The Scene: Small, clean, cute and clearly a Salvadoran restaurant – the maps and photos of El Salvador plastered on the walls are a giveaway. A few booths for sit-down service, or take-out at the counter. Not a quiet restaurant – expect to hear Telemundo on the television. We watched a Spanish-speaking version of Judge Judy, “Caso Cerrado,” on our visit. Read more...

Editor’s note: Drop-In Dining is a dining report about a new or new-to-us restaurant. Reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on the TNT’s dime, then report to you what the scene and food was like. Have a suggestion for a drop-in dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com">tntdiner@thenewstribune.com. The scene: Nicely appointed Japanese restaurant with tables and a sushi bar. Photos of the owner with Ichiro and other Seattle celebrities adorn the entry. Traditional Japanese music plays in the background. Read more...

The Scene: Cozy hearth-cafe dining meets trendy pasta kitchen. The one-room dining area is dimly lit but warm, quiet and inviting. Read more...

The scene: Scaleburgers pays homage to its weigh station roots with a large stump and an old iron block placed around the burger stand. Large semi-truck tires are used as planters. All seating is outdoors at green picnic tables shaded by green umbrellas. Food is served on orange-and-red trays, and customers’ orders are identified by playing cards instead of numbers. The parking area includes a kiosk with maps and information about exploring nearby Mount Rainier National Park. Read more...

Editor’s note: Drop-in Dining is a dining report about a new or new-to-us restaurant. Reporters drop in unannounced and sample the food, on the TNT’s dime, then report to you what the scene and food was like. Have a suggestion for a drop-in dining feature? E-mail us at tntdiner@thenewstribune.com. Read more...

There’s been some feather shuffling at Ezell’s Famous Chicken in East Tacoma, where the owners of the Seattle-based fried chicken restaurants have taken over the local franchise, spiffed up the facilities and pledge to improve the quality of food and service. Read more...

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN – Mount Rainier still looms large through the dining room windows of Summit House, Washington’s highest-altitude restaurant. Read more...

Hungry men and women in uniform might notice new flavors near Fort Lewis and McChord. Here are a few Lakewood restaurants that have opened in the year and a half since many of you were deployed. Civilians, sit at ease: You can eat at these places, too. Read more...

A sign on Cheryl the Pig Lady’s farmers market stand asks and answers its own question: What do we grow? Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Read more...

In a seafood region like the South Sound, it’s difficult to pick “the best” from our watery pantry. The best salmon? The best halibut? The best fish and chips? The best chowder? Read more...

After biting into my share of the menu at The Bite, the three-month-old restaurant inside downtown Tacoma’s new Hotel Murano, I’m left chewing on a culinary conundrum: Read more...

Farmers markets make me hungry. Perusing produce, seafood, meat and dairy at farmers markets in Tacoma, Puyallup, Gig Harbor and Olympia is a good way to work up an appetite. Read more...

Of the restaurants that have turned up the heat on Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue, many have courted diners with sizzle and style. Read more...

Last summer, Seattle corporate restaurant veterans purchased the Tacoma location of the ailing Cucina! Cucina! Italian Café chain. In February, they redecorated, re-menued and re-christened. Read more...

If the high-def movie version of the low-tech Japanese TV cartoon “Speed Racer” makes you hungry for something meatier (see Soren Andersen’s review elsewhere in GO), or if cruising the South Sound’s auto-themed entertainment venues revs your appetite (see today’s SoundLife section), here are some eateries with automotive themes – from ribs, microbrews and big-screen NASCAR races in a Lacey brewpub to hot dogs served across the back end of a ’68 Camaro in downtown Tacoma. Read more...