Owners of the GAME Lounge say the kitchen (pictured above) has not been used since they opened in May. "They are trying to shut down a restaurant that was never opened," owner Brionne Corbray said of King County Public Health's closure press release.
Update for 7/7
According to Katie Ross with King County Public Health the press release from July 6 only pertained to shutting down the sale of ice cream, not the actual closure of the GAME Lounge as a business.
Ross said there is a permit process the lounge can go through to sell their ice cream in the future. GAME Collective owners agreed to not sell the ice cream until that permitting process is complete.
Public Health received complaints about the food items being sold at the lounge, according to Ross, which prompted the environmental health inspector visit.
The lounge can only sell prepackaged food items (like canned soda or chips) at this time, she said.
Ross said King County Public Health will post a clarification on the GAME Lounge closure later today.
Original story
King County Public Health issued a press release from their Twitter account on July 6 that read: “Closure: Game Lounge at 9803 16th Ave SW, Seattle was closed for operating without a valid permit.”
Brionne Corbray, owner of the medical marijuana lounge that opened in May in White Center, was not at the establishment when the King County inspector stopped in but said he spoke with the inspector on the telephone and was “shocked” by the press release.
According to Corbray, he was not told that he was shut down but that he could not sell THC-infused cookies or ice cream (the ice cream is made by Husky Deli in West Seattle) or cook in the kitchen without proper permits.
Corbray said he told the inspector the lounge’s kitchen is not used and they do not even have the gas hooked up.
“We’re not a restaurant; we are a medical marijuana dispensary and that’s what is on our license,” he said. “They are trying to shut down a restaurant that was never opened.”
Corbray said he may open the kitchen in the future, but for now they are a dispensary/lounge for medical marijuana patients.
“We are not closed; we are still open,” Corbray said.
An employee who spoke with the health inspector said he was told the cookies, brownies and ice cream were not properly labeled for resale.
The employee said the inspector told him, "So basically you have to shut down any sales of your food (that is not properly labeled for resale) ... he didn't say shut the place down."
This story will be updated tomorrow when King County Public Health media contacts are available to clarify the closure.
