Tacoma Restaurant Week returns with 10 days of dinner deals
Ten days of dining deals begin this Sunday with the return of Tacoma Restaurant Week, back after a two-year hiatus.
Reservations are recommended April 24-28 and May 1-5 at the 14 participating restaurants.
The list includes Tacoma heavy-hitters such as El Gaucho, Asado and Marzano as well as newcomers Crudo & Cotto, ALMA Lounge and Copper & Salt Northwest Kitchen. The geographic reach heads from downtown to Midland and from Ruston to Gig Harbor.
Previous iterations — dating back to 2008 — required that restaurants offer a three-course meal for $30, but rising food and labor costs, in addition to supply-chain challenges, compelled organizers Northwest Military and Weekly Volcano to adjust. (Businesses pay a fee to participate in the promotion.)
Similar to the evolution of restaurant weeks around the country, the 2022 Tacoma version allows the venue to choose a price point that works for it, while still providing value to the customer.
“We realized the 3-course for $30 structure no longer met the needs of all participating restaurants,” said Claire Swarner, who helped organize this year’s event. “The heart of the promotion remains the same, offering a menu at a lower price point than what it would be outside the promotion.”
She pointed to the $60 dinner at El Gaucho — “still a killer deal,” she said. The menu includes a salad with goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette, a 4-ounce filet mignon with prawns and mashed potatoes, finishing with a slice of key lime pie. For comparison, an 8-ounce filet usually runs about $69, prawns and salad are both $16, and a slice of pie goes for $12.
General manager Sarah Choi said her team, grateful to have overcome the tumult of the past two years, was eager to join the event once again.
“Our chef enjoys the opportunity to create a unique three-course menu,” she said by email, “and our service team gets the chance to welcome new guests to experience El Gaucho.”
At Asado on Sixth Avenue, $55 will get you a choice of beet salad or duck confit empanadas; fried chicken fettuccine, parilla with a trio of proteins or seared halibut; and a scoop of ice cream or churros with two dippers.
Also in that $50-$60 price range is Adriatic at Oakbrook, The Melting Pot and Wildfin. At Crudo & Cotto, guests can choose between a $40 dinner — the main includes fried seafood, typically only offered at happy hour — and a $50 option, which adds an oyster shooter to the tuna tartare and a chance to try the chef’s delightful halibut carpaccio.
In the $35-$45 range, visit Parkland’s Italian gem Marzano, Bar Bistro in Midland, Stanford’s Steakhouse, Table 47/Ocean 5 in Gig Harbor, and one of two new faces: Copper & Salt at the Silver Cloud Hotel at Point Ruston or ALMA Lounge, serving a contemporary take on Native food.
The Social Bar & Grill, with views of Thea Foss Waterway, is the only restaurant hitting that $30 mark this year, with choices ranging from calamari and a house Caesar to eggplant parmesan and pineapple crème brûlée.
Four restaurants are also offering lunch $20-$25 lunch deals. Saigon House, a Vietnamese restaurant in Central Tacoma, has not yet announced its menu.
Swarner said they had been planning to host Restaurant Week last fall, but the pandemic dampened that possibility. A few on the spring list have already signed onto a Fall 2022 edition.
TACOMA RESTAURANT WEEK
▪ April 24-28 and May 1-5, tacomarestaurantweek.com
▪ Details: lunch and dinner deals at 14 Tacoma-area restaurants; reservations recommended
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.