The pandemic didn’t stop these restaurants from opening in 2020

Juicy birria, airy Argentinian pastries, Pacific Northwest meets Italian, cider from a Tacoma garage, German beers on draft, spices a-plenty.

These epicurean delights emerged in Pierce County during the first quarter of 2020, portending a year brimming with more good food and drink, in more places, from entrepreneurial minds and talented hands.

In optimism, following seven years of construction and delays, Lydia and Dennis Mascarinas opened their anticipated German beer hall on Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma on Friday, March 13. Berliner Pub closed three days later: the Sunday the restaurant world as we knew it crashed to a thunderous halt.

Within 24 hours, the term “takeout-only” became the defining factor of an industry built on the in-person experience. Dishwashers, servers, cooks, bartenders and maitre d’s went home. Owners and managers took over the roles of all of the above.

Yet optimism and perseverance, a commitment to a craft, a good idea and a good time, sustained.

Whitni and Quincy Henry’s Campfire Coffee lit the vapor-steam fire of their new cafe after a whirlwind few months of selling, seemingly nonstop, bags of coffee beans and outdoor-themed wares online.

Meanwhile, Jason and Robyn Alexander, the couple behind Tacoma’s destination tiki bar Devil’s Reef, hammered away at the former Copper Door space in Stadium District. In September, they revealed the elegant, approachable Gilman House with a vegetarian-heavy menu and a golden cocktail list, shooting it straight to the top of “Bars Where You’ll Find Me When We Can/Should Sit at Bars Again.”

See also:

▪ Cider & Cedar, Mia Daughenbaugh and Sterling Paradiso’s cider taproom downtown with a backbar made entirely of old-growth wood from the Olympic Peninsula;

▪ Field Bar & Bottle Shop, Brian Hibbard’s brick-walled, midcentury-styled natural wine bar and, eventually, neighborhood pub currently operating as a bottle shop;

▪ State Street Beer Co., Dustin Johnson and Alicia Pahluniak’s bar-turned-Neapolitan pizza destination;

▪ Sig Brewing Co., a clever Brewing District restaurant with beers to match from chef Hailey Hernandez and brewer Jeff Stokes;

▪ Thirsty Hound Drinkery, Malaty Lim and Rik Filion’s University Place haunt that has leaned into its Thai-inspired pub food;

▪ Jack’s BBQ, the 200-seat Algona outpost of South Seattle’s Central Texas barbecue haven.

Each of the above represents either an advent or a reinvention, both of which have bargained to be this year’s running theme.

There is a first time for everything, and there is always a time for a fresh start.

See: Verone’s Sausage Co. & Italian Kitchen.

Tacoma’s new restaurants

Though State Street opened in 2017, its transformation to a takeout-only — there it is again — pizza and bottle shop epitomizes the art of the pandemic pivot. Sixth Avenue is better for it. Similarly, Alma Mater scrapped its two respected eateries for an outdoor-only concept simply named The Patio.

A few blocks west, 20-year-old McKenzie Brentin opened her first business, Terra-Cotta Coffee & Tea, inside the newly transplanted Jade & Co Succulent Boutique, brewing Vietnamese coffee from a walk-up window surrounded by take-home greenery, and South Tacoma welcomed Beyond ThunderDome Cafe, an East Coast sub shop inside a clothing store and music venue.

The area near Tacoma Mall gained a surprising Vietnamese outlet in Saigon House, where Chang Thai also opened a small outpost that deserves your attention. A full-on birrieria arrived in Lakewood, Taqueria La Michoacana snuck into the Lincoln District in February (hint: they also serve birria), and Taqueria Mis Tesoros took over the late Miteapap Cambodian restaurant with some mean caldo.

Ah, and Sari-Sari Store, a Filipino-focused Asian market, opened in Puyallup — where the nonprofit Step by Step and Farm 12 celebrated one year in November.

And The Public Market at Point Ruston finally opened. Sure, it’s a work in progress, but there you’ll find Only Oatmeal Cookies’ first storefront, Fathom Seafood’s live Dungeness crabs, a Dancing Goats Coffee Bar and more — both now and later.

Yes, yes, there will be a later. Take that 2020!

Tacoma pizza, beer & wine

Near northeast Tacoma, technically in Federal Way, Hello Banh Mi is in the midst of opening a second location in Kirkland. In Proctor, two old friends, barely 30 years old, debuted their fast-casual bánh mì and boba shop Toast Mi to fanfare — in the form of bustling business.

Across the street, Crudo & Cotto cultivated a reputation for elegant Italian in just three months of indoor dining, having opened Dec. 27, 2019. To keep customers interested in takeout, several “ghost kitchen” concepts appeared from inside Cooks Tavern. Most recently, the Walla Walla-based Browne Family Vineyards introduced their lovely Tacoma wine bar.

While the team behind Gig Harbor Brewing launched Home Turf Taproom in Parkland, Wingman Brewers tuned Little Radio downtown. At the bookends of the 2020 pandemic chapter, Kris Blondin returned with part-shop, part-bar Amitie Wine Co., and chef Blake Lord-Wittig with the pop-up Spice Lab at Harmon. A catering company enhanced its events space into Dock Street Deli, and at the Tacoma Farmers Market, Sun Lee and June Yoon wooed us with hand-cut Mogoso Noodles in anticipation of a permanent home.

In Stadium, Pint & Pie took advantage of its ingrained patio and Odin Brewing of an existing pizza oven helmed by down-to-earth chef Kristen Lyons.

It was kind of a big year for pizza.

Dean Shivers, a laid-off bartender, spent the spring lockdown honing his recipe for Detroit-style pizzas, a worthy endeavor indeed aptly called Tacoma Pie. Further solidifying the future of the Brewing District, E9 revamped its “Pizza Works” to showcase playful wood-fired pies under the watchful eye of chef Erica Dunham, and just before 2020 began, Pizzeria Fondi reopened in Gig Harbor with the same sourdough starter but a local owner.

As we head into a new year, remember that word. You know the one.

Don’t let the allure of a post-pandemic 2021 alter our renewed respect for our neighbors, and the people who always take the chance others don’t so you have somewhere to forget about your worries and your strife.

We all need the bare necessities.

This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The pandemic didn’t stop these restaurants from opening in 2020."