The Swiss, a 27-year-old Tacoma haunt, is closing

The Swiss, a favorite haunt in downtown Tacoma and live music destination, is closing.

The restaurant will participate in an online auction later this month, according to an email received by The News Tribune Friday night.

Owners Jack and Carole Ann McQuade confirmed the announcement in an Instagram post Saturday morning.

“We are heartbroken to have to say that we have come to the thoughtful and difficult decision to permanently close The Swiss Restaurant & Pub,” the post read, pointing loosely to “the current and unforeseeable future of our industry.”

They thanked the community for its 27 years of support, described as “without question singularly exceptional.”

The business had actually been for sale as of this year to a younger Tacoma couple, according to Carole Ann. As coronavirus regulations strangled the hospitality and event industries, the deal fell through.

“We’ll never recover the losses if we were to stay here,” she said Saturday. “We’re a large event and music space with food. We cannot operate. The bulk of our business is live music and events: We can’t do that, and it makes no financial sense.”

In a phone call with The News Tribune, she fought back tears.

“It’s a part of our family. It’s our second home. It’s literally like losing a family member,” she said. “My heart breaks for the city. It isn’t just four rooms. There’s been lives and marriages and babies and deaths. It’s not just a building. It’s so much more than that to this town. It just breaks my heart.”

The restaurant had closed early on during the coronavirus pandemic, opting against takeout until later in the spring. It reopened the dining room July 22, weeks into Pierce County’s Phase 2, only to close again the first week of August.

It was known as a bar, yes, but it was revered as a live music venue, hosting bands from The Whole Bolivian Army to Down North and benefits for families in need. Open-mic nights were also popular, and the community used the vast space for everything from academic lectures to political gatherings and podcast tapings.

When Gov. Jay Inslee rolled back allowances for bars and live music, it punched The Swiss in the gut.

Carole Ann McQuade told The News Tribune in late July, after a spike in COVID-19 cases led to that decision, “People think of us as a live music space. It’s tied up every option we have for who we are. We’ve just been tied up in knots.”

She said they needed to be busier than they were, despite having expanded their outdoor seating with a curbside cafe.

“You make plans. Somebody tells you something, and you have to change your plans. If you’re still open in some capacity, you’re constantly trying to roll with the punches,” she said at the time.

“It’s like death by a thousand papercuts.”

The Swiss opened on Jefferson Avenue in 1993 when downtown Tacoma was barely a shell of what it is now. The original owners included Jack McQuade, Bob Hill and chef Gayl Bertagni. Bertagni died in a tragic accident 11 years ago, and Hill retired a few years later. The McQuades kept it going.

Celebrating the bar’s 27th year in business in April, Carole Ann said, “It’s always been a very personal business.”

Added Jack, “It was a fun place, and people wanted to be part of it. With Gayl’s great cooking, the music, the atmosphere — it’s a pretty special place. We always, in my mind, kind of wanted to be like Cheers, where everybody wants to go and everybody knows your name.”

In their final post to Tacoma, the couple echoed that feeling of familiarity: “The Swiss is more than just four rooms, it is a living, breathing entity that has touched and been touched by so many people. People found their true loves here, their lifelong friends, celebrated birthdays, babies, marriages, retirements, art, food and music, everything that makes life worth living. You all have given us a beautiful, unforgettable life, we are grateful beyond measure.”

Near tears in our phone call, Carole Ann repeated that gratitude.

“They really do mean a lot — they really, really do ... It’s given us a beautiful life, and it’s sparked a lot of other beautiful lives.”

The couple, both in their late 50s, will remain here, in Tacoma, in search of their next adventure.

The News Tribune’s Chase Hutchinson contributed reporting.

This story was originally published September 12, 2020 at 11:44 AM.