Lakewood is a small town, very close to Tacoma. It is very populated, because the proximity of Mcchord Air Force Base and
Fort Lewis. Military families go around the shops and the places to eat. Lakewood offers a good selection of restaurants to choose from, with a great variety of prices and styles, so everybody can be satisfied. I’ll recommend the ones I prefer, based in food quality, prices and the care and looking of the place.
If you like to get together with your date in a nice and quiet place, with a romantic atmosphere, you must go to Mimi’s Bistro, in
Gravelly Lake. It is a small restaurant, clean and well decorated, with details like flowers and candles that give a cozy feeling. The owner greets and attends the costumers, recommends the dishes of the day, and makes sure everything goes right. Her service is excellent; she makes the costumers feel at home. The food is good; I love the sandwiches, with a tasty breast chicken and a touch of Italian flavor brought by the different spices. The pasta is fresh and the ingredients are well chosen. The Alfredo Sauce is very good, thick and tasty. I ordered the house wine, and was a tolerable red that went good with the pasta. They don’t have a big selection of deserts, but the coffee is excellent. The price is moderate, around $10 per person, but I strongly recommend going to Mimi’s Bistro for lunch, they have specials and the atmosphere is more fun.
More exotic is a new place in Bridgeport Way called Lee. It is an Asian restaurant, and the place is beautiful. From outside, you can see a building covered completely by bamboo. Once you open the door, you enter in a jungle paradise, with huge and green plants and nice and harmonic fountains. It is really a peaceful place, and very focused in details, from the table’s decorations to the menus made with bamboo sticks. The service is very correct, they inform you about the dishes, and you can choose the spicy level between charts of three. The food is wonderful; they cook a very good curry lamb, with the rice in its best cooking point. The Mongolian beef or chicken are very good too, and the Thai dishes are the best. The prices are moderate, do not order too much because they serve big amounts, and you can eat for $12 bucks. As in most of the places, they have lunch specials, very affordable and fresh, they are a very good choice.
No so beautiful is the place where Happy Teriyaki serve their food, in Gravelly Lake, in front of the McDonald’s. However, is a well-cared place, and very clean. People go there mostly at lunch, because their specials are very good and with a nice price and quantity. The service is very friendly and fast, they explain their dishes and make a big effort to satisfy the customers. Of course they cook teriyaki dishes, they are wonderful, mostly the chicken. They serve them with white rice and choice of salad or cabbage. Choose the cabbage, is tender and tasty, the salad is only a plate full of iceberg lettuce. It is very nice that they serve little samples while you are waiting, is entertaining. In addition, they always serve soup with the entrees, although for me the tofu one tastes like water with white clouds floating. I was happily surprised with the sushi. They serve a good sushi selection, what they call Bento fresh and abundant. If you go at lunchtime, you will have half of Bento, and this is some teriyaki chicken, some good gzoya, and three pieces of sushi with tuna, salmon and halibut, and three
California rolls. You’ll have also salad. Moreover, they have a nice selection of Chinese beer and sake, to complete your meal. The prices are good, going from $9 to $12 the entrée. It is a favorite between military families, and they deliver, included the sushi!
If you like a good sports bar with good beer and food, you must visit Schooner’s, in Bridgeport Way. I love to go before 7 pm, at happy hour, because they have discounts in food and drinks. On the weekends is normally crowded, but still is possible find a table, and in the summer you can sit in their nice outside deck, with a view of the town and Mount Rainier on the horizon. Their food menu is surprisingly huge for a sports bar. You can eat a good dinner while you watch your favorite sport. The appetizers are excellent; my favorite is the deep fried mushrooms, very tender. The wings are very good, and you can choose between buffalo and fried. They have very decent hamburgers and sandwiches, but my favorites are the appetizers, you can choose between ten or fifteen, and make a good meal. Be careful with the cocktails, I drank there a Long Island Ice Tea that was pure alcohol, with no taste whatsoever. They tend to forget to add the mixers to the alcohol mixed drinks. The prices are reasonable, be control your tab, can go to the sky in a moment, mainly if you are drinking the cocktails!
It is a big selection of chain restaurants in Lakewood, like Applebee’s, (I do not like this Applebee’s, the food is not good and the service is terrible, you have to wait centuries for your order), or Ram, (they just reopened it, after remodel it.) I love their hamburgers, especially the gorgonzola one, and I like to sit on the bar and snack on the artichoke deep, it is delicious. They brew hundreds of beers, and they make the best Long Iceland Ice Tea on the State. In Ram, they have lunch specials, but not in Applebee’s.
If you go Mexican, do not forget La Palma, at the Lakewood Town Center, a friendly place with cheap and good food. The fajitas and enchiladas are memorable, and the lunch specials huge and very cheap. They have also specials for dinner, like military Mondays, and it is a cool place with nice decoration and service, ideal for a dinner with friends for a Friday night.
In addition, of course, you have McDonald’s, Burger King, and other fast food joints, but I will not tell you about something you already know.
If you are close to Lakewood, Washington, come over, because you can eat and drink well here.
