Laura's Bayview Bar & Grill

Where:  229 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.327.1015
Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
Cuisine: American and European inspired dishes made from all original recipes. Steak, seafood, pasta, burgers, appetizers, soup, and salad
Scene: Casual dining with focus on well-crafted dishes. Restaurant for all ages; lounge 21+
Drinkies: Full service bar offering beer, wine, cocktails, small batch liquors. Standard non-alcoholic beverages
Prices: $5.95-$14.95

ANNOUNCER: While some might mourn the loss of their Vietnamese pho soup hookup provided by a previous restaurant in this St. Helens space, it's always a fairytale come true when someone with more than a decade of hospitality industry service in other people's restaurants opens her own. Laura's Bayview Bar & Grill is just such a story, opened by Laura Carlson this February with a full liquor license. There's old-school bar charm in a happy hour that's offered daily 3-6 p.m. with early 1990's pricing ($2.75 well drinks and $2 PBR). Delightful anytime, the spacious deck is one that never saw full potential with prior owners. Carlson revamped it, and combined with food from scratch, cheerful staff and fair pricing, Laura's Bayview Bar & Grill makes a good destination for those seeking a relaxing cocktail or looking to enjoy a well-crafted meal.

JAKE: A classically good dish is the Greek salad. We watched it be delivered to another table while waiting for our noon breakfast in the tidy lounge. Man, did it look like a bowl of fresh earth bounty dusted with feta cheese. Back at our table, our sustenance-laden plates arrived swiftly courtesy of our friendly and polite server/bartender.

JASON: French toast can be so basic: take bread, dunk in egg batter, cook, and serve.  Laura's, on the other hand, is fancy to look at and definitely not balloon bread - made using French bread cut on an angle. Five French bread slices lightly coated with egg were fanned out under disks of orange zest-infused butter next to a silver container of thin maple syrup. At first glance, I thought it was banana slices, but no. The butter spread easily and gave off a great citrus aroma.  A sprinkling of chopped walnuts added to the flavor and provided a crunchy texture contrast to the soft, airy bread. My side order of two eggs was exactly over-medium - solid egg white and semi-solid yolk - and bore only slight traces of the oil or butter it was cooked in. I plunked one on top of a piece of French toast and cut them up together. I love the taste of egg yolk mingled with sweet syrup and yeasty bread.

JAKE: I will pay you not to use the word yeasty ever again. Seriously. 

But back to business - I sincerely enjoyed the small touch of hand-cut potatoes. It's such a simple thing, but it makes an enormous difference. Lightly browned hash browns had a golden hue and a subtle crispness; portion size dictated no leftovers. On another note, I wish I'd tried Spanish coffee laced with Zircon Azul tequila. Next time.

JASON: I figured out who you are! You're Niles from that Frasier show.

Bacon was of the big, fat, food-porn variety. Deep reddish brown, 7-inch long slabs were cooked to the consistency of soft beef jerky. Large visible pieces of actual crumbled sausage joined onion, garlic and herbs for chunky gravy that was more about ingredients than thickness.

JAKE: Cutting into the fluffy, four-egg Big Daddy omelet flecked with herbs was like opening an edible Christmas present full of big hunks of bacon, gooey cheese, mushroom slices the size of half dollars, and a smattering of vibrant green onion and black olive.

JASON: On another visit, we checked out the non-breakfast menu and answered the call to carb-up with seafood linguine. Pasta was cooked just so, and the salty sea blended in the most alluring way with buttery garlic sauce. Clam shells were all open, tender not chewy, and only one had sand grit. Garnished with parsley and served with bread, I say A+. By the way, I thought about your omelet for days after seeing it. I know I'll go back again just for that when I can have more than two bites ... and maybe for another Portland 88 vodka Bloody Mary. Mmmmmm, vodka.

JAKE: Not only Europeans have cheese for dessert. After sharing pasta, the whole head roasted garlic served with warmed, creamy brie and moderately toasted French bread was a perfect, if unusual, finish.

The boys visit restaurants and bars anonymously and then slip the receipt under the publishers' doors and run. Send restaurant and bar news and tips to dish@weeklyvolcano.com.