West Pioneer Grill – Restaurant Review

Our little Sunday morning breakfast group journeyed from Tacoma’s north and west ends to dine at the West Pioneer Grill in downtown Puyallup. Although hungry, I was captivated by the standing work of art, “Rise,” which is in the park directly across the street from the restaurant.

In downtown Puyallup you can simply drive the streets and enjoy creative art on almost every downtown corner and elsewhere. Rise is made of stainless steel with a powder coat. Is it an angel? A woman? A bird? Who cares? It’s fascinating and captures the eye and the mind. It was created by the husband and wife team of Jennifer Corio and David Frei. They create a dynamic balance of art, design, and workmanship. They have a studio in the Vancouver/Portland metropolitan area – cobaltdesignworks.com/

After prying my eyes away from the art, I followed my friends into the restaurant. Roccio and her pals left The Harvester Restaurant in the Stadium District in favor of a new restaurant in downtown Puyallup. The lucky seven, including Roccio’s daughter Carla, seem delighted with their new working place. For months Roccio would wait on us at the Harvester and talk about her new restaurant. Carla just spent three and a half months in South America and had a wonderful time. Her trip probably had a close connection to her university goals and political science. We like friendly wait staff. Who wants to eat with grouchy people? That’s why we have friends.

We travel from Tacoma to Parkland, Vashon Island, and Hawks Prairie depending on our mood and available time. We have not deserted The Harvester having eaten there on the last two Sundays. Our new waitress there already knows my hash browns burnt, burnt, burnt with an onion cut up in them. The Harvester is owned by the Tveten family, along with The Hob Nob Cafe by Wright Park and Burs Restaurant in Lakewood. Quality food.

Roccio waited on us, after a round of hugs, or course. West Pioneer Grill offers breakfast all day . . . my kind of place. What makes it a little different is that they offer Latino or Mexican style breakfasts in addition to American standards. I ordered biscuits and gravy and of course Roccio knew how I like my hash browns. The hash browns came as ordered. They were brown and dark brown with little cubes of onions scattered across the top. They use a mix to create the biscuits but add a few ingredients as well. Next time around I’ll order sausage and sourdough toast. My buddy, Donn confirmed that the bacon was excellent. However, he didn’t share.

Mike ordered the vegetarian burrito. He was pleased with it. In addition to eggs and peppers, they included crispy hash browns that give it a nice crunch. Mike says some places use hash browns as a filler . . . no go. Normally, in addition to the burrito there would be salsa on the plate as well, but Mike didn’t want salsa. I would have tried it.

Even on a foggy October morning the new restaurant had a steady stream of customers. There were more hugs around and waving. I think the restaurant will fit nicely into the community.

Debbie had the Latino version of eggs benedict. Instead of two halves of English muffin, there are two Mexican sopes with black beans smeared across the top. Sopes, also known as picaditas are a traditional Mexican dish of cornmeal. This is a nice gluten free offering. On top of the black beans there are two poached eggs, sprinkled with Mexican cheese, queso fresco. Salsa and avocado also accompany the order. Jan had the same thing, but with a fried egg. As always, a good restaurant wants to please the customer. We were well pleased with West Pioneer Grill and happy for Roccio and her crew.

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