Puyallup Italian restaurant celebrates 20 years with wine, bolognese and martini glasses of clams

Two-and-a-half pounds of local Manila clams tower above the rim of a hilariously large martini glass, its shape mirroring the outline of Mount Rainier, visible from the patio on a clear day. In the cup’s cone, a broth of vermouth with ample garlic, slivers of celery and onions, parsley and visible flecks of black pepper coats the petite bivalves. The current power-move is to request the new house focaccia, a moist, cold-fermented success from the Puyallup Italian restaurant’s executive chef — who started as a dishwasher some 14 years ago.

Those martini clams are by far the most ostentatious thing about Toscano’s, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this September.

For one, the restaurant is located in a business park off Main Avenue, a commercial road connecting Puyallup and Sumner that runs parallel with the railroad. The sign is visible only if you know to pull into the parking lot and walk into what, from the outside, looks like an office building (which it also is).

Although staff wears crisp black uniforms, collared shirts and aprons, the interior is not flashy. Custom cherry millwork surrounds the bar, which was elongated as part of a pandemic remodel. In those dark days of March 2020, I spoke with manager Sue Walker, whose team had, basically overnight, flipped from a white-tableclothed affair to a takeout operation with family-style trays of linguine and homemade meatballs and cheesecakes in a box. Over many Mondays, they also cooked what ultimately amounted to thousands of complimentary meals for first responders at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital.

Since 2004, said Walker, they and their customers have donated $1.1 million to various causes, the largest contributions going to Mary Bridge Children’s Therapy Service. For the big anniversary, they collaborated with Klipsun Winery in Washington’s Red Mountain AVA on a cabernet sauvignon. Proceeds of glass pours and bottle sales will support the modernization of the kitchen at the children’s hospital.

When I finally had the opportunity to visit Toscano’s as a customer, it was easy to see why the restaurant was still standing nearly two decades later.

TOSCANO’S 20 YEARS LATER

Jerry Mahan and Doug Walker, Sue’s husband, developed the business park between Shaw Road and the Puyallup River. They thought it was smart to have some sort of cafe on-site. Toscano’s Cafe and Wine Bar opened in 2004 with a simple food menu from chef Tom Pentley, a veteran of the Pierce County industry, and a coffee window that was quickly discarded. Sue, who had never worked in restaurants but had managed some 150 jewelry stores up and down the West Coast, took charge soon thereafter.

“It evolved into a full-fledged restaurant,” recalled Mahan. Pentley’s “country Italian” cooking offered pastas, from the classic spaghetti and meatballs to rigatoni in a fennel-citrus sauce, steaks and, yes, those clams.

Eventually, they swapped the cafe moniker for “Italian Grill.”

The wine list continues to offer more than 100 bottles from both the West Coast and Italy, with many under $60. The cocktails have evolved to include the likes of a negroni sbagliato and a spicy passionfruit margarita, but on a Tuesday afternoon, early-fall temperatures inching into the 70s, most guests had an ice-cold martini — the real thing — on the table.

Happy hour runs 3-5 p.m. seven days a week, when you can sink into the aforementioned focaccia or an arancini with goat cheese for just $5. It also includes a $10 cacio e pepe and $15 beef carpaccio.

Over the years, as the surrounding area has grown — astoundingly so, noted Mahan — dinner at Toscano’s hasn’t varied wildly from its roots.

Cole Aker-Inabnit, who worked his way up from the dish pit to the salad station, the line and then his lead role just a few years ago, is only the second chef to run the kitchen.

He has brought some modern touches to the still-classic menu, such as bottarga breadcrumbs on the gem-lettuce Caesar instead of hefty croutons, and recently launched Sunday brunch, with prosciutto or house-smoked salmon eggs benedict, amaretto French toast with cardamom cream and “brekkie” potatoes with peppers and onions, inspired by his father’s Saturday-morning routine.

Desserts, all made in-house, continue to be a favorite, staff said, especially the seasonal cheesecake and tiramisu cake, both bargains at $9 a slice.

Prices have, of course, increased since the restaurant’s beginnings and even just 10 years ago, but most mains still hit under $30. You can also make a fine shared meal of those clams, a pasta and a large salad.

Asked about the milestone, Walker pointed to one thing: the team.

“We’ve had two chefs in 20 years, which adds a lot of consistency to the food,” she said in September. Several servers and bartenders have been with them for five or 10-plus years, and they try to promote from within. Last year, Travis Tracht became the bar manager at its new sister restaurant Oxbow Urban Kitchen in Sumner.

Just last winter, Toscano’s patio got a major upgrade. It’s bigger, covered and heated, making it viable year-round. Thankfully The Mountain is still in view, save for when a train rumbles by.

TOSCANO’S ITALIAN GRILL

▪ 437 29th St. NE, Puyallup, 253-864-8600, toscanospuyallup.com

▪ Monday-Thursday 3-9 p.m., Friday 3-10 p.m., Saturday noon-10 p.m., Sunday 10 am.-8 p.m.

▪ Details : Italian mainstay turns 20; reservations recommended