3 new-ish brunch spots in Tacoma for loaded potatoes, crawfish bennies, more
New year, new brunch.
Last year I wondered if Tacoma was, in fact, a brunch town. Several restaurants, including some of the city’s biggest names, have dabbled in the weekend ritual only to revert to just dinner.
Owners and managers usually cite two major brunch barriers: prep time and staffing. The kitchen might be full-up as it is, and adding breakfast and lunch dishes to the menu might require different ingredients. Staffing also continues to be complicated, and extending service to Saturday and/or Sunday mornings often spells long shifts for the nighttime crew.
A third caveat might be the challenging task of gaining enough traction to make it worth your while, before too many quiet shifts haunt the still-nascent idea.
There is an appetite for lively daytime fare. Casa de los Chilaquiles, part of the El Antojo restaurant group, hit the ground running late last year with packed mornings-to-afternoons, with the boost of live guitarists and DJs.
Hesitation hasn’t stopped two new-ish spots and one longstanding Tacoma haven from taking the brunch plunge. Here’s a look at what’s new.
Chez Lafayette
- 1101 Tacoma Ave. S., 253-408-7037, instagram.com/chez.lafayette
- Brunch served every Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
- Most dishes $18-$28
The Cajun-Creole brasserie from the de Alwis family, also of Puyallup’s Bourbon Street Creole Kitchen, launched Sunday brunch Jan. 18. The menu differs from its lunch and dinner sisters, but gumbo by the cup or bowl is always on deck.
Share a plate of deviled eggs ($13), crawfish hushpuppies and flatbread with house-cured salmon and pickles with a creamy dill flourish. Brunch “classics” maintain the Cajun theme, from eggs benedict with Louisiana-style brabant potatoes with your choice of crab cake, crawfish tails or tasso ham ($28-$32) to shrimp and grits. A crispy chicken thigh joins hot-from-the-fryer beignets, while crepes come in sweet (berry coulis) and savory (bacon jam with tomato relish, creamy crawfish “alfredo”) versions.
You can also snag a po’ boy, that chicken thigh on a bun, and a classic Monte Cristo. Maybe cleanse the palate with some greens, perfectly tossed in house vinaigrette.
The morning cocktail list features a house bloody with a Tajin-Cajun spice blend, trinity pickles (as in the “holy” variety of onions, celery, green bell pepper), and a crawdad; a sorbet du jour bellini; and a cucumber spritz. For something stronger, The Usual combines chai-infused bourbon with a sherry whipped cream and coffee liqueur.
Parkway Tavern
- 313 N. I St., Tacoma, 253-383-8748, parkwaytavern.com
- Brunch served every Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
- Most dishes $10-$14
The iconic beer bar has been busy in the past year, adding liquor and thus cocktails for the first time ever and, at the start of 2026, weekend brunch.
The concise menu includes a potato hash of crispy starch with scrambled eggs, onion, jalapeno, salsa and beer cheese; extra-peppery pork sausage gravy over country-style biscuits; bourbon French toast and a croque monsieur with caramelized onions. The Hangover plate combines much of the menu into one $16 bonanza: biscuit and gravy, breakfast potatoes and beer cheese, salsa and jalapenos, French toast with syrup and butter. Add sides of bacon, potatoes and gravy — but don’t think about sunnyside eggs. Scrambled is the only option.
Bar staff will whip up mimosas, but the tap list is, naturally, always on-point.
The standard sandwich, salad, soup and burger menu is also available for now. Don’t sleep on the Parkway Mac!
The Huckleberry Club
- 1014 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, thehuckleberryclub.com
- Brunch served every Saturday-Sunday noon-3 p.m.
- Most dishes $15-$16
Since its 2024 debut, The Huckleberry Club in Hilltop has welcomed regulars and new friends alike to a bar where value meets vibes. The pounder baked potatoes come loaded with house sauces, pickled things, meats and veggies, with options for all dietary preferences (gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan).
The bar kicked off weekend brunch last summer with four new taters. The Dr. Green Thumb features a tofu scramble, plant-based chorizo, sauteed red peppers, caramelized onions and the house vegan “cheese sauce,” The ZigZag satisfies veg needs with the same peppers and onions but real Tillamook white cheddar, scrambled eggs and poblano crema. Find beef barbacoa in The Muskogee, or bacon and sausage gravy on The Wake’n’Bacon.
As there are nachos on the regular menu, at brunch look for chilaquiles — verde salsa-tossed chips over a black-bean puree, all topped with poblana crema, avocado, corn and other finishing touches, plus fried eggs and one of three proteins.
To drink, AM cocktails offer various bloodies and bloody-adjacent drinks (Red Fang with tequila and mezcal, Red Right Hand with gin and salt, Red Rider with Clamato and potato vodka), as well as fruit-forward numbers like the Wet’n’Wild with gin, elderflower, grapefruit and prosecco or the Hurricane Lucy with tequila, passionfruit and grapefruit soda.
This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 5:30 AM.