The Spar

Very good. We ate outside and enjoyed a sunny day with some good BLTs. Will be returning here in the future.

House made chips and spar sauce. Yes please!
Other specialties include: chicken and joes fried in a broaster. What the hell is a broaster? Think moist perfectly done chicken every time. House made cod and chips. Salads are great. If they ever have a Reuben on special, it is a must! Food is upscale bar food with a great beer selection. Events: Thursday night $ 2 beer specials, live music Saturday and Sunday to name a few.

I live down the street, so I have eaten here quite a few times recently. Good food and drinks for the money overall. Also the building is very cool and is in a great location! Fun times!

Swell neighborhood joint, great place to bag a beer and a burger. Live music on Saturdays. The demographics skew toward an older set.

I am a fan of The Spar. What happened last night needs to be addressed by the management, and, if not, I will find another place to spend good money.
I was driving from Olympia to Tacoma and really wanted some steamed clams. I called The Spar and spoke with a female employee. I asked,“Do you have steamed clams tonight?” She stated,“Yes”…and hung up the phone.
We arrive at The Spar and order our steamed clams and beers. The bartender comes back after a moment and states,“I’m sorry, the chef stated we don’t have the steamed clams.“
I passed no less than 3 quality restaurants featuring steamed clams to have them at The Spar. We checked ahead to ensure they had steamed clams. We arrived and they didn’t have steamed clams.
I have ZERO time for an establishment like this… after informing them of this story they offered nothing.
Really disappointed in this business and their respect for their clients in this instance.

Fish & chips… Awesome
Clam Strips… Ok, not blown away
Fish Tacos… Delicious
Spar Chips… hells yeah (be amazing if they offered a hot/​spicy version)
Very enjoyable visit… will vist often

Great food and service! It has a coffee bar/​restaurant/​bar atmosphere. Although, the coffee bar is separate from the restaurant/​bar. Which makes it nice if you want some quiet.

Old school brick building, right by the water, recipe for success. Liked coming in here for a drink right after sunset at the Reston Waterfront. Cannot say the food was amazing though. The ingredients they use (bread, meats etc) weren’t bad but it was very fast food-​ish. We were hoping for more bar/​pub food versus deli food. The clams were delicious though!
Service was hit or miss. Our make bartender barely even looked at us and threw us menus. Our girl bartender who later took over was awesome!
Cool spot to hang out on a week night or get a quick drink.

A three at best. Contrary to how The Spar is marketed in print and their website, we found it not quite that «friendly». Our first waitress asked us if we were ready to order approximately 3 mins after we sat down and looked at our menus. We obviously were not and told her so — she never did ask again. Ten minutes later another waitress saw our frustration and stepped in and promptly took our order — she sort of treated us in a courteous, yet unsure and peculiar way.
My salmon pita wasn’t very good. The salmon did not seem fresh at all, the coleslaw layered in the pita was not very fresh and actually seemed like it had been there a while. A bland dish to say the least. My wife’s pita and hummus was also ho-​hum, nothing special. My sons breaded halibut was tasty but very oily. The fries weren’t too bad.
In conclusion, we didn’t really feel like valued customers, maybe because we weren’t regulars or were obviously from out of town. The food wasn’t very good overall.
My family and I wont be back.

Delicious food, casual atmosphere, friendly and efficient service, good selection of beer and wine. I love coming here to relax a little. Definitely recommend it!

I have been hounding my fiancé to come here for a while … Outside looks like character .
There is a lot of charm to it.
Exposed brick hardwood floors … Good atmosphere… Little to be desired food wise through.
Food was just typical basic bar food with no personal twist .
Nothing really to make anything stand out.
No personalized home made anything.
The humus plate with veggies — consists of hummus with hamburger condiments .
Sliced red onion — tomatoes-​lettuce — a couple cucumbers.
Super disappointing .
The pita wasn’t very fresh either.

The halibut is devine, Spar chips with spar sauce is awesome, and the clams in the chowder are huge and delicious! Can’t wait to come back again

I love a good fish sandwich and my favorite is at The Spar. You can’t beat the price– a fishwich with fries or Spar chips is $ 8.95.

Great staff! Our waiter was the best. Kept our group laughing and didn’t blink an eye when we had two extra people show up later in our meal.
The food, fantastic! Their special sauce I could eat by the bottle. Whatever is in there… you will want to eat it on everything. Their house made chips with the sauce… to die for. Everyone in my group fell in love with the food. Couldn’t have asked for a better lunch meal!
Only downside is parking is a pain. But it’s worth it.

Solid Sunday hangout. Old school tavern, old school awesome. Good beer list with solid tavern food.
I came down mid afternoon on a Sunday, the buddy I went with made begged and pleaded for a non hipster place and was pleasantly surprised, it’s one of the first new places we could agree on.
Also what kind of place admits to messing up by not bringing you enough food and brings you more of what you ordered. These guys did.

This is my favorite regular bar in Tacoma. The staff is pretty cool and relaxed. Food is pretty good as far as bar fare goes. The burgers are particularly good.
Thursdays they have a $ 2 rotating draft, which is what we come for most. They also have trivia and free pool on Thursdays.
Great neighborhood bar feel. Comfortable with a good crowd, but not usually too crowded to find a table. Also, good happy hour!

I liked coming down to this quaint coffee shop for breakfast /​brunch.
It has your breakfast foods such as breakfast sandwiches, omelets, nothing out of the ordinary. What I liked most were their coffee drinks. They have this amazing Matcha Green Tea Latte that comes in a giant cup if its dine in. It has the right amount of sweetness with the smooth rich taste of Matcha.
The place also has large selections of giant cookies in all different flavors and board games in case you get bored.
The restaurant is also just a walk away from the water which has a beautiful relaxing view. I’ve never been here for lunch or dinner but in the morning it’s pretty amazing.

Some people go to church, I go to The Spar. It is a temple of the good life perched on a hill above Commencement Bay. You can see the bay from the windows as you while the hours away. There are also trains, photos, and maritime maps in the table tops. My old fogey nirvana.
It is a tavern and they have a great selection of rotating beers, ciders, and some decent wine offerings. The place is homey with room for families out front and a pool table with music in the back. A true gem — don’t ever change Spar!
One of the best things in the world is their halibut and chips. This is a point of contention because other people say the cod is better. Either way they nail all of the right aspects, perfect fish preparation, solid fries, and real tartar sauce. Their burgers, salads, and other items are satisfying too. If it is busy enough the cooks will deliver it right to your table! Amazing.
try the gumbo

Lets talk about the classic Old Town Tacoma vibe for a second. When driving through the quaint 300 yards of Old Town one can’t help, but notice that… whoops, drove past it.
Hey, now look here: Old Town Bicycle, Café Divino, (although new) The Mountaineer’s building, the park with its endless events, and all the little shops add so much charm and pay fair homage to the community and the unique style of Tacoma. But The Spar is the heart of these quickly passed five blocks. It’s the vibe we’re after, It’s the bar, restaurant, café combo we all need before making that trip up 30^th. Come here and get a beer, take the family, take a date, take your best friend’s wife… well maybe not the last one. You’ll surely be caught by any of the steady regulars enjoying the good selection of food.
This is my place for fish and chips, honestly. The halibut and chips (spar chips that is) hit the spot every time. Always served with perfect golden fried panko and a good side of tartar. The fish has always been fresh, firm, and loving, just like me after a hot shower.
Or get the fried chicken. I absolutely love this beast of a meal. It has to be half a chicken, or maybe a turkey because there’s so much. It’s served with home made joe joes, and I mean the real American ones. Not those sorry excuses of joe joe’s laser cut so thin and served so flaccid I find myself questioning my sexuality when I eat them… No. These bad boys are the way a joe should be. They’re thick as hell, perfectly coated in that chicken batter, and so god damn hot you’ll finish the chicken before you even start on these guys. Yep.
Like Blues music? Go on Sundays and get an earful. Play pool? They have that too, along with a couple TVs for the game and a killer view of the sound.
Remember though, its only beer and wine! Not your deal? Well they always have an excellent selection of taps, and the serving staff is great, food is killer… so sounds like you’re the problem. Get down there and enjoy the Old Tacoma vibe. I’ll see you there.

Decent restaurant. I had the French dip which was pretty good. I could only eat half of it because there was too much bun to eat. I got mine with the spar chips which are really yummy!
For an appetizer we had the fried zucchini. It was a large portion and it was delicious. Also at the table was the cod and chips which looked really good, also sampled the gumbo which came with a ton of seafood (fish, shrimp, clams, etc.) They have a good beer selection as well with a lot of local beers on tap. Overall, it was a pretty good meal. The service here can be kind of spotty though. I would stop by again sometime.