Anais Coffee

Anais occupies the walk up bar inside Edison Square, which means the counter you order a latte at is the same one that pours beer during a night show. The coffee operation runs alongside the bar coolers and taps rather than replacing them, and it is the daytime half of a venue in a stretch of South Tacoma that is developing quickly. Signs along South Tacoma Way point the way in, which tells you how easy it would otherwise be to drive straight past.

The beans come from Bluebeard Coffee, whose South Tacoma Way roastery sits directly across the street, so the supply line here is about as short as it gets. The espresso menu runs the usual range plus a flat white, and the house signature is the Golden Hour: espresso, vanilla syrup, honey, cinnamon and oat milk. There is a vanilla matcha latte for the matcha drinkers, loose tea and energy drinks, and a bakery case that has carried a s'mores cookie and a chocolate sea salt cookie.

The room is the reason to choose this one over a smaller shop. There is seating for a large group without booking anything in advance, which almost nothing else written up in Tacoma can offer, and a kids corner that lets a parent sit and work or catch up with a friend while a child stays occupied. Upstairs there is a balcony with board games that can be rented as a private space.

Hours are 7am to 2pm Monday through Saturday and it is closed on Sunday, so this is a morning and lunchtime shop rather than an evening one, whatever the venue is doing later. Street parking runs along South Tacoma Way. Kaja and Jay own it and it is new enough that the drink list is still filling out.