The Swiss Restaurant & Pub is located at 1904 Jefferson Avenue
Built Tacoma at 7 Seas Brewery is located at 2101 Jefferson Avenue
Reviews and photos by Ted Broussard
Yes, I know Tacoma is not Rio,
and I fully realize that the Olympics could be over by the time you read this. Still,
I’m inspired to give an Olympics-style score to the food at two of our
neighborhood taverns/brew pubs -- The Swiss and the newly-opened Built Tacoma, located in the 7 Seas Brewery. Forget all the intricacies of new scoring
systems and Olympic Committee rules. We’re sticking with a score range of 1 to
10 with 10 being gold-worthy on just a few completely arbitrary factors.
Environment:
The Swiss is located in a 1913 era building steeped in history and
charm. Originally known as the Swiss Hall, the bottom floor was a tavern while
the second and third floors served the Swedish immigrant community. It’s gone
through several owners but the tavern has remained all this time. The front
dining area has large windows with lots of plants, tables and booths and
vintage décor that charms and invites you in as you enter the angled door right
at the street. Continue exploring and you’ll find a gorgeous bar in the middle
room that just happens to have a Dale Chihuly Venetian glass collection on top.
Very cool. Continue further and you’ll find another large room for bigger
crowds and live performances. Score: 10
Built Tacoma is brand spanking new and opened in mid-August. It’s
the food end of 7 Seas Taproom and comes with great credentials from the duo
that own Top of Tacoma and formerly Marrow. It’s strictly an order at the
window kind of place inside the cavernous taproom. Lots of exposed metal
framing, warm colors and gorgeous lacquered natural timber tabletops. The place
heats up pretty fast on a warm summer day so plan to sit in the line of air
from the lone garage door style window. Score: 8
Service:
Service at the Swiss was friendly but less than attentive on two
recent visits. The owner/host is very welcoming and gives a great first
impression. The servers continue the friendly vibe but food took a long time to
arrive on both visits without any update from the server about the delay. On
one visit, I let the server know I was in a hurry when she finally brought the
check and took my credit card. About 20 minutes later she returned with the
card and apologized for taking so long because she “got caught up talking to
another table.” That’s a big deduction in these Olympic Games. Score: 5
Being pretty much a self-service eatery, menus at Built are
written on butcher paper and printed copies are available at the order window.
The service at Built starts at the window and the person taking orders was very
friendly and helpful. She explained how the menu worked and asked if I knew
where I’d be sitting so they could deliver the order to our table. I gladly
gave her my name and location but turns out that you pick it up yourself at the
window to the side after they shout your name. Window server was friendly and
helpful in confirming the order and pointing out the self-service plastic
utensils. Not a lot else to judge on so I base my score on the reality of the
type of service they offer. Score: 10
Food:
The Swiss is all about standard pub fare but does offer a couple
of dinner entrees of pasta, brats from Dave’s Meat Market, pan fried oysters
and a seafood selection of the week. Other than that, it’s all about
sandwiches, burgers, salads and soups. We tried the fish taco trio, flat bread,
and the slider trio ($6 each) with a carrot cake dessert to wash it down on a
recent happy hour visit. Fish tacos were serviceable but I found them to be a
little light on the fish and a little heavy on the salsa. The Slider Trio
consisted of a beef slider topped with American cheese, fried chicken slider
with house aioli, and pulled pork slider topped with slaw. The chicken was the
winner in my book, but not outstanding. The other two were good but not great. The
flat bread was a disappointment. Besides taking forever to get there, neither
the taste nor the appearance was very appealing. It’s described as onion garlic
spread, provolone and tomatoes then baked and finished with fresh basil but the
onions overpowered the uninspired disc of pizza dough. I’d stick to Pacific
Grill for the gold standard of flat breads in downtown. Carrot Cake was very
good---the right texture and moistness with a sweet cream frosting. Score: 7
The Built menu is designed to pair well with beer since that’s
where they live. They feature fresh oyster selections, charcuterie and cheese
plates, sandwiches and salads. Given the Marrow pedigree, you can expect to
find interesting and delicious vegetarian and vegan offerings and Built does
not disappoint. For a recent lunch visit, we tried the Megalithic Muffaletta
($9) and the Pi Phi Panini ($8) and added the salads du jour for $2.50 each. Being
from Louisiana, I love me some muffalettas. Built’s version captured the spirit
and general flavor enough to wear the name although the sandwich itself was a
bit small in stature. I, of course, would have preferred a loaf the size of my
head with heaps of marinated olive salad and Sicilian sesame bread but this is
not New Orleans. I actually liked Built’s version -- lots of mayo, good Italian
meats and a slight taste of olive salad. The Pi Phi Panini featured smoked
prosciutto, pickled figs, arugula, and cheese grilled on buttermilk bread. Very
tasty combination and the figs provided just the right balance to the
prosciutto. The two salads that were available today included a creamy cucumber
with green apples and fennel and marinated kale with apricots and almonds. I
loved them both; very delicious and healthy. Score: 10
At the podium:
And the gold goes to... Built Tacoma! (I’d ask
you to stand for their national anthem but I thought that’s taking a metaphor a
bit too far.) While The Swiss Restaurant & Pub is a Tacoma institution and
well deserves its legion of fans, Built Tacoma is the new wave of pub grub. It’s
never going to be a quiet little dinner place for delicious food but it does
set an Olympics Record, if you will, for interesting, high-quality and
well-prepared pub food downtown.
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