Tag Archives: Tacoma

Top Foods, Tacoma

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8907122123_90a65c59b0_bWhen I think of grocery stores in Tacoma, sometimes TOP Foods at 3130 South 23rd Street (Tacoma Central Shopping Center) slips my mind because its not on my daily route. TOP Foods is a small chain of 10 supermarkets, all of which are located in Western Washington. The Tacoma location has a Starbucks, pharmacy, US Bank, Chef Express, bakery (including gluten free) and DVD rentals. Haggen operates both TOP Foods and Haggan Food & Pharmacy and including the Haggan stores there are over 30 locations, making it the largest independent grocery chain in the Pacific Northwest. Haggen is based out of Bellingham, WA and began operations in 1933. In 1989, Haggen became the first grocery store chain to have an onsite Starbucks.9466906601_bcd717f030_b

I picked up a huge, locally grown tomato plant for less than $3!

Update: 8/8/13 I went past Top Food today and noticed that they were closing 🙁

 

 

Daniah’s International Market and Deli

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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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Cones/Reynolds House

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Cone/Reynolds HouseThe Cone/Reynolds House at 1244 South Ainsworth, Tacoma, was placed on the Tacoma Register of Historic Places in 1995. It was built in 1908 by Amanda Cone for the John W. Reynolds family. The original cost was about 5,000. Here is a link to the nomination form.

Started as the Tillicum Toy Company

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8745246841_e56c476cf7_bThe castle like commercial building at 2515 South Tacoma Way was built as the Tillicum Toy Company in 1930 and sold Tacoma made toys all over the United States. It the early 1930s it was the largest toy plant on the Pacific Coast. It has also been owned and/or occupied by the Tacoma Milk Shippers Association, a cheese factory, Farm Maid Ice Cream and Darigold Farms. More recently it was MDC Technologies. The building is currently available for sale. While looking for more of the building’s history, I found this website devoted to buildings made to look like castles.

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Natural Springs, Tacoma

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8743612372_6b464ccef7_b(2)Dear husband and I braved the drizzle today to join the Downtown on the Go group stroll through Tacoma’s Brewery District. It was really a fun, free tour and the light rain hardly slowed us down at all. It read more about On the Go, look here.

One of our stops was the site of a natural springs at the corner of South 25th and Jefferson proximate to the Prairie Line (the historic rail corridor). Our wonderful guide said that the water is still visible, but I didn’t see it in the quick glance I had time for. But I could tell by the vegetation that it is a damp area.

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Saar’s Marketplace on a cloudy day

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8736367651_528ce6de4f_bThere are seven Saar’s Marketplace Grocery Stores in Washington State and two of them are in Tacoma. This Saar’s location is at 6414 South Yakima Ave. The store does a good job of low prices, friendly employees and ethnic foods (mostly Hispanic and Asian), but doesn’t have a huge selection or some of the niceties like a coffee shop or bakery.

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Be Safe: Look Both Ways at South Tacoma Station

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8729684473_520ff11002_c(1)End of the Line by Ilan Averbuch represents the golden spike at the end of the railroad tracks and indeed the South Tacoma Station at South 54th and Washington Streets was the end of the Sounder line for a while. The artwork stands 6′ tall. While I was there, the Sounder came by, so I took that photo too 🙂

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Ezell’s Famous Chicken

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Ezell's ChickenMy work friend told me that Ezell’s had a righteous special on Mondays. Indeed they do, two large piece and a roll for about $1.40. It was a wonderful meal, especially for that price! I splurged and bought a piece of sweet potato pie. Ezell’s location in Tacoma is at 1902 Martin Luther King Jr Way.

Ezell‘s started in Seattle in 1984 and currently has seven Western Washington locations. Recent news states that franchises are now being sold including one in Dubai. In August 2012, Esquire Magazine declared  Ezell’s to be “the Most Life-Changing Fried Chicken in America.”

 

 

Proctor Frozen Yogurt

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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.

EAT at Shake, Shake, Shake

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EATDear daughter has been working hard on her mural, so as a treat I took her and her friend out for a meal at the recently opened Shake Shake Shake, 124 North Tacoma Avenue. Dear daughter had the Cheese Griller with a chocolate shake, her friend had the Classic Deluxe Burger with a coconut shake and I had a Tacoma Dog with a frozen latte shake. The service was fast and friendly, the food tasty and the decor a lot of fun. Dear daughter declared her shake, the best she’d ever had. Shake, Shake, Shake opened March 13, 2013. The building was constructed in 1925 as a grocery store and in 1938 became an I.G.A. In 1999 it was converted to a mini mart.

A review can be found here and their Facebook page can be found here.

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