Dubai chocolate, Vietnamese coffee at two new Tacoma dessert cafes
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- Two new cafes in downtown Tacoma offer Vietnamese drinks and other desserts.
- Eather Tea focuses on Vietnamese coffee, fruit teas and customizable waffles.
- Lune Cafe features viral Dubai chocolate treats and visually creative crepes.
The tea and dessert cafe trend has hit double-time in downtown Tacoma, just in time for the school year.
Two new shops opened their doors in August: Eather (pronounced “ether”) Tea and Cafe at 1127 Broadway, next to Tacoma School of the Arts theatre, and Lune Cafe at 1916 Pacific Ave., next to Tinkertopia.
Vietnamese Coffee in Tacoma
Ky Luu is the owner of Eather, which specializes in Vietnamese coffee but drinks also include matcha, milk and fruit teas. Add bubble-tea fixings like brown sugar boba, coconut jellies and cloud mochi to any beverage for $0.99 to $1.50.
Coffee options range from a Vietnamese white coffee and the “Famous Saigon Coffee” to a salted number and one with pandan and coconut. Milk teas include taro, strawberry, jasmine and “cheesy Thai,” while fresh-brewed fruit teas offer mango-passion, soursop and jasmine with lychee or guava.
Most drinks come in two sizes — 16 or 20 ounces — and start at $6.50-$7.75.
To snack, Eather also makes waffles, including a dark-cocoa batter version, with toppings like Nutella and strawberry. Customize with an array of nuts (pistachios, pecans, sliced almonds and peanuts) and marshmallows, if desired.
The cafe is spacious and bright with plenty of tables to relax or get some work done (WiFi available).
Luu’s family also owns cafes in Vietnam.
Eather Tea and Cafe
- 1127 Broadway, 206-209-6474, instagram.com/eather_tea_cafee
- Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday 12-7 p.m.
- Details: Vietnamese coffee shop with matcha and various milk/fruit teas, plus dessert waffles
Lune Cafe expands to UWT
On Pac Ave, Karrar Hashem and his family have expanded their Lune Cafe business to the University of Washington-Tacoma campus, replacing what was most recently Grit City Greens.
Lune began in Seattle’s Pioneer Square in 2022, expanding to a drive-thru in Auburn called Lune To Go. The owners envisioned the cafes as an alternative to bars — the choice of UWT and a recent addition to the University District in Seattle was intentional, according to a July story in Real Change.
The shop is perhaps best known for its viral Dubai chocolate strawberries ($13.99 for a cup big enough to share), a trend involving melted chocolate, pistachios and knafeh — a traditional Arabic dessert of very thin threads of spun phyllo pastry. This and similar treats were inspired by the Dubai chocolate bar, believed to be a very recent invention — 2022 — by a British-Egyptian chocolatier.
Other Dubai sweets at Lune include a milkshake and crêpe ($16.99) drizzled with knafeh, crushed pistachios and chocolate.
The menu also offers an interesting array of desserts like Lune Sushi (crêpes rolled into bite-sized pieces with bananas and strawberries, finished with milk chocolate), Lune Fettucine (crêpes sliced to resemble the noodle, served with bananas and two kinds of chocolate drizzle) and Lune Burrito (a crêpe rolled around eclairs, with strawberries, chocolate or pistachios. Savory sandwiches and avocado toast could be added soon.
Colorful beverages include the Purple Glow latte with lavender and vanilla and a Samoa-inspired one with caramel and coconut, plus fruity energy drinks like the Sunset Glow with peach and mango-peach gummies (most $6.50). The cafe also serves espresso drinks and a few smoothies.
Lune Cafe - Tacoma
- 1916 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, lunesglow.com
- Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-midnight, Saturday 10 a.m.-midnight, Sunday 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
- Details: dessert cafe with fruit teas and coffee drinks, plus Dubai chocolate-inspired sweets
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.