.

Anna

She is a misinformed idiot as well… Saying the place is doing 200 brunches and the place is now shut down because she thought it would be better to be closed to try and sell the building and business… Who closes a business in order to try and sell the place she is a dumb real estate agent.

Former employee

I know all the employees and they all bad mouth Rudy and Jolinda and the way it was run into the ground. Ask the cook who now works at Serendipity about all the money owed to him.
NewInMagnolia

Instead of focusing on all the bad things from the past about this place, let’s focus on the good. Yes, it might be a cursed location, but the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of people who live on that side of Magnolia who would love a nice place with good food within walking distance. Keep the outside patio, keep it dog-friendly out there on the patio, have a great weekend brunch to attract people coming to/from Discovery Park. A nice, clean, mid-priced neighborhood restaurant that is kid-friendly (but has great cocktails/wine!); some TVs in the bar to watch sporting events; modern, comfortable decor; and a simple, seasonal menu would be a really great addition to the neighborhood. And of course great, friendly customer service, staffed by people who have experience. People would go if it didn’t seem seedy. Rudy’s kind of always had a seedy feel.
NewInMagnolia

Instead of focusing on all the bad things from the past about this place, let’s focus on the good. Yes, it might be a cursed location, but the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of people who live on that side of Magnolia who would love a nice place with good food within walking distance. Keep the outside patio, keep it dog-friendly out there on the patio, have a great weekend brunch to attract people coming to/from Discovery Park. A nice, clean, mid-priced neighborhood restaurant that is kid-friendly (but has great cocktails/wine!); some TVs in the bar to watch sporting events; modern, comfortable decor; and a simple, seasonal menu would be a really great addition to the neighborhood. And of course great, friendly customer service, staffed by people who have experience. People would go if it didn’t seem seedy. Rudy’s kind of always had a seedy feel.
ajax

In my opinion, unfortunately Rudy’s ( maybe not by design, but ultimately) catered to the heavy drinker. Maybe in Belltown or elsewhere in Seattle this would have been a winning formula, but not in Magnolia. (Ok – I’ll give you the Gim Wah) Let’s face it- families are begging for place they can go out together as family. I would love to see Rudy’s get replaced with a Diner……

Sammyee

Sorry to say Ajax, a restaurant doesn’t make money off their food. They make money off selling alcohol. Hate to say it to the people with kids but the families can’t keep a place going. The drinkers can!

Anthony

We’ve visited Rudy’s just once, on a Saturday afternoon, and it was pleasant – Service was friendly, beer was good and the menu was alright (certainly no worse than the MVP). I’d definitley go back, and I’m sorry it’s closing as there are so few bars in Magnolia.

I don’t understand why so much bad to say about the place. If you don’t like the vibe, just don’t visit.
Patk

The place I went to to meet old friends when I came into town has gone down. Sorry about this Rudy.
benj

Huge bummer for the neighborhood. Not everyone would agree with some of the reviews below. The food was fine, the staff always kind, and the atmosphere was as inviting as any other bar in the area. Pouring one out for Rudy tonight…
Jeffb

Con Man Matt Baker, Screwed Rudy and so many others in the community and caused Rudy’s place to go out of business and has left Rudy with tons of debt. I hope this dirt bag wont get away with this as he is complete scum of the earth…..
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