Regulations can make it hard to open an eatery in Tacoma. Will upcoming workshop help?

Starting a small business leads to a labyrinth of rules and regulations, fees and paperwork. The journey is more complicated for food businesses, which also must navigate the nuances of the local health department.

Tacoma hopes an upcoming workshop provides aspiring restaurant owners, as well as those looking to expand a home-based or mobile food business, an opportunity to hear from people with experience doing it.

Two Tacoma restaurant owners, Hailey Hernandez of Side Piece Kitchen and Abe Fox of Wooden City , will join a panel discussion with Marcus Lalario , the Seattle restaurateur behind several names including Lil Woody’s and Mezzanotte.

Side Piece received a small business loan through the city, said event organizer Dierdre Patterson, who works as an analyst in the city’s department of Community and Economic Development. Known for biscuit sandwiches and cheesecakes in a multitude of flavors, the restaurant started as a takeout-only operation that expanded to a South Tacoma storefront just last year.

Fox was invited as the co-owner of one of Tacoma’s most successful new restaurants of the past decade. Since opening in 2018, Wooden City has taken the concept to Spokane and out-of-state to Birmingham, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Although Lalario does not have a foothold in Tacoma, “I knew he would have a really valuable insight to the umpteenth level,” said Patterson. “It’s about the difficulties [of] navigating restaurants as a whole, beyond getting open.”

Related city departments will have booths with representatives on hand to answer questions about things like construction permits and loan opportunities. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will be there along with Business Impact Northwest , which provides resources for commonly under-resourced groups.

The planned list includes the following (subject to change):

▪ Dierdre Patterson and Brie Vaughn - Business Services Division of Community and Economic Development

▪ Joel Rasmussen - senior engineer with Planning and Development Services

▪ Shawn Madison - FOG program manager with Environmental Services

▪ Natalia Eide, environmental health specialist at TPCHD

▪ Zia Jabari, advisor at Business Impact Northwest

The free event is scheduled for August 28, 4-6 p.m., at Edison Square in South Tacoma. It begins with the panel discussion, followed by a Q&A through 5:45 p.m., then networking.

TACOMA RESTAURANT GROWTH

It comes about two weeks after The News Tribune reported on the City of Tacoma’s approach to an important part of opening a restaurant: “the dreaded grease trap,” as Patterson described the plumbing machine that separates commercial kitchens from sewer mains.

In response to that investigation, a number of local industry professionals and small business owners responded to a video TNT shared on Instagram . They say the policy — which has increasingly demanded that restaurants install large, concrete boxes underground in an excavation project that can cost around $100,000, despite there being more affordable alternatives — is cost-prohibitive. In the case of several food trucks and farmers market-type vendors, it has deterred them from pursuing the typical trajectory into a brick-and-mortar.

In her daily role, Patterson said she works closely with neighborhood business districts and small businesses. She also manages Tacoma’s revolving loan fund , ranging from $5,000 sums to $5 million, depending on the program.

This particular food service-focused workshop is part of a series that she and her team initiated last year, she said in a phone call earlier this month.

In 2023, they hosted one focused on retail storefronts more generally and another on commercial leasing. After the restaurant event, they anticipate a fourth about tenant improvement but have not confirmed a date.

Patterson will moderate the panel discussion. She hopes to cover some of the “specific hot points and topics” that she often hears from businesses.

Unlike at previous events, guests will be asked to sign in and complete a brief survey about follow-up workshop topics. They also will be asked if they want to schedule a consultation and can take home tip sheets, which are also available on the city’s separate MakeItTacoma.com site with resources for local, state and federal funding opportunities.

These kinds of events are sometimes poorly attended, said Patterson, but as of last Thursday, around 80 people had registered through Eventbrite .