Why would a family that already owned a building on one of Tacoma's busiest walking streets spend two years taking it apart before serving a single pint?
The Snug Family Pub soft-opened on Sept. 22, 2026, at 2717 N. Proctor St. Eleven days later and down the street, Fondi Pizzeria served its last meals at 2515 N. Proctor St. Both addresses have changed hands among restaurants for years, and the sidewalk out front has never been the problem. In the Proctor District, the building usually decides whether a restaurant lasts. This fall, one family bet that the fix was to change the building.
The Second Floor Nobody Could Make Work
The Snug's building dates to 1975 and has more than 3,300 square feet on two floors. Several restaurants have come and gone on its second floor since the 1990s. The most recent was Crudo & Cotto, which closed upstairs about two years ago. Downstairs, Tuladhara Yoga had used the main first-floor space for 10 years, with its entrance off North 27th. The studio left once construction started and has since moved to 3519 6th Ave.
The building has been in the Evans family for decades. Paul Evans formally acquired it in November 2025, according to Pierce County tax documents cited by The News Tribune. He and Andrea Evans also run The Proctor Handyman, a residential contracting company. Speaking to The News Tribune's TNT Diner in December 2024, Andrea Evans described the property's history plainly:
"Every restaurant that has occupied the space has really struggled to survive. It doesn't lack for foot traffic, but it needed some redesigning. So that's kind of an approach we're taking, too … We're builders, so this is what we do."
At first the plan was smaller. The Evanses set out to redo the second floor alone. After they tore down the deck, they found that bringing the upper story up to current city and health codes wouldn't produce the pub they had in mind, so they rebuilt the building from top to bottom. The project ended up taking around two years.
What the Rebuild Changed on the Street
The exterior changes went public in August. Before-and-after photos the pub posted Aug. 15 showed a white deck railing and a nearly beige facade replaced by a moody gray-green paint, new stone siding, and an expanded deck with an accessible ramp.
Inside, the layout spreads the business across both floors, so the upper story no longer has to carry a restaurant on its own. The ground floor holds the main dining room and a smaller "Snug Room." Upstairs, the pub has a more upscale seating area it calls the "Lookout," along with a lounge. The pub has described its patio as "secluded" and "heated." A heated patio counts for a lot on a street where much of the dining season falls in the gray months.
The concept is an Irish-American pub. Guinness on tap was among the first details confirmed. Paul Evans has memories of visiting his mother's dairy farm in Ireland, and the couple had long hoped to open a pub in their hometown, Tacoma. In 2024, Andrea Evans suggested the menu would likely include pub classics like shepherd's pie, along with possible surprises such as rattlesnake sausage. The soft opening ran 3 to 8 p.m. Sept. 22 through 24, with reservations through Toast. As of The News Tribune's late-September update, the full menu had not been announced and hours were expected to expand. The pub's Instagram is the place to check current hours before you go.
A Room That Kept Getting Reworked at 2515
Fondi's space shows the same pattern from the other side. The 2,600-square-foot room at 2515–2517 N. Proctor St. was for years the home of Europa Bistro. Millville and The Blind Pig, an offshoot of Gig Harbor's Millville Pizza Co., came next and built a wall between the dining room and the vintage wooden bar to make a separate cocktail lounge. That concept closed in less than three years. Fondi Pizzeria took over in April 2025 and removed the wall, turning the space back into one large room with a more open kitchen and counter ordering.
Three operators in a short span each rearranged the same room, and each tenant had to pay for that work inside a lease. When owner Chris Olsen announced the closing, he pointed to economics. In a message quoted by The News Tribune, he wrote that "the fresh, made-from-scratch ingredients that go into all of our products are both expensive and labor-intensive, and we have not been able to achieve the financial profitability necessary to continue operating the Proctor location." He told the paper that rent, which he said was likely on the higher end of the market, also played a part.
Fondi's original location, at 4621 Point Fosdick Dr. in Gig Harbor, remains open and honors gift cards and rewards earned on Proctor. Olsen said he would miss supporting local schools and seeing his regulars.
| Address | Recent occupants | Where it stands, fall 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 2717 N. Proctor St. | Crudo & Cotto upstairs; Tuladhara Yoga on the first floor | Rebuilt by the owners; The Snug Family Pub soft-opened Sept. 22 |
| 2515–2517 N. Proctor St. | Europa Bistro; Millville and The Blind Pig; Fondi Pizzeria | Vacant after Oct. 3; the closing report named no successor |
| 2620 N. Proctor St. | Viva Tacoma | Narrows Brewing On Proctor, past its first anniversary |
The News Tribune noted that Fondi's closing leaves two prominent Proctor restaurant spaces empty, since Knapp's closed last spring. The paper's report on the closing did not name a new tenant for 2515.
The Brewery That Changed the Rules
Narrows Brewing On Proctor, at 2620 N. Proctor St., stayed open by changing how it operates rather than rebuilding. The taproom took over the former Viva Tacoma space and celebrated its first anniversary on July 11. The brewery's 19th Street waterfront location is 21 and over, and the owners started Proctor with the same policy. Co-owner Parker Rush told Tacoma Weekly in August that "our original plan was not working as well as we thought, and so we pivoted and changed to allow kids, and that has been a big success."
They added food at the same point. A restaurant license now lets the taproom serve pizza and shareable plates. All brewing still happens at the waterfront, but one beer, the Proctor IPA, is poured only here and rotates as a collaboration. Co-owner Lauren Rush told the paper that the waterfront taproom is a place people travel to, while the Proctor location wins new customers from daily foot traffic.
The Snug's name points the same way. The News Tribune has called it a "family-friendly pub" since the Evanses first announced the plan. On this stretch, the businesses that are adjusting are designing for people who pass by every day, more than for people who make a special trip.
Where the Street's Calendar Goes From Here
The Proctor District's weekly routine continues through the holidays, and this season it includes a rebuilt pub and one more dark storefront. Dates on the calendar now:
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 5 to 8 p.m. Compass Rose hosts a Holiday Open House at 3815 N. 26th St., according to the Proctor District Association calendar.
- Nov. 27, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. Zoolights returns to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium for its 39th season, open 4:30 to 10 p.m. nightly except Dec. 24 and 25. Timed tickets must be bought online, and Dog Nights fall on Dec. 1, 2, 8, 9 and 15 and Jan. 3.
- Saturday, Dec. 19. Last day of the Proctor Farmers Market regular season, which began April 4.
- Jan. 9 and 23, Feb. 13 and 27, and March 13 and 27, 2027. The market's posted winter dates, two Saturdays a month until spring.
The Snug's heated patio, Narrows' kids-welcome taproom and the market's winter Saturdays all keep the street busy through the cold months. The empty room at 2515 is the next one to watch.
Morrison House Sotheby's International Realty keeps an office in the Proctor District and follows these buildings closely. If you own a North Tacoma property and want to understand its history before deciding what comes next, we'd welcome the chance to talk. Request a private consultation.
