The Swiss Restaurant & Pub

I’m going with a 3 star here. Would do 2.5 because I’m at ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on this place, but that’s not an option.
Having moved to Tacoma back in March, we weren’t too familiar with places to eat yet. Came upon The Swiss here on Unilocal and sounded good so we tried it out.
First time, good food and pretty normal, bar customer service. Called the order in and it was ready by the time I got there. Ordered no mayo on a sandwich and got none (really, REALLY appreciated). Thumbs up.
Second time we went there (exactly one week later), a majority of the menu had changed, which I found out after walking in to order to-​go. I didn’t see any signs or anything that mentioned that the menu would be amended soon after the first time we went, even though I was told they were «everywhere» by a female bartender after asking. The meals we ordered the first time were no longer available, but after a bit of pleading and what appeared to be some compromise from the staff, they made meals «similar» to what we ordered the time prior.
I hate mayonnaise, so when I order a «BLT in a pita» with absolutely no mayo (exactly how I order every, single sandwich I order), I don’t want any mayo. Yet, on this sandwich, I received more mayo than I would have expected on a «regular» order. Just really sucked because my wife and I both got meals to-​go, so I didn’t notice there was a truckload of mayo until I got home, ready to eat. In the 10 minutes it took to drive home, the mayo had time to settle into every little nook and cranny in the bread (not pita) and in the lettuce, tomato, avocado, AND the bacon. Really?! Even the bacon?!? Seriously though, it left no prisoners. It was a lot of mayo. Big turn off. Huge. Especially after expressing my disgust with mayo to the aforementioned female bartender.
Anyway, the saving grace here is that they do an open mic night on Mondays that was pretty relaxed with some good musicians that my buddy and I are probably going to attend and play at. Other than the appeal of the open mic night, it seems like «just another bar I’ve been to». I guess we will see if the heart of their business (food service and customer service) has improved since my last visit. Here’s to hoping!

food is meh, service is terrible. Not very attentive or friendly at all.

The only tavern in the known universe with a Chihuly glass collection above the bar. Food is good too!

Just ok. This place has some kind of long history and reputation with Tacoma that I’m not sure is well earned. I’d encourage you to look elsewhere for food or drink…

VERY LOUD at night. During the day very calm and fun. This hipster habitat is the perfect place for some chow and beer. The music is fun and the food is good. Not the best place for a date but a great place to hang out with friends.

Great Mix of people and separate rooms for venues of all sorts. Comfortable alone or in groups, hosts many events not to be missed ! Good food and drink, lil outdoor smokers place.

Visited the Swiss last night and had one drink & one burger. Today there are 3 other transactions on my credit card from the Swiss that add up to $ 1,630 dollars. They are only pending & may drop off but that is my credit that is put on hold. A hundred dollar hold i can understand, but this is ridiculous. I have heard of this happening to other people at the Swiss as well, so be warned. Use cash or better yet, find another bar.

Stopped in last Saturday night with a friend to have a drink… Heard great reviews about the food so we stayed and had the swiss melt, which was awesome with their authentic german potato salad :) ! It was super busy and the food took a little longer than expected but was well worth it. The manager (Patrick) was making his rounds checking on his guests (which I noticed being I work in the service industry myself) and introduced himself to us making sure we were well taken care of. Patrick was very attentive and it was nice knowing that even though the place was hopping that people were having a good time and an enjoyable experience. Will definitely be back more often! Forgot what a great spot this is in Tacoma! Thanks!

Have no idea about the food… Might try again some other time but man… This visit was really lame.
Walked in and was told we could seat ourselves and did so near the bar (the only seating left). Waited and waited and waited. The bartender saw us as did 4 servers. Not a single one came over. The servers waking by made a huge effort not to make eye contact despite us sitting there plainly waiting to be severed. After 15 minutes of being ignored, we left. Went to have pizza at Abella Pizza instead. I feel like our parking would have expired before we even got acknowledged at the Swiss.

Great for a late night with the boys… Not the best on any time other than 7−11pm on a Saturday night. It’s dark, dingy, and smelly. Like I said, something the boys would like? They do have amazing concerts! Went to an 80s band from Seattle concert in January and they rocked the house! Come early though, drink lines get unnecessarily large.

What the F**k happened to this place? I used to patron the Swiss on a regular basis in the early ‘00s and when I stopped working in Tacoma, I made it a point to stop in here when I was in the area for the food and friendly staff. I guess it had been about 3 or 4 years since the last time I was in here.
I brought my friends in to eat before the AC/​DC concert yesterday and was dumb founded and embarrassed by the food and the service. What happened?
What used to be a full menu front and back with a list of at least 15 sandwiches, awesome pasta entrees, tasty daily specials and oyster shooters is now a 4 ½×8 inch menu with 8 selections on it and none of the items on this menu looked appetizing. My BBQ pull pork sandwich didn’t have sauce on it or on the side and the coleslaw on top was minimal. It took 35 minutes to get the food and it took 15 minutes to get the check. Almost had to go pay the parking meter again the service was so slow. I could tell our food had been sitting under the heat lamps for awhile waiting for the waiter to pick them up for delivery.
The only thing left going for this place are the beers on tap. Hence my reason for not giving them 1 star.
Jack — I feel bad and sad. I guess I won’t be returning to patronize your establishment. Sorry. :-(
I guess things must have gone down hill in your kitchen when Bob retired. If Gayle was still with us I think she would be disappointed too. Your food in it’s current state is no way to pay homage to a woman who had created an incredible menu.
P. S. I read the article from April 2014 on the site
and Jack I have to say your statement, «We’re moving from a bar with food to a restaurant with a bar,» is false. You used to have a restaurant with a bar and it has become a bar with food. 8 items on a menu is sacrilege to Gayle’s menu.

Second trip this last weekend. Very cool place. I love looking at all the vintage pictures and signs on the walls. We took our little girl who loved all the games. Pool, foos ball, skeet ball, shuffle board. Nice TV situation. I can only image this place on a Fri-​Sat night with a live band. The food was good and they have a nice selection of beer. Bummer about the Huskies thing but that is how it goes. Go Ducks! :)

Let me add an update:
I received what could be a genuine or passive aggressive response from the bartender. I want to clarify that yes the experience was so bad it made me want to use the word «shitty», I am so profane. This was probably the 10^th visit to the Swiss and the 3^rd time I had had the displeasure of having her as our bartender.
I know it is busy and no one thinks it is easy to be a bartender around a bunch of drunk assholes. The whole goal is to be busy though right? And no one put a gun to your head to work there so maybe it would be decent to not seem like you hate your job and every customer so much. Especially those of us who were never rude, who even after you sighed at us we still said thank you, or when you dismissed me when I tried to take my food from you hands because there were no available tables or chairs you shooed me and then sighed again when you realized I wasn’t just an asshole and was trying to help and practically tossed my food at me and put the condiments on my jacket on the chair. You acted the entire night like we put you out but ordering basic drinks and beers and food. When I asked if you had mozzarella sticks you half rolled your eyes and said nope what are you getting? I said I don’t know because the menus are behind you still and so I was trying to guess. I would have a better idea of you let me know what you sold? I am not an ass, I will give her the benefit of the doubt that the response was genuine, but the service was so horrible and rude and dismissive and this review was written after multiple visits not just one.
I want to validate that you job looks fucking awful and I could most certainly not hang doing it and would likely be found in the fetal position in the back room waiting for the joint to close. That said I would also having that self awareness would choose to work elsewhere.
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Previous review:
Niki is a shitty bartender who doesn’t know how to make basic drinks and instead of saying so lies and says they don’t have ingredients… Like sour.
She is also very rude and the overall service and food leaves you begging for more. Without footballs and 80s bands they would be shutdown.
Men get charged almost double for cover than women. Women are given the lightest pours.
When my friend shared that she didn’t like the sexist payment system and would like to pay full price she was told not to be difficult that it was making the bouncer uncomfortable and his dad could get mad.
Wow

I didn’t watch Super Bowl 40 here and the Seahawks lost. Then I watched Super Bowl 48 here and the Seahawks won. Then I didn’t watch Super Bowl 49 here and the Seahawks lost. Would they have handed the ball off to Marshawn Lynch had I gone to the Swiss??? Oh nooooooooooooooooo!!!

Overall, yuck. Fish and chips were terrible. Should call them grease sponges instead. Nothing spectacular about the service. Haven’t been here for like 5 years and it hasn’t improved. Won’t go back.

The tots are to die for. Great staff and professional management. Always a good time to be had at the Swiss.

We were here for an after convention party, on Halloween no less, and what a great place. Got a tour of the downstairs by Tom and that was really cool. Good food, great hospitality. The pool tables, shuffleboard table, and other games were a great draw. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

I’ve only come here on a friday and saturday night. They have cover bands on the weekends, which I love. The drinks are stiff, and somewhat cheap.$ 5 for a well drink. I went on my birthday and wanted a whiskey sour with extra cherries (yes super girly of me, but whatever), they were out (!!), but the bartender bought my drink for me instead (winning).
Downside, it gets pretty crowded on the dance floor area, and the main bar area has a very lonnnggggg line for drinks. But you can usually find a seat at a table or the bar. They also have pool tables. And they charge cover, even if it’s your birthday (I tried).

Never go to this place if you like to have a good time. The bouncers teamed up on my brother and gave him a black eye just for dancing. They called me a crazy bitch for screaming at them when there were 5 meatheads pummeling one guy just for showing appreciation for some good music. Yes, unfortunately, they do apparently book a good band every once in a while, but this is not the place to see them. Overall douchey vibe. Overzealous butthole bouncers, and they charged my brother’s card twice that night. The Swiss has always been lame but now it’s dead to me.

Came here on the fly. We were actually headed to the History Museum but hubby got hungry for some fries lol. So we stopped in, and didn’t really know the sitting arrangements (we usually go to restaurants where they seat us), but here, you just sit anywhere and someone will come and serve you. The guy that told us that was very cool about it.
Inside the place, it was neat and clean. A lot of college students (as it is located right across the street from UW Tacoma). They had lots of TVs set on different sports games. The atmosphere was nice, chill and laid back, although some random dude 2 tables over was «pretending to watch the game» but really just kept starring at me pretty much the whole time… The waitress was super nice and polite, and the food was brought to us in a really great timely fashion.
We didn’t stay long, as we were headed to the museum, so we just ended up ordering fries and some fish tacos. The food was excellent. Very tasty and a great price! (I believe our bill was about $ 10 total).
We’ll have to come back here to actually eat a full meal next time because it was a good first experience!

I seriously paid an $ 8 cover to get in to this joke of a live music establishment!
I must have came on senior citizen night, I am not exaggerating.
The band was covering top 40 music !
There are too many places in the area that offer better music, I must have came on an off night ?
Regardless I won’t pay another dime to enter this place

We held a class reunion at The Swiss Restaurant & Pub on August 2, 2015. Our class members who came out for this gathering had a great time! The staff was very friendly and accommodating; the service was excellent and everything went very smoothly! All involved get a thumbs up and a round of applause! Well done!!!
Consider The Swiss as a venue for an easy-​to-​plan class reunion!

Came here last night & had a great time.
Lots of different types of people.
Great atmosphere.
Drinks were strong.
Didn’t try any of the food.
But got good vibes from this joint.
Plus the cover band was great!
Def will be back again. :)

Kinda tucked in a corner street, they made due with what they had and the place is real cozy and nice here, they do have a decent selection of draft beers, and the prices are reasonable.
I haven’t tried the food selection yet, but plan to in the near future, maybe the next time Im there? who knows lol, anyway he service here is pretty good– and overall I would recommend them if your near the area.

What a great meal! Wonderful service, an impressive beer selection and quick hot food on a cold night! Got the calamari and rainier burger, both were excellent! Only downside was the ambiance, not the best, but not bad either.

Thoroughly enjoyed my dinner at The Swiss Tuesday evening.
Had the fried oysters a la carte to start. That was a meal in itself. Then followed it up with some steamers. Both were excellent choices that I would order again. Multiple IPAs on tap make for great choices.
I wish they had wish they had raw oysters, also.
I will return.
F

The Swiss has a great happy hour each day of the week and weekend. I’ve been here a couple of times now and have been pleased with the quality of food they’re kickin’ out. I’ve only been to The Swiss on weekend afternoons, but each time there has been some sort of entertainment in place and lots of advertising for upcoming events.
Parking is kind of a pain as it is downtown, and as far as I can tell you do have to pay for street parking.
This is a very comfortable environment and there are tons of things to take in. There are Chihuly art formations, as well as a lot of Washington memorabilia to view. The building is old, but well-​kept and in tact.
When in Tacoma, definitely partake of the seemingly endless specials they provide.

Knowing that we’d miss the blackberry bushes string band in Winthrop, where we’d last seen them, we decided to check out the much closer Swiss. And we were really happy we did.
Whether you want to see live music or just listen to it, there’s a room for you here. Excellent beer selection as well. We enjoyed a balls deep ipa and a wingman porter.
Much impressed with out food. We both love oysters, so seeing the pan fried ones, that was the go to. Six mediums each and delicious. Plus a salad. And a fair price as well.
If you are in a rush for your first beer, and there’s music, you might be advised to order at the bar.