Category Archives: Sit Down Establishments

Flying Boots Restaurant & Spur Room

Flying Boots Cafe and Spur Room, so tonight I stopped to take a photo and consider it as my new place of the day. Tacoma Public Library shows the Flying Boots Cafe opening in 1930 and the new cafe opening in 1955 after remodeling. The bar part of the restaurant is called the Spur Room, and yes they have Karaoke. At night the neon wings on the boot turn on and off.

Flying Boots Restaurant & Spur
614 South 38th Street
Tacoma, WA 98418-6716
(253) 475-9628

 

Keep Clam

 One of the few fast food restaurants that I actually like is Ivar’s Seafood Bar. I’m not sure how it got that name, since there is no ‘bar’ at the bar! These little restaurants have good food (mostly fried), extra friendly staff and are clean.

Ivar’s website informs me that there are 26 seafood bar locations, 25 of which are in Washington State and 1 is in Santa Clara, California. In addition there are more refined restaurants and also there are stands at local stadiums.

Per the website, the name Ivar’s Acres of Clams came from the last verse of “The Old Settler.”

No longer a slave to ambition
I laugh at the world and its shams
As I survey my happy condition
Surrounded by acres of clams.

http://ivars.com/

James Center
1820 South Mildred
Tacoma, WA 98409
(253) 565-5196
Sunday-Thurs 10:30am to 10pm
Friday-Saturday 10:30am to 11pm

Wendy’s Vietnamese is a family favorite

It’s my dear husband’s birthday and I went to get him some take out from one of his favorite restaurants, Wendy’s Vietnamese at Freighthouse Square. We got way too much food — the Hot & Spicy Chicken, the Tofu Fried Rice and the Su Dai Beef with Peanut Sauce. There is easily enough left over for our three lunches tomorrow. Both the service and the food were outstanding. It occurs to me that even though this is my first “check in” at Wendy’s, we have been coming here for over 20 years! Yikes!

Freighthouse Square is a two story retail center with an international food court. With the exception of Subway, the food vendors are not ones you would see at a more traditional mall.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wendys-vietnamese-restaurant-tacoma

http://www.freighthousesquare.com/

  

 

IHOP for interesting pancakes


Ihope

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

We deserved a nice brunch today and the daughter was petitioning for IHOP.  She had the strawberry banana pancakes and I went for the loganberry blintzes. Both were good and the loganberry reminded me of going to IKEA. Per the IHOP website, “As of June 30, 2010, there were 1,476 IHOP restaurants located in 50 states and the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands”

http://www.ihop.com/

Vertical Garden

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

 

To continue the art theme for the month of November, today’s new place is Goodwill’s Milgard Work Opportunity Center at 714 S. 27th St. In particular, the Living Wall or Vertical Garden at the Center is spectacular! It was designed by Patrick Blanc and has nealry 100 plant species. As you can see by the photo, the garden is really large at 20’x40′.  These sites explain it better than I could!

http://www.vegitecture.net/2009/09/tacoma-goodwill-green-wall.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2010642515_pacificplife10.html?cmpid=2628

The Milgard Center itself, which opened in September 2009, is pretty spectacular. I was taken out for lunch there by a dear friend and the food was wonderful and very reasonable. The public Neighborhood Bistro Restaurant is open M-F, 11 – 1:30.  http://tacomagoodwill.org/about/mwoc/

Rosewood Cafe for a Wonderful Lunch


Rosewood Cafe

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

The Rosewood Cafe between the Proctor District and the Stadium District is just what a cafe should be. They have wonderful, creative food, an extensive selection of wine and pitch perfect service.

3323 North 26th Street
Tacoma, WA 98407-6236
(253) 752-7999

http://www.rosewoodcafe.com/about.html

New Place of the Day, 8/22 – 8/27 (recap)

http://foursquare.com/

As of 8/22/10 I’ve checked in 267 times.  I’ve travelled in five states (WA, TX, CA, MT, ID) and two provinces (NB & AB).  Today’s new place (which I have been to before, but it’s my first checkin) was ever wonderful Anthony’s at Point Defiance Park for our wedding anniversary dinner with dear daughter.

Update: And here is a new photo of Anthony’s


Today, 8/23/10, My husband needed a tire put on his boat, ummmm I mean car. He replaced three of the tires himself, but the 4th one was really stuck! Since I didn’t work today, I said I’d take it. So off I went to Courtesy Auto Service and Tire of Tacoma near the Tacoma Mall. I always just thought it was called Goodyear, but I guess not. The customer service was polite and the work was done quickly. They charged $15, which seemed alright to me, but my husband thought it should have been less.

A favorite restaurant for my daughter and I has been Panera’s Bread http://www.panerabread.com/.  We go there when we want something special, but not too expensive.  I flutter all over the menu, but my daughter almost always gets the broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl.  Then, more often than not, we wander over to Barnes & Noble to check out the new books.  So, Panera’s Bread in Lakewood was our new place for 8/24/2010.

While we were out and about, we stopped at Safeway (not for the first time) and I took this picture.  The combination of Shape magazine and Ding Dongs was amusing!

http://www.joeseppis.com/

 

On 8/25 we meant with a financial adviser (great guy!) at Forza and then afterwards walked over to Joeseppis Italian Ristoranti.  We shared the Marsala Chicken and still took 1/2 of it home as leftovers!

Thursday I had a special treat because my friend had a get together at her beach cabin.  We went down a very steep trail to get there.  It was just just perfect, good weather, good friends, good food and a wonderful view!  The the pictures for 8/26 show the beach!  FourSquare let me check in here under “the Beach Cabin”.  I can only assume that I was at the same beach cabin that they were thinking of!  I’m sure that’s right. 😀

On 8/27 we went out to a movie (it was awful) and afterwards we needed a bite to eat.  But it was way too much effort to go to a restaurant and I still needed my new checkin for the day.  So off we went to the recently remodeled Stadium Thriftway.  It’s one of my favorite local grocery stores with a great selection of produce and a great deli/premade section.

http://www.stadiumbusinessdistrict.com/Page.aspx?nid=39

 

A lackluster meal at La Palma

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

I was going to go out to Snake Lake today to catch some autumn leaves, but it started to pour.   So instead I went out to lunch with dear husband. We have one of those Entertainment Coupon books and it’s expiring on 11/1, so I thought we’d use it. I riffled the pages and stuck my finger on La Palma. The interior is fairly standard Mexican Restaurant; there must be a warehouse of that stuff somewhere! The food was also very standard. I ate 1/2 of mine and boxed up the rest. Dear husband had a little more than 1/2 of his, but it made him sick! Not food poisoning sick, but too greasy sick. He’ll be fine, but I won’t be able to get him back there!  The service is the only thing that was exceptional about the experience.

 I probably should have read the Yelp reviews before visiting!  http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-palma-family-mexican-restaurant-and-lounge-lakewood

Duke’s Chowder House


Duke’s Chowder House

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Today’s new place was Duke’s Chowder House on Ruston Way. I’ve been to this building before when it was other restaurants, but not to Duke’s. We had a great table right by the window and enjoyed the combination of sunshine and bay. The fish and chips was top notch and we also tried most of the chowders (clam, nw seafood, crab and lobster). Duke’s has six locations, all in Pierce and King Counties. Afterward, we drove through Pt. Defiance and saw an amazing number of raccoons!

http://www.dukeschowderhouse.com/index.php

Balinese Room


Balinese Room

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Today I stayed in the house all day with a rotten head cold. But I hate to skip my new place of the day. So I’m looking back to an old place and calling it good. This photo is of the Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas. The building had a colorful history of gambling and being a speakeasy. The website devoted to the building says ” Headliners (at the property) included Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Duke Ellington, Mel Torme, Jayne Mansfield and Gene Autry.” In September 2008, Hurricane Ike destroyed the building.

http://balineseroom.net/index.htm