Some change – but not too much – is coming to one of Ballard's oldest and most popular hangouts. In the coming months, three new owners will try Hattie's Hat on for size.

Dan Cowan and Kyla and Ron Fairchild, current owners of the restaurant and lounge at 5231 Ballard Ave. N.W., are selling the business to Hattie's manager Erin West, Sunset Tavern owner Man Genereaux and musician Jeff Taylor.

West, who started working at Hattie's in 2005, said she sees the sale as a chance for the owners, who all have major projects demanding their attention, to bring in some fresh faces who have the time to make changes.

"There's been a lot of stuff I've been wanting to do in the last couple of years that I couldn't," West said.

The major change coming to Hattie's is actually somewhat of a return to form. The new owners are planning on bring back live music to the restaurant.

Hattie's Hoot, performances in Hattie's back room by acoustic musicians and singer-songwriters, was done away with three years ago when the room was remodeled and a towering fish tank was installed in the center of the room, West said.

She said the new owners plan on bringing back live music, as well as DJs, to the restaurant. In earlier years, many of the employees were musicians and they managed to bring in a lot of big-name bands for secret shows at Hattie's, she said.

"It was fun to have that kind of vibe going," West said. "It will be exciting to try to bring that community feeling back to Hattie's."

The fish tank will be removed and returned to its previous owner, and the menus may go through some minnor revamping, but that is it for planned changes, West said.

She said the new owners will keep Hattie's dive-bar feel and will be keeping the restaurant's signature art, including a 24-foot-long mural by Fred Oldfield that was installed in the 1950s.

Cowan and the Fairchilds will even be buying back in to the restaurant, which opened in Ballard in 1904, as part-owners, with West, Genereaux and Taylor as the majority owners, West said.

The Hattie's Hat relaunch should take place by mid-July, West said.