Pierce County taproom adds pinball, Mario Kart and hand-stretched pizzas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Locust Cider added retro arcade games and pinball machines to its Gig Harbor taproom.
- A new food menu debuts in July with pizzas, hot dogs and gluten-free chicken bites.
- Owner cites Gig Harbor upgrades as part of broader post-pandemic repositioning.
New food, retro games. Pierce County’s only Locust Cider location just got an upgrade.
The cider taproom at 3207 57th St. Court in Gig Harbor is family-friendly and offers “26 taps of hard cider and regional craft beer,” the business says on its website. Owner and founder Jason Spears, who co-owns the business with Rebecca Spears, said they opened their Gig Harbor cidery and taproom in 2021. It’s where they produce their small cider batches, and formerly their large batches until they decided they had outgrown the space. Now, they’ve got their large-volume production in the Ellensburg area in central Washington, where most of their fruit comes from, Spears said.
That freed up space in their Gig Harbor location for something new.
As of last month, a row of pinball and arcade game machines await customers at the taproom, thanks to Justin Kaping, a pinball operator and owner of Ka-Ping! Games. He’s also installed the machines at other local businesses like Zog’s on Fox Island and other spots in Tukwila and Des Moines, he told The News Tribune. Kaping said he started his business in late 2023, but he’s been collecting arcade games and pinball machines for the last 10 to 12 years.
Kaping counts seven Stern Pinball machines at the arcade bar so far, including a Godzilla machine and a new “King Kong: Myth of Terror Island” release from earlier this year. They also have Mario-Kart and classics like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Asteroids and Galaga. Another pinball machine and a few other games are on the way, he said.
“We want to hit that nostalgia button for the community,” Kaping said.
Locust Cider will also be debuting a new food menu for their Gig Harbor customers near the end of July, said Spears. They’ve already given it a spin, advertising their cheese, pepperoni or build-your-own pizzas for a limited time July 5 on social media.
“We’ve got really creative ... fresh-made hand-stretched dough, really good ingredients, and it’s super fast,” Spears said.
Besides pizzas, the new menu also features hot dogs and sausages and a variety of gluten-free chicken nuggets and tater tots tossed in sauces. Prices of most items range from $5.95 to $12, per a menu shared with The News Tribune.
While the taproom has offered food in the past, it was “really small and an afterthought,” Spears said. “So this is the first time we’ve really been able to focus on delivering something that’s really good, that’s really high-quality.”
He said they’ll also be adding indoor mini-golf holes, and that plans to host live music, open mics and “a whole lot more programming” are in the works.
Locust Cider’s Gig Harbor location is their only taproom in the South Sound, after they closed their locations in Tacoma and Olympia late last year along with a string of other locations in Washington and one in Fort Worth, Texas, The News Tribune’s Kristine Sherred reported. The Gig Harbor taproom is one of the company’s six remaining locations, according to its website. They were forced to shrink their network of taprooms due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when they “were pushed to the brink,” the business posted on Instagram on Dec. 10 last year.
That decision helped their company become healthier and more sustainable, according to Spears. They don’t have any plans to close more locations, and he said he feels “awesome” about how things are going in Gig Harbor.
He noted that they’ve seen customers’ expectations shift as of late. People are looking for something more than “the simple brewery taproom or cider taproom,” which he senses have become ubiquitous.
“We’ve also experienced more price feedback than we’ve ever had before,” he said. “ ... Maybe people are spending less, or maybe they just expect more for their money and just want to be more careful how they spend it.”
New food, retro games — Spears said both are part of giving people “everything they need for a great night out.”
“We want people to have more than just a drink,” he said. “We want them to have a full experience that’s super memorable.”
The Gig Harbor taproom’s hours are Wednesday through Thursday 3-9 p.m., Friday through Saturday noon-10 p.m. and Sunday noon-8 p.m. They’re closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM.
