Some people take air conditioned cover when temperatures hover in the 80s. Some people head to a deck for a drink. I’m not sure where I’ll be this week, but it’s a safe bet that I won’t be eating much soup. Unless it’s chilled.

Here are drinks paired with decks and patios for summer sipping:

Harmon Taproom
Where: 204 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253-212-2725, harmonbrewingco.com
The drink: Beer. They’ve got loads of it.
The patio: It’s a beer garden with picnic benches surrounded by greenery. The water view is peek-a-boo, but there if …

Read more »

A reader asks: “In the summer especially, I have a craving for two soups – cold soups. Gazpacho and vichyssoise. Am I being unrealistic that these can be found in Tacoma, except haphazardly as a special someplace? Thanks for any input.”

This is where you come in: Can you help a reader out? Where have you found those summer soups?

I went looking and found a few places that offer gazpacho as a sometimes special – Morso Wine Bar in Gig Harbor served gazpacho as a special last week. The Dock Street Sandwich Company in Tacoma has gazpacho occasionally as a special. It was earlier this month at Social Bar & Grill that I found an apple gazpacho that is on the menu for the immediate future. It was a great find – as complicated as it was colorful and a bargain at two bucks a cup. Read more »

It took months and three bottles of Tums to recover from last December’s bar burger series. Remember that? I wrote about the 20 burgers you have to eat before you die (or die trying).

This time, I took a considerably smaller bite out of Tacoma’s bar burger footprint: Five more bar burgers you should add to your list of must-try-or-die burgers around town.

Just don’t tell your doctor before you embark on your eating project. Click “read more” to see my top five bar burgers of the moment. Read more »

Poke can be simple or complicated, tame in flavor or boldly spiced. The one constant in the poke equation is this: the foundation starts with cubes of raw tuna. Beyond that, a poke recipe is open for interpretation. Or at least it is in the hands of local chefs. Click “more” to read about a few interesting poke dishes I’ve sampled around town recently, and please tell me about your favorite poke. Read more »

Ahi poke, swordfish skewers, pork belly sandwiches, roasted duck, pitchers of sangria – sign me up for Social.

Tonight’s the night. After a soft opening for family and friends over the weekend, Social Bar and Grill, which I told you about in June, is starting dinner service this evening. Curious about the location? It’s in the old Woody’s on the Water space next to the Museum of Glass.

Social will keep soft dinner hours this week (check the box below for details), but plans to offer lunch and dinner service daily starting Aug. 6.

A trio of Matador alumni are the crafters of Social. Read more »

Three alumni of Matador are opening a craft cocktail lounge and small plates restaurant on the Foss waterway. Social Bar and Grill will open in the space that formerly housed Woody’s On The Water until its January closure. Look for a July-ish opening for Social, said co-owner Philip Panagos, who most recently worked as the general manager of Tacoma’s Matador.

Opening the restaurant with Panagos is Jason Bailey, who was the manager of Paddy Coyne’s until April this year; before that, he worked for Matador for five years on the opening crew for five of the chain’s restaurants. Panagos and Bailey will own and operate the restaurant with Rodel Borromeo, who until recently was Matador’s corporate executive chef.

Social intends to be just that. Shareable pitchers of sangria and mojitos, and shareable appetizer plates will create the convivial vibe the restaurant owners have in mind. Read more »