Archive by Author

The Fish House Cafe

18 Nov

We hit one of Tacoma’s best hidden treasures, The Fish House Cafe on MLK, for some greasy goodness.

On the corner of MLK and S 19th, looming beneath the shadow of the new St Joe’s hospital expansion, is a tiny blue clapboard building that is home to some of the best fried chicken and fish in Tacoma. It is one of the three restaurants, along with Ezell’s and Papa Jone’ BBQ, that make up Soul Food corner (or Cardiac Corner as Ravi so poetically refers to it), and shouldn’t be passed up on your Tacoma bucket list.

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Sonia’s Tacos

11 Aug GCF_6thTT-5

Adam, returning from a long trip overseas seeks out some traditional American fare: street tacos.

It’s been one lazy-assed summer. At least for me. Adam’s been galavanting around the European countryside eating fabulous food and drinking amazing beer, while I’ve been doing the same…only in my backyard, not Austria. I could have been writing posts about my finely honed BBQ sauce or my kickass loganberry jam, but who’d read that crap? The pictures would surely leave something to be desired. Truth is, I love nothing more than sitting around in the sumer time and doing absolutely nothing. Just ask my neighbors, the kudzu of blackberry and morning glory ominously framing my property has already claimed a few small children. We’re a bit out of practice here at Gritty City food, and what better to knock off the rust than a soft landing at a safe little taco truck on 6th Ave? I mean, it’s in the midst of everything else, conspicuously adjoined to a payday loan carcass like some sort of Frankenrestaurant just waiting for an eager food blogger to expend several hundred words on the glory that is street tacos on 6th Ave.

If you’re into that sort of thing, read on…

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We’re Back! And…Wingman Breweries Opens a Sweet New Taproom

24 Apr

We’re back! And we return in style with a visit to the new Wingman Taproom in the Dome district.

The Heart Groweth Fonder

I’m sure in communications classes it is taught that a good title is one with brevity and focus. This title has neither of those things, but this post is as much about our return to the Tacoma blogosphere as it is about the focus of the post. It’s been nearly a month…what the hell? I don’t even know what happened. There were a couple vacations in there, some empty wallets, and a lot of unexpected sunshine. A siesta of sorts, or a power nap. There’s no stopping us now.

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Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

18 Mar

Adam and Derrick celebrate St. Patrick’s day at one of Tacoma’s favorite Irish pubs: Doyle’s. 

One of the best things about being an American is the shameless appropriation of other cultures’ holidays. Whether it’s sucking down a cool margarita on Cinco de Mayo, pounding a Marzen at Oktoberfest, or throwing back a Guinness on St. Patrick’s day Americans love getting loaded in honor of cross-cultural celebrations. And why not? Thanks to many of our ancestors’ non-discriminatory romantic proclivities, any given person’s potential for Irish blood in this American “melting pot” (or “salad bowl” as it is more recently being referred to) is just high enough that we can all say “hey, I’m probably a little bit Irish according to my grandmother….or was it my grandfather?”

“Kiss me, I’m potentially Irish.”

Today everyone’s a little bit Irish. We happily promote stereotypes by way of consuming mass quantities of meat, potatoes and Guinness, surely making the world outside Ireland jealous of our pseudo heritage – even our beer is green with envy. This St. Paddy’s Adam and I celebrate the only way we know how, at Doyle’s public House.

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GCF Readers Choose: EL ZOCALO

14 Mar GCF-El Zocalos-29

You voted, we listened. We visit El Zocalo in the Lincoln District for some tasty tortas and Mexican pastries.

It is with some embarrassment and a healthy dose of humility that I must confess: my first torta ever was had here…this year…in the Lincoln District walkthrough video. The one you watched before you voted on this place. Remember? I’m not sure how I managed to avoid them for so long, perhaps the thought of having a sandwich at a Mexican restaurant was so much less intriguing than having something smothered in delicious sauces, served alongside roasted vegetables, beans or rice with a side of warm fresh-from-the-griddle tortillas. After all, sandwiches are a downright invasive species in this country, why bother with another one? El Zocalo is why.

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Museum of Glass Slider Competition

6 Mar

We stuff our faces at the first annual “Shake, Rattle and Grill” event hosted by the Museum of Glass – a slider competition featuring 7 local restaurants and some of Tacoma’s grooviest patrons. Be sure and read the written recap after the movie!

Click below to read our thoughts on the event and the sliders!

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WA Beer Week: Fish Double Hodgy

29 Feb

Our seventh of seven beer-focused posts in honor of Tacoma Drinks WA Beer Week hosted by the Red Hot and Parkway Tavern. At the Parkway this time, we take a look at a rare offering from Fish Brewing: a massive Imperial IPA called the Double Hodgy.

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WA Beer Week: Snoqualmie Black Frog Stout

27 Feb

Our Fifth of seven posts in honor of Tacoma Drinks WA Beer Week hosted by The Red Hot and The Parkway Tavern

Stouts are the vegetable soup of the beer kingdom: you throw a ton of crap in the kettle and out pops something that is usually delicious. The more stuff, the better. For this WA Beer Week offering I take a closer look at the Black Frog Oatmeal Stout from Snoqualmie Brewery, had on NITRO at The Red Hot.

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WA Beer Week: Big Al Papa Charlie’s Pale

25 Feb

Our third of seven posts in honor of Tacoma Tastes Washington Beers Week hosted by The Red Hot and The Parkway Tavern

I’d kick this thing off with an allusion to Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Animal Sanctuary, but any reference to South Park would just be too low brow for our audience. C’mon, what kind of digital rag mag is this? Big Al is actually Alejandro “Big Al” Brown, the president and head brewer of Big Al Brewing, and he is most definitely not wearing a neckerchief in the photos I’ve seen of him. Though someone should really bring the neckerchief back.

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WA Beer Week: Two Beers Evolutionary IPA

23 Feb

Our first of seven posts in celebration of Tacoma Drinks Washington Beer Week, hosted by The Red Hot and the Parkway Tavern.

Tacoma Drinks Washington Beers Week

While the rest of America celebrates National Margarita Day over salted rims and brightly colored straws, we raise a frothy mug of Washington beer in celebration of the fantastic breweries that call the Evergreen State home. The Red Hot and The Parkway Tavern are hosting a fantastic event this week designed to showcase the incredible offerings from our neighboring beer producers.

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