Spud’s next chapter depends on whether another operator takes it on: Tracie Paul says she will not reopen the South End restaurant under her operation after the fire, break-ins and mounting costs became too much to overcome. The restaurant at 7025 Pacific Ave. has remained dark since a kitchen fire during a busy Saturday lunch rush in August 2025.
Paul confirmed to The News Tribune that Spud's would not reopen under her operation. She said costs kept piling up and the restaurant industry had become harder to thrive in. Although she said the hurdles were too tough to justify continuing, she had many plans for Spud's and did not plan to say goodbye.
A Grease Fire During the Lunch Rush
The fire broke out in vents above Spud's pizza ovens during the Saturday lunch rush, and staff used fire extinguishers and evacuated customers before emergency crews arrived. No one was injured. Tacoma Fire investigators determined the blaze was accidental, likely sparked by heat from operating equipment and worsened by grease buildup, according to an earlier report from the same News Tribune coverage of the fire.
Because the kitchen spans much of the building's length, smoke spread through most of the restaurant. Firefighters removed part of the ceiling to extinguish the flames, which charred roof joists. Smoke damage required restoration work that had not been completed.
Break-Ins Compounded the Damage
The empty building was broken into at least five times between Labor Day 2025 and January 2026, according to The News Tribune's reporting. Paul said she lost memorabilia, framed jerseys and other inventory; FOX 13 Seattle reported that vandals took thousands of dollars' worth of inventory as well as irreplaceable memorabilia. Power was restored after the January break-in, when Paul replaced the security system. In a Facebook post, she said she was still waiting on insurance approvals and roof repairs and cautioned that the work would not happen quickly.
From Pizza Pete's to a South End Landmark
The Pacific Avenue restaurant began as a Pizza Pete's franchise opened by Gerald “Spud” Hansen in the 1960s. Hansen later renamed it and added the Trophy Room, a dimly lit, two-tiered lounge, in the 1980s. Lane Smith, Jon Kehn and the Almonte family purchased the property and surrounding parcels in 2001, while Lisa Almonte and her partners kept the Spud's brand and business. Dave Almonte managed the restaurant in the late 2010s, and Lisa Almonte once took leave from her elementary-school teaching job to keep it operating during the pandemic in 2020.
Tracie Paul and her husband, Josh Paul, took over running Spud's in 2022. Now, with Paul stepping away, the business and building are reverting back to the property owners. Lisa Almonte told the paper she and her partners would love to see Spud's continue and hope another operator may eventually revive it, but she said plainly that they do not know what the future holds.
How Other Restaurants Have Fared After Fires
WTTW's reporting on Chicago restaurants shows how widely recovery timelines and outcomes can differ. Irene's Finer Diner reopened nearly two years after a small kitchen fire, despite an initial three-to-five-month estimate; its owners ran a standalone bagel shop during the rebuild, which insurance fully covered. Dear Margaret had not reopened nearly a year after an October 2025 electrical fire, and its landlord chose to sell the building for demolition and redevelopment. Boka's Balena never reopened after a 2017 fire, according to WTTW.
What public records say about fire losses and Pacific Avenue
The Tacoma Fire Department's 2025 annual report put total losses from structure fires, including buildings and contents, at $18,957,389 citywide. That figure is not specific to Spud's and does not isolate commercial cooking fires, so it does not establish a local pattern for restaurant fires. The City of Tacoma's Picture Pac Ave initiative is intended to support existing and future transit improvements and plan for growth and development along Pacific Avenue over the next 25 years. The planning effort does not identify a specific future for Spud's site.
Spud's has no confirmed reopening plan or identified successor. Its future now rests with the property owners and whether another operator is willing to take on the restaurant.
