Tag Archives: chain

Dear Daughter Got Hitched: Just Married and Woods Coffee

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Just married

So we sent our dear daughter off with our newly minted dear SIL to cross the Canadian Rockies in their rental car.

And then dear husband and I started back home. And the lesson here is always take a rest stop before crossing the boarder. We got a little lost (well hello Vancouver, nice to see you again) and the boarder wait was a tad longer than expected, so we were pretty darned pleased to see a coffee shop, Woods Coffee in Blaine, WA. And really it was a darling little coffee shop with friendly service and tasty treats. I’m now learning that it is one of nineteen in the chain that spans from King County to British Columbia. Their website is here.

Woods Coffee

 

 

Wild Fin Restaurant

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One of the joys of Spring Break is going out to eat and see a movie during the day. I guess it wasn’t an original idea because I ran into not one, but two tables of school friends and then after the movie, yet another friend from school! It was so fun!

Wild Fin is a chain of three seafood restaurants and this location is at 5115 Grand Loop, Tacoma at Point Ruston.  Dear husband and I stopped in before our movie and had very yummy and filling appetizers. I’m looking forward to evenings on the patio which features a marine view and summer days on the beach eating fried fish from the fish bar which will open soon.

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Grand Central Bakery

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I picked my dear daughter up at the airport and she was hungry for lunch. So we swung by Grand Central Bakery at 626 SW 152nd St., Burien, WA 98166. I had the BLT and dear daughter had a grill cheese and both were delicious. In particular the bread for our sandwiches was a treat. The artisan bakery is part of a small chain located in Seattle and Portland. The restaurant space is simple and full of light. The staff was welcoming and patient while we came to our lunch order decision. Grand Central’s website is here.

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Sweet Corn Ice Bars at H Supermarket

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8622569833_17274dfc74_z Actually there were two types of sweet corn ice cream bars at the H Mart, which recently opened at 8720 South Tacoma Way in Lakewood. Dear daughter and I visited and found many delightful food items including udon (which she loves), mochi, fresh turmeric, those long vegetable things (I knew I should have written down what they were!), an entire aisle of dried seaweed, all sorts of pickled foods (see the yellow pickled radishes) and fresh seafood. There is a large produce section and all the day to day household items one would need. The employees were super friendly.

The H in H Mart stands for “Han Ah Reum,” a Korean phrase meaning “arm full of groceries.” The chain’s website shows two other locations in Washington State (Federal Way and Lyonwood. There are also locations in 12 other states and Canada, mostly on the east and west coasts. They recently opened a location in London.

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Bahama Breeze

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8541175156_e0ab685d16_b(1)Thursday night I met an old friend at Bahama Breeze, a tropical themed restaurant at 15700 Southcenter Pkwy, Tukwila, WA 98188. There are 30+ locations of the restaurant, but this is the only one on the West Coast. The food was very tasty and it was so nice to be able to catch up with my friend 😀

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Mattress Barn

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8503636395_239038655f_bMattress Ranch at 8916 Lakewood Drive SW in Lakewood has a barnyard theme (in case you didn’t notice!). I hadn’t realized it was part of a chain with four locations in Alaska and six in Washington State. I have to say that I’m impressed that all of their mattresses are completely American made.

Mattress Ranch

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California Pizza Kitchen at 150 Andover Park West, Tukwila, WA 98188 had above average pizza and for as nice as it was I was expecting to pay more. Dear daughter and I shared a pizza and had some to take home. Even with our fancy dancy lemonade drinks we got out for under $20, plus tip.  The manager appears to be a character, walking table to table checking on everybody.  Altogether it was a positive experience.

This was our first time in a California Pizza Kitchen. There are three in Washington State with the others being in Seattle and Bellevue. The chain was stated in 1985 in Beverly Hills, CA.

Their website is here: http://www.cpk.com/

Krispy Kreme

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About once a year or so, dear daughter and I stop at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts by the Tacoma Mall. I remember when Krispy Kreme came to Washington State. I dragged my dear husband up to Issaquah to check them out! We must have stood in line for almost an hour, but it was like a party with everybody happy and visiting. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they handed out warm, fresh doughnuts to everybody in line! Now that there are 8 locations in Washington State the novelty has gone away.

This afternoon when we stopped at our local Kripy Kreme, there were only two other customers in line, a father and his wide eyed son. But the doughnuts are still good and I look forward to next year when we go again!

http://www.krispykreme.com/home

Ruby Tuesday, one choice for the holidays

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Ruby Tuesday

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Today we went to see the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D My dear daughter and I had recently rewatched the first two movies in the series and were looking forward to this recent installment. We really loved it. Much of the movie was set on the ship and the visuals of the sea were stupendous.

Anyway, we had 30 minutes to eat lunch. My dear daughter gets rather grumpy when not feed, so it was important to eat. While large chain restaurants are not our first choice, it was Ruby Tuesday or a Sports Bar and Ruby Tuesday was the clear winner. We had an appetizer each (a single crab cake for me and spinach dip for her) and also sodas. With the tip, it came to $30, which seemed kind of expensive. The food was good, but not that special. Service was pleasant and understanding about our short time frame.

http://www.rubytuesday.com/

There are 890 Ruby Tuesday locations, including several overseas spots (Chile, Iceland, India, Egypt, Hong Kong, and more). The original restaurant opened in 1972 in Tennessee. The chain is named after the Rolling Stones song.
Update 12/12 Both this Ruby Tuesday and the one in University Place have closed.

A yummy, but crowded lunch at Panera Bread

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I know it’s a big chain, but I really like Panera Bread. Their food is tasty, service is pleasant and the decor is attractive. So, I was pleased when when one recently opened at the near by Tacoma Mall. I’m not a big fan of malls, but there is an outside door so I didn’t have to actually go into the mall. My only complaint with this new Panera is that it was too crowded and the tables where too close together.

4502 S. Steel Street, Tacoma, WA

http://www.panerabread.com/