New Opera Alley taproom also a hangout for coffee and okazu pan, a Japanese street snack

In Tacoma’s Opera Alley, you can be whisked away to tikiland, learn how to throw an ax and settle into a clandestine dinner. With the opening of Rusty Goat Beer & Coffee, you can also swing by for a beer, relax with an espresso and discover a unique Japanese street snack.

Diamatris Winston, with the support of his wife Heidi, debuted this laid-back taproom in January at 712 Opera Alley, also known as Court C.

The first-time bar owner and still full-time accountant has curated an opening draft list with regional favorites, including brews from Holy Mountain, Seapine, Urban Family, Pfriem and E9. It’s refreshing to see saisons on tap — Winston has two right now — as well as ciders and a handful of cans.

A coffee program will start soon, featuring beans from rotating local roasters (including Batdorf & Bronson, which just opened its Dancing Goats Cafe at Brewery Blocks) and a La Marzocco espresso machine.

The surprise star, though, are the okazu pan: delightful pockets of dough — reminiscent of beignets but with the crackle of panko — filled with beef curry, kimchi pork, smoked salmon, lentils or jerk chicken, warmed in the oven and served with a sweet-and-sour chili sauce. As my companion said, “I could eat like 10 of these.”

Winston has made a point to support fellow Black-owned businesses. He has partnered with Umami Kushi, a Seattle-based producer of Japanese street foods promoted by the affable character of Afropanman. He first discovered them at Metier Brewing in Woodinville, the state’s only Black-owned brewery that is expanding this year to several high-profile Seattle neighborhoods.

As Umami Kushi owner Harold Fields explains in a video about the Japanese treat, “Let me not worry about explaining so much. Just put it in your mouth and eat it, and you’ll figure it out from there.”

Order at the bar and Winston will deliver to your table, along with the occasional free batch of popcorn in a humble white coffee filter.

OPENING RUSTY GOAT

Inspired by a friend’s success with a similar all-day cafe in the San Juan Islands, Winston began the Tacoma project in 2020 with the goal of creating a community hangout. The location near McMenamins, Antique Row, many theaters and established bars but still off the main drags made sense. He wasn’t aiming for “that hard bar feel,” but instead something “relaxing and comfortable.”

With coffee comes the fruition of Winston’s full vision: an all-day cafe, where you can find a quiet space to work during the day, have a beer because it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and into the evening actually converse with friends and perhaps some strangers in a space sans televisions.

There is room for about 10 at the long wooden bar and another 10 along a counter lining the opposite wall. Running down the middle are four tables that many-a-Tacoman might recognize from The Swiss, which closed in fall 2020. Winston, who completed most of the build-out himself, bought a few tables in the public auction that followed, sanding and refinishing them to return them to their original glory.

It was serendipitous, he said, because his family used to gather at The Swiss every Friday after Thanksgiving. “We sat at those tables again and again and again,” he said.

He was thankful to snag what he did because some items from that auction went for a pretty penny. “Everybody wanted a piece of it,” he laughed.

That sensibility of resourcefulness permeates the space, previously home to Union Salon which moved one door north. He sourced most of the barstools and chairs from a golf course in King County that was remodeling. Under the bar tops, notice the vintage radiators — they’re not connected to any heat source, but instead act as a support and a savvy example of salvaging.

With low ceilings, string lights wrapped around exposed pipes, an array of warm wood tones and a great playlist at just the right volume, Rusty Goat feels like a getaway from the hustle of the outer world, a trait that seems to be almost a prerequisite for operating a business on this colorful historic stretch.

RUSTY GOAT BEER & COFFEE

712 Opera Alley, Tacoma, no phone yet, instagram.com/rustygoat4beerandcoffee

Thursday 5-10 p.m., Friday 5-10:30 p.m., Saturday 3-10:30 p.m.

Details: laid-back taproom with beer, coffee, free popcorn and Japanese okazu pan; follow Instagram for updates and extended hours

This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.