Turkey and cranberry sandwich at Capers Downtown, where lunch goes on.

Tonight will be the last night for dinner at Capers Downtown, the sixth-month-old spin-off of Capers Take Home Eatery in Tacoma’s Proctor District.

While owner Eve Hewitt said family issues are involved –- “I have a 14-year-old son who’s raising himself,” she said –- lack of parking and lack of those fabled downtown condo dwellers are also driving factors.

“I have a lot of older customers and they complain that they can’t find parking downtown," Hewitt said.

(Even during the day, Hewitt said, parking is a factor. “The meter people are horrible,” she said, referring to enforcement inside the city’s 1-hour and 30-minute parking zones.)

As for those well-heeled urbanites who were supposed to move into the nearby condos and provide a customer base for businesses that staked investments on downtown Tacoma’s renaissance, Hewitt said:

“It was depressing to see two (occupied) tables in the restaurant at night. That’s why I’m putting the kibosh on dinner.”

Hewitt noted that nearby condos are now being offered as rentals.

“I bought into a false sense of comfort seeing lines out the door at Paddy Coyne’s and The Matador,” Hewitt said of two nearby “destination” restaurants.

Capers Downtown will continue serving lunch, which Hewitt said “is doing great.” Hewitt said she’s planning to add take-out entrees, like she offers at Capers Take Home. She said she’ll also do special event dinners, such as wine-maker dinners.

Capers Downtown: 701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; 253-272-2240. Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

Did anyone attend last night's downtown Tacoma parking discussion with City Manager Eric Anderson? If so, I'm eager to hear what was said.

Here's my downtown parking tip of the day: When Pacific Avenue's new Belltown fills up (Who are all those good-looking people dining and drinking at The Matador and Paddy Coyne's?), I park in the alley by Fireman's Park. A Street is usually wide open, too.

Parking in downtown Tacoma has been discussed here and here at Ed's Diner.

On Monday, we can discuss downtown parking with Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson, who will host the first of a series of public discussions on the topic.

Monday's discussion happens at 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Pantages Theater.

Over the next six weeks, similiar events are scheduled in the Dome District, the Stadium District, the Hilltop, the Foss Waterway area, and around the University of Washington Tacoma.

For the record, I had no problems finding easy street parking both night and day this past week while checking out these popular downtown Tacoma restaurants: The Matador, Paddy Coyne's, El Gaucho, Meconi's, Stadium Bistro, Puget Sound Pizza and The Swiss.

I don't mind circling the block looking for a parking space. I don't mind parking three blocks away from my dining destination either.

But I do mind when I see restaurant/bar employees and owners taking prime parking in front of those establishments (watch those personalized plates on the SUV, chef J). Lately, I've seen a pick-up truck belonging to a bartender parked in prime spots in front of two downtown pubs during business hours.

So I was happy to hear about Pacific Grill's new parking deal. Not only can customers get free validated parking at some lots near the downtown convention center, but Pacific Grill's staff can, too.

"My customers at the Beach House would tell us, 'We didn't stop the other night because the parking lot was so full,'" said Gordon Naccarato, chef and co-owner of Pacific Grill and the Beach House (now Margarita Beach Cafe). "It would be a night in winter and we were DEAD S-L-O-W. I realized it was all my staff parking in too close to the front door. So they are now supposed to park way past the end of the parking lot."

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People. Restaurants. Downtown. TNT photo by Lui Kit Wong

I ate lunch yesterday at Pacific Grill in downtown Tacoma. Despite construction, I parked in one of my usual spots on Market Street, one long city block up the hill from Pacific and 15th. Rain was intermittent. Business was brisk.

Midway through my soup and sandwich, I looked out the window and over at Sea Grill, the restaurant that opened shortly before Pacific Grill in mid-2005 and which ceased lunch service last week.

It was dark inside Sea Grill. Some people ate at the bar, overlooking Pacific Avenue. I knew from their pin-stripe kitchen pants and chefs coats that they weren't customers.

A month ago, I parked a little farther north on Market Street, my usual parking haunts for this particular destination, and ate a lonely lunch of steak, mashed potatoes and veggies at Varsity Grill.

I walked around afterward and saw empty restaurants and very few people on the street.

Two weeks ago, I had a fine Saturday breakfast at Puget Sound Pizza –- eggs, perfectly over-easy, sprinkled with fresh parsley; home fries that looked and tasted cooked; bacon that was just shy of burned; and a biscuit, split and grilled.

I walked around afterward and saw empty everything. I let my dog off leash.

A downtown Tacoma restaurant owner sent me an e-mail recently. Reading between the digital lines, it sounded like the restaurant was being sold or shut down. This much was crystal clear: The restaurant owner was angry for having drunk the Downtown Revival Kool-Aid. The restaurants came. Where's the retail? More condos are coming. Where's the retail?

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Chosing from more than 100 beers can be overwhelming. Encountering the same old fair food can be underwhelming. That was the state of things at the Seattle International Beerfest this weekend.

Let's focus on the food: sausages, barbecue, jerky.

At the Washington Brewers Festival two weeks ago, the fare was no more fair: sausages and meatless burritos.

There's a movement in the craft-brewing industry to educate consumers on the convergence of good beer and good food. By serving the same kind of food you can buy at flea-market food courts, promoters of these two beer festivals deflate their own souffles.

At the Washington Brewers Festival, I smelled salami and cheese. I turned to see that someone had brought their own.

There's a big hint in that whiff.