A two-decade veteran of Tacoma's craft cocktail scene is turning a vacant storefront in the Stadium District into what he calls an imaginary beach bar. Chris Keil plans to open Kokovoko this fall inside the ground floor of Stadium Apartments at 705 N. 1st St., a space named for the fictional home island of the harpooner Queequeg in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
The name comes straight from the 1851 novel, where Melville describes Kokovoko in Chapter 12 as an island far away to the West and South that is not down in any map, since true places never are, according to the text preserved on Wikisource. As reported by the Tacoma News Tribune, Keil first helped develop the Kokovoko concept while working at En Rama, before that Courthouse Square bar changed hands in 2024. Keil is a Tacoma native who has been crafting drinks in the city for about two decades, with earlier stints at 1022 South J and Hilltop Kitchen shaping his approach.
From Apothecary Bitters to Beach Cocktails
Keil's résumé traces a long arc through Tacoma nightlife. His early bar 1022 South J earned a nod from The New York Times in 2011, which praised it for producing some of the most fascinating apothecary cocktail work on the West Coast, according to Seattle magazine. The bar was known for custom tinctures, house-made mixers and apothecary cups. When he opened Hilltop Kitchen in 2013, Keil built the drink program around Latin American spirits like mezcal and cachaça, pairing them with Northwest-influenced Latin street food, per Seattle Met.
He later opened En Rama. The News Tribune's report notes that the Kokovoko idea itself first took shape during Keil's time at En Rama, years before it found a permanent home.
Proof Serves as the Testing Ground
Keil's current bar, Proof, is an Old Town cocktail lounge. Located at 2312 N. 30th St., Proof is where the Kokovoko team is dialing in recipes Tuesday through Saturday ahead of the fall opening, the News Tribune reports, with rotating cover nights on Thursdays. Brandi Dickerson is serving as Kokovoko's bar lead as the menu comes together, per the same account, and Keil says he's still formulating exactly what will land on the final list.
Early ideas floated for the cocktail menu include a Pimm's Man made with sherry Pimm's and amaro, a clarified daiquiri, and a yerba maté-infused painkiller built with sake and rum. The plan is for the drinks to feel familiar, but with subtle beach-inspired notes woven in, the News Tribune reports.
A Bar First, With Grab-and-Go Mornings
Keil describes Kokovoko as a bar first and foremost, though it will anticipate daytime service too. Mornings are expected to lean toward grab-and-go sandwiches and breakfast burritos alongside drip coffee likely sourced from Naomi Joe Coffee, though the space won't include an espresso machine, according to the News Tribune's reporting. Evening food will lean into Latin American-inspired snackable and shareable dishes, including tacos such as a potato pavé version finished with ancho chile crema, with a caviar option also under consideration.
The room itself, which Keil has been redesigning since mid-August, is being built to seat more than 30 to 40 people across a mix of moods: a bright, colorful nook, a moody and intimate corner, and a lounge area with overstuffed couches. There won't be any actual sand on the floor, Keil told the News Tribune, but the goal, in his words, is for Kokovoko to feel like an imaginary beach bar that's approachable and fun.
A Stadium District Space in Transition
Kokovoko is moving into a storefront with recent turnover. Sandwich Starr previously occupied the suite at 705 N. 1st St. before permanently closing in January 2026 after struggling with rising operational costs, according to a report from Seattle Red.
The building itself contains the ground-floor storefront Kokovoko will occupy, while the T Line serves the Stadium District.
Kokovoko represents a bet from an experienced local operator that the neighborhood's growing residential base and transit access can support another niche concept.
