Category: Restaurants

Cozy, romantic restaurants in Tacoma & Pierce County

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At the coziest restaurant in Pierce County, you can make new friends around a fire pit, roast marshmallows with a s’mores kit, and sip cider under a pavilion by a handcrafted water mill.

Mill Haus Cider Co., the expansive outdoor taproom and restaurant in Eatonville, won readers’ hearts in our TNT Diner poll. About 17 percent of more than 200 tallies went to this year-old destination not far from the Ashford entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

A close runner-up, Marzano Italian Restaurant in Parkland garnered almost as many votes. In third place is Tacoma icon Over the Moon Cafe, commonly cited as the city’s most romantic restaurant.

A chunk of voters said their favorite was missing from the list. Shout-out to Cooks Tavern, which was nominated by a couple of readers. We tried to bring a wide variety of price points, cuisines and styles to the list of 40 choices.

Others that snagged several tallies: Bar Rosa, en Rama, Crudo & Cotto, Netshed No. 9 and Bourbon Street Creole Kitchen.

Read on for a look at the Top 5 and a few of TNT Diner’s favorites for all your cozy restaurant needs this winter and beyond.

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Fire pits and pavilions make the outdoor taproom at Mill Haus Cider Co. in Eatonville a great choice for a family-friendly outing. Donna Ragazzo and her son Jarin play corn hole on the lawn on July 7, 2022. Clare Grant [email protected]

MILL HAUS CIDER CO.

▪ 303 Center St. E, Eatonville, 253-487-7065, drinkmillhaus.com

▪ Wednesday 4-8 pm, Thursday 4-9 pm, Friday-Saturday noon-9 pm, Sunday noon-8 pm

Longtime Eatonville resident Steve Schmidt built much of the unique fixtures on the property, from that water mill to a steel chandelier and a steam donkey replica above a stovepipe fireplace in the equally cozy lodge. Outside, there are several pavilions, ample fire pits, picnic tables with umbrellas, a stage for live music and an area dedicated to lawn games.

Schmidt started the cidery several years ago with son Caleb and his childhood friends, brothers Nick and Justin Baublits. While the taproom is a great choice for a cold one after a day in the mountains, it has quickly become a beloved Eatonville gathering place — the parking lot is regularly filled up on most days for lunch and dinner.

In addition to house ciders, the bar offers local craft brews and wines, while the kitchen churns out highly shareable plates, including flatbreads and Hawaiian pork sliders.

MARZANO

▪ 516 Garfield St., Tacoma, 253-537-4191, dinemarzano.com

▪ Tuesday-Saturday 4-8 pm (8:30 pm weekend nights)

Elisa Marzano and her son Brian brought their seasonal Italian cooking to Parkland in 1998. Nearing its 25th birthday, the intimate restaurant inside a restored Craftsman house continues to hold the line as one of the region’s best.

Relish dishes like Northwest cioppino with Pacific clams, mussels, fin fish and prawns in a tomato-vermouth sauce; an assagi plate of homemade charcuterie and Sardinian-style crackers; classic spaghetti carbonara and “marvelous” meatballs. Pair with a glass of Rossa Toscana and finish with the light Swedish cream dessert. Reservations highly recommended.

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Marzano has been serving fine Italian fare focused on Northwest ingredients since 1988. The individual tent tables outside are almost as cozy as the dining room inside a vintage Craftsman in Parkland. Kristine Sherred [email protected]

OVER THE MOON CAFE

▪ 709 Opera Alley, Tacoma, 253-284-3722, overthemooncafe.net

▪ Tuesday-Thursday 4:30-9 pm, Friday-Saturday 4:30-10 pm

More than two decades later, chef Deanna Harris-Bender’s Opera Alley getaway continues to be a sought-after table for anniversaries, graduation dinners and everyday celebrations. Its speakeasy sensibility stems from its two-story dining room with plush chairs, white tablecloths, heavy curtains, dim lighting and complementary background music.

Order a classic cocktail from the short-but-sweet list and start with a wedge salad, share the duck and try the vegetarian butternut squash “lasagna.” Wrap with a slice of the unique berry dessert. Reservations highly recommended.

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End your romantic meal at Over the Moon with a slice of chef-owner Deanna Harris-Bender’s unique berry pie, a date crust and dense mousse-like creation sweetened with coconut manna. Pete Caster [email protected]

DUSTY’S HIDEAWAY

▪ 723 E 34th St., Tacoma, 253-292-0106, dustyshideaway.com

▪ Daily 11am-11pm (midnight Friday-Saturday)

Dusty’s website describes the McKinley Avenue pub as “a cozy little pit stop,” and how could you not agree? Owners Dana and Dave Verellen transformed this old Craftsman house into a kitschy desert oasis that feels like going to your friend’s place, where vintage trinkets mingle with plenty of houseplants in macrame hangers.

As a family-friendly restaurant, the menu features a few delicious burgers, fun sandwiches like the Sam Elliot with turkey, cream cheese and blackberry jam, and one of the best breakfast burritos in town. (Hint: Breakfast all day!) Cocktails are great here, too. When it’s not raining, find a seat in one

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Three new restaurants serving Summerville customers in the former Sticky Fingers building

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SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCBD) – A former Sticky Fingers restaurant is finding new life in Summerville.

The building on Main Street now offers three different new restaurants in one location.

You’ll find Azul Mexican restaurant at the front of the building, Kairos Mediterranean is located at the back, and right between you’ll find a new local business called Not Your Average Wings.

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that Priscilla Bloedoorn and her best friend, Rachael Bailey, started thinking about opening a restaurant.

“Me and Priscilla [SIC] came up with the concept of having a wing spot here in the Summerville area,” said Bailey, who co-owns the wings restaurant. “We saw the need for it.”

All three of these restaurants recently opened for business. The ribbon was cut for Not Your Average Wings on October 14 and offers 30 flavors of wings along with waffles, grits, fries, fried okra, fried pickles, and onion rings… and the concept seems to be working.

“It’s amazing. Definitely aptly named not your average wings,” said happy customer Jordan Brown.

Brown stopped by to pick up an order on Tuesday afternoon. “Great food. I come here all the time. I tell everybody I know about this place,” Brown said.

“With everything that’s happened in the past couple of years, it’s nice to see that people who are local are still having the chance to, just put their feet into the soil.”

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Wonderkid Restaurant From the Owners of Bon Ton Closes at Atlanta Dairies on Memorial Drive

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Wonderkid, the Memorial Drive restaurant owned by Darren Carr and Eric Simpkins (Bon Ton, The Lawrence), closed over the weekend after nearly three years at Atlanta Dairies in Reynoldstown.

Rumors of its impending closure began circulating earlier in November, with one reader telling Eater that their server stated the restaurant’s last day was set for December 1. However, Wonderkid instead closed following dinner service SundayNovember 27.

“There just comes a time when you either lick your wounds and move on or just keep battling,” Carr said of the decision to close Wonderkid. “We felt the best move was to admit defeat. I could make a lot of excuses about the pandemic being the only reason, but it was a combination of the last three years and not being good enough. I don’t think we conceptually nailed it.”

Wonderkid opened in December 2019, just three months prior to the start of the pandemic. During its first year, the restaurant sported a food menu from chef Justin Dixon that included everything from chili-spiced sticky wings and pan-roasted duck with red cabbage spätzle to a diner-style cheeseburger, deviled eggs topped with bacon and pickled okra, and a falafel waffle served with sides of tabouleh and roasted eggplant. Brunch featured familiar comfort dishes like steak and eggs, eggs in hell, and bagels and lox.

Dixon left Wonderkid in 2021 to focus on his critically acclaimed sandwich pop-up Humble Mumble, currently in residence at Collective at Coda food hall in Midtown.

Like both Bon Ton and the Lawrence, Wonderkid quickly became known for its happy hour specials and cocktails, including takes on classics like the pisco sour with overproof rum and a Hanky ​​Panky made with Japanese gin, Cocchi Torino, and Ramazzotti amaro.

In 2020, the restaurant played host to holiday bar Miracle, a move which offered more outdoor seating and social distancing during the height of the global health crisis that year. In addition to seating on Wonderkid’s covered patio, Atlanta Dairies allowed Miracle bar to expand into the green space beyond the restaurant to create an outdoor “Christmas district” at the complex.

For now, Carr says he and Simpkins are focused on their next venture together. The pair plan to open the Waiting Room at the end of December, a cocktail lounge with live music taking over the former Top Flr space above their Midtown restaurant Bon Ton.

Three two top tables set along the banquette at Wonderkid at Atlanta Dairies

Wonderkid

A dining area with vintage diner tables and chairs and a banquette along the wall at Wonderkid at Atlanta Dairies

Wonderkid

Wonderkid

Atlanta Dairies is currently home to Three Taverns Brewery’s Imaginarium, Cold Brew Bar coffeehouse, and the Eastern’s concert hall and rooftop bar, from the owners of the Variety Playhouse.

Fishmonger owners Skip Engelbrecht, Nhan Le, and chef Bradford Forsblom open counter-service restaurant Small Fry next year at Atlanta Dairies, serving fried chicken and fish sandwiches, falafel burgers, fish nuggets, and shrimp baskets from a takeout window. A rum bar called El Malo and Spina Pizza from Anthony Spina Jr. are also expected to open in 2023 at the Memorial Drive complex.

674 Myrtle St., Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 996-6161

225 Rogers Street Northeast, , GA 30317

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