Specialty pizzas and classic cocktails? We say, ‘Yes, please,’ to this Tacoma restaurant

Proctor didn’t need another Italian restaurant, and it didn’t get one — at least not of the garden variety.

At Millhouse & The Blind Pig, there are no pastas, no meatballs and no gravy bowls of grated parmesan. As it often goes with new restaurants, owners John and Alyssa Ross allowed the neighborhood to soften the edges of their “Italian street-food” stylings.

The people wanted pizza and panuozzos, and with good reason.

Since 2017, the couple’s wood-fired pies, and more recently their sandwiches on house bread, have amassed a loyal following at Millville Pizza Co. in Gig Harbor. When they purchased Europa Bistro, 2515-2517 N. Proctor St., they imprinted on Tacoma a refreshing vision of both a neighborhood restaurant and a neighborhood bar.

On a recent visit, we bee-lined to The Blind Pig — a cocktail den accessible through swinging saloon doors in the main dining room or through a separate red-door street entrance — for an ice-cold martini in the classic glass, a simple daiquiri in a coupe and a perfectly bittersweet negroni. We paired our drinks with the simple Champagne Vinaigrette salad dotted by pickled red onions and a hard-boiled egg. Then came the flatbread, which we dipped into housemade harissa with abandon before remembering we had also ordered a pizza.

With its satisfying crunch and fresh toppings, from wild mushrooms and lemon zest (Adam’s Wild Mushroom Pie) to pesto with burrata and chorizo (The Mustang), the Proctor pies evoke Millville’s memory but with an even sturdier center. The same dough undergoes about an 18-hour bulk rise before being portioned for service; instead of wood-fire, the Millhouse pies are baked in Europa’s decades-old deck oven that previously churned out pies, breads and cakes.

“It started to make a really unique crust,” said Ross. “All of that grain gets stored up and that creates life in there … that just kind of adds a graininess and a texture and a smell and a taste that is built up over time.”

The setting at Millhouse is humble, equipped for casual lunches, family dinners or parties of 10.

“It was always kind of tailored for family. It’s really light, it’s really open. You can move tables around. That was the idea,” said Ross.

THE BLIND PIG, A TACOMA COCKTAIL BAR

The Rosses were smart to segment the massive space, which, in its 22 years as Europa, could seat about 120 people. A simple wall between the building’s two entrances has created two distinct experiences, while capitalizing on the beautiful built-in wooden bar.

At The Blind Pig, velvet green chairs line small tables with a clear view of striking forest-green tiger and peacock wallpaper. A half-circle booth anchors the corner, which Tacomans might recognize from the late Masa restaurant on Sixth Avenue. It feels like a secret, but one in which you can partake regularly — a corner bar but with better cocktails.

On a Thursday with all-day happy hour, the bar stools were sparsely occupied by solo diners and neighborhood regulars. On a Saturday at 8 p.m., I wondered why the place wasn’t full.

“We’ve put a lot of ourselves into it, and it’s a really personal place,” said bar manager Riley Haizlip. After working at Millville since 2016, she joined the Rosses as business partner in the Proctor bar and restaurant.

The cocktails reflect her personal affinity for classics with a few twists, as in the mezcal margarita, spiced with “a healthy dose” of habanero bitters and the Flying Pig, her adaptation of an Aviation, doubled on purple with Empress gin (hued by maceration of sweet pea flowers) and crème de violette, an intensely floral liqueur.

“I knew what I looked for when I go to a cocktail bar,” she said, admitting that she doesn’t come from a bartending background but learned the craft by studying successful cocktail pros. “I’m looking for the classics: martini, lemon drop, whisky sour.”

I love a daiquiri (at its core a Cuban sour with lime, sugar, rum) and The Blind Pig’s satisfies, though I prefer it without ice shards. The martini, on the menu with Polish vodka but I subbed gin, was double-strained, cold as can be and toothpicked with two pimento-stuffed olives.

Brunch (available on both sides) debuted in September with sunny-egg breakfast pizzas plus one with mozzarella, ricotta and blackberry jam; a morning charcuterie board, house muffins and biscotti; egg sandwiches on house bread, crispy on the outside with a pillowy pizza-dough inside. Haizlip’s brunch menu features a bloody with Heritage Distilling Co.’s bacon and ghost-pepper vodka, a strawberries-and-cream gin and soda, two coffee cocktails and a citrusy screwdriver.

“We want that to be fun if that’s all you’re having,” said Haizlip. “Just kind of creating an evolving, comfortable space where people know they can come and have a good experience, but also try new things.”

She and the Rosses considered other Tacoma locations, and while I selfishly wish it had landed in the southern half of the city, I am glad they are where they are. I’m just not sure why more of you aren’t.

MILLHOUSE & THE BLIND PIG

▪ 2515 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253- millhouseproctor.com

▪ Millhouse: daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

▪ Blind Pig: Sunday-Thursday 3-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 3-midnight

▪ Details: apps/salads $5-$11, sandwiches $11-$13, pizzas $10.50-$18, cocktails $10-$13

TNT DINER TAKE

▪ Value: great — $75, give or take, for a couple to share two apps and a pizza, with two cocktails and beer

▪ Quality: great — housemade pizza, breads and dressings, with high-quality toppings; well-executed classic cocktails with fresh juice

▪ Atmosphere: super casual with room for groups/families at Millhouse; intimate and chill for singles, couples and small groups at Blind Pig

▪ Returnability: No reason the bar shouldn’t be busy, especially with Wednesday’s $35 wine-and-pie deal, Thursday’s all-day happy hour ($2 off cocktails, $4 pints, $5 wine) and generally a casual-cool hang any day of the week.

This story was originally published September 28, 2022 at 12:30 PM.