Tacoma bar has liquor license suspended for issues including overservice

A bar in Tacoma’s McKinley Hill neighborhood had its liquor license suspended this week after racking up a trio of public-safety violations with the state liquor board in less than two years.

The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board suspended the liquor license of Tami’s in Tacoma, 4034 E. McKinley Ave., on June 10. The pause in alcohol service will run for 15 days — through June 25 — and the owner will pay a $2,500 fine, confirmed Brian Smith, communications director for the state agency.

The bar, located since 2019 in an otherwise residential stretch of McKinley a few blocks south of the main business district, has been cited for two instances of overservice and one for criminal conduct since October 2023. State law requires such a suspension in the event of three infractions within a two-year timeframe.

Tami’s was charged on Oct. 28, 2023, for “sales to an apparently intoxicated individual,” Smith confirmed. The owner, Tami Hiatt, opted to attend an informal hearing instead of accepting a 30-day suspension. Hiatt ultimately agreed to pay a $2,100 fine.

Almost 18 months passed before Tami’s was flagged again for overservice on May 31, 2025, which led to another compromised fine between LCB and Hiatt for $2,100, Smith said.

Two such public-safety violations within a two-year period default to a seven-day suspension of the liquor license, per state law, but the licensee can request a hearing and, pending results of that hearing and subsequent board approval, instead pay a fine.

Then last October, an LCB investigation substantiated a third incident — this time for allowing patrons to consume cannabis on the property. The official orange LCB sign posted on the bar’s door reflects this incident, while a personal sign below it reads: “Come Back June 25th @ 10 am For The Tea.”

Liquor license holders are typically informed of a substantiated violation by mail a couple of weeks after investigators reach a conclusion, explained Smith in a phone call. Their options include requesting an informal hearing and appealing the decision.

Hiatt again requested an informal hearing, which was delayed until April 3 due to an “internal backlog” at the agency, Smith said. The determination then heads to the part-time board for approval.

The board agreed to suspend Tami’s license for 15 days if Hiatt paid a $2,500 penalty. Hiatt told LCB that the bar might operate “periodically” during the liquor pause for food and other beverages.

Hiatt, who previously operated a bar at 4629 S. Yakima, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The News Tribune.

Spotty history at Tacoma bar

Tami’s opened in 2019 at its current address. The city temporarily revoked its business license in November 2021 after a slew of chronic nuisance code complaints, according to documents reviewed by The News Tribune at the time. Neighbors accused the bar of allowing nefarious behavior that spilled onto the streets, from allegedly intoxicated drivers hitting flower pots and other cars to violence, including gunfire. A man who was pushed down two stairs later died, and though the medical examiner later ruled it a homicide, Pierce County prosecutors declined to press charges because it did not reach the level of a felony, The News Tribune reported.

Tacoma police responded to dozens of calls to the address in 2021, with at least seven incidents involving reports of weapons, according to a department spokesperson at the time. Two reports of shots fired — in September and November of that year — led the city to halt the business license.

Hiatt agreed to various conditions to reopen, including installing security cameras, closing earlier and stationing an employee at the door during busy events. In a statement provided to The News Tribune in 2022, Hiatt expressed frustration with the city’s assessment that blame should lay squarely at her feet. Some of the issues did not start with her customers, she said, and she “cannot control the people that want to stir up trouble and make bad choices.”

Lately the bar has operated daily 11 a.m.-1 a.m., according to its Google listing, although its Facebook page shows a closing-time of 2 a.m. and Sunday starting at 9 a.m.

TPD spokesperson Shelbie Boyd said the police haven’t fielded calls to the area around the 4000 block of McKinley Avenue, near Tami’s, since February. Only one generated a police report, she said, for a purported DUI.

“Just because a crime happened at that location doesn’t mean it was related to that address,” Boyd told The News Tribune in a phone call this week.

As to the liquor license, Tami’s in Tacoma has been on LCB’s radar due to a “high number” of complaints, Smith said. Some bars and restaurants never receive a complaint, which anyone can report online.

In 2026 alone, the agency has fielded 26 complaints against Tami’s. Most have not been substantiated, Smith confirmed, but four — each centered on “sale or service to apparently intoxicated people and hours of service” — remain open.

“Of the 22 closed complaints submitted for 2026, none have been substantiated or education was provided to the licensee,” he added.

The agency’s goal is “not to bust people,” but to provide education and “get them into compliance.”