Our best new restaurants of 2023 feature messy wings, wagyu quesadillas, crazy-good KBBQ
This list is not that long.
Of the restaurants that opened their doors this year, the best food and experiences came not always from swanky potential hot spots but more often from what I see as Tacoma’s superpower: swoon-worthy food, sometimes with drinks to match, in verifiably low-key, come-as-you-are, only-in-Tacoma settings. I’m thinking about breakfast sandwiches (on biscuits and bagels), super-thin-crust pizza, down-to-earth Mexican next to a transportation center, giant piles of prime-grade bulgogi and bao in a cider bar.
There is one exception to the “hot spot” moniker, which might surprise you as it’s elsewhere in Pierce County.
For 2023, I opted to keep the number to a strict 10. Each restaurant was chosen for reasons not only of great food and drink but also of patient, familial, even fun service that reminds us why we spend money on the experience of dining out.
For at least half of the selections, build-outs were accomplished through serious self-determination — in one case, a decade’s worth. For the three that ran crowdfunding campaigns, the reaction, from lines out the door to consistent sellouts despite daily endeavors to increase their stash, shows that their idea indeed had legs. All provide something that was missing or, perhaps, that we didn’t know we needed.
These businesses set out to do a very particular thing and did it.
Presented in order of opening date, these are the best new restaurants in Tacoma and Pierce County.
INDITA MIA
▪ 1126 Commerce St., Tacoma, 253-625-7362, inditamia.restaurant
Don’t be fooled by the low-slung, awkwardly narrow Commerce Street location. Fried in beef tallow and finished with a vibrant green salsa, Grandma’s quesadilla bulges with wagyu beef. The heat of the carne con chile, wrapped in pillowy homemade tortillas, suffers not. The lonche, ladled with a sauce reminiscent of homestyle tomato soup, usurps the usual torta. The menu is relatively short, but Angie and Oreb Apodaca’s Indita Mia stands out from the crowd thanks to details like fresh-squeezed juices, imported clayware and a presentation that marries tradition with modernity — a winning formula that will soon lead to a brighter outpost on Thea Foss Waterway.
APIZZA LITTLE ITALY
▪ 821 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-367-4992, apizzalittleitaly.com
The lack of a defining Northwest pizza style leaves the door wide open for creativity, and the crazy-thin pies at APIZZA — inspired by the historically coal-baked “apizza” of New Haven, Connecticut — are in a class all their own, preferably in the more manageable 12-inch size. Owner Marshall Jett sticks with top-notch toppings, including Cascioppo Bros. sausage, hot coppa, Coro salami and Calabrian peppers. The well-dressed salads harken to an East Coast haunt, and the high ceilings beget vintage oak furniture and Italian brand posters in a warm dining room that basically doubles as the kitchen. Add a carafe of vino and finish with gelato, or just swing by for a slice.
B’S BAGELS & BUTTERS
▪ 3308 Uddenberg Lane, Gig Harbor, 253-358-3257, bsbagelsgigharbor.com
Gig Harbor won the bagel lottery when chef Brittany Erwin decided to open her first bagel shop across the bridge, next to Better Gym. After a lengthy buildout, B’s Bagels landed in early spring. Core and specialty flavors don’t shy away from some of the most controversial (in NYC), such as cinnamon raisin and French toast, and hardest for PNW lifers to maybe love, like pumpernickel and salt. The latter is a fine vehicle for the nova lox with scallion schmear, onion, cucumber, capers and dill, and an even better companion to a hot Bluebeard Coffee. Enjoy at the open-air counter or stroll down to the waterfront — and don’t forget extra for the weekend.
CIDER & CEDAR
▪ 744 Market St., Tacoma, ciderandcedar.com
At one of the most striking bars in the region, explore the beauty of Pacific Northwest cider, forged from heirloom apples, in a historic space outfitted with old-growth Olympic cedar fixtures, live greenery and vintage rugs. Owners Mia and Sterling Paradiso carefully restored the ground-floor space of the 1931 Marcourt Building over the course of a year after closing their original pocket-sized original up the hill. Neither will this secret keep: their friend and chef Chris Chun is making bao, the dough from scratch, enveloping the crispiest chicken thighs, BBQ pork belly and savory mushrooms, lined with pickled carrot and daikon. Also get the refreshing salad with lots of mint and a light chimichurri vinaigrette. To the melody of weekend acoustic sets, it’s another classic, only-in-Tacoma kind of combo.
OXBOW URBAN KITCHEN
▪ 1105 Pacific Ave., Sumner, 253-881-5111, oxbowurbankitchen.com
A restaurant like Toscano’s doesn’t last almost 20 years in a business plaza in Puyallup without a certain level of polish — in food and service. The owners’ second restaurant, Oxbow, has likewise angled itself as a hopeful standout in Sumner. Fine-tuned cocktails and a riverfront deck are reason enough to visit, but you’ll also want to kick things off with sous-vide BBQ pork with sharp mustard and a throwback salad of crunchy lettuce and copious Chilean shrimp. Move to comforting ravioli, fish that sings with simple, seasonal accompaniments and a half-chicken cooked under a brick and served over rich potato purée. Tied with well-trained service, the work of chef Alexander Anton and bar manager Travis Tracht is one to watch.
HOWDY BAGEL
▪ 5421 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253-301-1586, howdybagel.com
Has Tacoma ever seen such a galvanizing restaurant debut? Following wild success at Proctor Farmers Market, partners in life and business Jake Carter and Daniel Blagovich unveiled their enchanting brick-and-mortar this summer, breathing even more life into one of Tacoma’s most exciting streets. The blistered bagels, in flavors like rosemary sea salt and, if you’re lucky, za’atar, yield a great chew, thanks to a cold ferment and hand formation. Spread with lemon-dill cream cheese or roasted garlic and herb. Choose one for your sausage, egg and cheese or avocado, egg and chili crisp. Pair with an espresso brewed from a custom Olympia Coffee roast. This place is as cozy and kind as a Tacoma cowboy, which is to say, very, very kind and cozy.
BUSY BODY!
▪ 2717 6th Ave., Tacoma, busybodytacoma.com
Tacoma needs more “middle-housing” restaurants: casual hangs where you can just as easily pop in for a beer or a cocktail as you can for a bite, ‘til midnight, that isn’t frozen and refried mozzarella sticks or scraggly chicken wings. On the latter, you’ll have a mess of a time with Musangtino’s adobo wings, big and saucy in such that you’ll need 10 times as many napkins as the server provides. Get the burger, with house-pickled zucchini, and make it a double. Bring friends for lumpia and “spaghetti” mang, the noodles swapped for fries in the mind of Seattle-based chef Melissa Miranda. Themed after underdog ‘60s-era Tacoma punk-rock bands, Busy Body! also plays cool tunes, with frequent DJ nights, washed down with excellent cocktails like the bitter Witch or the dangerous frozen purple number.
THE GRILL 253
▪ 9312 South Tacoma Way, Lakewood, 253-267-5316, thegrill253.com
Amid a wealth of Korean restaurants, The Grill — replacing Daewon BBQ in the plaza with Mama’s Pho and Variety Donuts — splashed into Lakewood this year with a commitment to use high-quality beef, and the result is noticeable. Bring friends to try your grill skills with generous combo platters featuring delicate slices of brisket, mounds of short rib and succulent bulgogi — get the beef, of course, but even the marinated chicken sings here, along with seafood. Affable staff keep sharp eyes on your grill plate and flame, replacing and adjusting as needed; neither will they hesitate to step in with scissors if you’re preoccupied with your tablemates, the plentiful banchan or your second big bottle of Cass.
SIDE PIECE KITCHEN
▪ 4704 S. Oakes St., Tacoma, 253-289-1800, sidepiecekitchen.com
In less than two years, Hailey and Dante Hernandez forged a following of biscuit fiends and cheesecake loyalists who first flocked to a parking lot for pickup and now to a former Pizza Hut by the mall. The couple’s first restaurant opened the doors in October with a ‘70s theme, much of the decor rescued from local thrift stores. These tender, flaky, bigger-than-your-hands biscuits bookend the likes of thick-cut bacon, soft folded eggs and tomato jam or rest under shockingly meaty mushroom gravy. You probably won’t have room for a slice — strawberry shortcake, cajeta and banana pudding on the regular, plus weekly specials — but you should most definitely buy some for later. Seating is limited (look for sidewalk tables by spring), but stay if you can for a house michelada or a $2.53 Miller High Life pony beer.
BERLINER BEERHALL
▪ 2401 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 425-277-1111, berlinerbeerhall.com
A decade after buying this old building on the quiet north side of downtown, Lydia and Dennis Mascarinas officially opened their modern German beer hall this fall, replete with long communal tables and an all-Deutsche tap list, the suds poured into branded pint, half-liter and liter glasses. Sister to Berliner Pub in Renton, the family-friendly restaurant actually debuted in March 2020 — the long journey to now means Tacoma finally has an anchor where it really needed one. Focus on the German side of the menu, from the oversized pretzel to the homemade schnitzel and spätzle, braised cabbage and crispy house-cut chips. Capped by engaged service, it’s affordable and casual enough for every day, but the true beer hall atmosphere is simultaneously celebratory.
This story was originally published December 21, 2023 at 5:30 AM.