‘Particularly difficult.’ Another Stadium District restaurant bows out
Stadium Golf, the remaining vestige of the business that opened as the German-themed Rhein Haus in 2017, has closed.
The Google listing for the sports bar, anchored by several Trackman golf simulators, now lists the business at 649 Division Ave. as “permanently closed.” The website, Facebook and Instagram pages are no longer available online.
In a statement provided to The News Tribune, Rich Fox, an operating owner of Stadium Golf’s parent company, Yes! Parade, pointed to “numerous obstacles” in the past eight years.
“The pandemic, the long-term light rail construction, and the diminishing parking have made it particularly difficult over the years for our patrons to visit our restaurants, starting with Rhein Haus and most recently Stadium Golf,” he said. “Combined with the other inflationary factors facing all restaurants in the area, it was all too much for the location to bear. We’re sad to close this chapter in Tacoma and are immensely appreciative of the patronage and support the community has shown us over the years.”
The writing was perhaps on the 9-iron for Stadium Golf months ago.
Poquitos, a modern Mexican restaurant that replaced one half of the original beer hall space in 2022, quietly shuttered last October. Yes! Parade still operates that brand in Capitol Hill (since 2011) and Bothell (since 2018). The other side of Rhein Haus was turned into Stadium Golf at that time, usurping the short-lived Wally’s Wisconsin Tavern.
It’s not that Rhein Haus was a failed idea: The first has served Seattle’s Capitol Hill Bavarian beer and food since 2013, expanding to Denver two years later and Leavenworth in 2018. The Tacoma restaurant was a hit at the advent — and an apparent sign of intrigue into this mid-sized city from big-city brains. It was one of a wave of Seattle-based businesses into Tacoma at the time, one that included Chow Foods’ Cooks Tavern (still open) and The Camp Bar (sold to new owners last year).
At 13,000 square feet with a patio, Rhein Haus Tacoma was massive, and the initial crowds never returned through COVID-19 downturns and transit construction, which lasted years longer than anticipated.
That led Yes! Parade to give up on the German concept, pivoting to split the space in two. Poquitos never seemed to take off, and while the activity-focused golf bar had its fans, in February it cut service to just five days and closed at 9 p.m., even on weekends.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR STADIUM DISTRICT RESTAURANTS?
Tacoma’s Reddit page first noted the apparent closure around June 23.
“Sad to see another Stadium District place close,” said the original post.
In just the past few weeks, the neighborhood lost cocktail bar Gilman House Room 428 and Art House Cafe. The new owners of sister restaurants Indo Street Asian Eatery and Moshi Ramen Bar closed the latter with intent to replace it with another Thai concept. On the other hand, Sandwich Starr opened last fall, Shake Shake Shake and The Powder Room Champagne Bar remain, and a big-name Seattle burger shop will soon be moving in.
Other commenters on the Reddit thread about Stadium Golf’s demise pointed to limited hours and early end-times, a common lament about the city’s food and beverage scene.
The building, which spans 633 to 649 Division Ave., is also home to Mud Bay pet store and Orangetheory Fitness on the upper floor. On the I Street-facing lower level, tenants include Jimmy John’s, Cookie Dough Delight and Stadium Thriftway. Starbucks left its unit in 2022. According to property records, the whole of it is valued at $13.5 million and last sold for $19 million. Excise-tax documents from February of this year show it was transferred to another LLC connected to the same address, 345 Park Ave., a high-rise in Midtown Manhattan.
What’s to come of the former Rhein Haus, Etc. space remains unknown. Redditors mused about leaning back into the beer-hall vibe but activating the kitchen with multiple food vendors.