Round Table Pizza at 7921 S. Hosmer St A1, Tacoma, WA was our lunch stop. They have a lunch buffet which is really pretty good, though dear husband and I are not huge eaters so perhaps it is wasted on us. Round Table is 100% employee owned.
A stop at the downtown Tacoma Farmer’s Market lead to a chat with this representative of ufppc. I admire people that work for their beliefs.
I stumbled upon this tree spirit at a private home in Tacoma’s Lincoln District. It is delightful!
Sometimes I think we have created demand for an entire category of restaurants because the word Pho sounds like…. well, you know. What the Pho at the Tacoma Mall is relatively new. The employees were charming (seriously, they were very nice) and the food was plentiful and good.
Model homes invite folks to imagine a different, more orderly life and this one at McLendon’s Hardware, 1015 N Pearl St Tacoma, WA 98406, is no exception. I was pleased when McLendon’s decided to open its 7th location and their first new store in 13 years in Tacoma. They are well known for having unusual stock and a can do attitude! Although they didn’t have the specialty item I was seeking, they searched all over to find it for me. McLendon’s website is here.
The building was constructed as a Pay n Pak, then became a Ernst, then a Saar’s (groceries) and now McLendon’s.
Pip and Lola’s Everything Homemade in Freighthouse Square, 430 East 25th Street, Suite 40 is full of quality handmade items — clothes, soaps, art, etc. I went to visit to pick up some of their great soap which they make right there. When I checked in with FourSquare, my phone chirped at me that I’d earned a bonus and I was pleased to receive a darling heart shaped rose scented soap 🙂 Their Facebook Page is here.
My 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.
I remembered that I use to go past this property at 2328 Tacoma Ave. South and seeing a man working on Bonsai trees here. So I wrote to the Northwest Room of Tacoma Public Library and they told me that the property was built as a residence about 1952 by Kenneth & Amy Hikogawa and in 1974 Amy Hikogawa opened the Imperial Garden & Gift Center on the site. Amy Hikogawa died in April 1995 but her son, Ben Kigowa, apparently kept the Imperial Garden and Gift Center open through 1997. Ben passed away in January 2013.
Thanks so much to TPL’s Northwest Room. They are such a valuable asset for our city!
Ben Hikogawa obituary can be found here.
A while back a friend suggested that I stop at Boathouse 19 Bar and Grill at 9001 South 19th Street, Tacoma for a root beer float. Dear daughter and I had spent Saturday afternoon checking out the University Place Garden Tours Gardens and actually met a long time Flickr friend by fortuitous accident. I offered to take dear daughter out for the float and of course once we got there and smelled all the good food we ended up having lunch. We shared the Pike Place Fish Fry (fish & chips) and each got dessert and it was wonderful. Though ironically we never did get the root beer floats! It was very wonderful to set on the deck, visiting, eating good good and enjoying the water & Narrows Bridge View. Their website is here.
While 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.
