That funny shack on Ruston Way is open again. Here’s what you’ll find at Wide Awake Cafe
The food hut near Les Davis Pier on Tacoma’s waterfront has been freshly painted and spruced up with a moody slate hue, compliments of its new tenant after a bumpy few years of limited hours and vacancy.
Wide Awake Cafe, a locally owned and operated coffee shop that also serves an array of pastries, sandwiches and breakfast burritos, opened Feb. 11 at 3427 Ruston Way.
For the first week, hours run 7 a.m.-3 p.m. but will adjust to anticipated standard service of 6 a.m.-5 p.m. daily starting Feb. 17.
Victoria Lovett, who also goes by Missy, has become a fixture of Tacoma’s coffee-shop culture since opening her first, primarily drive-thru cafe at 1011 Center St. in 2020. She added a second outpost at 4002 Center St., near the Tacoma Refuse Center, two years ago.
The Ruston Way cafe serves the same menu, anchored by espresso drinks — hot and iced — with beans from Dillano Coffee Roasters in Sumner. In addition to the usual Americanos and lattes, Wide Awake makes an array of specialty drinks, like the Hot Brown Butter Snickerdoodle with brown-butter toffee and cinnamon and the Hot Caramel Brûlée Crunch with house whipped cream. Look for monthly and seasonal specials, too.
Non-coffee options include matcha, chai, hot chocolate, various teas, fruit smoothies and the requisite energy drinks spiked with Redbull or the popular plant-based Lotus.
Lovett has worked in the coffee industry for more than a decade, and Wide Awake is “kind of a collage” of some of her favorite things discovered along the way.
To eat, the shop offers pastries from the likes of Art of Crunch, breakfast and more lunch-y sandwiches from Memoranda Kitchen and Blazing Bagels split and spread with various cream cheeses or in sandwich form.
The concession stand was previously occupied by Kama’aina Grill. That Hawaiian restaurant, which also has a food truck and has cooked at the Washington State Fair, appears to have shut the doors at the end of 2023 after their lease ended. Google reviews often reported the business as closed when it was listed as open, leading to confusion even during peak season.
Parks Tacoma owns the property, so the process to find a new tenant required a formal request-for-proposal that started in March 2024 but was renewed in August. The agency sought an established foodservice business with a bent toward quick offerings like coffee, ice cream or shaved ice, according to the RFP.
Lovett wasn’t necessarily on the prowl for a third location but had always admired the Ruston Way hut.
“I’ve always thought, ‘Gosh, that would be such a great spot,’” she said in a phone call this week.
She couldn’t sleep one night and randomly did some research. There was a walk-through scheduled for the next day.
“It just kinda felt like a fate thing!” she recalled.
The selection process took more time than expected. Parks Tacoma spokesperson Stacia Glenn said the agency received two proposals, and a panel of staff awarded Wide Awake the lease after “a competitive process.”
“We are looking forward to a year-round operation taking root and serving Ruston Way visitors in all seasons,” added Glenn.
“It’s been fun to see regular walkers and regulars come down to enjoy the waterfront,” said Lovett. “We’re happy to be here.”
WIDE AWAKE CAFE & ESPRESSO - RUSTON WAY
▪ 3427 Ruston Way, Tacoma, 253-414-5016, instagram.com/wideawakecafetacoma
▪ Daily 6 a.m.-5 p.m., starting Feb. 17
▪ Details: coffee shop with grab-and-go food now open near Les Davis Pier; most drinks $4-$7, snacks and sandwiches $2.25-$9.25
▪ Other Locations: 1011 Center St., 4002 Center St.
Editor’s Note, 2/20/2025: This story has been updated with comment from Parks Tacoma.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM.