New Tacoma-area restaurants: Tikka masala pizza, food on a farm, matcha and more
As we look toward spring, new restaurants in and around Tacoma include a Mexican food truck with banana-leaf barbacoa and a tea cafe specializing in Japanese matcha.
Elsewhere, two caffeine-related favorites have moved, and across the Narrows, a brewery on a farm now serves food.
In the past few months, the area has also welcomed more wood-fired and New York-style pizza, a self-serve taproom and a burger joint expansion.
Here’s a look at recently opened restaurants, cafes and food trucks in Tacoma, Puyallup and Gig Harbor.
LOPEZ COCINITA LAB
▪ Food truck, various locations around Pierce County, lopezcocinitalabllc.net
Pierce County’s food truck scene continues to grow, with Lopez Cocinita Lab the newest addition. Ana and Afrin Lopez, who grew up in Los Angeles but have lived in Milton for more than 20 years, debuted their 26-foot trailer in February. The menu includes barbacoa tacos (the beef steamed traditionally in banana leaves), tostadas, esquites and a walking taco with chipotle crema. Garnish to your heat tolerance with fresh salsas of roasted poblano, cayenne and habanero. In its first few weeks, the truck has parked for lunch at Milton City Hall and Friday for dinner at Acorn Brewing in Edgewood (which expanded its bar to serve whiskey and cocktails late last year). Schedule available on Facebook and StreetFoodFinder.
WIDE AWAKE CAFE
▪ 4002 Center St., Tacoma, instagram.com/wideawakecafetacoma
This drive-thru coffee shop took over the hut in the convenience store parking lot on Center and Madison, between Tipsy Tomato and Allstar Burgers. It’s the second location for Wide Awake, which opened its first shop a couple years ago at 1011 Center just west of J Street. With Dillano’s coffee, expect the same menu of espresso drinks with house-infused touches like flavored whipped cream. The food menu here offers more than many of its peers, with breakfast burritos, breakfast bowls, avocado toast, a few sandwiches, oat bars and bagels. Open at 5 a.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday.
TACOMA JAVA COMPANY
▪ 2703 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-292-9194, facebook.com/TacomaJavaCo
After several years on Division Avenue across from Tacoma General, Tacoma Java Co. (which also operates in Bonney Lake) was forced to close its cafe following a lease dispute. The situation had a silver lining, though, as the cafe secured a location in the heart of the Sixth Avenue business district, on the same block as Crown Bar and Primo Grill. The new digs went live in February with a familiar menu of espresso and energy drinks. New are coffee flights — 5 ounces of a quad of drinks — and soft-serve. Pastries, vegan sandwiches from Quickie Too and daily happy hour 11 a.m.-1 p.m. are among the reasons to swing by here for your fix. Open 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and until 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
JIN JIN MATCHA
▪ 1019 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, jinjinmatcha.com
The couple behind Sunny’s, a plant and homeware shop with highly curated goods on Antique Row, has opened a cool, calming cafe dedicated to tea. With a focus on matcha, Sarah Oh sources only ceremonial grade blends directly from a family-owned farm in Japan. It’s all whisked to order in the traditional way, poured over your choice of milk and sweetened, if desired, with agave. Try it also with sparkling water or in specialty drinks like a black sesame or chai latte. Oh has partnered with Miro Tea in Ballard on a variety of loose-leaf blends. You won’t find any coffee here — or WiFi, a purposeful choice intended to encourage guests to sit and read a book, talk with one another or just stare out the window and contemplate the day.
MAD HAT TEA
▪ 301-A Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, 253-302-2046, madhattea.com
Beloved local tea shop Mad Hat closed its Commerce Street location last year when a new building owner raised the rent. Owners Tobin Ropes and Maureen McHugh found a roomier location in the Dome District, in a funky space with views of the railroad and the bay beyond. Expect the same special selection of loose-leaf teas to enjoy on-site or at-home. Future plans include light fare such as potato bread toast and jam as well as game and vinyl nights. Current hours: Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday noon-4:30 p.m.
YOKED FARMHOUSE & BREWERY
▪ 525 SW Pine Rd., Port Orchard, 253-858-6043, yokedfarmhousebrewery.com
A visit to the farm, as the families behind Yoked fondly refer to their bucolic brewery, is an essential Key Peninsula outing. (The address says Port Orchard, but it’s really just past Purdy.) The taproom opened in 2020, but new as of last month is an additional space that houses a kitchen churning out salads with housemade dressing, soup and sandwiches ($15): an Italian with pepperoni and salami with grilled onions, bell peppers and mushrooms, romano and havarti cheese on a French roll; a tuna melt with white cheddar; and chicken salad with grapes, golden raisins, apples and celery. Split a half-sandwich and half-soup for $15, too. Look for seasonal ingredients grown on-site.
SPICE WORLD INDIAN MARKET
▪ 10417 Canyon Road E., Puyallup, 253-212-3408
In the Summit-Waller area, technically Puyallup, Spice World opened just before year’s end. As TNT reported last week, the Indian market and grocery store stocks a vast array of imported spices, snacks, tea and more ingredients essential to cooking Indian food at home. A full section of refrigerated and frozen goods, including kulfi (ice cream) and naan, plus a produce section and multitude of rice styles, make the store a one-stop-shop for general shopping, too.
Indian market opens in Pierce County with rows of spices, fresh produce, snacks and more
PIZZA TWIST - PUYALLUP
▪ 4621 S. Meridian, Puyallup, 253-445-6655, puyallup.pizzatwist.com/menucat
This franchised pizza restaurant added a Puyallup location, in the plaza with Michael’s and Grocery Outlet, late last year. Originally called Chicago’s Pizza With A Twist, the chain — now with more than 60 stores in the United States, Canada and Indonesia — specializes in a pan style. Though you can stick with classic toppings, what stands out here are the “Indian fusion” flavors. Instead of tomato sauce, it’s tikka masala, Manchurian or curry, with garlic, ginger and green chile, plus mozzarella cheese and a variety of meats and veggies. Smalls generally start at $13.99 and run to a family size for $31.99. The Puyallup outpost is the sixth location in Washington state, following Issaquah, Kent, Redmond, Lynnwood and Seattle.
THE COASTER BAR
▪ 120 S. Meridian, Puyallup, 253-466-3744, facebook.com/thecoasterpuyallup
Longtime area bartenders Rachel Vincent and Sandi Whitmore have brought the Washington State Fair to life year-round at their new bar in downtown Puyallup. The Coaster opened in January on the main stretch of Meridian with a menu of quirky fair-inspired cocktails, each with a little extra something — a side of popcorn, for instance, or a mini rubber duck. To nibble, order “concessions,” ranging from a $20 meat-and-cheese board to $8 grilled cheese and $3.50 cup of chili. Open Wednesday-Monday at noon (closed Tuesdays).
OTHER TACOMA-AREA RESTAURANT NEWS
▪ Delightful Neighborhood Market, the locally owned grocer in Tacoma’s North End, is moving along with its super-renovations. The shop was forced to close a year ago when a thief rammed a pickup truck into the front of the building. The family has taken the opportunity to completely redesign and upgrade the space and anticipates an early spring opening, according to a Feb. 13 social media post.
▪ Vegan’s Alley served its last batch of vegan comfort food on Sunday, the business announced on Instagram last week. The owners, originally from New York City, aimed to bring “NY-style bodega sandwiches” — chopped cheese, cheesesteak, crispy chicken — to Tacoma, but with plant-based meats. They operated for a year as a pickup and delivery-only restaurant out of My Commercial Kitchen, a commissary in Central Tacoma, and served at popup festivals including Tacoma Sunday Market and the Lincoln District Food Walk.
▪ Open since 1996 on Pacific Avenue, Harmon Brewing closed the restaurant and brewpub permanently after service Feb. 25. Incidentally, the last day fell just two days after Harmon founder and Tacoma beer pioneer Pat Nagle died unexpectedy at age 60. Nagle sold his remaining shares of the business in 2019. The company still operates The Hub in Gig Harbor and, as of last fall, a second location in Silverdale. A new restaurant should take over the space soon, the building owner confirmed to The News Tribune.
▪ Discovery Cider Co. closed its second-floor taproom on South Tacoma Way Feb. 25. Located above Scamp Brewing’s Tacoma taproom and the forthcoming Howdy Bagel, the cider bar opened in January 2022, but owner Brennan Sandstrom had brewed from a home-based facility since 2020.
▪ In Auburn, A Street Pub has closed at 2402 A St. SE. The owners of Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro, also in downtown Auburn, opened the casual sports bar despite the pandemic, and could not come to lease terms with the landlord, they said on social media.
