TNT Diner

First bite: Salvadoran pupusas in South Sound

Sue Kidd — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:05:59 +0000

Think of the pupusa as the Salvadoran cousin to a Mexican sope crossed with a quesadilla. It’s a thick disc made from a masa corn dough; stuffed with meat, beans or cheese; and griddled until it’s a crunchy pancake with gooey innards. The cakes are served with a fermented cabbage slaw called curtido. One or two make an appetizer; three or four make a meal.
Pupusas are eaten with just about every meal in El Salvador. The dish is so much a part of the country’s culinary fabric, the pupusa has its own national holiday (no lie – the …

New downtown: Bon Temps coming to 1015 Pacific

Sue Kidd — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:58:28 +0000

The menu and concept are under wraps, but a new restaurant is coming to downtown Tacoma. Bon Temps will open at 1015 Pacific Ave.

The project is from Steve Anderson, owner of Maxwell’s Speakeasy + Lounge, a St. Helens neighborhood restaurant with a gorgeous dining room and sporting a new concept of high-end eats at affordable prices. When reached by phone, he confirmed the restaurant’s location, but declined to comment on the menu or concept. Tacoma Untapped reported that the restaurant will have a Cajun theme. That would be a stellar addition to not only downtown …

New to Sixth: Overtime, a pub and grill

Sue Kidd — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:53:41 +0000

For years, I’ve driven by the vacant Chinese restaurant at Sixth Avenue and Alder Street, hoping for an eatery the Sixth Avenue district needs, like a dim sum restaurant, high-end Vietnamese or full-service bakery. ABC Asian Cuisine seemed destined to remain an abandoned building until Chuck Bayha started remodeling in January. Bayha, who worked for many years in restaurants and pull tabs, opened Overtime, Tacoma’s Bar and Grill at the end of March.

I was dubious when Bayha described the concept as an “upscale pub” because that area of Tacoma seems crowded with pubs – from downtown’s Pacific …

Coming to Puyallup: Buffalo Wild Wings in South Hill

Sue Kidd — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:16:13 +0000

It looks like Puyallup will be the next home for Buffalo Wild Wings. The national chicken wing restaurant applied this week for a liquor permit at the space on South Hill where Ruby Tuesday’s used to operate. That’s in the same complex as the Regal movie theater and two locally owned restaurants, My Greek, a Mediterranean restaurant, and Jubilee Cupcakes. It’s not a surprise that South HIll would become the next home for the national chain considering South Hill is a mecca for chains, some in duplicate (but at least there’s more non-chain dining

…

Korean dining guide: The sweeter side of Korean dining in Lakewood

Sue Kidd — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:01:38 +0000

It almost is an obsession: waiting around for workers to fire up the doughnut machine at Pal Do World, a Korean grocery store in Lakewood. If you’re lucky, you’ll find someone pouring batter into the molds that turn out hot doughnuts filled with sweetened bean paste and walnuts. Most likely, you’ll just find the doughnuts in plastic clamshells stacked on the table. I know from experience – it’s worth the wait for hot, fresh walnut doughnuts.
The sign calls the doughnuts “mini walnut bread.” In Korea, they’re street food called “hodo gwaja,” or

…

Deck dining: Topside Bar and Grill in Steilacoom

Sue Kidd — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:59:12 +0000

John O’Reilly is a familiar face behind the bar at Steilacoom’s Topside Bar and Grill, which opened March 23 in the space that formerly housed Jake’s Bar & Bistro, a pub known for its selection of hard-to-find craft beers. O’Reilly began tending bar at Jake’s in 2007, but was laid off in September. The bar, operated by Jake Hathcock, closed in December after running into financial trouble. It’s good to have the bar open again because Steilacoom is a town with a prime view for diners, but few actual dining options. O’Reilly’s bar hints at what Jake’s formerly was. …

More al fresco dining: Barrel No. 51, the barbecue truck, is back

Sue Kidd — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:54:11 +0000

The next few days, I’m going to write about restaurants with outdoor dining to enjoy our stretch of warm weather – because who knows when it will just poof, leaving us with soggy socks under our sandals (I’ve seen waaaaay too much of that bad fashion lately). Today’s featured al fresco dining spot is another mobile truck – Barrel No. 51. This will be the third al fresco season for the truck and I’ve appreciated watching its evolution. Right now, the truck is parked at Cedar and South 23rd, near Target in the old movie theater parking lot.

The …

Dine in the sun: New taco trucks in Tacoma, Orting and Puyallup

Sue Kidd — Sat, 12 May 2012 19:00:21 +0000

What pairs well with unseasonably hot Northwest weather? Taco trucks. Usually it’s June or July before we get weather conducive to al fresco burrito dining, but our current stretch means two things: You must put on sun screen and you must go eat a taco outdoors. I have interesting news to report – two new taco trucks have popped up in unexpected South Sound neighborhoods. One is near Fircrest next to the Lowe’s, and the other is in sleepy downtown Orting. There also have been taco truck change-ups in Puyallup and Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue neighborhood.

…

Cheap breakfast and a car show on South Tacoma Way

Sue Kidd — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:00:27 +0000

When was the last time you got breakfast for a buck? Get yourself down to Marcia’s Silver Spoon Saturday morning for the eighth annual Lucky Silver’s Cruise-In car show and you can get a super bargain at one of Tacoma’s best diners.

Lucky Silver Cruise-In Car Show and Cheap Breakfast from Marcia’s Silver Spoon
When: Registration starts at noon Saturday, May 12, 2012. Breakfast starts at 8.
Where: Lucky Silver and Marcia’s Silver Spoon, 2601 South Tacoma Way
Judging: Car judging begins at 1 p.m. Trophies at 5 p.m.
Registration: $20

…

Korean dining guide: Spicy, sticky chicken and grocery store expeditions

Sue Kidd — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:01:11 +0000

In this week’s installment of my series about Korean dining in Lakewood, you’ll read about the other kind of KFC – Korean fried chicken. Two restaurants serving the sticky, spicy dish are in the neighborhood that is the region’s finest concentration of Korean dining. I’ll also take you shopping at three grocery stores with ingredients you can turn into Korean feasts.

Korean fried chicken: A Southern dish exported to Seoul and returned to America fused with Korean flavor

Think of Korean fried chicken as an

…