Restaurant that helped resurrect downtown Tacoma has closed for good
Pacific Grill, the iconic restaurant that helped resurrect downtown Tacoma, has closed permanently.
Chef Gordon Naccarato and co-owner Joe Hardwick Jr. announced the shutter in a press release Thursday afternoon.
“With a heavy heart, The Naccarato Restaurant Group (NRG) announces the permanent closure of Pacific Grill restaurant & Pacific Grill Events Center (dba Pacific Grill Events & Catering) due to the insurmountable impacts of the continuing Coronavirus and subsequent government-mandated shutdowns,” the release said.
The group’s Hot Shop Cafe at the Museum of Glass, opened last December, will also close, after previously cutting ties with its business at LeMay Car Museum.
Detailing having struggled through the 2008 economic downturn, the release added that “the impacts of COVID-19 have far outweighed any previous recessions and have been particularly devastating to the hospitality industry in general and restaurants in particular.”
This August marked the restaurant’s 15th year in business, and now also its last.
Service had been suspended since March, when shutdown orders forced restaurants to shutter their dining rooms. For a short time this summer, Naccarato offered takeaway steaks to cook at home, with full carryout an unlikely option.
According to a release of Paycheck Protection Program data, the restaurant received a loan of $350,000 to $1 million and the events side a loan of $150,000 to $350,000. The restaurant would retain 71 jobs and the catering business 29.
Owner and chef Gordon Naccarato penned an op-ed for The News Tribune in July, expressing his reasoning behind keeping his doors closed while others opened. Citing safety concerns for remaining closed even as there were other costs the PPP loan wouldn’t cover, he said, “Although we received a federal Paycheck Protection loan, it is ridiculously expensive to get caught up on all bills, and a second shutdown might be the last.”
He also emphasized that what was right for his restaurant might not be right for others.
“I support these restaurants and their decisions, and hope to join them in Phase 3. Then we can welcome you all back to Pacific Grill to help us celebrate 15 years in Tacoma,” he said in July.
In correspondence early this year, marketing manager Jacob Rose told The News Tribune that this 15th anniversary was “a big year for a restaurant.” That, we now know, was before the pandemic, when customers still flocked to the restaurant for its iconic Tacoma happy hour at the bar — an all-day affair as long as you could snag a seat at the rail or a high-top table.
Exactly as Pierce County entered its third month of Phase 2, Naccarato, rarely hesitant to speak his mind, said a restaurant of Pacific Grill’s size and caliber required at least 75 percent occupancy to remain profitable.
“So we continue to wait for our fellow citizens to wear their masks, wash their hands, socially distance and not visit in large groups, that we might bring down the number of new infections so we can all go back to work!” he told The News Tribune in an email.
“And we really need the Congress of the United States to figure out how to help our industry in particular.”
That relief, called the RESTAURANTS Act, is sponsored by a Democratic and a Republican senator but has so far stalled, despite influence from dozens of prolific chefs across the country and a newly formed lobbying group, the Independent Restaurant Coalition.
Pacific Grill also began to feel the pain of the pandemic contraction early, both as a downtown destination and, importantly, as a catering operation.
By the time shutdown orders arrived, the events side had all but shriveled.
As a Tacoma native, Naccarato played an integral role in revitalizing downtown Tacoma. He moved home after cooking in Los Angeles, believing that the area was ripe for such as a restaurant as the museum and theater districts began to flourish. In the 15 years since, the University of Washington Tacoma has grown, as has the array of businesses along Pacific Avenue and other nearby corridors.
In a Facebook post reiterating the closure, Naccarato opined on the early days of the restaurant, and the heartbreak of the moment.
“It’s like knowing you have to speak to someone you love who just lost a family member and wanting to carefully choose the *perfect* words. But sometimes words fail, and nothing sounds right,” the post reads.
“It is difficult to imagine Tacoma without Pacific Grill. And even more difficult to have to tell all of our wonderful guests and professional staff. This is where Tacoma came to celebrate birthdays, business promotions, graduations, anniversaries, and to celebrate a life well-lived.”
He referenced the countless fundraisers and weddings the catering arm hosted, and likened running the restaurant to a Broadway show: “As we take our final curtain, we gracefully leave the stage at the top of our game, knowing we did our best, gave it our all, but now accepting the show must close.”
In honor of the dozens of area chefs who learned in his kitchens, he encouraged the community to frequent their businesses. That group includes former pastry chefs Nysesha Jones now of Garden’s Gourmet Salads and Erin Powell of Girl Loves Cake Desserts; former servers Giampaolo Falchetti of Crudo & Cotto, Chris Kiel and Corey Lund of en rama; and former cook Hudson Slater of Asado.
Bellingham-based Hollander Hospitality managed the restaurant’s lease at the historic Waddell building. Naccarato and Hardwick Jr. thanked Mark Hollander for his “support and flexibility” over the years, but this time around, the brunt was too much to bear.
“Their dedication and passion made them a fixture in the community and garnered many awards,” said Hollander in the release. In a statement to The News Tribune last week, as rumors were swirling that Pacific Grill might have neared its last call, he added that, over 15 years, “We have cultivated a great business relationship with them and have shown a great amount of flexibility as they have struggled in making payments through the multiple downturns in the economy.”
The two parties, according to the September 10 release, could not reach an agreement to reopening in “this current COVID environment.”
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 4:47 PM.
