X Group Restaurants purchases Tacoma brewpub Engine House No. 9

In case you missed it, C.R. Roberts from The News Tribune's business team reported that X Group Restaurants, which owns Asado and Masa on Sixth Avenue, has purchased the brewery pub Engine House No. 9, located just around the corner from Masa. Read the story here. I've messaged Joel Mertens, the chef of X Group Restaurants, to ask him if he'll oversee the menu and kitchen, but a question in the meantime: If you could change anything about E9, what would it be? My first thought would be to keep the big cookies for dessert and don't change the bison burger much, but feel free to ditch the bland tater tots from the menu, or at least season them properly

UPDATE: I heard back from Mertens and here's what he had to say about the E9 menu: "While I will be overseeing the kitchen and the menu, the thought is not to go in there and replace anyone, but to work with the current staff to find ways to make improvements." Mertens added that if changes are made, they'll be subtle. "We are very open to suggestions, and while we obviously can't use all of them, we will take everyone's comments into consideration," said Mertens via email.

This story was originally published June 28, 2011 at 1:26 AM with the headline "X Group Restaurants purchases Tacoma brewpub Engine House No. 9."