“You’re our second customer today,” explains St. Helens Café manager Joe Werth.  “We’re all scared to death.  I’m sick to my stomach.”

As you read this, the St. Helens Café is frying up burgers and working the fish and chip baskets, with employees giving each other high fives. 

Tacoma’s Stadium District has a new lunch break, an afternoon beer on the patio spot, a business meeting locale or a restaurant big enough for a high school reunion.  And Joe can ease up a bit.

A slick, modern, décor of deep red and olive green, with small wooden tables, sets the backdrop for fish and chips, burgers, pasta dishes and salads.  Prices range from $6 to $15.
Similar to Katie Downs on the waterfront, owner John Holt nixed the wait staff.  Customers order at the counter. Same goes with the bar, which serves beer and wine. A liquor license is pending.

The Tacoma Avenue café (it’s above the Stadium Bistro but the entrance is off Tacoma Avenue) serves Alaskan true cod fillets, one to three pieces, that arrive thick, not overly greasy and with a secret batter recipe according to Werth.

The cheese burger ($8.29) carries with four cheese options; I can recommend the blue cheese version.

Desserts on the chalk board today read cheese cake $3.29, summer berry cake $5.49 and tiramisu $5.99.  Sorry, no room today for dessert. 

St. Helen’s Café will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. â€" Ron Swarner

[St. Helens Cafe, 206 St Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.779.9935]