ANNOUNCER: When the St. Helens Café folded and Pat Nagle of the Harmon stepped up to open a “pizza, pasta & pints” place, as he calls it, the boys were happy to see another restaurant filling in the spaces around downtown — and quite certain the neighborhood rejoiced in having a place serving pizzas from a brick oven. Now that it’s been open for four months, the boys decided to give the menu a run for its money.

JASON: I love what they did with the space. The 6,000-square-foot room is tastefully designed around a Northwest feel of stone, warm woods and black metal. The bar sits snuggly in the space with an open kitchen opposite and full service dining at the back with large windows overlooking St. Helens and the port in the distance. The deck up front off the bar is a nice touch in the summer. This place reminds me of eating in Bellingham or near the U District in Seattle – urban but with a native Northwest touch.

JAKE: The service is friendly — attentive but not pushy. The servers keep the mood uplifting; they are quick and efficient without overselling product. They might want to reconsider the amount of time they dish on unruly customers — I heard it twice on separate visits with the manager leading the discussion — they were right, but still.

JASON: I suppose my expectations weren’t high. I have found the Harmon to serve mediocre food — heavy on the industrial taste and light on freshness, so I expected the same from The Hub. And, I was right. There’s nothing wrong with the flavors, other than a general feel that I am eating heavily processed cuisine.

JAKE: My first burger was exceptional — full of juiciness, tender, with standard ingredients. For $9, it satisfied. My second burger, however, arrived first with aioli when I asked for it dry, then was quickly whipped away by my server but back on my table a minute later with what appeared to be a burger with the aioli wiped off of it. Worse, the burger tasted drier than a hockey puck. On both visits, the Hub’s house fries — a combination of sweet potato and baker potatoes were limp and mealy.

JASON: My margherita pizza was my best order of the process, even though the tomatoes on top lacked flavor completely. I suppose for $9 one can’t get heirloom tomatoes or tomatoes with flavor, but it would be nice. The crust, however, tasted divine. I love thin crust pizza, especially when it’s crisp at the edges. I’d consider a Hub pizza in the future.

JAKE: I ordered the Hub brat because the sun was out and it sounded like a great outdoor meal. Sitting on the deck, I enjoyed the sweet onions and sauerkraut, and the brat itself was juicy and full of flavor. Unfortunately, on my third bite, the bottom half of the bun imploded and literally broke off into three pieces for apparently no reason. It was complete bun failure even though it wasn’t wet or moist.

JASON: They offer a flat iron steak and a cedar planked wild salmon, but frankly I didn’t trust them to do either well. Instead, I ordered the meatball hero — meatballs, mozzarella and tomato sauce on a baguette. The meat was decent, but overall, again, it tasted manufactured. The fish and chips had fine flavor, but they are soft at the Hub — which, in my mind, isn’t the way to go.

JAKE: As for my positive experience, without a doubt, I rank the Hub’s macaroni and cheese a solid three stars. Known as Myrna’s Classic, it has a definite homemade quality with crispy ends and a decent cheese sauce.

JASON: So pizza and mac and cheese and, of course, delicious Harmon brews — not bad.

MENU

• Caeser
• Salad >> $8
• Italian Tuna Melt >> $9
• Funghi Pizza >> $10-$15
• Fish &
• Chips >> $12
• Spaghetti >> $13

The Hub

Where: 203 Tacoma Ave S, Tacoma. (253) 683-4606
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to Midnight
Friday and Saturday
Cuisine: Pizza, pasta and burgers mostly
Scene: Classic Northwest brewpub styling with warm woods and a great sun deck
Drinkies: As the Harmon’s satellite restaurant, all of your favorite Harmon beers are on tap, plus wines and a full bar