*Should I write about that hot new bar? Should I write about the best buffalo wings on Pacific Ave? Or maybe all the new real-estate development projects going on.*

There are hundreds of amazing topics up for discussion. Tacoma is an ever-growing, increasingly popular destination for all kinds of fun.

But with all this thought of what rawbb and I are planning for TacomaDowntown.com, it has really opened my eyes to how exciting Downtown Tacoma really is. Everywhere I walk I see this city’s true beauty. So instead of rambling on an on about everything exciting in Tacoma right now… lets focus on our City’s true beauty:

Well I did this on a Friday night, and I want to inform the general public on my experience. This is not a general review on Varsity Grill as a whole, but more as a means to judge if its the right place for you to be in a large group.

Birthdays and large get-togethers are fun, but sometimes can be complicated. If you try to bring all of your friends into a busy bar or club you can expect to have long waits and sub-par customer service. The best bet on these occasions is to either goto a bar thats not so busy, or to get some reservations for a designated area or a bar/restaurant/club.

On a Friday night, it was a friend’s birthday and we chose to grab a reservation at Varsity Grill downtown on Broadway. Reserving at a place like this has its pros and cons. Benefits are that this place late at night isn’t usually too crowded. So its good if you want your group to be the center of attention. The disadvantage of this is that the bar wasn’t well prepared for our party (about 25 people). I’m not sure if they were understaffed or if they weren’t used to being this busy, but the three people working the bar wasn’t enough to satisfy our group sufficiently. Throughout the night drinks took a little longer to get to us, so it became apparent that it was faster to order directly from the bar rather than from our table. Other than this the overall experience for the night was great. Drinks were good, strong enough to get you where you need to be, and they had a wide selection of beer on tap too. If you are the type that has fun with your own group and likes to bring the party, this is a great place to do so. I’d recommend it if you plan on staying for a while, that way you can keep ordering and have the drinks keep coming!

St. Patrick’s day is just around the corner, and there is no better place to go then an Irish bar in downtown Tacoma. Downtown, there are three irish bars: Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub, Doyle’s Public House, and Meconi’s Pub & Eatery.

Here is the news on Patty’s day events

Doyle’s Public House

Doyle’s is an English-Irish bar located off of South 2nd & St. Helen’s Ave. This bar specializes in Irish lagers. According to one of the bartenders, on St. Patrick’s Day there are no holiday specific specials, just wear your green! Some Irish drinks they have on tap are: Guinness Draught, Murphy’s Stout, Smithwick’s Irish Ale, and Harp Lager. Their live band, Ockham’s Razor, will be performing as they do on every 17th of the month. There wont be a cover here so be sure to get there early or be willing to wait because it will be busy without a doubt. This would be the perfect night to try to add to the 100 pint club or try to finish off a bottle of Jameson with some friends.

Doyle’s Public House
208 St. Helen’s Ave
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 272-7468
http://www.doylespublichouse.net/

Meconi’s Pub & Eatery

Meconi’s is an Italian-Irish pub located off of South 7th and Pacific Avenue. Meconi’s is known for its number of beers on tap and the great deals on domestics. There is also a mini arcade to challenge your friends to. If there early enough, you might be able to take advantage of the pool, video games, darts, foosball, or air hockey. I called Meconi’s and the employee who answered the phone said “There will be specials on St. Patrick’s Day, I just can’t say what they will be yet.” As soon as this information is “released” i’ll edit the post with the information I obtain. Until then, we can just assume that the usual Monday specials will take place. After 5:30 there is $4.99 spaghetti & meatballs, $5 martinis, and $3.50 house wine. There also wont be a cover here either, so this seems like the best way to save your green on a day you should be wearing it.

Meconi’s Pub & Eatery
709 Pacific Ave S
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 383-3388
http://www.tacomapub.com

Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub

Paddy Coyne’s is the Irish pub of Tacoma. And here for the Irish holiday there are weekend long festivities. On Saturday they are having “St. Practice Day”. This is just a kickoff to the weekend with Irish food, music, drinks, and not to mention, the “craic”. On Sunday the 16th they are having a raffle at 9pm. For $20 you get entered into a raffle for 2 roundtrip tickets to Ireland! Plus all proceeds of the raffle go to the “Mary Bridges Children’s Hospital”. In addition there will be live music all night. On the big day Paddy Coyne’s will be serving Irish dishes all day and the only beer served will be Guinness, Harp, and Smithwick’s. They also will be serving Magner’s Irish Cider. Irish musicians will also play all night so come ready for a great time. Guys there will be cover here. Expect a fee of $5 to enter and if you don’t arrive early expect a wait. Get there early and go green!

Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub
815 Pacific Avenue S
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 272-6963
http://www.paddycoynes.net

Note: More information will be added to this post as it becomes available, so keep checking back for updates!

We began on South 34th street, which we strategically determined was the southern border of downtown Tacoma. 34th street has two bridges which both have a spectacular view of downtown Tacoma. All of downtown Tacoma’s trademarks can be seen from here; the dome, all the office buildings, the waterway, and the 21st street bridge. We took photos for what we originally thought was solely for the site. The realization later came that this experience was nothing short of awe inspiring. I have lived in Tacoma all of my life and amazingly have never seen Tacoma from this viewpoint.

It goes to show that a city thats been staring me in the face for 22 years can still surprise me. From there we continued down East Dock street and took some impressive photos of all the museums, the waterway, and better close-ups of the 21st street bridge. We then continued over the bridge atop I-705 from the glass museum. After some phenomenal sunset pictures we decided to call it a night. Despite the fact we didn’t get to photograph all of downtown Tacoma as we planned, it was a success.

Not only were we able to get some great material for the site, but we tallied up another great experience in downtown Tacoma, which is what it’s all about.

We are Rawbb and Tevin, and we’re Tacoma Downtown Locals. We love every aspect of this part of our city. So we wanted to share our perspective of Downtown Tacoma. Enjoy