A new day-to-night café is set to open its doors at 901 Pacific Ave., Suite B in downtown Tacoma on September 4, serving breakfast sandwiches and acai bowls in the morning before shifting to daiquiris and cocktails by early afternoon. Tropical Sip Café will open at 8 a.m. daily except Sunday, when it will be closed, and co-owner Charles Askew plans to start pouring daiquiris at noon.
According to The News Tribune, the café has been in development for about a ye ar and will let customers choose their own daiquiri toppings and ingredients, alongside smoothie options like the Tropical Sunrise and Bahama Mama. The to-go daiquiris are possible thanks to a 2023 change in Washington law: Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5448, permanently allowing licensed restaurants and bars to sell cocktails to-go after the pandemic-era version of the policy expired, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Rules for the To-Go Pour
That permanent statutory privilege comes with strings attached. Permanent rules adopted by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board in July 2023 require that every to-go alcoholic drink be sold alongside a food purchase, sealed in a container that prevents immediate consumption, and transported in a vehicle's trunk or another non-passenger area. At Tropical Sip Café, beer and most cocktails will be dine-in only, while the daiquiris are the item specifically built for takeout, per the same coverage from the News Tribune.
Washington's tax structure adds another layer to the equation for a business leaning on spirit-based drinks. The state charges the highest excise tax on distilled spirits in the country, $36.68 per gallon, driven by a 20.5% consumer spirits sales tax plus a $3.77-per-liter volume tax, according to data published by the Tax Foundation in May. That tax load sits in the background of any independent operator's math on daiquiri pricing and margins.
A Storefront With Deep Roots
The café's new home is a 790-square-foot street-front retail space leased at rates between $17 and $20 per square foot, according to commercial listings from Kidder Mathews. The location sits one block from Sound Transit's T Line Commerce Street Station and within a three-minute drive of the University of Washington Tacoma campus, putting it in easy reach of student and commuter foot traffic.
The address carries some local history, too. Historical records show 901 Pacific Avenue once housed music retailer W.W. Pickerill in 1898, and Tacoma's first registered automobile was parked out front in 1901 next to a summer roof garden that served non-alcoholic drinks, per the Pacific Northwest Music Archives. More than a century later, the same storefront is set to host another daytime gathering spot for drinks and light bites.
Full Hours and Menu
Tropical Sip Café will run 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, and stay closed Sunday. The café is open to all ages, and its online presence is still in development, the News Tribune reports.
Lunch will bring sandwiches, salads and wraps, including BLTs and turkey clubs, while breakfast covers breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal, crepes and acai bowls. Later in the afternoon, the menu opens up to beer and other cocktails alongside the daiquiris.
Entering a Shifting Pacific Avenue Scene
Tropical Sip Café is arriving on a stretch of downtown Tacoma that has seen plenty of turnover. Spanish restaurant Miró Tapas closed at 1502 Pacific Avenue after just nine months in business, as Hoodline reported earlier this month. At the same time, specialty beverage concepts keep pushing into the neighborhood: Outer Dark Coffee announced plans in February to open a roastery and cafe at the Rhodes Center on 950 Broadway, just a block off Pacific Avenue.
The corridor has also dealt with transit hiccups that can affect foot traffic. A broken rail forced a temporary shutdown of Sound Transit's T Line near South 21st Street in April, and Pierce County health inspectors that same month closed 10 unpermitted roadside food vendors across Tacoma for lacking proper handwashing and refrigeration equipment. Against that backdrop, Tropical Sip Café's September opening marks another bet that downtown Tacoma's daytime and after-hours drink scene still has room to grow.
