Red hot is such a regular on my radar that it almost was overlooked. Located on the corner of Junett and 6th Ave. I would say that it is in the heart of 6th Ave., District. I’m sure someone could argue otherwise. But its location feels central to all the action and over the years its neighboring businesses have changed in a way that feels even more conducive to their target audience. The Red Hot sits on the corner, kiddie corner from Subway, directly across from taco time, Mary Mart is to its right and a tattoo parlor to its left. But just up the street less than a 5 min walk you have E9 and Locust Cider. Both of those establishments work with The Red Hot and you can find their flavors on tap there fairly often. So it’s neighborhood friendly to say the least.
The concept behind TRH is hot dogs, sausages, glizzys of all kinds with several options for vegans as well, plus beer. Lots of beer. TRH is often where I go to sample new breweries. Over the years they’ve become the Tacoma Thomas Guide to hops and ciders alike. You fill your belly with delicious concoctions quickly assembled and served while taking a trip through hops heaven, down stout st or around the sour scenery but you always end up back at The Red Hot. They even made ordering decisive, sentimental and fun. Several sausages or hot dogs are named to correlate with Tacoman culture and geography. Some of my personal favorites are the Destiny City Slaw Dog although I usually hold the chili, it is amazing with the chili as well, just a little messy for me. The Salsa Verde Dog and Banh Mi are my standouts that don’t bear any direct attachment to Tacoma. But it was the Veganerwurst and The Kommisar that initially brought me through the doors and made me a regular. Both of them are vegan dogs and during my introduction to TRH I was taken aback by how authentic the experience was to an all-beef or bratwurst. They only use Field Roast sausages for their vegan options.
The TRH decor is flawless. It feels like they have endless beer history on the walls. They have advertisements that we guarantee you’ve never seen before. Not to mention the plethora of Heidelberg photos from when it was up and running with the best of them. It’s a trip down memory lane that has at times led me to research on my own a bit further. The ceiling is full of tap handles providing that classic touch that is necessary in any beer focused watering hole that isn’t a brewery. The three full sized chalkboards are hand-painted with their current offerings and color coded from time to time so you know what type of beer you’re looking at instead of getting lost in the fancy and fun names. Make sure you don’t order a Stout when you want a Pilsner. I’ve done that once or twice because the name was so captivating. TRH does a phenomenal job at branding throughout the space. They have custom wall decals and stacks of cans wrapped with alternative branding as well. But the proverbial cherry on top has to be their sports memorabilia. They have a signed Tacoma Stars pennant and a bobble head collection that can make your mouth water as much as the brats and brews. Everything about TRH is a unique Tacoman dining experience. It’s a place you send family and take out-of -towners.
More from Almanac
Make It To The Show: Ruckus in Tacoma - Summer Smoke Out
SATURDAY JULY 8th at THE VALLEYThe Valley has quietly (and, frequently, not-so-quietly) become one of the most reliable music venues in Tacoma, thanks in large part to the eclectic stream of bands that come through its doors. At its heart, though, the Valley is most suited to bringing in the kind of barroom bands that fit the venue’s classic Tacoma aesthetic – which will surely be represented when PNW record label Ruckus In The Boonies presents the Summer Smoke Out. Along with barbecue and vendors, the Summer Smoke Out will feature a cavalcade of bands; at the time of this writing, there are 10 in total, perfect for partying throughout the humid day and into the night.Valley regulars like Stoned Evergreen Travelers, Old Dirty Buzzards, Ghost Train Trio, and James Hunnicut are just some of the acts that will be performing, but the event is unofficially a celebration of the Pine Box Boys and their 20th anniversary. The San Francisco-based outfit has been practicing doom-laden, murder-obsessed alt-country for two decades, honing their craft to a razor-sharp edge. Few modern country acts have the same flair for storytelling that the Pine Box Boys have, spinning blood-drenched yarns packed with a kind of charismatic foreboding. With nine other bands performing – most of whom also make their homes at the intersection of country, rock, and punk – and the sweet smell of barbecue smoke perfuming the air, the Summer Smoke Out seems like the perfect way to kick the hot months off in style.SATURDAY JULY 8thThe Valley:Summer Smoke Out, w/ the Pine Box Boys, Old Dirty Buzzards, Stoned Evergreen Travelers, James Hunnicutt, Blood Fire & Rainwater, Ghost Train Trio, Emery Villains, The Selfish Bastard, Yotes, The Hoods Open Mic Challenge with Billy HoodDoors at 4pm, $151206 Puyallup Aveinstagram.com/ruckusintheboonies
Make It To The Show: SOFT PALMS
In 2006, a few things were happening in the greater indie rock landscape, including the ever expanding tendrils from the past few years’ rediscovery of previously discarded genres like psychedelia, garage rock, and goth; the excitement of hundreds of bands scrambling to see where everything was going next; and the birth of two bands: the Growlers and the Coathangers. For the Growlers, surf-rock and an arid, dusty atmosphere led them to describe their sound as “beach goth”; as for the Coathangers, they embraced an increasingly hooky brand of punk, bolstered by an unfuckwithable swagger.
Make It To The Show: DUMMY
When the internet became ubiquitous, and access to the entirety of pop music history was suddenly at everyone’s fingers, suddenly a whole generation of bands were armed with reference points that were heretofore only available to crate-digging record obsessives. Slamming two disparate sounds together, just to see what happened, became a thriving part of the music landscape. Certain genres would get a little more attention than others, depending on the time – dance-punk, New Wave indie twee, psych-electronica, just slapping a Bruce Springsteen filter onto any old genre, and other experiments all had their day in the sun in the first decade of the ‘00s. Nowadays, with this mixing and matching having effectively been gamified, it’s refreshing to run across a band that combines sounds in interesting ways.
Make It To The Show: Them
THEM | Thursday, Dec. 15There’s a sense of timelessness to THEM that belies the young age of the band members, all women in their late teens and early ‘20s. The Seattle four-piece has an innate ability to recall ‘70s Laurel Canyon, ‘80s synth-pop, ‘90s slacker rock, mid-00s twee, and all manner of decades of teenage pop heartache.