All-day comfort food headed to historic restaurant space in downtown Tacoma
After a successful decade in Orting and a handful of years in Puyallup, the family behind Tim’s Kitchen will open a third restaurant, this time in a historic building in downtown Tacoma.
In February, Tim and Kassandre Speakman with their son Alex Handy purchased Harmon Brewing, which had operated at 1938 Pacific Ave. since 1997. The pioneering brewpub closed the same month, incidentally two days following the death of founder Pat Nagle (who was no longer involved with the company).
Banners now hang above the entrance announcing the pending arrival of a new tenant, though its former brewery days remain in the form of that iconic grain silo.
The incoming proprietors were searching around for an additional location when the pandemic hit. Scanning commercial real estate listings in late 2022, Handy said this place was impossible to pass up.
“Candidly, it’s a once-in-a-million opportunity,” he told The News Tribune in April, noting the perks of being downtown and next to the University of Washington Tacoma.
At some 8,000 square feet, it’s also a behemoth of a restaurant, and at least since 2020 it often felt empty. Tim’s Kitchen, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week in South Hill and downtown Orting, will occupy the entire space — and Handy is confident in their ability to fill it.
“It can handle the volume that we anticipate doing,” he said, “and it has the rustic feel that we have at the other stores.”
Known for house-breaded chicken fried steak (and chicken fried chicken!), burgers and an increasingly rare salad bar, the menu will read similarly to the other locations, according to Handy.
Most breakfast dishes — egg-and-meat combos, benedicts, sandwiches, burritos and even breakfast pizza — range from about $11.99-$15.99. For lunch and dinner, the list continues into fried pickle spears, Buffalo wings, Reubens and French dips, a dozen chicken sandwiches, specialty sausages and, naturally, chicken fried pork chops.
Perhaps the biggest difference for fans of the first two will be the full bar, which will remain intact, said Handy. You can order beer and wine at the others, but in Tacoma cocktails and liquor will join the list.
Remodeling, already underway, will be light, said Handy, who is spearheading the Tacoma project.
He and his parents opened the original Tim’s Kitchen in Orting in 2013 and the Puyallup restaurant in 2019.
TIM’S KITCHEN - TACOMA
▪ 1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, tims-kitchen.com
▪ Details: American-style comfort food with full bar, target opening Summer 2023
TIM’S KITCHEN - ORTING & PUYALLUP
▪ 114 Washington Ave. S, Orting, 360-893-8003
▪ 12615 Meridian E, Puyallup, 253-446-6750
▪ Daily 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
