BY MATT KITE for WEEKLY VOLCANO 7/25/25 |
Anyone visiting the Parkway Tavern on I Street in Tacoma’s Stadium District for the first time will likely notice it the moment they step inside the cozy joint’s comfy confines: everybody seems to know each other. Like Cheers, the friendly neighborhood bar in the popular ’80s TV sitcom by the same name, Parkway Tavern has a time-worn feel that invites conversation, storytelling, and laughter. The long-running Tacoma watering hole will be celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this Saturday, July 26. Fittingly enough, the unofficial theme is community.
“We’ve always been a neighborhood bar,” says Mackenzie Putscher, the tavern’s manager off and on since 2007. “We’ve got students. We’ve got blue-collar. We’ve got white-collar. We’ve seen generations of families come through here. The party itself is just a matter of throwing a big party for the community.”
Anyone twenty-one years old or older is invited to attend the bash, which will begin at noon and run until last call. “People should get here at noon,” Mackenzie recommends. “There will be some fun stuff happening to kick off the party.”
The parking lot in back will be roped off and converted into a beer garden, complete with a big tent, several tables, and a stage for live music. The lineup of DJs and bands includes the Artesian Rumble Brass Band, Rowdy Friends, DJ Pretty Odd, Cottonwood Cutups, DJ BS System, Hiram B. Freedom & His Honky Tonk Holy Ghost Revival, and DJ Stitches. Parking will likely be at a premium, so commuting on foot, by bicycle, or via mass transit is encouraged. A Tacoma Link light rail stop is just three blocks away.
A beloved Tacoma institution since 1935, the Parkway Tavern is known for its rotating selection of thirty-plus craft beers on tap. Various ciders and wines, many of them regional, round out the alcoholic offerings. The kitchen serves up classic pub grub with a twist, including a BLBT (bacon, lettuce, more bacon, tomato, and mayo on a hoagie roll) and burgers ranging from a “fromage à trois,” aimed at cheese lovers, to a jalapeño cheeseburger guaranteed to spice up your life.
Yelp reviews are almost uniformly positive, with patrons citing the neighborhood vibe, classic dive bar feel, and neon sign out front as their favorite things about the tavern. If there’s a common negative refrain, it’s that sometimes the Parkway Tavern is packed to the rafters, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights.
Speaking of those rafters, look up and you’ll see hundreds of taps attached to the vaulted ceiling’s old wood beams. A pool table and pinball machines beckon from the game room in back, and a separate room next door invites smaller groups to congregate. Old photographs on the walls tell the tale of Tacoma and its colorful history. One picture shows the Parkway Tavern’s demolished façade in 1993 after a disgruntled customer repeatedly rammed his pickup truck into the tavern. Needless to say, the man was arrested, and the place was remodeled—and has been at regular intervals with various updates over the years.
These days, a small front patio outside can accommodate a handful of patrons and their canine companions hoping to while away an afternoon or evening in the open air. The Parkway Tavern hosts several events each year, including Barleywine Week in the spring and an IPA Festival in August. Every Friday the 13th is Cider Night, and every Monday night is Randall Night. For the uninitiated, a beer Randall is a two-chambered infuser for craft beer.
“Every Monday we hook up the Randall to a random beer,” Mackenzie explains. “We take suggestions from whoever’s here. Then you pick fruits, hops, wood chips, candy, cereal—just anything that imparts flavor. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. It can be a crapshoot, but usually it’s successful.”
Long-time patrons and their taste buds relish the adventure, as do the Parkway staff, whose low turnover rate plays an outsized role in making the tavern feel like a home away from home for locals and visitors alike.
More event details here:
