The Westwater Kitchen & Lounge Brought Upscale Dining Back to Capitol Lake

Olympia's west side has a new upscale dining and cocktail destination, and it comes with one of the best views in the city.

The Westwater Kitchen & Lounge opened in April 2026 at 2402 Lakeridge Way SW, in the space that was for decades the Red Lion (most recently the Olympia Hotel at Capitol Lake).

The property was acquired by Sage Investment Group and reborn as Westwater Village, a 196-unit studio apartment community. The restaurant that anchors it, run by Carve Food Services, is open to the public, you don't have to live there to eat there.

The concept is elevated American cuisine with a Pacific Northwest sensibility: refined, comfortable, and built around the view of Capitol Lake.

The menu leans into craft: five-spice duck breast, prime New York steak, sesame gochujang ahi, a well-reviewed smoked crab dip, scallops, a blue ravioli, and a signature Westwater s'more for dessert (with a matching s'mores martini at the bar). There's a full craft cocktail program, weekend brunch, and a daily happy hour.

Early reviews are strong. "Best view in Olympia," one Google reviewer wrote. Another: "Beautiful new place in Olympia. The little extra details to our celebration were appreciated."

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, happy hour 2:30–5:30 PM and dinner 4:30–9:30 PM; Sunday brunch 9:30 AM–2:30 PM. Closed Monday. Reservations are available at thewestwater.com, and you can follow along on Instagram at @the.westwater.

Real estate note: the Red Lion conversion is one of the more interesting adaptive-reuse stories in Thurston County right now.

Taking a tired lakeside hotel and turning it into 196 apartments plus a public waterfront restaurant is exactly the kind of density-plus-amenity move that makes a corridor more livable.

Capitol Lake's west shore has always had the view; now it has a reason to be a destination. If you're watching west Olympia, this is a real signal.