Capers Downtown ceases dinner, exposing downtown's dilemma

Turkey and cranberry sandwich at Capers Downtown, where lunch goes on.

Tonight will be the last night for dinner at Capers Downtown, the sixth-month-old spin-off of Capers Take Home Eatery in Tacoma's Proctor District.

While owner Eve Hewitt said family issues are involved –- "I have a 14-year-old son who's raising himself," she said –- lack of parking and lack of those fabled downtown condo dwellers are also driving factors.

"I have a lot of older customers and they complain that they can't find parking downtown," Hewitt said.

(Even during the day, Hewitt said, parking is a factor. "The meter people are horrible," she said, referring to enforcement inside the city's 1-hour and 30-minute parking zones.)

As for those well-heeled urbanites who were supposed to move into the nearby condos and provide a customer base for businesses that staked investments on downtown Tacoma's renaissance, Hewitt said:

"It was depressing to see two (occupied) tables in the restaurant at night. That's why I'm putting the kibosh on dinner."

Hewitt noted that nearby condos are now being offered as rentals.

"I bought into a false sense of comfort seeing lines out the door at Paddy Coyne's and The Matador," Hewitt said of two nearby "destination" restaurants.



Capers Downtown will continue serving lunch, which Hewitt said "is doing great." Hewitt said she's planning to add take-out entrees, like she offers at Capers Take Home. She said she'll also do special event dinners, such as wine-maker dinners.

Capers Downtown: 701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; 253-272-2240. Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

This story was originally published December 17, 2007 at 1:13 AM with the headline "Capers Downtown ceases dinner, exposing downtown's dilemma."