Category Archives: Restaurants

Gibson’s Westgate

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Gibson’s Frozen Yogurt at Westgate, 5916 North 26th Street, Tacoma, opened in May about a year after the original Gibson’s opened in the Stadium District. It has the same wonderful yogurt as the Stadium location and it also features Corina Bakery pastries, Valhalla Coffee and Mad Hat Tea — all local companies. This location has more extensive outside seating and the interior is more spacious.

Dear daughter and I sampled almost all of the flavors before going with the Pistachio and I also had some fresh blueberries and raspberries. Dear daughter went with the classic rainbow sprinkles.  Their other flavors this week included  Alpine Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, Euro-Tart, Peach Mango Tart, Very Strawberry, Mango Tango sorbet, Very Berry sorbet, NSA Raspberry, Red Velvet, Cake Batter and Cookies & Cream!

Their Facebook Page is here http://www.facebook.com/Gibsons.Yogurt.Westgate

And their website is here http://www.gibsonsyogurt.com/

This location has previously been a Little Caesar’s Pizza http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1286 and before that it was a shoe store.

Tacos Guaymas Family Mexican Food

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I didn’t realize that Tacos Guaymas Family Mexican Food at 2630 South 38th Street, Tacoma was a chain of ten and I also didn’t realize that it had a drive through. What I did know is that they have really good food that is reasonably priced and plentiful. Dear daughter and I went through the take out lane and purchased dinner (a bean & cheese burrito for her and tortilla soup for me).

The website for the restaurant can be found here

http://www.tacosguaymas.com/tacostacoma/index.html

 

 

Siam Thai Restaurant

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Today we went to celebrate my daughter’s dear friend’s graduation at the Tacoma Dome and then we all went out to the Siam Thai Cuisine Restaurant at 1629 Eastlake Boulevard, Seattle, WA 98102. I loved the decor which is sleek and modern.  The food was really good too and the server was very attentive and quick. Adding the excellent company to that, made it an altogether a good experience.

http://www.siamthairestaurants.com/#/home

The Ugly Bean

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The Ugly Bean at 919 North 2nd Street in the Stadium District is fun. The drive through window guy had a big smile and my iced Americano was really very good.  I was a tad worried about going through the drive through since it looked like the exit was at a weird angle, but it really was no problem. After reading their Yelp review there are a couple of things I’d like to go back and try.

Renaissance Cafe

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The Renaissance Cafe at 1746 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma is located in the Birmingham Block and was constructed in 1892. The history of the building, which also includes a Starbucks can be found here http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/campus-map/buildings/birmingham-block-bb

 

Pho PQ

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Dear daughter told me that she had to eat veggie fried rice from Pho PQ at 10706 Bridgeport Way in Lakewood. She had been there with her friend and declared it delicious. So I ordered dinner to go and it was indeed delicious and there is plenty for lunch tomorrow. I told the counter guy who ran me up that it was my first time there and he smiled and said, see you tomorrow! I do so like an optimist!

The Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee House

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The Panama Hotel Coffee and Tea House at 607 South Main Street in the International District of Seattle has a fine selection of teas and plenty of history. I learned of it because my book group read The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Though it is a work of fiction, it is based on historical facts about the treatment of the West Coast Japanese during World War II. The book opens with artifacts being found in the basement of the hotel and now a days one can view some of these artifacts through a plexiglass in the floor.

 

Have a Smiley Day!

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Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt in Sunrise Village (10306 156th St E Suite 101
Puyallup, WA 98374) was packed yesterday! It was a lovely, warm Saturday — just right for a frozen treat. I had read an article in the Tacoma News Tribune reviewing all of the new frozen yogurt shops in the area and thought trying out a new one sounded fun. I love Gibson’s in Tacoma (blog entry here http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2891) and Black Bear (blog entry here http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1355). Menchie’s staff is wildly friendly. “Have a smiley day”, they gushed at me after I paid. Ummmm. OK. “You too”! I purchased coconut and cake batter swirl with coconut chips and whipped cream and ate it in my peaceful car.

Menchie’s Website http://www.menchies.com/ says they have 170 locations worldwide. There are seven locations in Washington State and seven more in the works including one in Gig Harbor. While it was a treat to visit, I would just as soon go to Gibson’s or Black Bear for their quirky home grown feel. But even those two will soon be a chain (of two each) since new locations are forth coming. 🙂

The Red Dragon

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My husband and I are having a debate about the Red Dragon Oriental Restaurant at the northwest corner of South ‘G’ Street and South 34th Street has been vacant for all the years that we’ve lived in Tacoma. I thought I remembered it being open for business at some point. In either case, it has been vacant for sometime and is in pretty bad shape. I noticed that one of the windows in the glass atrium area were broken out. There is a for sale sign with a phone number and email.

Update, we drove past today (8/21/12) and it was gone! Or at least a pile of rubble. I had also learned that long ago it had previously been an A&W Restaurant and a popular hang out for the Lincoln High School students.