TACOMA, Wash. – As more people move to the South Sound for cheaper rent, restaurant owners are following.
Tacoma is seeing a recent surge in Seattle-based eateries opening in the South Sound.
Executive Chef Kelly Wilson is bringing the meat and potatoes to Tacoma. He helped open up Rhein Haus, a bar focused on German beer in the Stadium District. The first restaurant opened in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
"There's a need for it [in Tacoma],” Wilson said. “I think the Seattle bubble has kind of popped a little bit."
Rhein Haus is one of the handful of Seattle-based restaurants that has recently opened a new location for the South Sound appetite.
"There's a section on our menu called the heavy hiker and that was more to appeal to our Seattle crowd where in Tacoma we're finding people want more gravy on their mashed potatoes," Wilson said with a smile.
The gravy train also runs across town to the new development at Point Ruston where Miso Sushi opened its first restaurant in Tacoma last March
"This is a new development, so we have a very big potential for business growth," said Sunny Kim, one of the owners.
There are other restaurants that haven't even opened up yet. El Borracho, another Seattle-based restaurant, plans to open a new location in the old Marrow space that's now vacant.
