Looking for lunch and a view of the Tall Ships? Here are your best bets for catching Thursday’s noontime parade of sail as the Tall Ships enter Commencement Bay and cruise Tacoma’s Ruston Waterfront en route to their berths in The Foss Waterway.

Tall Ships are scheduled to begin entering Commencement Bay about 10 a.m., Thursday. The final ship, the Coast Guard’s Eagle, should arrive around 4 p.m.

The Tall Ships will be around through the weekend. All of these restaurants will be open for food and views during the Tall Ships festival.

The Front Row
Anthony's at Point Defiance, 5910 N. Waterfront Drive, 253-752-9700. Deck and inside views. Reservations recommended for parties of six or more on all days.

CI Shenanigans, 3017 Ruston Way, 253-752-8811. Deck and inside views. No reservations accepted on Fourth of July. No reservations accept for deck seating any days.

Harbor Lights, 2761 Ruston Way, 253-752-8600. Inside and limited deck seating. Reservations recommended for all days except July 4, when no reservations are accepted. For reservations on Thursday, there will be a 2-hour time limit per table.

Katie Downs, 3211 Ruston Way, 253-756-0771. Deck and inside views. No reservations. 21 and over only.

The Lobster Shop, 4013 Ruston Way, 253-759-2165. Reservations recommended for deck and inside seating.

The Ram, 3001 Ruston Way, 253-756-7886. No reservations accepted.

From the balcony

The Spar, 2123 N. 30th St., 253-272-2122. Views from the rear window. No reservations accepted.

Scene of the berths
Dock Street Landing, 535 Dock St., 253-272-5004. No reservations accepted.

Johnny's Dock, 1900 E. D St., 253-627-3186. Reservations available. Johnny’s re-launches weekend breakfast this week. Get a taste of smoked salmon Benedict and Johnny’s longtime “Fine Mess” egg scramble, starting at 9 a.m. Friday.

Woody’s Wharf, 1715 Dock St., 253-272-1433. No reservations accepted.

Johnny's Dock is reopening for weekend breakfast this week. Since this week is officially a three-day weekend, Johnny's will start breakfast on Friday, coinciding with this week's Tall Ships festival.

Johnny's owner Dave Bingham said breakfast will include smoked salmon Benedict and Johnny's "A Fine Mess" egg scramble.

Seating will be the lounge only. Bingham said NASCAR and NFL will be on the TVs.

Johnny's Dock: 1900 E D St., Tacoma; 256-627-3186

Journalists like to think we're prepared for anything. Yeah, well ... I went to the bathroom and missed the on-stage fight at the Snoop Dogg show at White River a couple years back. Stuff happens.

Something happened Saturday night near the end of dinner:

A big fat fly the size of a raisin emerged from the succotash and hobbled across the table.

Did the fat fly land on the plate? It was a warm night on the mountain, the dining room door was open, the air inside hung.

Did the fat fly get cooked into the dish? It had emerged from the succotash. The fly looked stunned and hobbled, unable to fly. Was that a sheen of sauce on its wings and body?

I had no clue what to.

Atavistic instinct kicked in.

I picked up the glass candle votive and chased the hobbled fly across the table -- trying to smash it as it hobbled under the lip of the bread plate, behind the Coke bottle, and finally off the edge of the table.

Stuff happens, even to -- or perhaps especially to -- restaurant critics.

Asado/Masa's Tijuana Dog, left, and Southern Kitchen red beans and rice, right.

I brought my notebook. My colleague Scott Fontaine lent his appetite. My cousin Bob, a nurse, brought the Prilosec.

Here’s how it went for three beefy guys, 60 bucks worth of meal tickets and one wide-ranging lunch today, the opening day of Taste of Tacoma:

GREAT DOG FROM ASADO AND MASA
At the dual booth of Tacoma restaurants’ Asado and Masa, a trinity of great ingredients ascends to create a heavenly hot dog: the $5.50 Tijuana Dog. Behold: an all-beef hot dog, wrapped in bacon and grilled until both are blistery. The pork-wrapped dog is stuffed into a hoagie roll and bathed in creamy cheese sauce. The cheese sauce is worthy of a dairy diety: tangy asadero cheese turned silky with heavy cream and cream cheese. Two intenselty grilled chorizo links were partly juicy, partly greasy and fully zesty, served with grilled onions and peppers and topped with garlicky chimichurri sauce, $6.

AN A LAMB SHALL LEAD THE WAY
Sure, there’s a Philly cheesesteak stand, but the minute I saw the words “lamb steak sandwich” ($6.50) at Seattle’s Chutney’s Grill, my sandwich fate was sealed. The meat could have hotter (cooking temperature-wise) but the chopped and grilled meat couldn’t have been any tastier: sweet on its on and sweetened with grilled onions and green peppers. Zezty mint chutney stood in for Cheeze Whiz, and I didn’t miss the cheese one bit.

WHERE ARE YOU, $2?
I spotted only two of the $2 “tastes” that vendors are supposedly offering this year. One was Seattle’s Bambuza’s jumbo-sized spring roll filled with cabbage, shredded chicken and glass noodles. A better $2 bite was the quartette of lumpia from Federal Way’s Pac Island Grill. The blunt-sized crispy-fried wrappers were loaded with ground pork. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, Pac Island’s caramel-macademia tarts ($2.50 for two) were rich and sugary-gooey.

Famous Dave's ribs, right. Billy McHale's, left.

RIBS, RIBS, RIBS
Famous Dave’s kicked Billy McHale’s bones. At least in the match-up my meaty lunch mates and I created. For $6, Famous Dave’s serves three St. Louis-style pork ribs and one side (beans or slaw). Dave’s ribs were charry on the outside, pink to the bone, sweet to the palate and tender to the bite. Dave’s gets extra-points for offering individual packets of sauce (I drank Dave’s Devil’s Spit hot sauce straight from the packet) and moist towelettes. Billy McHale’s babybacks ($5.50) benefited from Dave’s sauce. The sauce that came on our serving was thin and sweet, barely bold enough to cover up the bland meat. Another drawback to Billy’s babybacks was that three of them were served uncut. Individual bones are much easier to eat at a walking-around-festival like this.

LET THE GOOD TIMES EAT
My colleague Scott Fontaine hails from New Orleans, so naturally he made a stop at the New Orleans Cookery for a crab cake over dirty rice. I agreed with Scott about the dirty rice: the lemon-garlic-tomato wine sauce carried the rice, but I thought the crab cake was the cakiest, least crabby crab cake I’ve ever encountered. As for the red beans and rice at Southern Kitchen ($5), Scott and I agreed: the rice was mushy and the dish desperately needed salt and hot sauce.

A NAP OR A RED BULL?
By the time I proclaimed, “I need a nap,” the three of us stood in front of Inta Juice’s stand, where the words “intense energy” caught my drooping eye. Wow, what a pick me up: an icy slushy blended with banana, raspberry, orange, strawberry and Red Bull. I got a brain freeze from drinking too much too fast, but it was worth it – cool, full of fresh-fruit flavor and enough caffeine to save me from the food coma I’d just flirted with.

Taste of Tacoma: Point Defiance Park, Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Well with buck shot eyes and a purple heart
I rolled down the national stroll
with a big fat paycheck strapped to my hip sack
and a shore leave wristwatch underneath my sleeve
in a Hong Kong drizzle on Cuban heels
I rowed down the gutter to the blood bank
I'd left all my papers on the Ticonderoga
and I was in a bad need of a shave
I slopped at the corner on cold chow mein
and shot billiards with a midget until the rain stopped

-- from “Shore Leave” by Tom Waits

Scores of sailors will disembark on Tacoma shores next week when the Tall Ships arrive.

Where’s a hungry sailor to eat and drink?

What about a sailor on a budget?

What about sailors too young to get into bars?

Logal blogger TacomaMama.com compiled a list of discounts sailors can receive by flashing their crew identification in restaurants and bars along the Foss waterway, near the Tacoma Dome and in downtown Tacoma.

(Hint: Free breakfast at Cascade Bagels and free appetizers at Paddy Coynes and Café by the Bay sound cool, and 10 percent off at places like Dock Street Sandwich and Puget Sound Pizza are attractive. But complimentary edamame at Two Koi? When other Japanese restaurants routinely offer the soybeans for free any time of year? C’mon.)

For my recommendations, including those that are a short walk to the toward Wright Park and Stadium High, click on the link below. Yo, ho, ho.

=> Read more!

An eatery named Wingers Grill and Bar -- I'm going on a short limb and guessing they'll serve wings in a sporty atmosphere -- has filed an application to sell liquor in the Tacoma Mall Boulevard location abandoned by Tony Roma's in 2007.

Meantime, The Ram, with brewpub locations in Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Lacey, Kent and Seattle, has filed a liquor license application for a new location on 156th St. E in Puyallup.

Stay tuned.

When is teriyaki not teriyaki? When you put it on a skewer and call it Asian grill. When does a restaurant that serves teriyaki transcend teriyaki? When its menu includes fresh and attractive sushi and a smattering of Japanese and Chinese entrees.

That’s the menu at Fusion Bento Asian Grill, which opened in April in the kind of location usually associated with teriyaki: behind Shari’s and between Albertson’s and Big Lot.

Fusion Bento is a comfortable mom-and-pop-type restaurant done up in attractive earth tones and pretty plate presentations. Lunch entrees and bento boxes are $4.95-$8.95, dinner entrees and bento boxes are $6.95 to $12.95. Sushi rolls, heavy on the imitation crab, are $6.95-$9.95. Two-piece sushi orders are $3.95-$5.95.

Skewered chunks of marinated and grilled beef hovered, enjoyably, between tender and fatty, served in not-too-sticky, not-too-sweet sauce. Thigh-meat chicken was tender and flavorful.

On the Chinese menu, Szechuan beef stood out. The strips of chili-spiked beef were tender, accompanied by ginger, peppers, onions and a medley of tender mushrooms. Other Chinese dishes include kung pao and sweet and sour (chicken, pork, tofu), chow mein and fried rice.

Fusion Bento Asian Grill: 2315 N. Pearl St. Suite A16, Tacoma; 253-759-2222. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays.

Pizza-makers and their pies, at Pizzeria Fondi.

I waited six months to enjoy the “ham and cheese” skewers at Pizzeria Fondi, the upscale pie parlor that opened in Gig Harbor's upscale Uptown Center May 30.

When I visited Fondi's Kent Station operation before Christmas, I'd fallen for the appetizer -- prosciutto wrapped around fontina cheese, skewered and grilled until the cured pork was toasty and the mild cheese was mildly gooey, and served with balsamic-goosed greens.

When I visited Fondi's Gig Harbor restaurant on Friday, my appetizer anticipation deflated. “That's an item off an old menu,” I was told.

Good thing Pizzeria Fondi makes pretty good pie - the hearth-fired kind that blisters and bubbles and goes down gooey.

=> Read more!

Tasting Taste of Tacoma 2007

Taste of Tacoma will taste a little more like Tacoma this year. Or at least it will taste a little like Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue restaurant core.

Asado and Masa, the across-the-avenue neighbors owned by X Group Restaurants, will serve marinated steak skewers from its booth at Taste of Tacoma, the annual food and entertainment event at Point Defiance Park, taking place Friday through Sunday.

Other participating Tacoma restaurants are Southern Kitchen (gumbo), Joeseppi’s (tortellini and chop salad), Porter's Place (barbecue) and Katie Downs (deep-dish pizza, of course). Federal Way’s Pac Island Grill, winner of 2007’s best entrée, will serve Kalua pork, chicken and lumpia.

In all, 30 food vendors from around Puget Sound will serve everything from goat curry to strawberry shortcake (with fajitas, barbecue, brats, piroshky and some salmon). Single-item entrees top out at $6, combo plates $7. Some vendors will even offer $2 tastes of select items. Discounted meal tickets, sold at the gate, offer 15 percent discounts on food and beverages. Admission to the event, which features live music and other entertaiment, is free.

Wanna drink wine with mayors? From 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday, five former Tacoma mayors and one current Tacoma mayor will pour and chat at the event's Wine & Roses, a fund-raiser for the Metro Parks Foundation. (Full disclosure: Wine & Roses is sponsored by the News Tribune.)

I’ll be eating and reporting live from Taste of Tacoma on Friday. Check back in at Ed’s Diner for some first bites.

Taste of Tacoma: Point Defiance Park, Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.

When it opened in 2004, the News Tribune called Mandolin Cafe Tacoma's newest intersection of tastes and passions: Old World, New World, played to accompany cups of dark-roast coffee or glasses of ginger-peach iced tea.

The owners of Sofia Bistro in University Place are in the process of buying Mandolin Cafe, the central Tacoma coffeehouse, cafe and live music venue that opened in 2004.

"We are scheduled to close on the purchase of the Mandolin Café near the beginning of next month," Marla Simms told me in an e-mail yesterday.

I spotted Simms' and Creig Kostoff's intention to buy Mandolin Cafe when their liquor license application turned up on the state's database last week.

Stay tuned for developments.

A tall order for Tall Ship sailors: Pizza delivery.

My colleague Kathleen Merryman has some hungry Tall Ships sailors on her hands. They'll be in Tacoma next month. They'll probably want pizza. Merryman recently sailed aboard The Eagle. She noted sailors' struggles to get pizza delivered in Astoria, Ore.:

... other cadets in uniform shared pizza parlor flyers. The dialed their cell phones and tried to negotiate to have pies delivered to the city dock. It was surprisingly frustrating. They were assigned to the ship for the evening. They could not just wander off in search of a Hawaiian with extra Canadian bacon.

“Pizza is a big thing cadets are fans of,” [one sailor] said. “We don’t get it on ship.”

Within blocks of where The Eagle will dock on the Foss Waterway for Tall Ships week are a handful of pizzerias and restaurants that make pizza: Here are some, in alphabetical order: Abella's, Alfred's, The Harmon, The Hub, The Rock. All of these are within walking distance.

But, as Merryman noted, logistics will be a problem:

"When they dock in Tacoma, they said, it would be a fine thing to have great pizza readily available, a great thing to allow pizza delivery people access to the ship."

Some lucky sailors will get to leave their ships. Others will be bound to ship-board duty. Merryman asked me to come up with a list of places from downtown Tacoma to the Dome district to Sixth Avenue where young sailors on budgets (ages 18-20, mostly) can enjoy their time in port. I'm working on my list. Got any suggestions for young sailors?

Hey, pizza delivery lady: Some Tall Ships sailors want to meet you.

Kelli Estrella will bring her award-winning cheeses to a new farmers market in Tacoma.

Kelli Estrella’s cheese are sought after by chefs from Seattle to New York. Tacoma shoppers will soon have a chance to buy the Montesano cheesemaker’s products at a new farmers market.

Estrella is among 24 farmers who’ve committed to selling their cheese, vegetables, fruit, meat and flowers at Tacoma's newest farmers market, which will debut July 15 at corner of Sixth Avenue and Pine Street.

More info from the press release after the jump.

The 6th Ave Market, Tuesdays starting July 15, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pine Street.

=> Read more!

If my dog could speak, she'd tell you about organic dog treats made with farmers market artisan cheese.

Let's eat out of the e-mail bag today. Here's one from a vendor at the Proctor farmers market, responding to my challenge for food vendors to incorporate local ingredients into the foods they make and sell at farmers markets:

So I tried to find organic ingredients at the Market, that I could use in my dog treats. The only thing I could find is organic goat cheese, so I tried using it in my dog treats. I normally use cheddar cheese, or cottage cheese.

The organic dog treats are expensive to make ... they are also soft baked, which is good for senior dogs. I do add a natural preservative, so they have a little better shelf life, for something fresh baked.

Thank you, Cynthia Powell, (Dogtreatbakery.org)

Are you ready for some really fatty, really delicious salmon at reasonable prices? Hold the Canadian Copper River king salmon. Get ready for Alaskan Yukon River king salmon.

“Copper River is insane,” said Edna Crawford, whose company, Graham-based Boreal Fisheries, has bought and sold Yukon River salmon since 1974.

“We’re jealous that we don’t have the marketing campaign they have. Our fish has twice the oil content. But we come after Copper River. We still don’t have the market awareness that Copper River does.”

Crawford is currently in St. Mary’s, Alaska, where Boreal has a processing facility 90 miles upriver. Crawford said fishing should start later this week, after Canadian escapement limits are met and Eskimos get their subsistence catches.

About those Omega 3 oils Crawford mentioned: they’re the good kind that have help fight heart disease, higher blood pressure, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

“Our salmon is up to 34 percent oil, compared to Copper River, which is about 17 percent,” Crawford crowed.

The Yukon River is almost 2,000 miles long. The Copper River is 300 miles.

“The longer the river, the richer the taste,” Crawford said. “These fish that travel 2,000 miles, they have a fat layer on them that’s about a quarter-inch thick. That’s what they live on until they get to Canada to spawn.”

Crawford said she didn’t know what her wholesale price will be this year. Last year, she said, it was between $9 and $11 per pound. It’ll probably be higher this year. The cost of everything is up.

“Tell people they shouldn’t complain about their gas price,” Crawford told me by telephone from Alaska last week. “I just got my gas price yesterday: $7.61 a gallon. Diesel is about $8 a gallon. Last year it was 4-something.”

Tag on a 38 percent fuel charge to the cost of your next Yukon River filet.

“When I fly a pound of fish out, my cost is 25 cents a pound, plus 38 percent, plus 6.25 percent tax,” Crawford said.

Since double espressos come with ample shots of pulchritude at Hot-Chick-a-Latte, I ordered mine with milk. A pasty-breasted barista at the Lakewood location happily poured a shot of milk. But the milk didn't mix in, so she helped it along, stirring my iced double espresso with her finger as she leaned over the the coffee hut's window to hand me my cold drink. Hot? Hardly. Ewwww? You betcha.

It'll be a weekend without alcohol at 21 Commerce.

It's going to be a dry weekend at 21 Commerce and The Loft Live in downtown Tacoma. The martini bar-restaurant and nightclub's liquor license is suspended today through Monday.

"We got spanked," a guy sweeping up outside martini 21 Çommerce said this morning.

A bunch of orange suspension notices are taped the venue's Commerce Street, 21st Street and Pacific Avenue windows.

According to the State Liquor Control Board, 21 Commerce served booze to an under-age patron on Feb. 22.

The penalty: no alcohol sales for four days, from 10 a.m. today until 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The last time 21 Commerce got caught selling booze to an under-age patron, on April 13, 2007, it paid a $375 fine.

The 2007 violation was a result of a compliance check by the Tacoma Police Department and the state Local Control Board using investigative operatives between ages 18 and 20. The Liquor Control Board says door security personnel allowed one of its under-age undercover operatives into 21 Commerce/The Loft after checking that person’s identification. Then, the Liquor Control Board says, a bartender sold liquor to that under-age, undercover operative.

February’s violation occurred after an under-age undercover operative gained admission to 21 Commerce/The Loft without being asked for identification, according to the Liquor Control Board’s report.

The Tacoma Police Department says it’s served The Loft with a chronic noise violation after patrol officers responded to the location for more than 35 calls for service since January. The calls have been for fights and large crowds.

Bartenders beware: Customers must be at least 21 years old to drink 21 Commerce cocktails.

I'm eating my way around Lakewood this week, helping my GO section colleagues research a cover story that'll help returning Strykers figure out what's new in town since they deployed to Iraq 15 months ago.

Year-old Home Town restaurant on Pacific Highway, south of Bridgeport, is one such place. I checked it out today, but I'll give Ed's Diner regular agtoth the first word of this First Bite, from the comments on this breakfast post:

A new owner has opened at what used to be Mory's Restaurant ... the portions are generous, the gravy is flavorful, the chicken fried steak fork tender and the eggs done exactly right. I've been back a couple of times and will definately return. PS: Service is good as well. .

I ordered Home Town's Denver omelet. I give it a mile-high ovation. The eggs were fluffy, browned here and there and, best of all, tasted like egg, not griddle grease. Inside the omelet, diced ham, sliced onions and chopped green peppers were all well-cooked and flavorful. The huge serving of hash browns were thinly sliced and nicely browned. They tasted like spuds, not grease.

Bacon arrived glistening in bubbling grease. And that's a good thing. It let me know that my four strips were cooked to order.

The breakfast menu is basic: eggs and meat, pancakes, omelets and such, served all day. Burgers and diner sandwiches round out the menu. Most items are priced in the $6-$10 range.

I like Home Town's clean and comfortable decor. There are a dozen padded booths and eight chairs at the counter. Mirrors on the wall and ventian blinds on the windows complete Home Town's old-school vibe. The waitress knew customers' names.

I also enjoyed the house music, particularly when the waitress sang along to "La Bamba" with a Korean accent. For the record, that was me singing "tra-la-la, twiddly-dee-dee" along with Patti Page's "Mockin' Bird Hill" as it played on Home Town's sound system.

I will be back.

Home Town: 12115 Pacific Highway S, Lakewood; 253-588-9514. Hours: 6 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays.

Gari of Sushi chef Kazuya Kamada.

"Coming soon" signs now hang on the roof of Gari of Sushi, shuttered and under renovation after an electrical fire last year fire. "Late July" is the word on when to line up for chef Kazuya Kamada's fabulous fish.

I poked my head inside Gari of Sushi today. The entry's been moved from the building's 38th Street side to the parking lot side. The sushi bar has been expanded. Can't wait for its grand re-opening.

Gari of Sushi: 1209 S 38th St., Tacoma

Fish House Cafe's deep-fried catfish sandwich -- great, even without tomatoes.

I usually order Fish House Cafe's fried catfish sandwich with cheese. Yesterday, I forgot to order the cheese. Something else was different: Fish House eighty-six'd the tomatoes.

Blame it on the tainted tomato tornado that's affecting only a small percentage of the nation's tomatoes but is sweeping across America, with many restaurants pulling fresh tomatoes off their menus. (At Steamers at Titlow Beach today, fresh tomatoes graced my fish taco. When I inquired, the cook said to have no worries: "Our tomatoes are good.")

At any rate, Fish House's fried catfish sandwich is terrific with or without tomatoes. It's $5. Be sure to order the crunchier corn-meal breading. You get two big and juicy filets, tartar sauce, lettuce and (conditions permitting) tomatoes, on a soft sesame bun. The contrasting stack goes like this: soft, crunchy, tender, soft. Add a slice of unmelted American cheese if you enjoy the processed texture in the middle. I do.

Speaking of tomatoes, I spoke with two lady farmers at the Proctor farmers market Saturday. Both said their tomatoes are running late, thanks to the gloomy June weather.

Another red fruit, however, is said to be on track. A farmer from Puyallup's Sidhu Farms told me Saturday that he'll have strawberries this week.

Fish House Cafe: 1814 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma; 253-383-7144

Ed's Note: This is a Second Bite. I'll write them about restaurants I've previously reviewed, when changes in menus, chefs or owners occur.

Babblin' Babs Bistro began serving weekend breakfast June 1. I dropped in on Sunday. It was one of the best, and most leisurely, breakfasts I've had in recent memory.

Who knew sodium-free sausage could be so delicious? Babblin' Babs chef/owner William Mueller makes his own sausages. While I reached for the salt before taking a second bite of the $3.50 side order, the two plump pork patties woke me up: made from ground loin, the sausage was ultra-lean and clean-flavored.

The rest of my breakfast ­- waffles topped with lox and dilled crème fraiche, $10.95 -- was equally admirable.

Mueller likes grape seeds. His cooks with grapeseed oil. His waffles are made with flour milled from the seeds of Riesling grapes. Although Mueller uses a bit of all-purpose flour to take the rough edge off the Riesling flour, the nutty, hearty flavor of the Riesling flour shines, giving the waffle a rusty brown hue and density that stops short of rubbery, sort of like that addictive Ethiopian injera bread.

Other breakfasts include a Benedict with French ham, quiche, crab cakes, baked apple-peach "soup" with oatmeal, breakfast sandwiches and house-made chorizo with eggs. Prices are $6.95-$12.95. My breakfast came with some of the ripest strawberries I've seen this season.

Caveat diner: Babs' eggs are steam "scrambled" over a water bath in a hotel pan. No fried, no poached, no over-easy. Mueller said he chose to steam the eggs, partly because his tiny kitchen lacks a hood, and also because he said he wants "the true smell of the food to come through," and wants to avoid heavy doses of butter and grease that often makes breakfast-lovers seek post-meal naps.

The tiny, comfortable cafe has just only six tables inside. A rush could swamp the kitchen, but a tasty bellini (Italian sparkling wine and white peach nectar) and live music (a classical guitarist entertained the day I dined at Babs) made my hour-long breakfast better.

Babblin' Babs Bistro: 2724 N. Proctor St., Tacoma; 253-761-9099. Breakfast 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays.

A slushy peachy bellini, at Adriatic Grill.

As I noted yesterday, I'm into bellinis, the lightly sweet cocktails (traditionally) made of white peach nectar and prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine. South Sound mixologists are taking their liberties. Here are four bellinis I've had recently:

Babblin' Babs Bistro's bellini was straightforward and traditional, just a burst of prosecco and white peach nectar in a tall glass. Babs' bellini's bubbles perked up brunch on a gloomy, leisurely weekend.

Adriatic Grill's bellinis no longer go 'round and 'round all day in the balky slushy machine behind the bar. They're now blended to order, with fresh peach puree, champagne, rum and sangria, served in a martini glass. The sangria goes in the glass first, providing a purple, contrasting base for the thick peach puree, slushed up in the blender. It's more of a gulping drink than a sipping drink, more sweet than effervescent, more Slurpee than bellini.

Speaking of sorbet, Pizzeria Fondi, Restaurants Unlimited's thin-crust Neopolitan-style concept, plops a dollop of sorbet inside a glass of Italian bubbly. It's not just any sorbet. Try luscious passion fruit-mango, or strawberry, concocted by Olympic Mountain of Shelton. Fondi's bellini floats my boat before and after dinner.

Throw in some protein powder and Olive Garden's bellini could be a meal-replacement shake. The national chain Italian eatery makes no secret about its bellini's ingredients: packaged peach-juice product and Gallo sparkling wine. I'll keep no secrets either: I liked it. As iced, blended drinks go, this one was thick and creamy, like a boozy smoothie.

Adriatic Grill: 4201 S. Steele St., Tacoma; 253-475-6000

Babblin' Babs Bistro: 2724 N. Proctor St., Tacoma; 253-761-9099

Pizzeria Fondi: 4621 Point Fosdick Drive, Building 10, Suite 200, Gig Harbor; 253-851-6666; and 504 Ramsay Way Suite 107, Kent; 253-850-3126

Olive Garden: In a shopping center near you

A toast before dinner, on my deck

I cruised farmers markets in Puyallup, Olympia, downtown Tacoma and Tacoma's Proctor 'hood this week. Here's a big thank you to farmers:

THANK YOU, FARMERS.

I bought your baby turnips and pink radishes this week. I bought your cherries and honey.

I bought your morels. I bought your stinging nettles.

I bought your butter, eggs, chorizo and cheese.

I bought your seafood. I've still got your beef and chicken in my freezer, and your goat's been on my mind since the day we first met.

Now, keep it coming. I want your strawberries, tomatoes and peaches, just to name a few things on my summer eating list.

Speaking of peaches, I'm into bellinis. They're like mimosas. But you use peach nectar instead of orange juice and Italian-style bubbly instead of champagne. I like bellinis better than mimosas. They're not as tart and acidic.

You could enjoy a bellini with a steak, which I might have done with the meal I cooked last night (market-bought morels sauteed in market-bought butter, served atop a sale-priced store-bought sirloin, with stinging nettles in apple-cider vinegar, and salted baby turnips and pink radishes), but the cocktails disappeared before dinner.

I made the bellini in the picture with three parts prosecco and one part store-bought peach nectar. You can guess why I can't wait for peaches to come across the passes.

Two Swedes walked into Johnny's Dock just past 8 p.m. The kitchen was closed.

It was unclear whether the Swedes were sailors or tourists, but they had been in town for a few days and had gotten friendly with the waitresses. One of the Swedes -- he introduced himself as "Ül. It's a nickname for tree," and by the looks of him, he wasn't lying -- was more talkative than the other.

Asked where they ate the previous night, Ül said, "Alfred's."

A waitress asked, "How was it?"

Ül said, "Don't ask."

A waitress told the Swedes, "That's probably not your kind of food."

I put down my PBR, pondered Alfred's barbecued pork pizza, spaghetti and burgers and wondered: What does a Swede eat in Tacoma?

Ül and his buddy left without elaboration. But I think a waitress was onto them it as she sent them off to dinner at Stanley & Seafort's:

"Enjoy your pea salad," she said.

Thanks to brandy, I can now enjoy my next bauernschinken sandwich inside Hess German Delicatessen & Bakery in Lakewoood. Hess now has two tables and four chairs inside. Lack of seating has never been a deal breaker for patronizing Hess -- great European-style deli meats, great old-world pretzels, a solid German beer selection and Bavarian grocery gems like sauerkraut juice, hold the kraut. I'm just glad I don't have eat in my car anymore.

What's behind the tables? Blame it on the beans -- in particular, Asbach Brandy beans and its chocolate, booze-filled candy bretheren that Hess recently began selling. Hess co-owner Joanie DeGrande said in order to sell the booze-filled chocolates, the State Liquor Control Board required Hess to change its liquor license status from grocery store to snack bar. Dine-in seating is a perk of the new license.

Hess German Delicatessen & Bakery: 6108 Mount Tacoma Drive S.W., Suite A1, Lakewood; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays; 253-584-1451.

The "pub" part of Chicky Pub got plucked in translation. Despite what the signage says at the Federal Way location, the two South Sound franchises of the nine-year-old South Korean fried-chicken chain do not serve beer. But that's OK. Chicky Pub serves pretty good fried chicken.

Chicky Pub opened inside Lakewood’s Pal-Do World supermarket in December. Chicky Pub opened in Pal-Do World in Federal Way in March. Both outlets serve cooked-to-order fried chicken, plain or with sauce, known as “yang nyum” style in Korea.

A whole, cut-up bird is $14.99 without sauce, $16.99 with sauce. A four-piece combo (with salad and soda) is $8.99. All come with pickled banchan., As they’ll tell you when you pay, your order will take about 15 minutes to prepare.

I ordered chicken with sauce and without sauce. Both ways, the birds were crispy outside, juicy inside. The sticky red sauce is alluring, with rice syrup tempering the chili. Pickled radish, cucumbers and mild kimche cut the fat and cooled the hot sauce.

Chicky Pub also serves Korean soups and barbecue dishes.

For those who read Korean, here's Chicky Pub's Web site.

Chicky Pub: 9601 South Tacoma Way, Lakewood; 253-581-1148; and 2200 S 320th St., Federal Way; 253-941-8282. Both restaurants open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.

For those who've inquired about what's going to become of the shuttered El Jimador on western Sixth Avenue, it's going to be a sports bar. Game On Sports Grille filed its liquor license application Tuesday. Stay tuned.

Whenever it opens, it looks like Game On will compete in the same neighborhood with the former Bella Vita, now a sports bar

Espresso con panna, dolce fine and cioccolate martini
at Beyond the Bridge Cafe in Sumner.

I won a cool drink in a raffle Friday night at a private concert in a Sumner coffeehouse. I'd paid $5 to hear singer-songwriters perform their music live at Beyond the Bridge Cafe. Raffle prizes were BBC's coffee drinks.

My lucky ticket got me an espresso con panna: a shot of rich espresso poured over a stubby cloud of hand-whipped cream, topped with shaved chocolate and chocolate-coated espresso beans. I ate it up with a spoon, unsweetened.

Because it was nothing like Starbuck's version, I went back for more.

Monday's espresso con panna ($3.25) was made with store-bought whipped cream. Not as good as Friday night's hand-whipped cloud of lusciousness but still creamy and smooth.

BBC does other cocktail-style espresso drinks, billed as "a dining in experience." (There's a drive-thru window, but you can't get these drinks to go.)

Espresso-and-cream dolce fine ($2) was short and cool on the rocks, sweetened by a glimmering rim of sugar in an arty shot glass.

Cioccolate martini -- espresso, Hershey's syrup and half-and-half, shaken over ice and served strained, with latte art on top ($3) -- satisfied like the caffeinated goblet of frosty chocolate milk it was.

Like the espresso in the drinks, the inspiration and recipes come from Seattle micro-roaster Cafe D'arte

While there's loads of parking, two-year-old BBC is small. Its tidy ambiance -- abstract painted wood tables, sturdy chairs, a tiny stage, a piano -- is conducive to sitting and sipping. (On Friday night, BBC was packed; the ventilation system performed wonderfully.)

BBC serves bagel sandwiches (variations on ham and turkey, $4.99), assorted pastries, tea and ice cream.

On the last Friday of each month, BBC hosts live music. Concerts are private events, but all you've got to do to get on the guest list is call. Performers include local singer-songwriters and indie bands that typify Puget Sound's poppy post-grunge sound. The Cloves, who hail from Sumner, have played live at BBC.

In addition to being sandwiched between two Sumner icons -- the Old Cannery and the old metal bridge that crosses the Puyallup River -- BBC is the only coffeehouse I know of that offers tetherball as an activity. There's a tetherball pole out front. BBC proprietor Ben Rubke said he's planning a customer-appreciation tetherball tournament in July.

(BBC's got Wi-Fi, too, for those who prefer virtual recreation.)

Beyond the Bridge Cafe: 13624 Valley Ave. E, Sumner; 253-863-0556. Hours: 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays.

Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge opened in April on the ground floor of Tacoma's historic Walker building. It plans to add sidewalk seating.

Think there's no such thing as free food? Then you didn't observe happy hour where I did today. And you probably weren't of legal drinking age the last time a bar or restaurant served free food at happy hour.

Maxwell's, the month-old speakeasy restaurant in the 81-year-old Walker building, is reviving a totally '80s trend that'll stoke your wallet in what's otherwise a grotty-to-the-max economy: free happy-hour food, and not just deep-fried nuggets of gnarly grub.

Today, Maxwell's lead line cook, Jesus Boites, cooked up a do-it-yourself taco bar. Grilled chicken was tender. Ground beef was studded with carrots and onions. Corn tortillas were soft and grilled. Everything was kept warm and fresh in a warm-water-bath chafing dish. Tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, shredded jack and cheddar cheeses, shredded lettuce and cabbage and sour cream rounded out the buffet.

Tuesday's freebies will be chicken wings and assorted sauces. Wednesday is jambalaya. Thursday is braised meat sliders. Get this: One of the guys in kitchen whites will build the sandwiches to order for guests in the bar on Thursdays with what Maxwell's honcho Troy Christian said will be "the meat of the week."

No free food on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, just $1 off on small plates, from halibut cheeks to tenderloin tartare. Cheese and cured meats ($3 each or four for $9, with nibbles like olives and almonds) are attractive any time.

After eating two free tacos, a few small plates, one shared entree and nursing two cocktails (all except the tacos were billed to my expense account), here's my First Bite take on Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge: things are tasting and looking good.

Maxwell's has easy-going, upscale style. Diners are greeted by chain-draped chandeliers and gauzy curtains that made me feel like I'd stumbled into a flapper's dressing room. Low ceilings, moody earth tones and shadowy lighting give the bar and warrens of dining areas an aura befitting Maxwell's speakeasy subtitle.

The menu (overseen by consulting chef Sean Quinn and executed by Pacific Grill/Beach House veteran Matt Colony) is built around small plates and sharable entrees (beef tenderloin, grilled King salmon, potato-crusted cod) and side dishes (savory cheesecake, buttered pasta, sauteed mushrooms with truffle oil), most priced $6-$21. The pricey exception is a $32 rib steak.

On opening night April 25, I savored three lamb porterhouse chops from Ellensburg, dressed in mushrooms, almonds and lemon. The tender and tasty chops were bubblegum pink inside and charry-black outside. Onion soup made with Walla Wallas was a bowl of sweet-salty depth and bliss, with sherry and cave-aged gruyere bookending the lively onions. Aside from fantastic flavor and total comfort, there were onions, cheese and croutons in every spoonful.

Since then, beef tenderloin tartare was a heavenly hillock of raw meat infused with sassy soy-kaffir sauce, ginger-lemongrass relish and Thai pepper oil. That raw quail egg on top wasn't just pomp; it was a creamy protein condiment that goosed each bite. I nursed two fresh-squeezed cocktails: a twist on the sidecar with Italian lemoncello and Greek brandy, a rocks margarita with a tequila (Patron) worthy of the drink's $10 price tag.

I'll review Maxwell's around late July or early August. I'll expect better of the halibut cheeks (dry and string) and the bitter-sweet pomegranate mignonet that was served with briney oysters.

Also coming up for Maxwell's: sidewalk seating and lighting.

Maxwell's Speakeasy + Lounge: 454 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma; 253-683-4115. Hours: 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 4 p.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays; 5 p.m-9 p.m. Sundays. Happy hour: 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays (free happy-hour food Mondays-Thursdays)

Breakfast, at Alfred's Cafe.

Over in The You Plate Special, Ed's Diner regular cking9900 asks:

Ed, Will you do a write up or start a blog on places around town for Breakfast and/or brunch? Will be entertaining out-of-town company soon.

I wrote an A-to-Z round-up of breakfast favorites in January. That one took about a month's worth of morning-meal research, so I'm not sure I'll make cking9900's out-of-town-guest deadline.

I can't vouch for everything on the menu, but in a first bite of Carr's Restaurant in Lakewood last month, I was impressed with the beautifully browned hash browns, along with the chunky sausage gravy that smothered golden chicken-fried steak. The few times I've had it, Paddy Coyne's toast with orange butter brightened my mornings.

Got any recommendations for cking9900? I'll gladly check them out and let you know what I think.