The secret to Pierce County’s best bloody mary? Steak sauce, habanero and 94 years
For the sane among us who prefer their bloodies strong, spicy and simply topped with a crunchy celery stick, a pickled thing and a briny olive, beeline to Hob Nob, one of Tacoma’s beloved breakfast haunts.
According to readers of The News Tribune, the venerable diner across from Wright Park serves the best bloody mary around.
Our informal poll attracted more than 500 tallies, and nearly a quarter voted for Hob Nob.
In second place with about 20 percent of the vote was Cooper’s Food & Drink, a spacious family-friendly restaurant in the West End with a year-round patio.
Newcomer The Powder Room Champagne Bar, where staff rolls a cart with all the fixings straight to your table, has started off hot, landing about 7 percent of votes. Twisted Fork Saloon at Point Ruston and Alfred’s Cafe, another old-school spot near Tacoma Dome, rounded out the Top 5.
About 50 tallies claimed we missed their favorite. We received specific shouts-outs to The Forum in Tacoma and Puyallup (“great seasoning”), The Fish Peddler (“lots of condiments!”), and Top of Tacoma in McKinley Hill, which sells shorties for just $8. Others cited Bumpy’s Pub and The Coaster in Puyallup, The Pine Cone in University Place and Doyle’s Public House. One respondent bucked all trends and insisted, “My house!”
The rest of the top vote-getters included Crockett’s Public House, well-known in Puyallup and Maple Valley with a new restaurant in Bonney Lake, Boathouse 19 at Narrows Marina, Bar Bistro in Midland and Devoted Kiss Cafe in Gig Harbor.
WHAT MAKES THE BEST BLOODY MARY?
Customers have flocked to Hob Nob, across from Tacoma’s Wright Park, for almost a century for sustenance.
The 1929 brick building originally held three storefronts. After the dry cleaner closed in the late ‘40s, The Hob Nob Food Shop opened Hob Nob Cafe. When the confectioner left in 1970, the restaurant remodeled and became what we now know as Hob Nob Restaurant and Lounge. (Enter through the alley entrance after 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday nights!)
“I think that we’re just one of Tacoma’s staples,” said general manager Scott Ouellette after learning of the tomato cocktail victory. “Everybody knows the Hob Nob. It’s just the best breakfast dive in the neighborhood.”
He pointed to “generational regulars,” referencing a group of guys who visit every Wednesday, and their sons stop by another day of the week. “People say, ‘I came here as a child and now I come here with my children.’”
Apparently many do so with a bloody mary on the table, although they also drink plenty of mimosas, staff said.
Bartender Jason Rounds, who spent more than a decade at The 5 Point Cafe, a nearly-century-old 24-hour diner and bar in Seattle’s Belltown, joined Hob Nob in the spring and immediately got to work on the bloody mix.
“The bloody mary was good,” he said on Wednesday, “but I knew I could do a little more in there.”
Drinkers noticed the difference and wholeheartedly approved, according to this bespectacled industry pro.
“I just kind of zhuzhed it up a little bit,” said Rounds.
Holding certain secrets close to the retro bar top, he described a classic tomato juice base with undisclosed spices — he wouldn’t even confirm my query of salt and pepper — and the jolt of both Worcestershire and A1 steak sauce. It also gets a nice dose of the flagship habanero hot sauce from Secret Aardvark, based in Portland.
“We put a little bit in the mix but not enough to make it too spicy,” explained Rounds. Extra-spicy orders — the way it should be! — receive a bonus squeeze stirred in the glass.
Rimmed with rock salt, this bloody arrives with an amuse-bouche of a tall celery stick with leaves intact, a lime wedge, and a skewer of a hunk of pepperoni, pepperjack cheese, a pimento-stuffed green olive and a pickled green bean. For just $2, they’ll tack on a strip of freshly sizzled bacon.
Whether you stick with the well vodka or upgrade to Tito’s or Olympia Artesian Vodka, the drink is balanced and refreshing with just the right amount of heat.
Also on the menu: a Bloody Caesar, Mary’s Canadian counterpart fashioned with Clamato instead of tomato juice, served here with a Montreal spice rim (garlic, onion, pepper, paprika).
The bacon bloody skips the skewer and just brings you bacon, while the “naked” saves you a couple bucks but also skips the skewer and celery.
Forthcoming additions include a vegan bloody, with juice from the pickled beans lending umami sans Worcestershire, which is made with anchovies.
In honor of the win, Hob Nob will offer “Mini Marys” this weekend only: $6 for a rocks-glass version of the house favorites. Standard sizes are $10.75-$12.75.
Oullette was also eager to share that, incidentally, the restaurant had already placed an order for a run of T-shirts boasting the “Bennies & Bloodies” iconography on the back. They, too, arrive this Friday.
THE HOB NOB
▪ 716 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-3200, hobnobtacoma.com
▪ Monday-Wednesday 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Thursday-Sunday 7 a.m.-10 p.m. (alley entrance to lounge open 3-midnight Thursday-Sunday)
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 5:20 AM.