How did Silvertips Game 2 end? The Everett Silvertips beat the Penticton Vees 5-4 in double overtime at Angel of the Winds Arena on Saturday, April 25, 2026, taking a 2-0 series lead in the WHL Western Conference Final. The winning goal came on a power play in the second overtime period after the Vees had tied the game 4-4 with 56 seconds left in regulation.
This One Had Everything: Silvertips Take Game 2 of the Western Conference Final 5-4 in Double OT
If you left Angel of the Winds Arena early Saturday night, you missed one of the best Silvertips games in years. Everett took Game 2 of the Western Conference Final 5-4 over the Penticton Vees in double overtime, and Tips Nation now heads up to the South Okanagan Events Centre with a commanding 2-0 series lead and a team that simply will not lose.
The shorthand version: Everett built a lead, Penticton clawed all the way back to tie it with 56 seconds left in regulation, the first overtime period was a Vees goalie clinic from AJ Reyelts, and a delay-of-game penalty a few minutes into the second overtime gave the Silvertips a power play. They cashed it in. Series 2-0. Eight playoff games, eight wins. Best run anyone in the building can remember.
How the Game Got to Double Overtime
This wasn’t a game where Everett played down to a lower seed. The Vees came in as the second seed in the Western Conference for a reason — they’re a hungry, structured team with NHL-drafted scoring and a goaltender who can steal a game. Saturday night, Reyelts almost did exactly that.
The Silvertips carried play for big stretches and built a 4-3 lead late in the third. Then, with the goalie pulled, the Vees converted with 56 seconds remaining to send a packed AOTW crowd into a collective groan. That’s the game where seasons either turn or get sealed.
The first overtime belonged to Reyelts. Everett poured shots on him, the bench was rolling four lines hard, and nothing got through. The way the building was leaning, it felt like the kind of marathon OT where one bad bounce ends a series — for either side.
The Power Play That Ended It
The break came a few minutes into the second overtime. Penticton was whistled for delay of game — the kind of call you can’t argue with because the rule book is the rule book — and Everett went to the power play with a chance to end it. They did. The Silvertips converted and the building emptied 5-4 winners, the AOTW horn going off at the kind of hour where weeknight Tips fans are usually already asleep.
The Silvertips are now 8-0 in the 2026 WHL playoffs. Anders Miller has been the constant in net all postseason, and Saturday added another marathon to his ledger. Landon DuPont and Carter Bear continue to drive offense. Hunter Rudolph, fresh off his Game 1 third-period dagger, was a factor again. Different game-winners every night — that’s what good teams do, and that’s what Everett has been all year.
Series Now Heads to Penticton
The series shifts to Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre for Games 3 and 4. The Vees are now in the worst spot a 117-point regular-season Everett team can put a 2-seed in: down 0-2, going home to a building that’s loud but has been outscored over the regular-season head-to-head 3-1. Penticton needs to win Games 3 and 4 just to keep this series alive, because no team wants to come back to Everett trying to win three straight in a barn that’s 5-0 at home in these playoffs.
For the Silvertips, this is the part of a deep run where the math gets interesting. Two more wins in any combination of the next five games and Everett is in the WHL Final, four wins from the Memorial Cup. That’s where the conversation should be after a Game 2 like this — not whether they can do it, but how soon.
Everett Sports Coverage
If you’re new to Silvertips coverage on Tygart Media, you can catch up on the playoff run from Round 1 through this Western Conference Final via our running game-by-game coverage of the 2026 WHL playoffs. The Game 1 4-1 recap is here for context on how the Vees series opened, and our pre-series preview lays out the Penticton matchup, NHL-drafted talent, and head-to-head record.
Game 3 is in Penticton — check the WHL schedule for puck drop. Watch parties at downtown Everett spots will be back if Game 5 returns home next week. The way this team is playing, you want to see every minute of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the final score of Silvertips Game 2 vs Penticton?
Everett 5, Penticton 4 in double overtime at Angel of the Winds Arena on April 25, 2026.
Where does the Silvertips-Vees series stand?
Everett leads the best-of-seven WHL Western Conference Final 2-0. The series shifts to Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre for Games 3 and 4.
How did the Silvertips win Game 2?
Everett scored the game-winner on a power play in the second overtime period after Penticton was assessed a delay-of-game penalty. The Vees had tied it 4-4 with 56 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
What is the Silvertips playoff record in 2026?
Everett is 8-0 in the 2026 WHL playoffs through Game 2 of the Western Conference Final.
When are Games 3 and 4 of the WHL Western Conference Final?
Games 3 and 4 are at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, BC. Check WHL.ca and Silvertips official channels for confirmed puck-drop times.
Who is Everett’s goaltender in the 2026 playoffs?
Anders Miller has been Everett’s starter throughout the 2026 playoff run, posting historically strong save percentages over the team’s first eight playoff games.
Quick answer: Memorial Day 2026 is Monday, May 25. The closest VA national cemetery to Naval Station Everett is Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, which holds its annual Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony at 1 p.m. that Monday at the Main Flag Pole Assembly Area. Closer to home, Snohomish County’s Eternal Flame at the County Courthouse (3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett) is the central county-level remembrance site, and Lake Stevens American Legion Post 181, Floral Hills in Lynnwood, and Evergreen Cemetery in Everett all host community services that morning.
If you’ve just PCS’d to Naval Station Everett, retired in Snohomish County, or moved here to support a sailor or soldier in the family, Memorial Day is one of the days the local military community is easiest to find. The bases are quieter than Navy Birthday or Veterans Day, but the cemeteries and memorials are full — and the people who run those services are the same people who run the volunteer drivers at the VA, the American Legion posts, the VFWs, and the spouse networks the rest of the year.
This is a practical 2026 guide to where to go, when, and what to expect — written for the family that wants to do the day right and meet a few of the people who’d be good to know once the parade ends.
Why this matters for the Everett military community
Snohomish County is home to roughly 52,000 veterans — about one in eleven county residents — plus the active-duty population at Naval Station Everett, the five Arleigh Burke-class destroyers homeported there (USS Momsen, USS Kidd, USS Gridley, USS Sampson, USS Ralph Johnson), and several thousand military family members spread across Mukilteo, Marysville, Lake Stevens, and the unincorporated edges of the county.
Memorial Day is the day that community shows up in one place. Active-duty sailors stand color guard at services. Vietnam-era VFW members read the names. Gold Star families lay wreaths. Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts plant flags at headstones the Saturday before. Local mayors give the speeches that don’t make the regional news but matter enormously to the families in the front rows.
Tahoma National Cemetery at 18600 SE 240th St., Kent, is the federally-administered national cemetery serving the Puget Sound region — the burial ground operated by the National Cemetery Administration under the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is the closest VA national cemetery to Naval Station Everett.
The drive from NAVSTA Everett to Tahoma is roughly 50 minutes south on I-5 in Memorial Day morning traffic, longer if you leave after 11 a.m.
The 2026 ceremony: Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony, Monday, May 25, 2026, 1 p.m., at the Main Flag Pole Assembly Area. The program follows the standard Tahoma format — wreath-laying, rifle volley, and Taps, with remarks from local civic leaders and retired military officers. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
Practical notes for first-time visitors:
Arrive by 12:15 p.m. Parking inside the cemetery fills early. Once the lots are full, staff direct cars to overflow parking with shuttle service.
Bring water, sunscreen, and a hat. The assembly area is exposed and seating is minimal — most attendees stand.
Wear comfortable walking shoes. Even from the closest lots, the walk to the flag pole is several hundred yards on uneven ground.
The cemetery hosts a “Run to Tahoma” community event the same morning organized through the Kitsap County Veterans Advisory Board for those who want a longer-distance commemoration before the 1 p.m. service.
For sailors, families, or veterans who want the most formal Memorial Day service in the region — full military honors, full federal protocol — Tahoma is the answer.
The county-level service: Snohomish County Eternal Flame
The Snohomish County Eternal Flame sits in front of the Robert J. Drewel Building at the County Courthouse complex, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. It is the county’s central memorial to its veterans and the most accessible Memorial Day stop for anyone living in central or downtown Everett.
Snohomish County typically holds an 11 a.m. Veterans Day service at the Eternal Flame in November, and the same site hosts informal Memorial Day gatherings — wreath placements, individual remembrances, and small ceremonies coordinated by local VFW and American Legion posts — throughout the morning of the holiday. Families with school-age kids who want to keep the day local often come here first, then move to one of the cemetery services.
The Drewel Building is also where the Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program (VAP) office is located — the county-funded program that helps veterans and their families with rent, utilities, prescriptions, transportation, and emergency needs. Most county veterans don’t know the program exists. Memorial Day is a quiet, low-pressure day to walk past the office, see the staff, and pick up the contact card. (For a deeper look at how the county program fits with the federal VA system, see our complete 2026 guide to getting VA claims help in Snohomish County.)
The community services in Snohomish County
Multiple community services across the county happen Memorial Day morning. These are the longest-running and most reliable for 2026.
Lake Stevens American Legion Post 181
Post 181 traditionally hosts two Memorial Day services on Monday morning:
10 a.m. at the Lake Stevens War Veterans Memorial flag display, 1808 Main St., Lake Stevens
Noon at the Machias Cemetery, 1201 Silva St., Snohomish
The Lake Stevens services are short, family-friendly, and are some of the only regularly attended community services east of I-5 in the county. Post 181 has been doing this for decades.
Floral Hills in Lynnwood
The Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills annual Memorial Day program at 409 Filbert Rd., Lynnwood typically runs:
10:30 a.m. band concert
11 a.m. ceremony
Floral Hills is the largest cemetery in southwest Snohomish County and the regular Memorial Day stop for families based out of Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, and the south end of the county. Programs are listed annually on the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) calendar.
Evergreen Cemetery in Everett
Evergreen Cemetery, 4505 Broadway, Everett is the historic in-city cemetery — the burial ground for many of Everett’s earliest civic leaders and Civil War-era veterans. The site has hosted Memorial Day commemorations going back more than a century. For 2026 program times, the Everett Public Library and the city’s Parks and Recreation calendar typically post details in the two weeks before the holiday.
For veterans buried at Evergreen, families typically come the Sunday afternoon or Monday morning before the larger county services to place flowers and flags individually.
What to do the rest of the weekend
Memorial Day weekend is three full days in 2026 — Saturday May 23 through Monday May 25. A practical Snohomish County itinerary for a military family looks like:
Saturday morning — Flag-placement events. Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, and Civil Air Patrol cadets across the county place small American flags on veteran headstones. Tahoma National Cemetery, Floral Hills, Cypress Lawn (1615 SE Everett Mall Way), and Evergreen all get flags this weekend. Showing up to help is a fast way to meet the local Scouting and youth-veterans community.
Sunday — Quiet day. Many Snohomish County churches incorporate Memorial Day remembrances into their Sunday services. The American Legion and VFW posts are typically open in the afternoon.
Monday — The day itself. Tahoma at 1 p.m. for the most formal service. Lake Stevens, Floral Hills, or Evergreen in the morning if you want a community-scale event.
Monday afternoon — Most VFW and American Legion halls in the county host open houses, family-friendly gatherings, or potlucks after the morning services. VFW Post 2100 in downtown Everett (Suite 101 of the Vet Center building) and American Legion Post 6 in Snohomish are the two most active in central county. (The Vet Center building also houses the VFW Service Officer who handles VA claims help — making the Suite 101 location worth knowing year-round.)
If you can’t make a service
A practical alternative for sailors who can’t get away from the base, or family members who can’t make a public service:
Place a wreath at the Snohomish County Eternal Flame any time on Monday. The site is unstaffed and unrestricted.
Make a contribution to a service organization — the USO Northwest, the Snohomish County VAP, or a county VSO — in lieu of attendance.
Read the names of the Snohomish County service members who’ve died in service since 9/11 at the Centennial Trail memorial at Haller Bridge in Arlington. The kiosk includes interpretive panels for each name.
Resources for military families new to the area
Three numbers and links worth keeping for any military family doing their first Memorial Day in Snohomish County:
Naval Station Everett Fleet & Family Support Center: 425-304-3735 — for any deployment-related question, family event, or community resource referral.
Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program (VAP): snohomishcountywa.gov/veterans — for emergency assistance, transportation, or VSO referral.
Tahoma National Cemetery: cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/tahoma.asp — for burial eligibility, memorial benefits, and event schedule.
For anyone arriving on PCS orders this spring or summer, the practical follow-on after Memorial Day is the Fleet & Family Support Center’s resource intake — the same office that runs the spouse employment programs and the deployment family support groups. Memorial Day is when you meet the community. The week after is when the FFSC plugs you into it. (See our deep dive on how NAVSTA Everett supports Navy kids and families through the FFSC and the school liaison office.)
Frequently Asked Questions
What day is Memorial Day 2026?
Memorial Day 2026 is Monday, May 25. It is the last Monday of May, as set by the 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
Is there a VA national cemetery in Everett?
No. The closest VA national cemetery to Naval Station Everett is Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, about 50 minutes south on I-5. Tahoma is the only VA national cemetery in the Puget Sound region.
Is Tahoma National Cemetery’s Memorial Day ceremony open to the public?
Yes. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Plan to arrive by 12:15 p.m. Monday May 25, 2026 because parking inside the cemetery fills early and overflow parking requires a shuttle.
Where is the Snohomish County Eternal Flame?
The Eternal Flame is at the Snohomish County Courthouse / Robert J. Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. It is the county’s central veterans memorial and is accessible 24 hours a day.
Are the Memorial Day services in Snohomish County family-friendly?
Yes. The Lake Stevens services at the War Veterans Memorial and Machias Cemetery, and the Floral Hills program in Lynnwood, are designed for family attendance with short program lengths, seating, and accessible venues. Tahoma’s main service is longer and more formal but is still family-friendly with adequate planning.
How can a Naval Station Everett family find local Memorial Day events the week before?
Two reliable sources: the Naval Station Everett Fleet & Family Support Center at 425-304-3735, and the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs event calendar at dva.wa.gov. The HeraldNet and MyEverettNews local outlets also publish Memorial Day round-ups in the days before the holiday.
Where can I get help with a VA claim related to a service member I’m honoring on Memorial Day?
The Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program at the Drewel Building is the closest in-person resource for VA claims help in the county, alongside the VFW Service Officer at the Vet Center building Suite 101 and the monthly Veterans Benefits Administration field visits to the Everett Vet Center. (See our prior coverage on VA claims help options after the 2026 Vet Center schedule change for the full breakdown.)
What is The New Mexicans in Everett? The New Mexicans is a New Mexican (not Mexican) restaurant at 1416 Hewitt Avenue serving Hatch green chile, posole, sopaipillas and famous in-house cinnamon rolls. The restaurant was founded in 2012 by Chrystal Handy whose family is from New Mexico, and is now run by Evie and Vince De Simone, who hail from Hatch, NM. It’s the only restaurant in Snohomish County serving genuine New Mexican cuisine, and locals call it the perfect pre-Silvertips game stop.
Let’s clear up the most common mistake first. The New Mexicans is not a Mexican restaurant. It’s a New Mexican restaurant — the cuisine of the state of New Mexico, which is its own thing, with its own ingredients, its own flavor profile, and its own argument about whether red or green is better. (At The New Mexicans you can order “Christmas,” which means both, and that is the move.)
If you’ve never had real New Mexican food, the easiest way to think about it is: take Mexican food, give it to a high-altitude region built around Hatch chile peppers and Pueblo culture, let it sit in there for 400 years, and you’ll get something that tastes nothing like the Tex-Mex or California-Mex or Sonoran-Mex you’re used to. The chile is the foundation. The sopaipilla is the bread. And the green chile cheeseburger is its own American food group.
The New Mexicans, at 1416 Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett, is the only place in Snohomish County doing this cuisine for real. It’s been there since 2012. Most of Everett still treats it like a discovery.
Who’s Behind It
The restaurant was opened in 2012 by Chrystal Handy, whose family is from New Mexico. As of February 2017, ownership transitioned to Evie and Vince De Simone, who are from Hatch, New Mexico — yes, that Hatch, the chile-pepper Hatch — and they kept the menu and the philosophy intact. They bake their own bread, their own sopaipillas, and their own cinnamon rolls in-house. That last detail is going to come up again.
The Hatch Chile Question
If you walk into a New Mexican restaurant and the question “red or green?” doesn’t show up on your menu or your server’s lips, it’s not really a New Mexican restaurant. At The New Mexicans, that question shows up everywhere. Order Christmas. That’s the local-knowledge answer — half red chile sauce, half green chile sauce, both made from real Hatch chile shipped up from the source.
The dishes that show off the chile best:
Posole / Pozole — the deeply savory hominy stew with pork. The version here runs spicier than most Mexican-restaurant versions and the broth has the richness that says it’s been simmering longer than a normal Tuesday-night soup. Order it on a cold Everett day. You’ll get it.
Green chile cheeseburger — the New Mexico state sandwich, built on the official Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail philosophy: Hatch green chile, melted cheese, no apologies. This is the one to order if you’ve got a friend who refuses to try “weird food.”
Stuffed sopaipillas — fried bread pillows stuffed with carne adovada (red chile pork), beans, and cheese. The sopaipilla itself is the star — light, hot, faintly sweet, used to sponge up the chile sauce.
Carne adovada — pork slow-cooked in red chile sauce. The textbook New Mexican dish. Order it as an entrée or as the filling in something else.
Now About Those Cinnamon Rolls
Here’s the thing nobody preps you for: The New Mexicans makes the best cinnamon rolls in Everett. Plate-sized. Warm. House-baked. Glazed, not over-iced. They’re not a side dessert. They’re a destination order. People walk in for a cinnamon roll and a coffee and walk out fully justified.
The why-cinnamon-rolls-at-a-Southwest-restaurant question has a real answer. New Mexican breakfast traditions absolutely include sweet baked goods, and the De Simones bake all of their bread in-house. But functionally? They’re just the best cinnamon rolls on Hewitt Avenue, and that’s reason enough.
Why It Matters Where It Sits
The New Mexicans is on Hewitt Avenue, two blocks from Angel of the Winds Arena. It’s the perfect pre-Silvertips game stop and the locals know it. Get there 90 minutes before puck drop, eat a green chile cheeseburger, walk to the arena, sit through three periods of WHL hockey, walk back for a cinnamon roll if the place is still open. That’s a downtown Everett night that costs less than a single ticket to a Mariners game and tastes better than 90% of what’s on the lower bowl concourse at T-Mobile Park.
Logistics
Address: 1416 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA 98201 Cuisine: New Mexican (not Mexican). Hatch chile, sopaipillas, posole, green chile cheeseburgers, carne adovada, in-house cinnamon rolls. Phone / Reservations: Reservations are accepted; the restaurant offers take-out and delivery. Website: thenewmexicanseverett.com Parking: Street parking on Hewitt and the side streets; the city lot at Hewitt and Rockefeller is a block east. Price range: $$ — most plates run $14–$22, breakfast and burgers cheaper, cocktails and house margaritas extra. Pre-game tip: 90 minutes before any Silvertips, AquaSox, or Angel of the Winds Arena event. Happy hour: Real one. Locals show up for it.
What to Order Your First Time
For a true introduction: Order a stuffed sopaipilla “Christmas” (red and green chile both), with a side of posole. If you’re a burger person, do the green chile cheeseburger and an order of the in-house chips and salsa. Either way, save room for a cinnamon roll. Take the second half home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The New Mexicans a Mexican restaurant? No. It’s a New Mexican restaurant — the cuisine of the state of New Mexico, which is distinct from Mexican food. The two cuisines share roots but use different ingredients (especially Hatch chile) and different preparations.
Where is The New Mexicans in Everett? 1416 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA 98201, in downtown Everett a couple of blocks west of Angel of the Winds Arena.
Who owns The New Mexicans? Evie and Vince De Simone, who are originally from Hatch, New Mexico, took over from founder Chrystal Handy in 2017 and have run it since.
What is “Christmas” on a New Mexican menu? Christmas means both red and green chile sauce on the same dish, half-and-half. It’s the standard local-knowledge order at any real New Mexican restaurant.
Are the cinnamon rolls really that good? Yes. They’re house-baked, plate-sized, and consistently one of the best baked goods in downtown Everett. They sell out on weekends.
Is The New Mexicans good before a Silvertips game? It’s the local pre-game stop. Two blocks from Angel of the Winds Arena. Get there 90 minutes before puck drop.
Does The New Mexicans have happy hour? Yes. The happy hour menu is real, with lower-priced cocktails and small plates, and locals know about it.
What should a first-timer order at The New Mexicans? A stuffed sopaipilla “Christmas,” a side of posole, and a cinnamon roll to share or take home. If you want the most New Mexican thing on the menu in one bite, order the green chile cheeseburger.
Where can I get authentic Italian food in Everett? Luca Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar at 1712 Hewitt Avenue is run by owner Bepi from Florence and head chef Vincenzo from Sicily. Pasta, tomatoes, cheese and meats come from Italy; produce comes from Washington farms. Hours are Tuesday–Sunday 5 p.m. to close, closed Mondays. The carbonara, bucatini alla siciliana, and the burrata-and-shrimp salad are the orders. The wine list runs deep into Italian reds.
Anybody who lived in Everett for any length of time has a Chianti story. The old Italian spot at 1712 Hewitt Avenue was a downtown anchor for years — birthdays, anniversaries, that one work dinner you remember. So when Chianti closed and a new Italian restaurant moved in to that exact room in July 2023, every Everett food obsessive had the same question: is this guy serious, or is he just renting the chairs?
He’s serious. He’s from Florence. His name is Bepi, he runs the floor with his wife, and after almost three years of watching this kitchen, we’ll say it directly: Luca Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar is now the best Italian dinner room in Everett, and it’s not particularly close.
The Setup
Luca opened in July 2023 in the old Chianti space. Bepi grew up in Florence — actual Florence, not “I-took-a-trip-to-Tuscany Florence” — and he brought in a head chef from Sicily, Vincenzo, who’d already spent a decade cooking at Italian restaurants in Seattle. That pairing matters. Bepi controls the room, the wine, the temperature; Vincenzo controls the line.
The ingredient sourcing is the tell. Most of the produce is from Washington farms (Snohomish County in season, when they can pull it). The pasta, the tomatoes, the cheese, the meats — those come from Italy. The ricotta is shipped in from Palermo. That’s not a marketing line. You can taste it the second the burrata-and-shrimp salad hits the table.
What to Order
The pasta menu is where Luca makes its case. Three orders that we’d send anyone to first time:
Carbonara — guanciale, egg, pecorino. No cream. The way it’s supposed to be made. A balance of fat and salt and the egg-yolk silk that most American “carbonara” misses by a mile. This is a tier-one Italian dish anywhere on the I-5 corridor.
Bucatini alla Siciliana — Vincenzo’s room. Tomato, eggplant, ricotta salata. Bucatini is a difficult pasta to cook well at home and this is what it’s supposed to taste like.
Burrata and shrimp salad — the appetizer that becomes the dinner-conversation moment. The burrata is the star. The shrimp is the supporting actor. Order it for the table.
The thin-crust pizza menu is real, not a courtesy menu. The wood-fired pies come out crisp at the edge and properly slack in the middle. Margherita, prosciutto e rucola, and the seasonal special are all worth attention. There’s also a meat-and-fresh-seafood section of the menu — that’s where Bepi’s Florentine background shows up most clearly.
The Wine Bar Half
The full name is “Luca Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar” and Bepi takes the second half of that seriously. The list is heavily Italian, leaning into Tuscan reds (Chianti, Brunello), Sicilian reds (Nero d’Avola — pair it with the bucatini), and a working selection of whites that go with the seafood and lighter pastas. The by-the-glass program is meaningful, not the four-bottle afterthought you sometimes get at neighborhood spots.
If you go in not knowing what you want, ask Bepi. He’ll find you the right pour for what you’re eating in under two minutes. That’s the difference between a restaurant with a wine list and a restaurant with a wine bar.
The Room
Luca kept the bones of the old Chianti space — the L-shaped dining room, the wood-warm interior, the corner-table romance — but cleaned up the lighting and tightened the layout. It’s the date-night room downtown Everett didn’t have a clean version of. It’s also the small-celebration room — birthdays, anniversaries, “we got the offer accepted.” Reservations are essential on Friday and Saturday and a smart move any night you actually need a table.
Logistics
Address: 1712 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA 98201 Hours: Tuesday–Thursday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 5 p.m. to close; Sunday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.; closed Mondays. Phone: (425) 789-1279 Website: luca-restaurant.com Reservations: Take them. Use them. Toast online or by phone. Parking: Street parking on Hewitt and the side streets; the city lot at Hewitt and Rockefeller is two blocks away. Price range: $$$ — pasta entrées land roughly $22–$32, mains higher, wine pours $12–$18. Best time to go: Tuesday or Wednesday for the quiet room; Friday or Saturday with a reservation if you want the energy.
One Honest Note
Luca is not a quick weeknight dinner. The kitchen takes its time the way a real Italian dinner is supposed to take its time. Show up expecting a 90-minute meal, not a 45-minute meal. If that’s not the night you’re trying to have, go to Brooklyn Bros for pizza or the New Mexicans up the street for a quicker bowl. Luca is for the dinner you actually want to sit through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Luca Italian Restaurant in Everett still open in 2026? Yes. Luca opened in July 2023 and is operating regular hours at 1712 Hewitt Avenue. Closed Mondays.
Who owns Luca Italian Restaurant? Owner Bepi and his wife are from Florence; head chef Vincenzo is from Sicily and previously spent a decade cooking at Italian restaurants in Seattle.
What was at 1712 Hewitt Avenue before Luca? The space was Chianti, a longtime downtown Everett Italian restaurant, until Luca took it over and reopened in July 2023.
Does Luca take reservations? Yes. Use them on Friday and Saturday. Online via Toast or by phone at (425) 789-1279.
Is Luca expensive? Mid-range to upper-mid for downtown Everett. Pasta entrées land around $22–$32, mains higher, by-the-glass wine pours roughly $12–$18.
What should I order at Luca for the first time? The carbonara is the no-debate first order. Add the bucatini alla siciliana for a second pasta to share, and the burrata-and-shrimp salad as a starter.
Does Luca have pizza? Yes — thin-crust, wood-fired. The margherita and prosciutto e rucola are both honest Italian-style pies.
Where do I park near Luca Italian Restaurant? Street parking is usually findable on Hewitt and the side streets; the city lot at Hewitt and Rockefeller is two blocks away.
Where can I get African food in Everett? Heritage African Restaurant at 2019 Hewitt Avenue, on the corner of Hewitt and Broadway in downtown Everett, serves West African staples like jollof rice, egusi soup, suya grilled lamb and oxtail stew alongside burgers and soul food. Co-owner Fatou Dibba and her aunt Mama Saho opened the restaurant in late February 2024 in the multicolored building that used to house Sol De Mexico. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The multicolored building on the corner of Hewitt and Broadway used to be Sol De Mexico. We drove past it for years. Then in early 2024 the murals got freshened up, the windows changed, and a name we’d never seen in Everett before went up over the door: Heritage African Restaurant.
It is, two years in, the most underrated restaurant in downtown Everett. We’re not going to be subtle about that.
What Heritage Actually Is
Heritage African Restaurant is the work of Fatou Dibba and her aunt, Mama Saho. Dibba moved to the Pacific Northwest as a teenager. She started cooking the food of her childhood — Senegalese, Gambian and broader West African dishes — for events around Snohomish County, and the response was immediate. People who’d never tried African food were asking how to pay her to make more of it. Her aunt, who already runs Diva’s Beauty Supply in Lynnwood with her, suggested they open a real restaurant.
They spent a year hunting for a space and several months retooling the inside of 2019 Hewitt Avenue before they opened the doors in late February 2024. The colors on the outside of that building are a tell. So is the warmth inside.
The Move: Order the Jollof. Then Order More Jollof.
If you’ve never had West African food, here’s the orientation. Jollof rice is the dish you build a meal around. Long-grain rice cooked in tomato, onion, scotch bonnet pepper and a stock that’s been built up for hours until the rice itself tastes like the bottom of a pan that’s been working all day. Heritage’s version is exactly that — savory, smoky from the bottom of the pot, with the kind of low heat that warms you up rather than punishes you.
From there, the menu opens up:
Egusi soup — ground melon-seed stew, deeply savory, served with fufu or rice. This is the one that tells you whether a kitchen is serious. Heritage’s is.
Suya / Dibi Afra — grilled lamb with a spice rub built around peanut, ginger and chili. Order it. Don’t think about it. Order it.
Oxtail stew or oxtail soup — tender, rich, the broth gelatinous in the way oxtail broth is supposed to be.
Suppa Kanja (okra stew) — Senegalese-style, deep green, served over rice.
Fataya pies — stuffed hand pies, perfect appetizer, share them.
The menu also runs sideways into burgers and soul food — wings, fried catfish, sandwiches — which makes Heritage one of the easier “first African meal” introductions for anyone you’re trying to bring along. Nobody at the table gets stuck without an order they recognize.
Why This Spot Matters
Everett’s downtown food scene has gotten genuinely interesting in the last three years. Hewitt Avenue alone now anchors Italian (Luca, two blocks east), New Mexican (The New Mexicans, three blocks west), pizza (Brooklyn Bros), Korean (K Fresh), and African (Heritage). That’s a downtown stretch that used to lean heavily into bar food and now reads like a small city’s actual restaurant row.
Heritage is the most distinctive of those rooms. There’s no other restaurant in Snohomish County serving jollof, egusi and suya from a Gambian and Senegalese kitchen. The closest equivalents are in Seattle, Tukwila or Tacoma. For a 100,000-person city to have a restaurant this specific and this good, on its main drag, is the kind of thing locals should be louder about.
Logistics
Address: 2019 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, WA 98201 (corner of Hewitt and Broadway). Hours: Monday–Thursday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Phone: (425) 374-7728 Website: heritageafricanrestaurant.com Delivery: Yes — DoorDash and Postmates both carry it. Parking: Street parking on Hewitt and Broadway, plus the city lot a block south. We’ve never had a problem at lunch. Friday and Saturday dinner gets busier. Price range: $$ — most plates land in the $14–$22 range; oxtail and lamb plates push higher. Best time to go: Tuesday or Wednesday lunch if you want the room mostly to yourselves; Friday after 7 p.m. if you want it lively.
What to Order Your First Time
For two people: one large jollof rice, the egusi soup, a side of suya. Split a fataya pie up front. Get the hibiscus drink (zobo) if it’s on the day’s menu — it’s the right sweet/tart to balance the spice. That gets you out the door for around $50–$60, and you’ll leave knowing whether you’re a Heritage regular yet. (You will be.)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Heritage African Restaurant open in 2026? Yes. Heritage opened in February 2024 and is operating regular hours at 2019 Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett as of April 2026.
What kind of African food does Heritage serve? The kitchen leans West African, anchored in Gambian and Senegalese traditions — jollof rice, egusi soup, suya grilled lamb, oxtail stew, suppa kanja okra stew, and fataya hand pies — with a soul-food and burger sideline.
Who owns Heritage African Restaurant in Everett? Co-owners Fatou Dibba and her aunt Mama Saho. They also run Diva’s Beauty Supply in Lynnwood.
Is Heritage African Restaurant spicy? The food has heat, but most dishes sit in the warming-not-burning range. Anything built on scotch bonnet (jollof, certain stews) carries real spice; the kitchen will adjust on request.
Does Heritage take reservations? Walk-ins are normal at lunch. For larger parties or weekend dinner, call ahead at (425) 374-7728.
Where can I park near Heritage African Restaurant? Street parking on Hewitt Avenue and Broadway, plus the city parking lot one block south. Free in the evenings.
Does Heritage deliver? Yes — DoorDash and Postmates both deliver from 2019 Hewitt Avenue.
What should I order at Heritage African Restaurant if I’ve never had African food? Start with jollof rice and a side of suya grilled lamb. Both are approachable, deeply flavored, and a good window into how the kitchen handles spice and seasoning.
What did Everett approve for the Broadway pedestrian bridge? On April 23, 2026, the Everett City Council approved a $3.1 million contract with engineering and planning consultancy Kimley-Horn to design a pedestrian bridge over Broadway in north Everett. The bridge will connect Everett Community College’s main campus to the Learning Resource Center on the east side of Broadway, with a connection that also serves the WSU Everett campus. The design is expected to be complete by the end of 2028. The bridge will likely be located just north of 10th Street.
There is a six-lane road in north Everett called Broadway that thousands of college students cross every weekday — most of them on foot, most of them on a tight schedule between classes, almost all of them at street level with cars. On April 23, the Everett City Council took the first step toward fixing that.
The council approved a $3.1 million contract with engineering firm Kimley-Horn to design a pedestrian bridge over Broadway connecting Everett Community College’s main campus to the Learning Resource Center, the campus library and study building that sits across the road on the east side. The same bridge will also tie into the WSU Everett campus, which shares the same general area on Broadway just north of downtown.
This is one of those projects that does not get covered the way a stadium vote or a waterfront groundbreaking gets covered, but that quietly shapes daily life for thousands of Everett residents. We watched the contract approval and dug into the scope to figure out what is actually being built and on what timeline.
What the $3.1 million does, and what it does not do
The first thing to understand about the April 23 vote is that it does not build a bridge. It pays for the design of a bridge.
The $3.1 million contract with Kimley-Horn — a national engineering and planning firm with a Northwest office — covers the design phase only. That includes the structural engineering, the architecture, the geotechnical work, the traffic analysis, the utility coordination, the permitting work, the public outreach process, and the construction documents that a future contractor will need to actually build the structure.
A pedestrian bridge over a six-lane arterial like Broadway is not a small piece of engineering. It has to clear traffic with adequate vertical clearance, accommodate emergency vehicle heights, meet ADA accessibility requirements end to end, handle Pacific Northwest weather and seismic loading, and connect cleanly to existing pedestrian paths on both campuses. Kimley-Horn’s contract covers all of that work.
The design phase is expected to wrap up at the end of 2028. That is the realistic timeline for a piece of infrastructure of this complexity, and it accounts for the public engagement, environmental review, and permit process that has to happen before construction can be put out to bid.
Once the design is complete, a separate council vote will approve the construction contract. That is a different ordinance, a different price tag, and a different timeline — and right now the city has not announced a target construction start date or estimated total cost for the build.
Why a bridge here, specifically
Everett Community College is one of the larger institutions in the city by daily population. The main campus sits on the west side of Broadway between roughly 22nd Street and Tower Street. The Learning Resource Center — which houses much of the library, study, and student services functions — is on the east side of Broadway. The WSU Everett campus sits in the same area, sharing facilities and a daily student population with EvCC.
Today, students moving between buildings cross Broadway at street-level signalized intersections. Broadway in this stretch is a six-lane arterial that carries significant car traffic between north Everett and downtown, and the at-grade crossings introduce real conflicts between pedestrian flow and vehicle movement. During class change times — the 10-minute windows when several thousand students simultaneously try to get from one building to the next — the crossings get crowded, the wait times for cars stack up, and pedestrians and drivers end up in the same intersections under time pressure.
A grade-separated pedestrian bridge eliminates the conflict. Students walk over the road. Cars do not stop. Class change becomes faster, safer, and more predictable for everybody.
The likely location north of 10th Street puts the bridge close to the natural foot traffic between the main campus and the Learning Resource Center. The exact siting will be one of the design phase decisions over the next two and a half years.
Why this fits Everett’s broader pattern
The Broadway pedestrian bridge is part of a noticeable shift in how Everett is thinking about its right-of-way. The city has spent the last several years putting more weight on pedestrian and bike infrastructure as a deliberate policy choice — the new Edgewater Bridge that opens to traffic April 28 includes wide sidewalks and 5-foot bike lanes on each side, the Pacific Avenue Gateway project includes a public art installation at the Pacific entrance from I-5, and the multi-year work on downtown streetscapes has prioritized pedestrian-friendly design over pure vehicle throughput.
The Broadway bridge fits the same pattern. North Everett is one of the densest pedestrian environments in the city — between EvCC, WSU Everett, the residential neighborhoods around them, and the commercial strips on either side of Broadway, this is a part of the city that is genuinely walked. Investing $3.1 million in design now signals that the city is willing to put real capital into making that walkability safer.
It is also a partnership story worth noting. The bridge serves the EvCC and WSU Everett campuses primarily. The design and construction are being led by the city. That kind of city-and-institution coordination is the only way a piece of infrastructure like this gets built — campuses cannot construct in city right-of-way on their own, and the city cannot prioritize a single-purpose pedestrian crossing without a clear partner. The fact that the project moved from concept to a $3.1 million design contract suggests that all the parties involved have aligned on what they want and how to pay for it.
What to watch over the next two and a half years
A few specific things will tell us how this project actually evolves between now and the end of 2028.
Watch the public engagement process. The city and Kimley-Horn will run multiple rounds of public input on the bridge design — siting, aesthetics, lighting, public art elements, how it connects to existing pedestrian paths, how it handles weather. Students, faculty, neighbors, and broader Everett residents will all have a chance to weigh in. The dates and meeting formats will be posted on the city’s project page as they firm up.
Watch the alignment selection. Kimley-Horn will likely produce two to four candidate alignment options early in the design process. The exact location north of 10th Street, the angle of the bridge, the column placement and the connection points to existing campus paths are all decisions that will be made publicly. Each option has trade-offs around cost, traffic disruption during construction, sightlines, and how cleanly it ties into existing buildings.
Watch the construction cost estimate when it lands. The $3.1 million is design only. The construction estimate will not be public until the design phase produces a real, biddable scope — likely in late 2027 or 2028. When it does land, it will be the number that determines whether the bridge actually moves to construction or whether the project stalls for funding reasons. Pedestrian bridges over six-lane arterials are not cheap, and the city will need to decide where the construction money comes from.
Watch what happens to the on-the-ground experience for EvCC and WSU Everett students between now and the end of 2028. The bridge does not exist yet, and will not for several more years. In the meantime, signal timing improvements, crosswalk markings, and other interim safety measures at the existing at-grade crossings are within the city’s reach right now. The Broadway pedestrian bridge is the long-term answer. Better at-grade crossings are the bridge between now and the bridge.
The honest read
This is the kind of city-shaping decision that does not move the news cycle but moves a piece of the city. By the end of 2028, north Everett will have a fully designed pedestrian bridge over one of its busiest arterials, ready to put out to bid. By some point in the early 2030s, depending on construction funding and timing, that bridge will be carrying students between EvCC’s two main building groups every weekday.
For a $3.1 million design vote that did not make a single regional headline, that is a meaningful piece of how the city actually changes over the next decade.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Everett City Council approve on April 23, 2026?
The Everett City Council approved a $3.1 million contract with engineering consultancy Kimley-Horn to design a pedestrian bridge over Broadway in north Everett. The contract covers the design phase only — including engineering, permitting, public engagement, and construction documents. A separate future council vote will be needed to approve the construction contract.
Where will the Broadway pedestrian bridge be located?
The bridge will likely be located just north of 10th Street on Broadway, connecting Everett Community College’s main campus on the west side of Broadway to the Learning Resource Center on the east side. The bridge will also connect to the WSU Everett campus, which shares the same area. The exact siting will be determined during the design phase.
When will the Broadway pedestrian bridge be built?
The design phase is expected to be complete by the end of 2028. After design is finalized, the city will need to put the construction phase out to bid and approve a separate construction contract. A specific construction start date and overall project completion date have not yet been announced.
Who is designing the bridge?
Kimley-Horn, a national engineering and planning consultancy, was awarded the $3.1 million design contract by the Everett City Council on April 23, 2026.
Why does Everett need a pedestrian bridge over Broadway?
Broadway in this stretch is a six-lane arterial carrying significant traffic between north Everett and downtown. Today, students moving between Everett Community College’s main campus and the Learning Resource Center on the east side of the road cross at street-level signalized intersections. A grade-separated pedestrian bridge eliminates the conflict between pedestrians and vehicles and improves safety and flow during class change times.
How much will the Broadway pedestrian bridge cost in total?
The $3.1 million approved on April 23 covers only the design phase. The construction cost estimate will not be public until the design phase produces a biddable scope, likely in late 2027 or 2028. Pedestrian bridges over multi-lane arterials are significant infrastructure projects and the construction cost will be set by the design once it is complete.
What about students who need to cross Broadway right now?
The bridge will not exist for several years. In the meantime, EvCC and WSU Everett students continue to cross Broadway at the existing signalized intersections. The city has tools for improving safety at those at-grade crossings — signal timing, crosswalk markings, signage — that are within reach in the near term while the bridge design and construction process plays out.
What is the $113 million Everett pipeline project? On April 2, 2026, the Everett City Council approved a $113 million ordinance funding the construction phase of new combined stormwater and sewer pipes plus a 48-inch water main replacement along West Marine View Drive, from the Grand Avenue Bridge in the north down to Hewitt Avenue in the south. The pipes will feed the planned $200 million-plus Port Gardner Storage Facility, a state-mandated combined sewer overflow project that will temporarily hold excess stormwater so it can be treated rather than dumped into Port Gardner Bay or the Snohomish River.
There is a kind of Everett project that does not get a ribbon cutting and does not show up on most people’s mental map of the city, but that quietly determines what the waterfront looks like, smells like, and is allowed to be used for. Combined sewer overflows are at the top of that list. And on April 2, the Everett City Council voted to spend $113 million on the largest single piece of infrastructure addressing them in years.
We have been watching this one for months because the dollar figure is enormous, the construction footprint runs along one of the most-driven roads in the city, and the underlying problem — sewage and stormwater dumping into Port Gardner Bay during heavy rains — is something the state has ordered Everett to fix on a schedule that does not move.
Here is what the council actually approved, and what it means for the city.
What the $113 million buys
The ordinance allocates $113 million to the construction phase of new water, stormwater, and sewer pipelines along West Marine View Drive. The route runs from the Grand Avenue Bridge at the north end of the corridor down to Hewitt Avenue in the south — that is the entire length of the waterfront frontage road that connects the north end of the city to the downtown waterfront, the marina, and the port.
Inside that corridor, the project includes:
A new combined stormwater and sewer pipe sized to carry significantly more flow than the existing system
Replacement of an existing 48-inch water main that runs along the same corridor
The connections needed to tie the new pipes into the upstream Port Gardner Storage Facility, which is the catchment basin the new pipes feed
The pipe work itself is the visible part. The whole point of the pipe work is to feed the Port Gardner Storage Facility, which is a separate, much larger project — currently estimated at more than $200 million — that will hold excess flows during heavy rain events and meter them out for treatment instead of letting them overflow into the bay.
The $113 million pipeline is the connective tissue. Without it, the storage facility is a giant tank with no way to fill it.
Why the state is making Everett build this
Combined sewer systems are an artifact of the way American cities built their underground infrastructure between roughly 1880 and 1950. In a combined system, stormwater and sanitary sewer share the same pipe. On a normal day that works fine. During a heavy rain, the system gets overwhelmed, and the pipes do what they were designed to do as a safety valve — they overflow at designated points, sending a mix of rainwater and untreated wastewater into the nearest body of water.
In Everett, those nearest bodies of water are Port Gardner Bay and the Snohomish River.
The Washington Department of Ecology has been requiring cities with combined sewer systems to reduce their overflow events for decades. Everett’s combined sewer overflow reduction program has been ratcheting down the number of allowed overflow events year by year. The Port Gardner Storage Facility — and the pipes that feed it — is the city’s response to the most recent compliance requirements.
This is not an optional project. The state has ordered it. The schedule is enforceable. The $113 million spend is the price of that compliance.
Where the money is coming from
This is the part that often gets lost in the headline. The $113 million does not come out of Everett’s general fund. It cannot be used for parks, police, libraries, or anything else the city’s general budget covers.
The money comes from the city’s water and sewer utility fund. That fund is fed by what residents and businesses pay on their water and sewer bills. It is legally restricted to water and sewer system uses, which is exactly what this project is.
What that means in practice is that the pressure point for ratepayers is not now — the funds for this construction phase are being drawn from existing utility reserves and previously authorized borrowing — but over the long term as the utility recapitalizes those reserves through future rate decisions. Everett residents have already seen incremental increases in their water and sewer bills tied to the broader combined sewer overflow program over the last several years. This $113 million approval is consistent with the trajectory the utility has been on.
It is also separate from the proposed utility tax increase that has been moving through council on a different track. That is general fund money. This is restricted utility fund money. Two different conversations, both important, easy to confuse.
What construction looks like on the ground
If you drive West Marine View Drive — the frontage road that connects the north end of the city, past the Naval Station gates, down past Legion Park and toward downtown — you are going to spend a lot of time over the next two years driving past construction.
The pipe corridor runs underneath that road. Trenching a 42-inch combined pipe and replacing a 48-inch water main means digging significant sections of the right-of-way, staging materials, and managing traffic through a corridor that already carries Naval Station traffic, marina traffic, downtown commuters, and freight to the port.
The city’s public works department has not yet released the full lane closure schedule for the West Marine View work tied to this approval, but the size of the spend and the length of the corridor make it almost certain that residents in north Everett, port users, and Naval Station personnel will see real impacts on their commutes once construction mobilizes.
The Pacific Avenue pipeline work — a separate but related $1,000 linear foot, 42-inch pipe project between Pine Street and Chestnut Street that is scheduled to begin in summer 2026 — adds to the picture downtown. Together, these are the largest underground infrastructure projects the city has had in motion at one time in years.
Why this matters beyond plumbing
A few reasons this is worth paying attention to even if the words “combined sewer overflow” make your eyes glaze over.
First, water quality. Every overflow event that does not happen is wastewater that does not enter Port Gardner Bay. The Port Gardner shoreline is the single most-used recreation corridor in the city — Howarth Park, Jetty Island, the marina promenade, the swimming and paddling that families do at the waterfront. Cleaner water there is a public health and quality-of-life issue, not just a regulatory checkbox.
Second, the waterfront economy. The Port of Everett’s $1 billion Waterfront Place redevelopment, the Millwright District buildout, the new restaurants and apartments and the planned hotel expansion — all of it depends on Port Gardner Bay being a clean, swimmable, fishable waterfront. Combined sewer overflows are the single biggest threat to that economic story. The state knows it. The port knows it. The city knows it. The $113 million pipeline is part of the long unsexy work of protecting the asset that everything else is built around.
Third, regulatory exposure. If Everett misses the state’s compliance schedule on combined sewer overflow reduction, the consequences are not abstract. Cities that fall behind on Ecology’s CSO orders face escalating enforcement actions, mandated additional spending under tighter timelines, and in extreme cases consent decrees that take spending decisions out of local hands entirely. Spending $113 million on a pipeline now is much less expensive than the alternatives a few years down the road.
What to watch
Three things to keep an eye on as this project moves into construction.
Watch the construction schedule and lane closure announcements for West Marine View Drive. The city will publish them on its public works project page as they firm up. North Everett residents and Naval Station commuters in particular will want to plan around them.
Watch the Port Gardner Storage Facility procurement and construction milestones. The pipe project is feeding a much larger storage facility, and the two have to land on a coordinated timeline for either to function. The storage facility is the bigger spend, the longer construction window, and the project that will most determine when Everett actually achieves its compliance targets.
Watch the long-term utility rate trajectory. This $113 million is funded from existing utility reserves and authorized debt, but the cumulative cost of the city’s combined sewer overflow program — across this project, the storage facility, the Pacific Avenue work, and other planned upgrades — will eventually show up in water and sewer rates in the years ahead.
The pipeline goes in the ground. The water gets cleaner. The waterfront keeps growing. That is the deal Everett is signing up for, and on April 2 the council put $113 million behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Everett City Council approve on April 2, 2026?
The Everett City Council voted to allocate $113 million to the construction phase of new combined stormwater and sewer pipes, along with the replacement of an existing 48-inch water main, running along West Marine View Drive from the Grand Avenue Bridge in the north to Hewitt Avenue in the south.
What is the Port Gardner Storage Facility?
The Port Gardner Storage Facility is a planned, more than $200 million city-built underground tank designed to temporarily hold excess flows from Everett’s combined sewer system during heavy rain events, so the wastewater can be treated rather than overflow into Port Gardner Bay. The $113 million pipeline project will carry flows to the storage facility.
Why does Everett have combined sewer overflows?
Like many older American cities, Everett’s underground infrastructure includes a combined sewer system where stormwater and sanitary sewer flow through the same pipes. During heavy rain events, the pipes can be overwhelmed and overflow at designated points into the nearest body of water — in Everett’s case, Port Gardner Bay and the Snohomish River. The Washington Department of Ecology requires cities with combined sewer systems to reduce these overflow events on a state-enforced compliance schedule.
Who pays for the $113 million pipeline project?
The $113 million comes from the city’s water and sewer utility fund, which is funded by what residents and businesses pay on their water and sewer bills. Utility funds are legally restricted to water and sewer system uses and cannot be redirected to general government services like parks, police, or libraries.
Will this project affect my commute?
Construction will require significant trenching along West Marine View Drive, which is the frontage road between north Everett and the downtown waterfront. The city has not yet released the full lane closure schedule, but the size and length of the corridor make traffic impacts likely for north Everett residents, marina and port users, and Naval Station commuters once construction mobilizes.
Is this related to the Pacific Avenue pipeline project?
The two projects are part of the same broader combined sewer overflow program but are technically separate. The Pacific Avenue Pipeline Improvements project is a roughly 1,000 linear foot, 42-inch pipe between Pine Street and Chestnut Street downtown, with construction scheduled to begin in summer 2026. The West Marine View pipeline approved April 2 is a much larger, much longer corridor project on the waterfront frontage road.
When will construction start?
The April 2 approval funded the construction phase of the project. Specific groundbreaking and mobilization timing will be set as the city completes contractor procurement and finalizes lane closure and traffic plans for West Marine View Drive.
What is The Hub @ Everett? The Hub @ Everett is Brixton Capital’s redevelopment of the former Everett Mall into an outdoor walkable retail, dining, and entertainment district on roughly 11 acres at 1402 SE Everett Mall Way. As of September 2026, Topgolf remains part of the plan on the southeast corner, Shake Shack and Boot Barn have signed leases, construction is estimated to start in November 2026, and grand openings are slated for late 2028 (HeraldNet; Brixton Capital; Snohomish County Tribune). For the full Topgolf / lease update, see our Hub@Everett Topgolf update.
If you have driven past the Everett Mall in the last year, you have already noticed it: the old indoor mall is becoming something else. The interior corridors have been closed for renovations, the central building is being reworked, and the property is flipping from an inward-facing mall into an outdoor-facing district. What is going up has a new name — The Hub @ Everett — and a different idea of what a shopping center is supposed to do.
This is one of the largest physical transformations in Everett right now: about 11 acres at Everett Mall Way and the Mall Station bus loop. Here is where things stand after Brixton’s September 17, 2026 announcement.
The Hub @ Everett, in plain English
The Hub @ Everett is the rebrand and redesign of the former Everett Mall. Brixton Capital announced the transformation in 2022 and has spent the years since working through demolition, permitting, transit relocation, and tenant negotiations.
The big idea is to flip the model. Instead of an indoor mall pointed inward with a parking moat outside, The Hub is planned as an outdoor walkable shopping street through the middle of the property — storefronts to the sidewalk, restaurant patios, a center spine as the front door. Brixton has described turning the mall inside out; the Tribune notes a plan to open a center path through the former enclosed mall similar in spirit to outdoor portions of other regional centers.
The entertainment and dining mix is what is supposed to give the district a reason to exist after 8 p.m. That entertainment anchor is Topgolf — and as of September 2026 it is back in the announced program, not replaced by the spring self-storage/office alternate.
The Topgolf piece (updated September 2026)
Topgolf is slated for the southeast corner of the property, near the Regal Cinemas side of the campus. The City of Everett approved building permits in January 2025 for a roughly 68,000-square-foot, three-story venue. Spring 2026 brought real doubt when Brixton’s pre-application showed self-storage and a proposed office on that footprint; Brixton called that filing one option at the time.
On September 17, 2026, Brixton and Topgolf publicly reconfirmed Topgolf for the southeast corner. The same announcement packaged signed leases for Shake Shack (~3,475 sq ft near Old Navy — Everett’s first) and Boot Barn (~20,028 sq ft absorbing part of the former At Home space), with construction estimated to begin in November 2026 and grand openings aimed at late 2028. Full detail and source links: Topgolf back in Hub@Everett plans.
What is actually open and moving
Mall Station. Everett Transit’s Mall Station relocated about 500 feet west of its original location and reopened in December 2025. The roughly $2 million rebuild cleared a parcel Brixton needed and kept transit access intact through the redevelopment.
Ulta Beauty remains part of the site in the former Sears box / north-side retail. At Home, which had been moving into that box in earlier 2026 coverage, is out of the program as that chain contracts, per the Tribune’s September 23 report — replaced in the leasing story by Boot Barn taking part of that footprint.
Interior mall. The enclosed interior has been closed for renovations while Brixton advances the outdoor-facing rebuild. Some exterior-facing retailers have continued operating through the transition; confirm current hours on site.
Why this matters for Everett’s south end
The Everett Mall has been the retail center of gravity south of 41st Street for decades. By the late 2010s it was on the familiar indoor-mall arc — bleeding tenants and watching anchors close. The Hub is the bet that the cure is not a slightly nicer indoor mall but an outdoor district with food, entertainment, and walkable retail.
If that bet works, south Everett gets a real destination at one of the city’s most accessible spots — Everett Mall Way with I-5 / SR 526 access and the relocated Mall Station. If construction slips or the entertainment anchor falters again, the risk is a multi-year partial redevelopment. The September confirmation puts Topgolf, Shake Shack, and Boot Barn on a late-2028 opening path, which is later than the original “open in 2026” headline but clearer than the spring silence.
The honest read on the timeline
Now: interior closed for renovation; Mall Station open; Topgolf reconfirmed; Shake Shack and Boot Barn leased.
November 2026 (estimated): construction start per Brixton.
Late 2028 (targeted): grand openings for the announced package.
Treat those dates as owner/tenant targets, not city guarantees. Watch permits and groundbreaking against the November estimate.
What to watch
Formal entitlements / building activity that match the September Topgolf + Shake Shack + Boot Barn program (not the April self-storage/office alternate).
Construction start confirmation around November 2026.
Additional national-retailer leases Brixton said are in negotiation.
Whether Ulta and other operating exterior tenants stay open through construction.
We will keep watching. For the Topgolf-specific timeline and the September sources, start with our Hub@Everett Topgolf update.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is The Hub @ Everett located?
At the former Everett Mall, 1402 SE Everett Mall Way in south Everett, on roughly 11 acres at Everett Mall Way and the relocated Mall Station bus loop.
Is the old Everett Mall closed?
The interior is closed for renovations. Some exterior-facing retailers have remained part of the site through the transition.
Is Topgolf still coming?
Yes, according to Brixton Capital and Topgolf’s September 17, 2026 statements. A facility is slated for the southeast corner. See the full update.
What about Shake Shack and Boot Barn?
Both have signed leases (Shake Shack ~3,475 sq ft near Old Navy; Boot Barn ~20,028 sq ft in part of the former At Home space), with openings aimed at late 2028 alongside the broader construction timeline.
Why was the Mall Station moved?
It was relocated about 500 feet west to clear a parcel for redevelopment. The rebuilt station opened in December 2025 and serves Everett Transit and Community Transit routes.
Who owns the property?
Brixton Capital, which rebranded the redevelopment as The Hub @ Everett.
If you’re considering Port Gardner, this is the relocation read. What the bluff bay views actually mean day to day, what the architecture stock looks like in a 1890-platted neighborhood, how the walkability to downtown and the marina works, and how the neighborhood compares to Northwest Everett, Bayside, and Boulevard Bluffs.
What Port Gardner Is
Port Gardner is Everett’s second-oldest neighborhood — the original 50-acre townsite the Rucker brothers platted in 1890 as the founding act of the Everett Land Company. The boundaries are clear: Possession Sound and Port Gardner Bay to the west, the Snohomish River to the east, a combination of Hewitt and Pacific avenues to the north, and 41st Street to the south. That puts you immediately south of Northwest Everett and immediately west of Bayside, with downtown Everett at the neighborhood’s northern edge.
Architecture Stock — What You’re Actually Buying
Port Gardner has one of the most architecturally diverse housing stocks in the city for its size. On a single block you can find:
Queen Anne mansions from the 1890s — turrets, wraparound porches, ornate trim. Many are still in original-family ownership; supply at any given time is limited.
Craftsman bungalows from the 1910s and 1920s — smaller in scale, deep porches, built with care for materials. The most plentiful category in the neighborhood.
Mid-century cottages infilled during Everett’s wartime housing crunch — often the most affordable entry point into the neighborhood.
Maritime-influenced homes near the bluff — designed to capture water views, often with renovations that have preserved historic exterior detail while modernizing the interior.
The practical implication for a buyer: the inspection conversation in Port Gardner is different from the inspection conversation in a 2010s subdivision. Older homes mean older systems, which means budget for some combination of foundation, electrical, plumbing, or insulation work depending on when the home was last updated. The flip side is that these are homes built when materials were better and craftsmanship was the assumption — many Craftsman bungalows in Port Gardner have outlasted three generations of newer construction.
The Bluff Bay View, Honestly
Almost everyone north of Hewitt has some kind of water view. Honest framing: bay views in Port Gardner are not the unobstructed open-water views of, say, an oceanfront in California. They take in Possession Sound, Port Gardner Bay, and — closer in — the Port of Everett’s working waterfront with its cargo cranes, marina, and (on weekdays) the cargo barges loading oversized Boeing parts. Some buyers find that working-waterfront foreground charming. Others want the postcard-clean view and end up choosing Boulevard Bluffs or another neighborhood instead. Walk both before deciding.
Walkability — What’s a Real Walk From Here
Port Gardner is one of the more walkable historic neighborhoods in Everett:
Downtown Everett: a short walk to the north — restaurants, the Historic Everett Theatre, Hewitt Avenue retail.
Grand Avenue Park: inside the neighborhood, with bay views and an active community use pattern.
Waterfront Place: a flat fifteen-minute walk down the hill to the Port of Everett marina, Boxcar Park, and the new Fisherman’s Harbor restaurants.
Everett Station / transit: a longer walk or short drive to the regional bus and Sound Transit hub, including the post-merger Community Transit network.
Schools, Services, Amenities
Port Gardner is in the Everett Public Schools district. Specific school assignments depend on the home’s address — verify with the district before contracting. There are no commercial corridors inside the neighborhood; restaurants, grocery, and most services are reached either north (downtown Everett) or down the hill (Waterfront Place). For most relocating buyers, that pattern is a feature, not a bug — the neighborhood stays residential and quiet.
Comparing to the Neighbors
How Port Gardner stacks up against the neighborhoods relocating buyers most often weigh against it:
Northwest Everett: The closest comparable. Slightly larger geographically, anchored by Everett Community College and Grand Avenue Park. Newer-resident energy. Our Northwest Everett guide covers the comparison in depth.
Bayside: Directly east of Port Gardner, between the neighborhood and the river. Different residential character; less of the historic-architecture density.
Boulevard Bluffs / View Ridge–Madison: Newer, family-oriented neighborhoods further south. Newer schools, newer parks, newer construction. The trade-off: less of the original-Everett story.
The Right-Buyer Profile, Honestly
Port Gardner is the right neighborhood if you:
Value historic architecture and want the inspection-conversation reality of older homes.
Want walkability to downtown and to the waterfront more than walkability to schools.
Like the working-waterfront character of the bay view rather than wanting an unobstructed open-water view.
Plan to invest in your home over time — many Port Gardner homes reward sustained restoration work with both lifestyle and resale upside.
It’s the wrong neighborhood if you want new construction, family-oriented school catchments at the doorstep, or a neighborhood with commercial conveniences inside its boundaries. Both Boulevard Bluffs and View Ridge–Madison are better fits for those buyers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are most Port Gardner homes original?
Many are, particularly the Craftsman bungalow stock from the 1910s and 1920s and the Queen Anne mansions from the 1890s. Mid-century cottages were infilled during Everett’s wartime housing crunch.
How does pricing compare to Northwest Everett?
Pricing is comparable to Northwest Everett at the historic-bluff level, with Port Gardner often slightly more for premium Rucker Hill addresses and slightly less for blocks further from the bluff. Our three-submarket Everett housing guide walks through the broader comparison.
What’s the schools situation?
Port Gardner is in the Everett Public Schools district. Specific assignments depend on the home’s address; verify with the district before contracting.
Can I walk to the marina from a Port Gardner home?
Yes. From Rucker Hill or the bluff streets, the walk to Waterfront Place at the Port of Everett is flat (well, downhill on the way out) and runs about fifteen minutes. The walk back is uphill.
What’s the commute like?
Downtown Everett is short. Paine Field and the Boeing complex are 10–20 minutes by car depending on traffic. Seattle is 30–45 minutes most days; Everett Station provides Sound Transit and bus connections. The post-merger Everett/Community Transit network covers the regional bus side.
Is HOA membership required?
The Port Gardner Neighborhood Association is a voluntary residents’ association — not an HOA in the legal/contract sense. Most Port Gardner homes have no HOA dues; verify on a property-by-property basis through the seller’s disclosure.
If you have one afternoon in Everett and you want to see the city’s founding chapter, Port Gardner is the route. A 2026 day-trip guide to Everett’s second-oldest neighborhood — the Rucker Mansion, the Historic Everett walking tour, the Grand Avenue Park bluff, and the flat fifteen-minute walk down to Waterfront Place at the Port of Everett.
The One-Afternoon Itinerary
Port Gardner is one of those neighborhoods that rewards the visitor who comes in on foot and takes their time. The whole route is walkable in three to four hours; you can also do it in two if you skip the marina detour. A practical sequence:
Park near Grand Avenue Park at the north end of the neighborhood. Grand Avenue between Pacific and 23rd has the most parking and is the easiest entry point.
Pull up the Historic Everett walking tour at historiceverett.org/walkingtour/PortGardner.html on your phone. It is a self-guided route that hits the most significant homes.
Walk south toward Rucker Hill, taking in 1890s Queen Anne mansions, 1910s and 1920s Craftsman bungalows, and the maritime-influenced homes along the bluff.
Stop at the Rucker Mansion (13,000 square feet, 1905, Federal Revival, $40,000 to build). The exterior is visible from the public right-of-way; the home is privately owned and not open inside.
Optional detour: walk down to Waterfront Place. A flat fifteen-minute walk takes you from Rucker Hill to the Port of Everett marina, Boxcar Park, and the new Fisherman’s Harbor restaurants. Eat. Walk back up.
Why Visit Port Gardner Specifically
Most visitors to Everett come in for the waterfront, AquaSox baseball, or Boeing’s Future of Flight. All three are worth doing. None of them tells the founding story. Port Gardner does — it is the original 50-acre townsite the Rucker brothers platted in 1890 to start the Everett Land Company. Walking the streets the Ruckers laid out is the fastest way to understand why Everett looks the way it does.
The architectural density is the second reason. In one block of Port Gardner you can stand in front of a Queen Anne mansion built when Grover Cleveland was president, walk five doors down to a Craftsman bungalow built when Calvin Coolidge was, and end the block at a postwar cottage built during the wartime housing crunch. Few neighborhoods in the Pacific Northwest layer their architectural history that visibly.
The Bay View, in Plain Language
From Grand Avenue Park and the bluff that runs west of the avenue, you get one of the best public-access water views in Snohomish County. On a clear day you can see Whidbey Island across Possession Sound, the Olympics behind it, and — directly below — the Port of Everett’s working waterfront, where Boxcar Park, the marina, and the cargo terminals all sit. It is a fifteen-minute walk down the hill from the bluff to Waterfront Place if you want to put boots on the marina deck.
Where to Eat (And Where Not to Walk Hungry)
Port Gardner is residential. The places to eat are downtown to the north (a short walk uphill from the neighborhood’s north edge) or down the hill at Waterfront Place at the Port of Everett, where Bluewater Distilling, Lombardi’s Italian Restaurants, Salty’s at Waterfront Place, and Menchie’s are all within a one-minute walk of one another.
The visitor mistake to avoid: assuming there are restaurants inside Port Gardner itself. There aren’t. Plan to start hungry uphill or eat downhill at the marina.
What to Time Your Visit Around
Three things make a Port Gardner visit better:
Daylight. The architectural detail is what you came for. Mid-day to late afternoon is best.
Clear weather. The bluff bay views are the second reason to come, and clear days take in Whidbey Island and the Olympics.
Saturday morning. The Historic Everett walking-tour route is most rewarding on a quiet weekend morning when you can take your time on each home without traffic on Rucker, Hoyt, and Grand.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the Port Gardner walking tour take?
The Historic Everett self-guided walking tour at historiceverett.org/walkingtour/PortGardner.html takes about an hour at a normal pace. Add another hour if you do the Waterfront Place detour. Add another hour if you stop for lunch.
Can I tour the inside of the Rucker Mansion?
No. The Rucker Mansion is privately owned. The exterior remains visible from the public right-of-way and is a regular stop on the Historic Everett walking tour.
Where do I park?
Grand Avenue and side streets between Pacific and 23rd offer the easiest parking and put you at the north end of the neighborhood for the walking tour.
Is the neighborhood family-friendly for a visit?
Yes. Sidewalks are good, traffic is light by Pacific Northwest standards, and Grand Avenue Park inside the neighborhood is a working public park with views over the bay. The walking tour pace works well for families with school-aged kids, especially if you frame it as a treasure-hunt for architectural details.
Combine with what?
The most natural pairings are Waterfront Place at the Port of Everett (down the hill, fifteen minutes on foot) or downtown Everett to the north for lunch and shopping.
