Aug. 11, 2008 at 12:12am

Italian Restaurant "Merende" Opens Downtown Aug 18

il Trattoria di Merende Restaurant to open August 18th at 826 Pacific Avenue in the former Vin Grotto location next to Paddy Coynes.

Signage on Pacific Avenue

Restaurant Layout

The restaurant layout is pretty well finalized now.  The bar is located on the left side of the restaurant and near the front of the entrance with dining on the right.  No more having to go to the back to eat. 

The office of Vin Grotto has been removed for seating.

The floor has some interesting tile.

Menu:

The Volcano has a sneak peak available on the menu.

They are set to have a slew of small bites:

Bishop told the Weekly Volcano today that the menu will, of course, be Italian with special emphasis on small plates to be shared.  They’ll feature locally produced, organic ingredients as much as possible inside a homey decor with straw and terracotta colors.

Bonus Restaurant Features

Merendes has an outside seating area which allows for viewing Frost Park Chalk Offs easily as it is only half a block away from the park.

Good Luck Merende!  Welcome to the neighborhood.

Two Blocks That "Work" in Tacoma

The 700 and 800 blocks of Pacific Avenue are one of the most functional, and therefore, of the best parts of downtown Tacoma.

Within two blocks, Capers, Meconi's, Matador, Paddy Coynes and soon Merende have outside eating areas spilling into the street with abundant life.  The area does not need be "programmed" to have life in the area once a year.

These two blocks are one of the few places downtown which functions as designed and offers some sort of civic life.  So many areas downtown have been either bulldozed by the city, butchered by parking garages or some other post modern structure and are void of life.

Since 1960, Tacoma has constructed one urban design failure after another.  Its as if the knowledge in constructing successful buildings and neighborhoods 100 years ago has been lost.

As Tacoma struggles to build a city worth caring about and worth living in, it's nice that Tacoma has at least a small functioning urban example to demonstrate how it can be accomplished.  We should make the plethary of Tacoma planners and consultants come take notes and make sketches of the area.