Wooden City unveils new downtown Tacoma restaurant. Here’s our first impression
Wooden City Tacoma, which has relocated to 1102 Broadway, was buzzing over its soft-opening weekend, as staff both veteran and in-training settled into a steady rhythm in their new professional home.
After three nights quietly operating without an official announcement, the restaurant shared on Instagram that it would celebrate its grand opening on Tuesday, April 28. Operating hours will match what they’ve long been: daily 5-10 p.m.
Reservations are live on Resy, but be forewarned — they’re filling up quickly. Tuesday and Wednesday are completely booked, but late tables (near or after 9 p.m.) remain available through the weekend. Then things clear up next Monday, with ample time slots open on weekdays. Friday and Saturday nights, though, appear to be a hot commodity.
Note that bookings specify a table in the dining room (on the main floor or the mezzanine) or a “bar high top”; stools at the bar are always left to walk-ins. Resy also offers a “notify” feature, which allows you to put your name on the list in the case of a cancellation. Then you have a limited time to snag the available table.
The team behind Wooden City, established in 2018 by hospitality-industry veterans Abe Fox and Jon Green with design partner Eddie Gulberg, closed the original Tacoma restaurant at 724 Pacific Ave. after service on April 14. That week, Gulberg and his crew applied finishing touches to the new 7,000-square-foot space as they awaited the arrival of most tables and chairs. Fox assured me they would open by the end of the month — confidence gleaned from having opened three Wooden City restaurants in three other mid-sized cities (Spokane; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama) since 2021.
He was right.
Instagram stories from the restaurant’s account and in-the-know locals started making the rounds by Friday. That night, as the manager worked with a newly hired host, my dining partner and I were graciously seated in the main dining room, toward the back of the space, outfitted with banquettes and flexible tables plus a couple of large corner booths. Our server was also training a new hire, who attentively listened to our questions about changes to the menu and advised us on a pleasant way to course our meal.
In a message on Monday, Fox said they “really can’t say enough about this community and the support.” They were admittedly nervous about introducing longtime fans to a new space but were assuaged by one common piece of feedback in particular: that it “felt like it’s been there for a while.”
He added that it was, in retrospect, kind of “crazy” to make the transition in just one week.
“That great team we have went to work and pulled it off!” he said. “Super impressed and endlessly grateful for all of them.”
The group first leased the address, then an empty office with enviably high ceilings, exposed brick walls and industrial steel beams, in the second half of 2024. Construction began last summer, and they turned the final corner earlier this month, TNT Diner reported.
Welcome to the new Wooden City
Most of the menu has not changed from its recent form on Pac Ave, but Fox and Green promised a little bit of an “elevated” atmosphere that would extend to a few new dishes and drinks. Staff also moved with the restaurant, including executive chef Lili Mancini, GM Erin Conners Bergfeld and bar manager Alex King.
The fried artichokes previously were offered alongside a wood-fired half-chicken before becoming a standalone side, but I had somehow never tried them. The crispy hearts arrived hot and dusted with herbs, paired with lemon and herb aioli.
The bone marrow has been substituted for a plush beef tartare — a rare sight around Tacoma despite its popularity on modern American menus across the country in the last decade or so. We gleefully slathered the grilled toast rounds with a dollop of housemade mayo in between nibbles of cornichons.
We couldn’t resist the Hungarian wax peppers, the plate that, on my first visit to Wooden City six years ago, convinced me that this team knew how to take comfort food to new heights. While I would always accept more chive oil, the spice of the neon-green pepper, blistered in the new, blue-tiled, wood-fired oven with sausage and cheese, still rules — but the house focaccia manages to enhance this now-iconic dish.
Other favorites, from the beet ravioli and spicy lamb rigatoni to the Caesar, “fancy” burger with hand-cut fries, and the always lovely seasonal burrata over housemade bread pudding, continue.
The pork chop receives a fresh treatment, with a vibrant burnt-orange ‘nduja sauce and half-moons of crisped polenta (as opposed to its prior bed of creamy polenta). We managed to leave room for a cup of silky chocolate custard, swirled with espresso whipped cream and candied pecans.
On the cocktail menu, classics and house specialties welcome a couple of newcomers including a strong Gibson with a house-pickled pearl onion.
A new era for downtown Tacoma
Despite it being literally Day 2 in the new digs, staff seemed primed for the moment. I have grown to expect a new restaurant — especially one that jumped from a crowded 65ish people to around 150 at a time — to trip, but I was impressed by the attentiveness of staff (frequent check-ins, new silverware for the second course, two spoons for dessert, etc.), the speed of service and the caliber of the food and drink out of the gate.
Oddly enough, I had sat only at a standard table at the Pac Ave location once, much preferring a walk-in bar stool. Seated in the main-floor dining room at the new Broadway restaurant, hanging Edison bulbs emit a warm amber glow and real candles burn at each table. The soothing color combo of the brand’s flagship blue mingles with soft brick-red walls, creamy wallpaper, pops of living foliage and real wood. It’s almost beachy — in a cool, Santa Monica-meets-Tacoma kind of way. The sound and bustle was energetic but not overbearing, and I can’t wait to return for a seat in the open-air lounge, where the movements of the bar meld with the beat of the very open kitchen.
Combined with the professional execution, firmly in the area’s top tier, I wondered if Broadway might have been better used as a clean slate for a brand-new, “elevated” concept from the Wooden City team, which has proven over eight successful years in Tacoma and elsewhere that it knows what it’s doing. Will it flourish in a space that’s nearly 150% larger?
More room means more moments for more people. More happy-hour dates at the bar with pizza and cocktails. More steaks and pork chops, bottles of wine straight through to dessert in the dining room. More celebrations and even private parties in the other half of the mezzanine.
In another bonus for Tacoma, the team isn’t finished: They will renovate the Pac Ave restaurant for a completely new concept.
For now, I agree with the feedback of other early guests. Wooden City 2.0 already feels like it’s been around the block — because it has.
Wooden City Tacoma
- 1102 Broadway, 253-503-0762, woodencitytacoma.com
- Daily 5-10 p.m.
- Reservations recommended via Resy; bar reserved for walk-ins
- Details: new location for one of Tacoma’s best restaurants opens April 28 with similar menu plus some newcomers and tons more space