Local burger chain opens in UP, gift shop closing at Tacoma Mall, other biz news
There’s a new place to grab burgers, Philly cheesesteaks and other fried goodies in University Place.
Red Wagon Burgers opened a new University Place location Tuesday in a strip mall at 5510 Orchard St. W., B-3.
The local franchise has other locations in Tacoma, Puyallup, Burien, Tumwater and Renton. Lex Tokko, the owner of the University Place location, also owns the location in Renton.
The menu includes quite a few burgers, all topped with lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato and house sauce. A basic hamburger starts at $9.99, but for $16.49 you can get a Hawaiian Bacon Cheeseburger with pineapples, ham, teriyaki sauce, provolone and bacon, and for $17.99 you can get a Monster Bacon Cheeseburger with turkey, pastrami, bacon and American cheese.
If beef isn’t your thing, there are fried chicken burgers, grilled chicken burgers and fried fish burgers.
Along with burgers, Red Wagon has a selection of Philly cheesesteaks starting at $14.49, plus fish and chips starting at $13.49. Sides include mozzarella sticks, corn dogs, chicken wings, onion rings, jalapeño poppers, fried pickles and fried mushrooms.
Tokko told The News Tribune that he’s looking to open a third Red Wagon, but he’s not sure about the location.
Red Wagon Burgers in University Place is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, and is closed Monday.
Tacoma juice bar set to reopen
Gather Juice Co., a Tacoma juice bar that closed in December, is expected to reopen this spring, the News Tribune previously reported.
The cold-press juice shop at 2612 6th Ave. opened in 2019 and also served smoothies, smoothie bowls and avocado toast. Owners Sean and Gretchen Doyel are working with a new business partner to reopen the shop.
They initially closed the Tacoma juice bar, along with their Puyallup location, due to rising financial burdens. The downtown Puyallup location will not reopen, and the space will instead be used for a new brick-and-mortar location of Rainier Valley Coffee.
New cookie-focused bakery coming to downtown Tacoma
Cove’s Bakery, a regular vendor at Tacoma’s Broadway Farmer’s Market, will open a brick-and-mortar shop in downtown Tacoma this summer.
The bakery, which has set up shop at 766 St. Helens Ave., will sell a variety of cookies, including brown butter chocolate chip, strawberry-Oreo and Biscoff cookies.
Although the bakery will be cookie-focused, visitors can expect banana bread, “bougie” cinnamon rolls and New Zealand-style ice cream (aka hard-pack ice cream blended with a fruit of choice).
Trendy gift shop to close at Tacoma Mall
Fuego, a gift shop selling a variety of tees, accessories and toys, will close March 17, store associates told The News Tribune. The shop sits in between Pop Mart and Torrid at the Tacoma Mall.
Everything in the store is 50% off until closing day, plus an extra 50% off clearance.
The chain operates just over a dozen stores, mostly across the West Coast, Texas and Colorado. While the brand is closing a number of stores, two stores in Puyallup and Redmond will remain open, store associates told The News Tribune.
Representatives for the chain did not respond to a request for comment.
While the Tacoma location is still called Fuego, the brand changed its name to Attic Salt, and is labeled as such at other locations. Fuego is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.