#1787 - The Red Hot, Tacoma, WA - 5/20/2012

The Red Hot has a great selection of beers and a broad selection of unusually dressed hot dogs, and is one of Tacoma's favorite bars.

2914 6th Avenue Tacoma, WA 98406 - (253) 779-0229
Est. Aug 16, 2007 
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: redhottacoma.com - blog
Reviews: thebestcraftbeer - grittycityfood - buddiesandhotdogs - tnt - beeradvocate - beerretard - ratebeer - yelp - urbanspoon

#1786 - 1022 South, Tacoma, WA - 5/20/2012

1022 South, AKA the Hidden Apothecary, is a small cafe and craft cocktail lounge in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood. The mad pharmacists there will turn their tinctures, herbs, and potions into some of the best cocktails in the Pacific northwest. They have an excellent cocktail list, but this is one of those places where you will want to tell the bartender a bit about your tastes and let them concoct something surprising and lovely for you.

In addition to the friendly and talented bartenders, we met customer Chris here, who grew up in my (Greenwood) neighborhood and kindly gave me some coins from the Old 5th Ave. Tavern.  We had a fine visit. It is out of the way for most people I know, but the New York Times somehow made it all the way there and found it well worth the trip.

1022 South J Street Tacoma, WA 98405 - (253) 627-8588           
Est. March 2009
Web site: 1022south.com - facebook - blog 
Reviews: nytimes - seattleweekly - tacomaweekly - seattlemag - alcademics - seattlemet - thestranger - urbanspoon - yelp

#1785 - Park Way Tavern, Tacoma, WA - 5/20/2012

Tacoma's Parkway Tavern has a better neighborhood pub feel than any bar in Seattle. The tavern appears unexpectedly, in a 1935 wood-shingled bungalow in the midst of the homes of a quiet neighborhood two blocks from Wright Park. Hipsters and beer connoisseurs mix easily with families and folks of all ages. The walls hold several interesting old photographs from Tacoma history -- including one of the bar itself from just after 2:00am Friday October 8, 1983, after "a disgruntled customer rammed his pickup truck six or seven times into the front of the Parkway Tavern."

There's been a bar in this building since at least 1960, when it was Alexander's Delicatessen & Tavern. The building was renovated a little over five years ago, and now has a high, exposed, vaulted ceiling and comfortable dark wood. Around the corner from the front bar there are a couple more rooms, including one suddenly decorated in African artifacts, as if you've been invited to dinner at the dean of anthropology's house. The bartenders and servers are very friendly and cool. They have a large and interesting selection of beers on tap (and growlers available), and better than average sandwiches and pub food. They were recently recognized by Esquire Magazine as one of the best bars in the country.

I don't know how old the bar at Parkway is. The current building started as a delicatessen in 1935, and became a tavern at some point later. But it's been serving the locals for decades and with quality improvements more recently has become of the most welcoming and comfortable bars in the the Pacific northwest.

313 North I Street Tacoma, WA 98403 - (253) 383-8748
Est. ? - Building constructed: 1935

Web site: parkwaytavern.com - facebook
Reviews: esquire - grittycitywoman - weeklyvolcano - beeradvocate - voices.yahoo - chowhound - urbanspoon - yelp - taplister

#1784 - Golden West, Tacoma, WA - 5/20/2012

Buffino's Golden West Restaurant and Lounge is a fairly typical dive, which features the owner's band, the Back Porch Band, on Friday and Saturday nights. It has an interesting back bar, a sort of art deco design, but I was unable to obtain any information about it from the folks there during our visit. So we sat dividing our attention between noticing new details of the bar, and watching TV, learning from the Monkeys' Mickey Dolan about a fantasic, never-before-offered collection of great rock hits.

The Golden West has been here since at least 1935.

5228 S Tacoma Way, Tacoma, WA 98409 - (253) 471-9892
weeklyvolcano - insiderpages

#1783 - Stonegate Pizza and Rum Bar, Tacoma, WA - 5/20/2012

Update: Stonegate closed abruptly May 14, 2019 by owner Jeff Call "... after a long legal battle with my family ..."

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Stonegate Pizza and Rum Bar is a multi-level homage to rock and roll, like a Hard Rock Cafe put together by a loving collector rather than just someone with lots of money. It's a hodgepodge of folk art, rock memorabilia, multiple stages, and accents painted in a wide range of styles and capabilities, filling two old buildings on South Tacoma Way.

We did not eat on our visit, but the pizza here has a special Tacoma legacy, with a crust created by Larry Turco, the owner's uncle and the creator of the famous compressed crust pizzas served for over five decades at the Cloverleaf Tavern.

Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/tntdiner/2009/12/04/drop-in-dining-stonegate-pizza/#storylink=cpy

5421 South Tacoma Way Tacoma,, WA 98409 - (253) 473-2255
Est. Oct 2009 - Building constructed: 1924 - Closed May 14, 2019
Web site: stonegaterocks.com - facebook
Reviews: tnt - weeklyvolcano - yelp - urbanspoon

#1782 - Airport Bar and Grill, Tacoma, WA - 5/20/2012

Airport Tavern, Tacoma, WA - 2012

South Tacoma Way is a great stretch of dive bars and ramshackle memories of when it was part of Highway 99 and a major thoroughfare, elaborate signs and business models beckoning drivers off the road. That faded away in the 60s, when Interstate 5 and Tacoma Mall snatched the traffic away, but for a fan of old dive bars, it is one of the best stretches in the state.

I haven't found much history for the Airport Bar and Grill, but you know it's been around for a while, not just from the weathered signs and decor, but because it was named for the old South Tacoma Airport which closed down in the 70s. The Airport Cigar Store is listed at this address in the bars section of city guides from at least 1940 in the 60s. It's now a mishmash of comfortable styles now, a gay bar with drag shows, but playing country music for a single elderly patron when we came in.

Airport Tavern, Tacoma, WA - 2020

5406 South Tacoma Way Tacoma, WA 98409 - (253) 475-9730
Est. ? By 1940 - Building constructed: 1927
facebook - waymarking - yelp

#1781 #S1028 - The Blu Grouse, Seattle - 5/20/2012

The former Tiger Lounge remains a funky place, winding through the various rooms of an old bungalow. But it is also and entirely different place, the groovy mid-century trappings replaced with the more neat and more feminine touches of owner Diane Lane, former bartender at Slim's. It's now even more like going to someone's private house, with cut flowers and a fire pit surrounded by log seats in the back yard. The kitchen serves salads, wraps and pizzas, and the small bar serves basic cocktails, wines and beers.

412 S. Orcas St, Seattle, WA 98108
Est. May 12, 2012 - Building constructed: 1949
Previous bars in this location: Tiger Lounge
Web site: theblugrouse.com - facebook
Reviews: thestranger - seattlemag - yelp - thrillist