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Wed. September 6, 2006, 06:56am PDT
The fate of Italian food in Old Town
Speaking of Italian (see yesterday's Joeseppi's write-up) I now know the fate of that old town eatery Trattoria Grazie that closed up last February. It's now law offices. Everyday to and from work I watched as the formerly green building with its red awnings got a makeover. It's not news that the Trattoria is no more. I held out hope that some great new restaurant would bring me into the heart of Old Town. As work progressed the building got a clean new coat of gray-blue paint and signs of life appeared in the form of a standing sign just inside the front door. The other day I finally caught a glimpse of what it read and all I needed to process was "The Law Offices of..." and I knew.
It's sad that such a lovely spot was probably driven away by higher and higher property tax values that come with having a view and having so many other law offices get bought and paid for in the area. I guess now to experience the former Trattoria Grazie you'll need to be either "in trouble with the" or "seeking council about the" law that those lawologist types know so well.
Look at the bright side: now no one will get confused if you make a lunch date for that Grazie/Grassi's place.
Here are a few photos snagged from the old Trattoria Grazie website before it too fades into history.
Comments (12) | To Top
9/6/2006 @ 8:25am
Grazie was a nice little restaurant. Somehow I knew about the law office thing around the time it closed...not sure if that was because of news reports or because we asked at the restaurant, thought...
by jamie
9/6/2006 @ 8:41am
I never made it there which is why I was holding out for some other restaurant to take its place.
by KevinFreitas
9/6/2006 @ 9:42am
I've had dinner there several time. I always remember being satisified with the choices. It's sad to see them go. And just what we need more lawyers to stink up the place.
by Steve
9/6/2006 @ 11:39am
Grazie has had a number of restaurants that have tried to make it work there.
They always struggled for one reason or another despite having a great location and a great building.
by Erik
9/6/2006 @ 4:43pm
One of my very first dinners out in Tacoma, 14 years ago, was there...a double-date of sorts on Halloween (?) 1992, with two of my college roommates and a brother of a friend of their's. Afterwards we went to a late showing of Dracula. (the one with Gary Oldman)
Ah, that brings back some memories.
by Elaine
9/7/2006 @ 7:40am
Actually, I work practically next door to the place and watched its quality slide downhill over the last few years. While we occasionally still went there for wine on the deck, we very rarely stopped by for lunch anymore. (This was especially true when the better Cafe Divino started getting attention.) I don't think it was the property taxes that drove them away, I think it was a poor return on investment.
by David S.
9/7/2006 @ 8:42am
Although kinda' sad, I suppose it is better they may have had partial fault in the place's demise. Although I'd never been in there, the building itself looked really neat and I would've loved it to be a more open business for folks to enjoy.
On the bright side, at least it wasn't torn down!
by KevinFreitas
9/9/2006 @ 11:37am
The last time we went there the service and food were both way below our standards.We vowed never to return in spite of having had a romantic dinner there our first night in Tacoma.
by Kendall
9/9/2006 @ 4:12pm
I went there twice.
The first time the service was terrible. The second time it was fine.
Both times I thought the food was great, but overpriced.
That aside, I am sad to see it go.
by Andrew
9/18/2006 @ 7:47pm
The resturant was good but the owners were asses. Their auro ruined the place
by mark
6/5/2007 @ 12:07pm
Not only the place was good but the services they offered were tremendous. New married couples use to visit this restaurant for a romantic dinner. It is still unknown what force them to go.
by Kamran
5/10/2008 @ 6:47pm
I WORKED THERE! they sold the building but they do have other restaurants. they have have a restaurant called verrezanos in federal way owned by the same owner thomas day.
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