Crisp Greens salad cafe to open second location in downtown Tacoma

One year after opening Crisp Greens on Sixth Avenue, owner Corie Cameron has signed a lease for a second location — this one in a prime downtown Tacoma location on the University of Washington campus.

Formerly home to Savor Creperie, which closed in March after nearly eight years for reasons unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic, the space at 1916 Pacific Ave. resides on the same block as Indochine Dining Lounge and Harmon Pac Ave, and down the street from Sam Choy’s Poke to the Max, Anthem Coffee, Zeek’s Pizza and Hello, Cupcake. Across the street, the Washington State History Museum and the Museum of Glass await visitors to return once state guidelines allow these institutions to reopen.

When they do, Crisp Greens will be ready.

Cameron first considered expansion last summer, when JD Elquist of the Downtown Tacoma Partnership approached her with the idea. The concept is ideal for both office workers, time-strapped students and museum goers.

With healthy, minimally processed whole foods at the core, the cafe serves an ever-changing menu of grain bowls, salads with a variety of proteins, and soups made fresh daily. The new location will focus on that same takeout-centric concept.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not changed her mind or her business model.

“It’s proved how sustainable it is if anything,” she told the News Tribune Monday night, “and how fully integrated you need to be with takeout and delivery apps.”

The Sixth Avenue cafe is a small space with just a few tables, so takeout is already an essential revenue channel.

That setup meant customers already had access to an online ordering system, both for prepared takeout meals and meal prep, another arm of Cameron’s business that she calls Crisp Meals. That side has picked up slightly under stay-at-home orders in Washington state, compensating slightly for a downturn in walk-in business.

She and husband Sean Guay also have harnessed this model into a philanthropic business, accepting donations through their online portal for meals they then deliver to health care and other front-line workers throughout Pierce County. In six weeks, they have received donations for more than 4,500 meals.

When The News Tribune spoke to her in late March about these efforts, that number had just surpassed 1,000 — her initial goal when she hatched the idea with a customer looking to do a good deed in the first week of lockdown.

“The community is helping out in so many ways,” she said then.

This week, she acknowledged that staying open without this newfound energy likely would not have been feasible.

Asked how she keeps up this enviable pace, with a husband and four children, she replied, “I don’t like downtime. I’m best in chaos and lots of moving parts — busy times.”

Caffeine helps.

“So. Much. Coffee.”

She is thrilled about the location and not at all deterred by the timing. In fact, she said, UWT has been a supportive partner, and the Savor Creperie owners sold her their restaurant equipment.

It’s the “perfect location,” she said, superior she thinks to a space near 9th Street and Broadway that “needed too much work.”

Amid the hustle of a college campus, a thriving museum district and waterfront — eventually, again, Crisp Greens especially looks forward to being part of a booming restaurant district.

“I don’t take it as competition,” said Cameron in December. “I see it as there are other options. That would actually be a draw — an area where you know you can find food.”

From lunch to take-home dinner, the new location hopes to fill another need for students, office workers and visitors alike. As demand grows, breakfast items and perhaps a “healthy baked good,” such as a cookie made with buckwheat instead of white flour, could also join the fray.

Whether Crisp Greens 2.0 opens shortly or by the fall, Cameron says, “It’s spring/summer, a.k.a. ‘salad season.’”

Crisp Greens Tacoma

▪ Downtown: 1916 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, crispgreens.com, hours and opening date TBA

▪ New 6th Avenue cafe: 3602 6th Ave., Tacoma

▪ Details: salads (with protein) $9.99; soups $3.99 to $6.99; meal prep for one to $35 for four

▪ Donate: three meals to health care workers for $21 through the cafe’s website

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This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 9:00 AM.