Get family meals to-go from these Pierce County restaurants during the coronavirus crisis
The kids are home, and they are hungry. It’s dinnertime again.
Now weeks into the coronavirus shutdown of bars and restaurants, and staying at home for all but essential outings like grocery shopping, you might be tired of cooking for a crowd.
Restaurants throughout Pierce County continue to serve food to-go, with wine, beer and liquor an option, too.
Many have added family-style meals — some at surprisingly reasonable prices — to their takeout menus.
Laura Macaluso, who owns her namesake Italian restaurant in Ruston with her husband Jeff, said her team began planning family meals before the shutdown was official.
“We could feel it was starting to slow down,” she told The News Tribune in a phone call this week. “We decided, let’s do a family-style meal to-go for people that just want to go home and sit with their kids.”
As a small Italian restaurant with a familial ambiance, Macaluso had previously limited takeout, worried — rightfully so — that it would hamper timing for in-house diners, especially on busy weekends.
“We’re more than happy to do it now,” she laughed.
The family meals gained traction even before word came down from Olympia to close all dining rooms.
Their pastas of spaghetti polpette (meatballs in marinara with pecorino), pappardelle bolognese, tagliatelle alfredo or pesto cream, and garganelli arrabiata (spicy Italian sausage, pancetta and herbs) are built to feed two. The lasagna and a few pizzas add to the mix-and-match options for a family to enjoy a varied meal — versus one giant tray of spaghetti.
“Maybe parents want the pasta and the kids are going to get pizza,” said Macaluso, adding that they will happily double any order upon request.
At Casa Mia in Lakewood, regulars already knew of the restaurant’s catering menu, its par-baked pizzas with toppings served on the side for families to finish cooking at home, and even dough balls and sauce for a complete do-it-yourself dinner.
“We’ve been prepping for this for a long time,” joked manager Nate Henley. Since the restaurant lifeline now revolves around takeout, he said, “We have been more intentional about getting that information out there.”
In addition to the full catering menu, the restaurant has added dishes beyond the standard take-and-bake lasagnas, too. Take the butternut squash ravioli: guests can order the ravioli and herbed butter sauce prepared but uncooked, and store in the fridge or freezer until ready for use. Then, cook and toss at home — “the way we do” at the restaurant, said Henley.
“With nobody being able to dine in, it seems like there’s much more need for it,” he said of these cook-at-home options and the catering portions. Small trays are built for 10 people, with salads ranging from $30 to $35 and entrees like manicotti, chicken parmigiana and housemade meatballs from $40 to $55.
Large trays feed 20, but we hope you’re not hanging out with that many people right now.
Pomodoro in Proctor, Joeseppi’s in Westgate, Bar Bistro in Fern Hill, and Toscano’s in Puyallup also have added family-style pasta meals.
FAMILY MEAL IN MANY FORMS
It’s not just Italian restaurants offering dishes fit for a crowd.
At Farm 12 in Puyallup, a rotating selection of family meals ranges from a $25 pack of soup, salad and rolls to a $35 tray of four-cheese macaroni with garlic bread. Past specials have included a tray of slow-roasted Kalua pork served with steamed rice, a Hawaiian macaroni salad and a garden salad, and two pounds of braised pork with sides of coleslaw, baked beans and homemade cornbread — both for $40.
The nonprofit restaurant, part of the Step by Step organization that works with at-risk mothers, also offers patrons the opportunity to support those in need during this crisis with a “grab-give-go” donation, starting at $2.
Also in Puyallup, Bourbon Street Creole Kitchen is offering family meals that work out to less than $10 a person, said owner Mike de Awlis.
“This is a time as a business where we are not looking to make big profits,” he told The News Tribune in an email, noting that customers, too, might be enduring similar hardship. “If we can offer a good, tasty, home-cooked meal and cover our food cost and overheads and get our cash flows coming in, it will help us.”
Likewise, the Adriatic at Oakbrook, though open but a few months with chef Bill Trudnowski at the helm, is offering select menu items for takeout alongside four family meals. They still involve pasta but with Trudnowski’s signature Mediterranean flair.
Rigatoni comes tossed in a bolognese of beef and Italian sausage with pear tomatoes, red peppers, crushed chiles and herbs. A chicken peperonata, marinated with lemon, Dijon and an Italian herb medley, is served with garlicky linguine and sauteed peppers, onions and capers. Each family meal, intended to serve four people for $40 to $58, includes soup or salad and garlic breadsticks.
On Sixth Avenue, Asado has reopened after being temporarily closed since mid-March, with family-style dinners on the menu. Bring the parilla home with chimichurri chicken served with poblano polenta or roasted fingerlings, a seasonal vegetable and two Uli’s chorizo links. There’s also a short rib, mushroom and pepper ragout and a Latin-inspired pasta primavera with zucchini, tomatoes, capers and anchovies. For $85 to $110, each dinner arrives with a potato baguette, a house salad and chimichurri butter.
Table 47 in Gig Harbor also has family meals for five, including a big tray of bacon mac-and-cheese with a chili fennel bread crumb served with a tarragon walnut salad. Set up those lawn chairs for a “picnic basket” of paninis: goat cheese focaccia with walnut pesto, cured tomatoes and caramelized onions, or ham and cheese on a baguette with roasted apples. Salad plus cookies and brownies come with each family meal ($60 to $80).
In fact, don’t forget dessert. Macaluso advises against gelato right now, but tack on a tiramisu or two. You deserve it.
FAMILY MEAL TAKEOUT
▪ The Adriatic at Oakbrook is open for takeout Wednesday to Sunday, 3-7:30 p.m. The menu ranges from antipasti, soup and salad, to sirloin, fish and bolognese rigatoni. Four family meals serve four people and include soup or salad and garlic breadsticks ($40 to $58).
▪ Asado on Sixth Avenue is now open for takeout, Wednesday to Sunday 4-9 p.m., with a selection of appetizers, burgers, salads and parilla. Three family meals, including chimichurri chicken and short rib ragout, feed four and come with salad and bread ($85 to $110).
▪ Bar Bistro will offer a family meal of fettucine, garlic bread and salad for takeout. Call for details, 253-537-3655.
▪ Black Fleet Brewing is open Friday and Saturday for takeout with meal packs that include your choice of entrees and sides, plus two crowlers. Call for details, or view the food menu on Grubhub and Uber Eats, though delivery unavailable for beer.
▪ Bourbon Street Creole Kitchen is open for takeout noon to 8 p.m. Drive-thru to pick up po’ boys and other Southern-style sandwiches, plus beignets. Order family-style meals ($19.95 to $29.95, feeds three to four), too, including jambalaya, gumbo and Cajun mac’n’cheese.
▪ Casa Mia in Lakewood is offering its regular menu for takeout as well as family meals, both frozen and ready to reheat.
▪ Farm 12 in Puyallup will offer curbside pickup daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with family meals, too. Check social media for menu details.
▪ Joeseppi’s Italian Ristorante also has created a family meal program to serve a family of six. Each meal ($59.95 to $79.95) comes with house salads, bread and garlic butter. Options include spaghetti with meat sauce, fettucine with alfredo, cheese tortellini with tomato basil and lasagna. The standard carryout menu continues, as do half-price bottles of wine to-go.
▪ Pomodoro in Proctor is open for lunch 4-7:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, then Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. Family-style takeout specials include spaghetti and lasagna served in aluminum pans for easy reheating at home ($39.99 to $49.99, serves four to six people). Call to order.
▪ Table 47 in Gig Harbor will accept takeout and delivery orders from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., including a new “Fun in a Box” family meal. Free delivery in Kitsap or Pierce counties for $10. The coffee bar will also be open for to-go orders faily from 7 a.m. to noon.
▪ Toscano’s Italian Grille in Puyallup has family meals to feed four to five people, including cavatappi and sausage with a creamy basil sauce, spaghetti bolognese, a vegetarian penne arrabiata and even a roasted ribeye for two ($35 to $45). Each order comes with either a house or Caesar salad and rosemary bread. Dessert and wine to-go, too. Call by noon for pickup 4-8 p.m.
For more food and drink stories with the tastemakers of the South Sound, sign up for TNT Diner’s weekly newsletter, Where to Eat, delivered to your inbox every Thursday.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 5:05 AM.