Friesenburgers
308 East 26th Street
Tacoma, WA
Hmmmmm…. Burger…. That quintessential North American sandwich. And I will be more than willing to admit I am at times guilty to have one too many burgers. Something that can be really cheap (and done well) and something where you can also make it fancy for no other reason just because (and, in my opinion, break its simplicity). Despite its bad rap, if done well, it can be a thing of beauty. And, again, who better than Americans for this creation? So, on my last day in Tacoma, on my way back to Vancouver, I had to do a small stop for lunch and what better place, than, well, a burger shop? And that’s how I ended up in Friesenburgers.
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Tagged as:
Burgers,
Tacoma
Renaissance Cafe
1746 Pacific Ave
Tacoma, WA
Back when I was in University, I never had to go through one of those stereotypical late night assignments ending at wee hours of the day and, as a result, the next morning going around for a substantial breakfast. (That does not apply even if you change it to a night out drink). Let’s just say I have my own way on having things done but there was one thing I did have with a certain frequency: After finishing class past 11:00 p.m. (yup, call it crazy!), I went to a mini-mart where they made some killer Cuban sandwich. Alas, last time I checked that place was gone (then again, it has been eons ago). So, when I was in Tacoma, on my last day, I wanted to check some local spots where students would frequent (University of Washington at Tacoma was a couple of blocks away from the hotel) for the same purpose and that’s how I ended up going to Renaissance Cafe. Now, not late night eats but early ones instead.
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Tacoma
MSM Deli
2220 6th Ave
Tacoma, WA
There are a lot of guide on-lines now a days to where to eat. From a global perspective, there is Urbanspoon and Yelp (the later, plagued with some issues). From a local Vancouver perspective, there is Dinehere.ca. And, of course, in almost every city, there is your local food blog, which I am proud to belong; though, my usual caveat is that, despite a lot of emails of people coming with pitchforks demanding my head, I do NOT do reviews. Rather, what I do describe my visit to restaurants and the meal I had. Then, based on that visit, whether if it is a place I would consider coming back in the future. The funny thing is that, given the frequency I blog, there has been few times I have revisited a restaurant! But I am digressing here… The real reason I bring out on-line sites is because there are at times some really wacky trends, specifically, which restaurants are the highest ranked. Now, forget for a moment places like Zagat or Michelin. I am not talking about places for a dining experience written by professionals; rather, I am talking about average people “voting” for the spots they have visited, which brings back to Urbanspoon and Yelp. In the particular case of Urbanspoon, I used it quite frequently as a guide and, while in Tacoma, checked which one was the highest ranked one and that ended up being MSM Deli. A deli as highest ranked? “There ought to be something wrong with that!” Well, in Vancouver we have as the highest ranked a hot dog cart so you draw some wacky comparisons…
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Tagged as:
Sandwich,
Tacoma
Two Koi Japanese Cuisine
1552 Commerce Street – Suite 100
Tacoma, WA
As you have noticed already, a lot of times, when I go on business trips, I end up going to a sushi restaurant in a sort of personal quest: that of find whether that claim that Vancouver’s sushi offerings in general are THAT good. In a way, it was disproved when I went to Shiro’s in Seattle, as it was really good (compared to the mid-range offerings in Vancouver). So, on my trip to Tacoma, I did something similar: I went to Two Koi, such restaurant type near the hotel I was staying, for yet another comparison…
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Tagged as:
Japanese,
Sushi,
Tacoma
Bob’s BBQ Pit
911 S 11th Street
Tacoma, WA
If you look around the different restaurants I have been, you will notice that I tend to visit out of the way places that most people won’t. In a way, let’s just say, I have a soft spot for such type of restaurants, not to mention that, while I could go to the most popular one, for the most part my fellow bloggers are already taken care of it plus, in the case of some large chains, they have their share of hype and blaggers. It won’t be that different for me when one day I wanted meat, as in BBQ. Now, this is the Pacific Northwest, a part that is not necessarily known for their BBQ (for BBQ in places like, say Texas, check these two posts from Mijune); however, I was hoping for BBQ nevertheless (otherwise, I might have ended up in a place like Asado). So, browsing through Urbanspoon again, I was able to locate two nearby places: B&B BBQ and Bob’s BBQ Pit. For the first one, the day I managed to get there… Let’s just say I wasn’t sure if they were in business or not, as it was “open” but nobody was there. As a result, I turned around and went for my second option. Did I mention I tend to go to out of way places and visually looks like a dive?
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Tagged as:
BBQ,
Southern,
Tacoma
Southern Kitchen
1716 6th Ave
Tacoma, WA
In yesterday’s post, I made reference to a wish to visit a Southern restaurant. Why? Well, in Vancouver, we make a lot of emphasis in multi-culturalism but, even then, there are cuisines missing. As a result, whenever I visit to the US, I try some of those cuisines missing here. While browsing through Urbanspoon for possible good eats, one of them was Southern Kitchen. But, alas, on night #2, I was a bit too late but made note of the time they would close (8:00 p.m.). The following day I made sure I would be there in a timely manner and, fortunately, I was able to make it… And a lot of time to sit and enjoy a meal.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Southern,
Tacoma
Asado Cucina Argentina
2810 6th Ave
Tacoma, WA
If you got to almost any steak house in North America, if you order your meat well done and people will look at you with a certain degree of disapproval. However, if you choose to go to certain parts of the world, namely South America, specially Argentina, if you order a medium rare, probably they will look at you funny. In my case, I go with the overall general acceptance, except when it is a theme restaurant. And, similar to when I went to Che Pibe, a small Argentinian restaurant in a strip mall in Miramar, Fl, I had a good idea of what to expect. So, when you call yourself Asado Cucina Argentina, I had similar expectations: a good well done steak.
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Tagged as:
Latin America,
Steak,
Tacoma
