If you want to eat a burger, but not feel like you swallowed a small grease factory, then you should point your car toward Ruston for a trip to Tatanka take-out. Bison is the specialty here. The restaurant makes five burgers and a dip with bison patties.

The restaurant bills bison as America’s original health food and I’d agree after looking at the nutritional information on Tatanka’s menu – the signature bison burger weighs in at 360 calories (unless you add cheese). The bison patty is lean and beefy, with just enough juiciness to make it tasty, palatable. I had a difficult time believing something so flavorful and unctuous has half the calories of beef, but it does. Read more »

Give me a dose of heat and I’m a happy burger lover. Crockett’s Public House in Puyallup has a knock-out burger on the menu that’s a punchy intersection of Southwest flavor – chipotle mayo, pepperjack cheese and roasted poblanos. It’s not for the timid. I’m moderately tolerant of spice and this burger made me want a frosty mug of an adult beverage. Read more »

Burgers and fries and homemade pie. What’s not to love? When cars were lining up at the new Sonic on South Hill, I pointed my car down South Hill and into the valley to Don’s Drive-In, which has operated since the 1960s across the street from the Puyallup Fairgrounds.

Don’s is home to the Smitty burger, an oblong burger on a French roll not to be confused with the onion variety served every year at the fair (Don’s, in fact, is closed during the Puyallup Fair). Read more »

Welcome to another week of burger lust. Last December, you might remember I chowed my way through more than 20 restaurants to find the best 20 bar burgers you have to eat before you die. Well, here’s the follow-up burger report from your burger tips. This week, I take a bite out of four of the most nominated reader favorites, and write about a newcomer restaurant with really good burgers.

Today’s burger special comes from the Swiss Tavern – home to some of the greatest live music in town, a laid back atmosphere and designated seating for members of Congress. The Swiss has a handful of burgers on the menu, but the Mount Rainier Burger ($12.95) sounds like a food dare – two kinds of pork and two kinds of cheese on a towering burger. Read more »

Good luck getting a table at JW this weekend. You can call, but the restaurant will be sold out. Such is life for the tiny 30-seat restaurant that opened March 4 on Harborview Drive.

What makes it the hottest seat in town? JW offers refined entrées for less than $20, has a restaurant owner with a name recognizable in foodie circles and touts an inviting comfort spin on upscale American dining. I smell a win.

Jason Winniford is the JW behind the restaurant. Locals who follow restaurant happenings will recognize Winniford as the former general manager of Gig Harbor’s Brix 25. Read more »

Today, I’ve been writing about burgers (watch for the stories next week). So I asked TNT Diner readers via Twitter about the perfect yin to burger yang: fries. Click “more” to see what TNT DIner readers recommend for fries about town and vote for your favorite, too. Read more »

Porter’s Barbecue and Tacos Guaymas are making progress, but both restaurants are behind their deadlines to reopen. Click “more” for an update on both popular Tacoma eateries. Read more »

South Hill residents have been doing a double take of the sign posted at Sunrise Village, the so-called “lifestyle” shopping center that remains alarmingly vacant (darn economy, anyway).

Northwest Vintage, the wine bar in downtown Puyallup, has announced in signage that it is opening a second outpost in the upscale shopping center that is home to the Ram and Sushi Station. Note to fans of the downtown Northwest Vintage: They’re not moving. It’s a second location. I repeat, a second location (so stop calling me already. Just kidding. I love your phone calls. Really).

The downtown Puyallup Wine Bar has operated since January 2009 on Meridian. While the downtown location will continue to operate Thursdays-Saturdays, owner Nicola McDonald said via voice mail Read more »