DOWN WITH PANTS!

Over the summer Ensie and Frinklin flipped places with us, more or less. They moved from San Diego (I heard that means a whale's vagina in German) to Tacoma while we moved from Seattle to Ventura. Being a proud Washingtonian who loves good, cheap food, I feel that it is my duty to volunteer a little bit of my expertise on this issue. I unfortunately haven't spent a ton of time in Tacoma so my knowledge is a bit limited, but I can give you a few of my favorites...

The Swiss - A great little pub near the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Great food, great beer, a little Chihuly and typically good music with a very friendly clientele.

Harmon Pub and Brewery - An average microbrewery also near the UW campus. Usually solid but somewhat unspectacular food but very good beer.

Katie Downs - Pretty good pizza and excellent beer selection. Right on the waterfront on Ruston Way so it has beautiful views.

Antique Sandwich Company - A hippie-dippie sandwich shop near Point Defiance. Great sandwiches, good soup and the specials always sound really good. This is one of our favorite lunch stops whenever we are either driving through or hanging out in Tacoma. Great for vegetarians.

Southern Kitchen - Oh baby! Authentic southern cooking in Tacoma??? Well here it is. Fried everything (I love fried catfish), sweet potato pie, collard greens. It's all here. Kind of sketchy looking but it's worth it.

From the Bayou - Definitely our favorite Tacoma restaurant. Really, really good cajun food. Again, the catfish dishes are amazing as well as the gumbo and the jalapeno cornbread muffins. It is decorated in a very unique way and has a great atmosphere. A little too expensive and now with it's popularity you need to make a reservation almost every day but still worth it. It's actually in Parkland a block from Pacific Lutheran University and they just opened a new location in downtown Puyallup.

The Beach Tavern - Our Tacoma hangout when I was younger. Just a short stumble away from Titlow Beach, they have typical bar food but really good fish and chips, a great jukebox, a few pool tables and a great beer selection.

Farrelli's Pizza - Down south in Dupont and Olympia or east in Sumner this is one of our favorite pizza places in the area. Nice, crispy, thin crust pizza with excellent toppings, a great beer selection and a good upscale sports bar atmosphere.

Casa Mia - In Lakewood, Puyallup and Olympia. Pretty good Italian food, good calzones and innovative pizzas. I've personally never been a huge fan, but every single other person that I know loves Casa Mia. They catered our wedding and the food was incredible that night and we are good friends with the family that runs this small chain so I had to include it.

It's Greek To Me - I haven't eaten here in years but I remember it being pretty good. Plus you gotta love the drive through Greek place. Always makes me laugh.

Ezell's Famous Chicken - The Seattle versions of this uber-famous chicken chain (Oprah has it overnighted to her occasionally) are amazing. We just noticed that they have opened two stores in Tacoma just before we left. Incredibly tasty fried chicken.

Tacos Guaymas - A pretty good taco shop for us Pacific Northwest gringos. I love their carne asada taco salads. I'm not sure how it stands up to San Diego taco stands but I can tell you that I haven't had too many better Mexican meals since I've been down here.

So that's actually a pretty good list. There are a lot of other places that I have been recommended that we never got a chance to try. Hopefully this helps our new Tacoma residents out.