Category Archives: Coffee Shops, cafes and bistros

Elevated Ice Cream

9125698571_d25b06ac70_bPort Townsend’s Elevator Ice Cream at 627 Water Street is a must visit when we are in the area. They have made their own ice cream since 1977. I had one of their four favorite flavors — Ginger with real piece of ginger. Their other three most popular flavors are Swiss Orange Chocolate Chip, Amaretto Hazelnut and Espresso Chip.

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Treos, stands for Third Place

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I had work to do and thought that I’d stop for an Americano. Treos now occupies the old Forza space at 1201 S Union Ave. They have a nice, streamline look to the interior of the space and the Americano was really good. There are now two Treos (I know, kind of ironic!), this one and one in Old Town. There is a drive through. Treos offers the traditional coffee drinks, as well as beer and wine and light lunch fare.

The premise behind the name is that this is a “Third Place” created as an informal place to meet family and friends. The first two places are home and work. The other place I can think of with this premise is Third Place Books. Treos reminds me a bit of the Mandolin, which I miss.

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt

9080466513_1c0594bb3b_bMy friend and I share the same birthday (which was in May, we are running late!) and we decided to treat ourselves at Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt in Jame’s Center 1816 South Mildred Street, Tacoma. There are 14 flavors and plenty of toppings. Their Facebook Page is here.

What is interesting to me is that the South Hill Menchie was my new place in April 2012. At that time they had 170 locations and now they have 237. In April 2012 Washington State had seven locations and now they have 19 with three more in the works.

Cafe Elite for an Orangesicle Smoothie

8982560497_d637d9c3ea_bWhile other folks were heading out to happy hour on a warm Friday afternoon, I went to Cafe Elite at 4401 S 19th St, Tacoma, WA ‎for a couple of Orangesicle Smoothies for dear daughter and me. They were delicious! Last year I went to visit the Cafe Elite in Lakewood.

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Australian Pie Company

8808802867_91b9e1723a_bThere are Italian restaurant, French restaurants, all types of Asian restaurants, but very few Australian restaurants! But today I found one, The Australian Pie Co. at 425 SW, 152nd Street, Burien, WA. Dear husband and I drove there just to sample their meat pies, which are filled with chicken or steak with various additions (mushrooms, potato, cheese, onion, etc.) I had the beef and mushroom and he had the beef and cheese. The pies are kind of like pot pies, with each one having a wonderful crust and savory filling. We brought home a chicken and asparagus pie for dinner for us and a vegetable pie for dear daughter. Both of those were also yummy. We also brought home a sampling of desserts including a yet untasted Lamington Cake. There is also a small collection of Australian products for sale. The Australian Pie Co’s website is here.

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Daniah’s International Market and Deli

8819608978_31fe55d1b8_b(1)Dear daughter wanted to eat middle eastern food, so we searched for them in the Tacoma area. There were two, but one is gone… so there is one. It is Daniah’s International Market and Deli at 6603 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma. I ordered a beef gyro meal (pictured) and dear daughter had the felafel, a new to her dish that she liked. There is also a grocery section with unusual imported items. The food was tasty and the service great.

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The French Bakery

8730778846_1b0975620f_b(1)Today I visited The French Bakery at 909 112th Avenue NE (the Crossroads Mall) in Bellevue. I had an excellent iced Ameriano and a raspberry cookie. There are two other French Bakeries, both in Bellevue.

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The South Sound’s Best Sandwich at Oliver’s

8718429879_7f2280babd_cIn April 2013 the Weekly Volcano organized a contest to establish the best sandwich in the South Sound. Sixty four restaurants entered. The winner was Oliver Sandwiches’ Lobster Sandwich (pictured above). Oliver’s Sandwiches is located at 900 Meridian Avenue East in Milton. Dear husband and I shared the lobster sandwich and could readily see how it became the winner.

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Joyfull Joy Pho

8657027554_54894b713f_bJoy Pho at 10706 Bridgeport Way SW  Lakewood, WA 98499 is also known as Pho PQ (or maybe that was the previous ownership. Dear daughter and I had taken a quick trip to Barnes and Noble and then stopped here for some take out. The woman who waited on us was friendly and the food was good.

Proctor Frozen Yogurt

8641138075_7040707752_zThe Proctor District is really pleasant to stroll around and the addition of Proctor Frozen Yogurt at 2510 North Proctor makes it even better. I ended up combing the lemon with the raspberry/pomegranate and dear daughter has the marshmallow. They were both a treat. The business is housed in what had been a house built in 1905.