Katie Downs

Over the last two months, I have taken a group of 12 for my daughters college graduation and another group of 10 for an end of year celebration. Both times Katie Downs has Ben very accommodating to support our food and beverage needs. It is important to note that you have to order the food at the counter, but all beverages can be ordered throughout the meal from the table. Always delicious. Pizza is great — especially if you like a thick crust. And their salads and other food is equally tasty. Reasonable prices!

Favorite pizza but there is no wait staff to take your order. So you have to split off of your party to order. The deck is amazing on a sunny day. A little spendy for the lack of table service.

Went in to get a pizza, nice people but I got the number 5 but they forgot the tomatoes

I might rate this place higher for the food, but the service is not great, and this will be exacerbated when you want to go here most, when the sun is out and you want to sit on their deck. They have a rather odd service setup. They will seat you, then you order at the counter (you can leave your card and keep your tab open), then you will be served, and then they’ll bring you more drinks, and then they will bring you your card with the check. When it’s sunny out, everyone has the same idea — go to Katie Downs. It will take them 30 — 45 minutes to seat you, all the while tables are not being cleared, then another hour and a half to get your food. On the other hand, the pizza is good. So if you go, be patient and don’t look for logic in their system.

Nobody I know has ever said «I wish they would come out with a restaurant that costs a lot without all of those helpful waiters.»
The drink servers are understaffed so they look pretty stressed while rushing around and forgetting stuff like steak knives and sauces. My $ 28 steak was ordered med rare but arrived tough as a shoe and with no pink and had zero seasoning on it. I had to get out of my seat several times; 1) to order, 2) get a glass (for my can of alcohol the plunked down and ran off), 3) get a steak knife they forgot, 4) get the ranch they forgot and 5) pay my bill. I should have gotten out of my seat one more time to tell them my meal was disappointing but I was pretty worn out by that point.
Overall, you go here for the atmosphere– not so much the food and definitely not the service. I hear the pizza is good but I haven’t had that. I will encourage you not to order the steak though. And, if you work as hard as I did you should be sure to leave yourself a good tip too…

Came here for dinner, we were in the area. Had the clam chowder, not so good. Tough pieces of clam. Taste like it from a base. I do not recommend it. We ate the Cobb Salad and the Halibut & chips. I recommend them both. The halibut was some of the best we have had. Salad is great also.

Had lunch here today and I must say it was not that bad. Weather was cold and rainy so couldn’t sit outside but we still sat by the window to enjoy the water and the seal that was lounging on the water. I had the cod fish and chips. The batter was a bit oily and thick but didn’t taste half bad. Next time I will have to try their pizza because it looked yummy and according to my lunch date it was ‘fabulous’. Can’t beat a review like that so a second trip is warranted. When looking over the menu the prices were a bit on the high side but being that a lot of the food was seafood it was a complete shock. Stop by and check it out yourself… I think and hope you will like it as I did.

I really, really wanted to like this place. The fish and chips had the potential to be epic but fell way flat. I ordered the cod and it came out still gooey and slimy and totally wet on the inside… the batter was only cooked on the outside. It was disgusting tbh. I think they might have been good if cooked correctly (?). The fries were really good, and the coleslaw was okay. The food was WAYYYYY overpriced, especially given the way it turned out. My friend’s pizza looked good, and that might have been a better option. Overall I am really bummed by the price and quality of the food. The location is beautiful though.

I f**king love this pizza! I have been craving it since I ate it last! I will need to live in Tacoma now so that I can eat here all the time or can I coax them to build a 2^nd location closer to me… Like, at my house?

Self seating and order at the bar. Come here right at happy hour to avoid the after work rush. Me and my buddies go here all the time we loveeeeee it! Half price apps 4 – 6 and great drink specials. We love sitting outside chatting and drinking! Try the shrimp artichoke dip it is so delicious. They also make a mean pie! Try a personal pie for $ 6 during HH.

Only have had the pizza & alcohol. Soooooo good!!! Great atmosphere, awesome location

My company sponsors lunches for the department every so often so I knew that today’s lunch would be taken care of. I usually do not bring my wallet when they do. The department decided to go to Katie Downs for lunch. I was pretty excited because this would be my first time. This is a down-​right bar, not restaurant, BAR. Which means that they will card everyone that walks through the door. Not having my wallet on me meant that I did not have ID, even though I looked well over the drinking age. We weren’t even gonna have any alcoholic beverages, we just wanted food.
Long story short, we could not eat here because they wouldn’t let me in without ID. It looked like they were kinda slow for a nice sunny afternoon. Hats off to the hostess that let $ 200+ walk out the door. I’ll never come back here.

Great view but not worth the service. Line to order food and drink was a complete mess. No organization whatsoever. A server kept reminding us that we had to get food at the bar. Ok that’s fine but they sat us down didn’t give us a drink menu or a food menu. Waited for about 10 minutes after sitting at a table for someone to introduce themselves or to even take a drink order. Waited in line to order food for another 20 mins. And still was in line because of the horrendous mess what they call a line. And of course it’s a busy day but staff was not polite at all nor helpful. Definitely not coming here again. Never got the chance to try the food. The view is the only thing that gets a rating

Katie Downs has a great location, right on Ruston, and a decent atmosphere. I always enjoyed sitting on the deck and enjoying some beer and dinner with friends, they do have a decent beer menu. Also, there are some complaints on here about their fish and chips, which was usually what I went to Katie Downs for, so I’ll vouch that I think they’re «pretty darn good.» Unfortunately, I went on this veggie sandwich kick a little while back, but some establishments make some fantastic veggie sandwiches! Not this place though. I was brought out a veggie sandwich that looked like it was made by my three year old cousin. Two tomato slices, three onion slices, two triangles of yellow american cheese, three cucumber slices, a bunch of that shredded lettuce you usually find on a hoagie, and some spinach leaves, on wheat bread. I could have gone down to Fred Meyer’s and made 30 of these sandwiches for about $ 6.69, well actually, my three year old cousin could have. There was just no effort and it really turned me off to Katie Downs that they would serve something so pathetic. I didn’t go back, I probably should for some fish and chips sometime, but Laura’s Bayview Bar and Grill has the best fish and chips game in town, so why bother. I attached some pictures of said «veggie sandwich»
Two stars is for «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» In Tacoma, we have a lot of superb dining options. Veggie sandwiches I’ve had better all over the place, this one was the absolute worst. Their fish and chips with a beautiful sound view is great, but I’ve experienced much better right in town. If it wasn’t for the beer selection and view, this would be one star.

Deep dish pizza is pretty good but very pricey. 27 dollars for a 12 inch. Do NOT get the burgers. If you are coming here, get their micro brew and pizza. Over all i spent 50 bucks for a burger, individual pizza and a pitcher. I think thats a little over kill

Visited last weekend with husband and cousins around 10p. Place on the outside is beautiful as it is on the waterfront in Tacoma– easy to find one of the first restaurants on this street. Inside is also beautiful, very well lit, wooden floors, cleanliness is above average, bathrooms small (2 stalls) but very clean and overall restaurant is spacious. We chose a seat next the one of the sliding doors (all the sliding doors lead to the patio that overlooks the water) right across the very large approx 100inch television. There’s many other tvs Around the restaurant as well. The Windows/​sliding doors surround the place so in the daytime patrons could really enjoy the scenery everywhere they look. There was only one party with about 10 people in the restaurant when we arrived. No host, just a bar to your left when you walk in. The bartender greeted us and when told it was our first time here, he was very very welcoming and explained everything. Reason I am rating it a 3 star is:
**you have to walk to the bar to order your own food. They have waitresses but the waitress’s only take orders for drinks (makes no sense to me to have a waitress available only for drinks). Not that we mind walking back and forth just to order food, but seems ridiculous no? It was strange too, because one waitress (younger gal) took to the rules, but another waitress (much older lady) said we didn’t have to walk to the bar and that she’d take our food order. We tipped because the older lady was nice enough to do this– welcoming/​friendly staff but still unsure why we have to get our own food
**some of the dinners were mediocre in taste and beverages were overpriced!!! We ordered the Shrimp Artichoke spread and it was DELICIOUS! The dip was creamy warm and to die for. It came with 6 slices of garlic bread that truthfully tasted like the Texas Toast brand you buy from the store — We actually love Texas Toast (who doesn’t?) so we didn’t mind. The dip was very large portion which should be since it costed is $ 10 a plate. we also ordered clams (for my husband) didn’t try it but he said they were good and it came with 2 slices of garlic bread — he said clams weren’t a WOW just Good for $ 13. cousin ordered a cheeseburger meal with fries ($ 10) it was a large burger and good portion of fries. He also stated it was OK nothing great about it. Husband ordered a Roast Beef French dip dinner and said it was delicious ($ 13). Later husband ordered a Reuben Sandwich meal to go ($ 10) which he didn’t care for when he ate it. I ordered an 8oz steak ($ 20) meal– what i didn’t like (other than the damn price) was the steak was small (looked like 6oz) overcooked, and I didn’t like the choices for your sides. You get a choice of 2 sides. options for the sides are either fries, soup, salad or baked potato. NOTHING healthy like steamed vegetables. So I opted for curly fries (Jack in the Box curly fries are better sad to say) and a Cesar Salad which was also just OK. I opted for the crab artichoke dip since my steak wasn’t great and ordered another plate. Overall we spent $ 165 for 4 people that included 3 appetizers, 4 dinners, 5 bottle of beers and 2 glass of wines.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t have griped about the food prices if EVERYTHING we ordered tasted great. Unfortunately it didn’t. Wine glasses are WAY overpriced ($ 9 a glass) and the selection of wine was very limited. However, I did love the view (even though it was dark and we couldn’t enjoy it if we had came in the day) and for the total price we paid, well it was actually pretty decent!!! considering a party of 4 people at Black Angus costed us $ 180 (not including alcoholic beverages). Staff are friendly, food OK — but we enjoyed our time. Great restaurant to sit around enjoy a good appetizer and drink and catch up with friends and family. Next time we will have to come during happy hour as I seen their specials are pretty good prices and we could enjoy the full view of the restaurant.

Great happy hour specials and a wonderful view when the weather is nice.
21+ only throughout the entire restaurant so you can’t bring children with you.
We went in on a Friday and it was pretty packed and loud. You seat yourself, order food/​drink at the bar and they bring it out to you when it’s ready. It didn’t take too long but the whole process was different than what I’ve experienced.
From the outside it looks like a regular, family sit down restaurant but that’s definitely not the case when you walk in.
The staff was very friendly but you could tell they were busy. I’d be back for happy hour again, just because the appetizers are a great price and the food itself tasted wonderful.

I always thought the perfect bar would be a place like Katy Downs, and I’m never disappointed when I visit.
The generously topped pizzas, strong drinks, and wide selection of beer on tap add to the ambiance of a sports bar with a 5 star view.
Its easy to drop 50 $ on two people, and the menu challenges you to spend even more.
Despite needing to go place your order at the bar, the wait staff has no problem with serving your table, and checking on your drinks regularly. I’ve always left a generous tip that was well earned.

Not a bad stop in Tacoma! The location is great and it’s not horribly pricey.
I got the «my pie» and added a couple of toppings. It came with a salad or fries. The pizza was good, not my absolute favorite (I prefer thin crust pizza) but still tasty.
They had an ok beer selection, i personally love the summer shandy when it’s nice out! The outdoor deck is perfect during the summer!
Service is pretty good, you order at the counter then go find a seat. Waiters do come around to check on your drinks and such and I felt like the service was good.
Compared to other restaurants on the water, you can’t beat the price. I would stop by again sometime.

Friday night dinner. Empty. Order at bar. Ackward and not convenient at all. Just not a smart business idea. Get waiters and waitresses especially on Fridays.
Beer is okay. TVs, good setup.
Didn’t get the food but seemed okay. Attached is a picture of my company’s burger, she said it was «okay.»
Parvisvana