Memories: After 25 years, Bertolino’s Espresso closes South Union cafe in Tacoma
After a quarter-century of late nights and early mornings, the 24-hour Bertolino’s Espresso in the Tacoma Central plaza has closed.
Longtime owners Willie and Gretchen Easley will continue serving Austin Chase coffee from a drive-thru on Purdy, in Gig Harbor, which opened May 25.
The coronavirus did not cause the shutter, but it eased the couple’s internal debate of whether to renew the lease at 2421 S. Union Ave.
“After being there for 20-plus years, our lease obviously is going to increase, and it kept increasing,” Gretchen Easley told The News Tribune in a phone call. “Then, in the last three years, we just saw kind of a flattening out. The cost of everything rises, and we just — we weren’t enjoying it as much, when you’re working hard, you’re trying to make it profitable.”
She pointed not only to rising rent but also wages, garbage fees and taxes as hurdles that became too much to bear.
Bianco Properties, which bought Tacoma Central last year, did not return requests for comment.
In a May 25 Facebook post announcing the closure, the Easleys wrote that they chose not to renew their lease, “influenced greatly by Covid-19, the increase in minimum wage, and the homeless drug culture.”
Dozens of people sounded off in the comments, some irritated they called out these issues rather than work to address them. The post has since been altered to simply say they had “made the difficult decision to not renew our lease in Tacoma.”
Gretchen Easley told The News Tribune they had lost customers because of homeless guests, and that they had noticed the issue worsen in recent years. Operating 24 hours meant Bertolino’s was a safe haven throughout the day and night, and Easley acknowledged that element as “a niche that nobody else had.”
Overall, she added, “it’s a great location,” especially thanks to the vast parking lot.
They had longed to attach a drive-thru, but the city denied their request in 1999 or 2000, she said.
Willie Easley bought the Tacoma location and a second shop at the South Hill Mall from founder Steve Gebauer in 1995. Easley, who helped launch Austin Chase coffee, sold the latter back to Gebauer a couple of years later. He has remained a fixture at the Union store ever since.
“Willie was there every day,” according to his wife, who admitted their “retirement age” played into the decision to close as well.
Before the pandemic forced restaurants to halt dine-in operations, the couple was preparing to renew the lease with the goal of selling the business in its entirety.
Then came the shutdown.
“You can’t sell a business that isn’t making a profit, so we just made the decision to close the doors,” said Gretchen Easley. “I would have liked to have seen it sold and go on, but I’m thankful that our lease was up — the decision was kind of made for us.”
She did not, however, blame the effects of COVID-19. At the end of the day, she added, “We’re really at a point where we would like to simplify, and we feel that’s happening.”
By January, the ball was rolling on the second — and now only — Bertolino’s: a drive-thru in a former bikini barista bar called Smokin’ Hot Espresso. It was painted black with pink lips scattered about the facade and a hot pink sign.
“The first thing we did was paint,” joked Gretchen Easley. The makeover brought neutral tones of clean wood and a corrugated metal roof to the intersection of Purdy Drive and the bridge across Henderson Bay.
She knows that many loyal customers will miss the Tacoma cafe.
“It really was a place to meet people,” she said, noting “all kinds of stories of couples meeting their spouses there,” as well as students from nearby high schools and colleges who took advantage of the all-night hours.
In Gig Harbor, the coffee has stayed the same, but the overhead is lower. They will need only a couple of employees compared with 10.
“We’re still here. It’s fun to see old faces as well as new faces, too,” said Gretchen Easley. “We’re looking forward to just enjoying the coffee industry still and not sweating over it, or breaking our backs. We’ll miss the Tacoma customers, but they’ve been great over the years.”
The couple also lives in Gig Harbor, so no more 3 a.m. tolls.
Bertolino’s Espresso
▪ 13716 Purdy Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, 253-383-1867, bertolinos.com
▪ Details: Monday to Saturday, 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. (hours could extend once school and other business resumes)
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This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 3:00 AM.