Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and our pants are stretchy.
While there’s a time and place for getting fancy, sometimes the hectic pace of the holidays or the overwhelm of the year can catch up to you. And when this happens, there is no siren song quite like a basket of fries, the best blackberry pie in the state (country? World?), or a batch of freshly-baked cinnamon rolls, still warm. Surf and turf? We’ll raise you chicken and waffles. Caviar? Why would you, when we’ve got pancakes the size of wheels?
January resolutions can wait. Make like a brown bear preparing to hibernate and start charting your course through this comfort food bucket list!
Puyallup
Charlie’s
If you start paying attention to most breakfast places, you’ll notice a delivery truck dropping off the same frozen goods across the country. Well, that’s not the case with Charlie’s Chicken Fried Steak. Hand-cut, breaded, and fried (the way nature intended!), this classic breakfast dish is worth getting out of bed during breakfast hours. Shout out to Charlie’s Bloody Mary as well.
Red Wagon Burgers
This local chain has us rethinking our preference for smashed burgers. These burgers are tall, well-seasoned, and impressive with all sorts of potential toppings.
Jake’s Burgers
While the burgers served from this truck on Sterino Farms are absolutely delicious, we’re here to talk about their shakes and ice cream sundaes. Choose from farm-fresh berries or classics like chocolate and banana, and soon enough you’ll be in creamy bliss.
Out and About Burgers
A third burger place in Puyallup? Well, yes, but hear us out: their signature Cagney sauce and grilled onion really make for a unique experience. Get an extra burger for your fridge, because you’ll be thinking about those caramelized onions all day.
Happy Teriyaki #11
Food tastes even better when it’s made with love. Happy Teriyaki is family-owned, and this comes across in their great service but also in the generous portions. Also, *rice.* Come for the classic Teriyaki plates, stay for the homey feel.
Mama Stortini’s
Another local chain for the books, Mama Stortini’s wants to take you out with their Colossal Chicken Parmesan. The eating pants are non-negotiable for this one, folks.
Ashford
Copper Creek Inn
Rain or shine, January or July, if you’re in sight of Mount Rainier, we have two words for you: blackberry pie. Or, more importantly, the best blackberry pie.
Bonney Lake
George’s Bonney Lake Tavern
Come for humble, classic bar fare; the kind of stuff that pairs perfectly with a brew. Crispy-edged potato wedges with a molten interior, served with garlic aioli or loaded. Tangy fried pickles with ranch. You get it!
Crockett’s Public House
When fish and chips are good, they’re one of the best dishes known to man. And Crockett’s beer-battered Alaskan cod are just that. Served with creamy coleslaw and house fries, naturally.
Eatonville
Happy Piggy
If you’re unfamiliar with Lumpia, allow us to change your life forever. These egg roll-adjacent treats are Filipino in origin, and combine that perfectly crunchy and salty-savory thing you want when comfort food calls. Happy Piggy serves a curry and classic pork option. Dip them in sweet chili sauce for optimal results.
Mill Haus Cider Co
Do you know about burnt ends? When you smoke a beef brisket in BBQ, the fat-rich point of the brisket gets all caramelized and tender. Well, Mill Haus celebrates burnt ends by making them into sliders. Even better, they cook their brisket with the fruity Korean chili paste called Gochujang, and the sliders are served on Hawaiian buns.
Gig Harbor
Gourmet Burger Shop
Soup isn’t top of the comfort food list for everyone, but the soup people know who they are. Grab your favorite spoon, soup fanatics, and head to Gourmet Burger Shop at Gig Harbor where their rotating homemade soups have people forgoing the business’ namesake dish. If you want to be a wild card, throw in their crispy shoestring fries, or why not order a burger on the side?
Netshed No. 9
While brunch is typically too fancy for a comfort food round-up, Netshed makes the exception thanks to their fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. Melty, gooey, and crowded in a miniature cast iron skillet, this is the type of dish you wish you could eat in messy, peaceful solitude.
Butter Chicken Indian Kitchen
The food at Butter Chicken Indian Kitchen is so solid that we won’t tell you which dish to order, only that you can’t skip some hot, buttery garlic naan to drag through it.
Tacoma
MSM Deli
Comfort food is unpretentious but undeniable, and that’s the ethos behind MSM. This institution serves their cold cut sandwiches on enormous French bread, with a wall of every chip and soda imaginable to accompany it. This is what we dreamed about when we went to Subway as kids.
The Huckleberry Club
If you’re curious about the food at The Huckleberry Club, consider that regulars often shorten the business’ name to its initials, and the mile-high baked loaded potatoes start to really make sense.
Dirty Oscar’s Annex
Comfort food fans are no strangers to the humble dive bar, and Dirty Oscar’s is just that. You might expect that tater tots and burgers are the comfort food suggestions, and sure, you can find some pretty great ones here; but listen up, soft pants! We want you to try the chicken and waffles. The rest of the journey is up to you.
Side Piece Kitchen
Is it a cop-out to recommend the whole menu? Well, it’s a cop-out then. Side Piece is a huge serving of home-cooked retro nostalgia, and from a hefty biscuit breakfast to cheesecake dessert, you’re sure to leave beyond satisfied and absolutely ready for a nap.
Hank’s Pizza and Beer
Now listen here, dear reader, because we do not take these things lightly: go to Hank’s. Do not get distracted by the namesake pizza or beer. No. You are going to beeline for their chicken wings, our current contender for the best chicken wings in all of Tacoma. We love the classic Buffalo, but their honey sriracha also hits the spot.
Lakewood
Bloom Thai Cuisine
If you think all fried rice is made equally, enter Bloom Thai Cuisine’s Basil Fried Rice. The aromatics of the wilted basil are fantastic, but the whole thing gets taken up a notch as you select your protein of choice: crispy pork belly (our recommendation), chicken, shrimp, or tofu. No hunting for dime-sized bites of protein in your fried rice!
Bruno’s European Restaurant
If a European Restaurant sounds too fancy for a comfort food bucket list, let us whisper the following words to you, read straight off their menu: “Schnitzel. Tender breaded pork cutlet, pan fried to a crispy golden brown.” Interest piqued? Wait til you hear about your choice of sides, from potato dumplings to German noodles to mashed potatoes.
Burs Restaurant and Lounge
Bread is an obvious comfort food contender. And if you think about it, gravy is just liquid bread. This means that if you go to Bur’s Restaurant and Lounge and order their biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns, you’ll have the opportunity to have bread with liquid bread on top—served with a side of crispy potatoes. Isn’t science marvelous?
Hot Fish House
The entire menu at Hot Fish House could once again be submitted for consideration on this list. You’ll immediately know you’re in friendly territory when you glimpse their sign: “Hot Fish House. Seafood, Daiquiri & Turkey Legs.” We recommend their ridiculously cheesy mac and cheese, and one of the only vegetables on this list, the collard greens.
Carr’s Restaurant
Diners are a comfort food staple, but not all diners have huge pancakes the size of wheels. The place is no-frills to be sure, but they really go off in the sweets department. French toast, waffles, or the aforementioned giant pancakes: you decide! Want ice cream or chicken on your waffle? Carr’s will do it.
Fife
Warthog Barbeque Pit
Doesn’t matter if you’re there first and foremost for sticky-tender ribs, crisped brisket, fried catfish sandwich, or pecan pie; sometimes when you are deeply hungry, barbeque just hits like nothing else can. The outside of Warthog looks like a barn, and the inside like a hunting lodge. The best view of all, though, is a full plate of Warthog’s barbeque on your table. Just make sure you don’t leave without trying their buttery cornbread.
Poodle Dog Restaurant
Poodle Dog is over 90 years old, and has been family-owned the whole time. If this doesn’t immediately make you feel cozy, then their seasonal pot pie will; at the time of publishing, Poodle Dog is offering a turkey pot pie with carrots, peas, and pearl onions, made from scratch and served with cranberry sauce on the side.
Roy
Brigade Burgers and Brews
You may have walked into Brigade for their burgers and brews, or maybe for their huckleberry milkshake. Well played! But don’t overlook their philly cheesesteak, towered high with prime rib, mushrooms, peppers, and onions, and kissed with gloriously goopy white American cheese.
Ok, soft pants soldiers! Where did we miss? Tag us at @visittacomapiercecounty and let us know where the comfort food is good enough to break resolutions.
