February 13, 2025

Tom's Watch Bar set to open in Pioneer Square and at Seattle Center

Rendering via Tom’s Watch Bar [enlarge]

No schedule has been declared for the Pioneer Square location.

Nearing completion at Seattle Center is a new sports bar in the landmarked old Bressi Garage, once home to Pottery Northwest.

The renovation/addition project now goes by 232 First Ave. N., and the two-story establishment will open as the newest addition to the Tom's Watch Bar chain. Following that comes a second location in Pioneer Square. That's to fill the vacant former Quality Athletics space, at 121 S. King St., near Lumen Field.

At Seattle Center, late February is the stated goal for opening, directly south of Climate Pledge Arena. The liquor license application was filed in December, and the project appears very close to securing its temporary certificate of occupancy from the city.

That work is being done by Wilcox Construction and architect Generator Studio, of Kansas City, Missouri. The 24,175-square-foot project includes a large second-floor terrace facing the arena. Tom's signage is starting to sprout on the building, and interior finish work and furnishing are now evident through the windows.

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

In Uptown, Tom’s appears quite close to opening.

The Bressi project is owned by Oak View Group and Seattle Hockey Partners LLC. The old working title, when construction began in late 2022, was Bressi Garage or Bressi's. (A Bressi family member then asked the DJC about the use of that name, and we referred him to the owners.) The sports bar was then to be run by local entrepreneurs Todd Fishman and Hunter Brooks, who now appear to have exited the project.

Tom's was founded in Denver in 2014, and now has a dozen other locations. The brand is owned by SIF Partners, also of Denver. Sagard Credit Partners is also a financial partner.

Who's Tom? Tom Ryan, a founder of Smashburger.

The Tom's corporate website has been advertising a number of jobs at the Seattle Center location — but not yet for Pioneer Square. The business announced the latter location last year, and confirmed its plans for the Bressi Garage. That project did previously require — and receive — approval from the city's Landmarks Preservation Board.

Still to come is an affirmative nod from the Pioneer Square Preservation Board for that location. The space offers about 3,500 square feet, with an outdoor patio facing north to King Street. Not much will change beyond the exterior signage. There's no architect obviously attached, and none may be needed.

Gibraltar represents the retail for Pillar Properties. When the location was announced last year, that Stadium Place developer was fully supportive. Its Ollie Peterson then said in a statement, “We are thrilled to welcome Tom's Watch Bar to the Stadium Place community. This innovative and vibrant sports watching and dining experience is the perfect addition to our neighborhood. We are certain that sports fans and visitors are going to make this a must stop for Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders games and for the many offerings in Pioneer Square.”

That location will certainly be open in time for our city's hosting of some World Cub soccer games in 2026. Quality Athletics opened there circa 2014, as part of the Josh Henderson restaurant empire. It closed during the pandemic.