Self-serve taproom filled with greenery and swings to open at Brewery Blocks
Make it three taprooms at the Brewery Blocks, each with a distinct personality.
The Living Room, a self-serve taproom, will open at the downtown Tacoma development on Commerce and C Streets later this year. Owners Colin and Andria Wunder aim to build a multipurpose space to create community, with nonalcoholic drinks — kombucha, nitro coffee, craft sodas — on tap along with local beer, cider, wine and prosecco.
The Redd Dog, Tacoma’s first U-Pour It pub, opened in 2021 on Sixth Avenue. There, guests have said they enjoy the freedom it offers and the ease of paying your own way — no bill-splitting necessary.
Customers open a tab by connecting their credit card to a provided RFID card (the Wunders might opt for a tappable bracelet) which they use at tablets attached to the the tap of their choosing, paying by the ounce rather than for a full drink.
Makers of the technology — The Living Room will use iPourIt, based in Orange County, California — say their systems also reduce waste and lower costs for the bar. In light of pandemic-induced changes to the hospitality industry, it’s also considered a low-contact transaction that leaves choice in the customers’ hands.
Andria Wunder, who was raised in the Seattle area and has worked in various aspects of the service industry at restaurants and resorts, said she first experienced the self-serve model in South Dakota, where Colin was raised. He also has a background in bar management.
“The idea just kind of stuck with us,” she told The News Tribune this week, and four years ago they began toying with the idea of putting their own spin on it.
“With self-serve, you don’t really need servers. You have hosts that are greeting guests — we call them taptenders,” she said, “but they are very much so the host to the experience. Sometimes you don’t want to talk to a bartender. I want to be able to give people that option.”
In a rush to make your dinner reservation or showtime? Rather than closing a tab formally with the host, guests can opt to simply drop their bracelet in a secure box and staff will close it with automatic gratuity at the end of the night.
RELAX, WORK, GATHER AT BREWERY BLOCKS
The tone at The Living Room will be set by the century-old building’s inherent character, retaining its striking wooden beams and taking advantage of two long walls of windows.
“I’m definitely a houseplant enthusiast,” laughed Wunder, which at the bar will translate to fertile greenery, including two live moss walls, and the sensation of bringing the outdoors in. Seating options will range from long community tables to two-tops, couches with coffee tables to porch-style swings.
“We want to create a really elegant space that’s also comfortable,” she said.
The covered balcony overlooking Commerce Street will gain a fire pit to provide year-round outdoor seating.
Both Andria and Colin Wunder’s parents started family businesses, and their success has inspired them to pursue their own joint venture.
“This is the place that we want people to know us for,” said Andria Wunder. “We want to create such an environment that’s really just a fun, welcoming, enjoyable space.”
With an entrance on C Street, The Living Room will occupy the 2,800-square-foot unit above Dancing Goats Coffee Bar, which opened in early February.
Brewery Blocks is also home to Incline Cider House, open since 2019, and Camp Colvos Brewing + Pizza Co., which introduced its New York-style pies last summer. First Citizens Bank opened a flagship branch here last year.
That leaves one commercial unit whose fate is yet to be determined.
Whatever it may bring, the Wunders are eager to join what Andria described as Tacoma’s “next generation of entrepreneurs.”
THE LIVING ROOM TACOMA
▪ 2101 S. C St., Brewery Blocks, Tacoma
▪ Details: cozy self-serve taproom with local beers, etc. on tap, plus craft nonalcoholic options; target opening summer 2022
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.