West Seattle BBQ spot goes cashless after 6th burglary

Name: Popular West Seattle BBQ restaurant goes cashless after 6th burglary in 2 years
Uploaded: 2024-07-24T22:42:26-07:00
Description: A West Seattle restaurant is taking even more preventive measures after it was broken into at least six times in the past two years.

Popular West Seattle BBQ restaurant goes cashless after 6th burglary in 2 years

A West Seattle restaurant is taking even more preventive measures after it was broken into at least six times in the past two years.

SEATTLE - A West Seattle restaurant is taking even more preventive measures after it was broken into at least six times in the past two years.

The Director of Operations says the break-ins have gotten worse since they opened the West Seattle location several years ago with crime ramping up there in 2023.

"We love west Seattle, and we are still here, going strong," Jeremy McLachlan said, Director of Operations for Pecos Pit BBQ.

The team is staying positive, despite last Sunday's break-in at around 2 a.m. at the West Seattle location.

"The break-ins have gotten really bad," McLachlan said.

He said the drive-through window had already been fortified following one of the previous break-ins.

"This is a metal wrought iron gate that we’ve put in place," he said.

On Sunday, burglars smashed through a side window and mangled the store safe, taking around $1,500.

"This time they decided to go through this window here, which is a double-pane window, and they shattered that," he said.

Spokesperson Brie Noble says the West Seattle location has been targeted six times in the past couple of years and since 2020 there have been around 12–15 break-ins reported at all locations, including at the corporate office in Kent. The company's food truck has also been targeted in the past.

"The city of Seattle is getting really tough for us. We have government mandates that are raising all of our benefits and wages that we pay our team members. We have high occupancy costs. Now with these break-ins, it's really hard for us to operate a business in Seattle," said McLachlan.

For now, signs are going up, alerting customers that the West Seattle restaurant is not accepting cash. McLachlan says a nearby Taco Time restaurant has also made the change.

"They’ve done credit only for the past year because they got broken into so many times," he said.

He thanks customers for their continued support, and team members for their resilience.

"I want to give mad props to my team because we came in after the break in- we cleaned up the glass, put wood in the window, and we were open for business that day," said McLachlan. "No matter how hard things are sometimes, we still persevere and keep going,"

Managers say that just by coming in and buying food at the West Seattle location, you can do your part to support them. Just remember to bring a credit card or cashless payment option.