Spud’s next chapter depends on whether another operator takes it on: Tracie Paul says she will not reopen the South End restaurant under her operation after the fire, break-ins and mounting costs became too much to overcome. The restaurant at 7025 Pacific Ave. has remained dark since a kitchen fire during a busy Saturday lunch rush in August 2025.
Paul confirmed to The News Tribune that Spud’s would not reopen under her operation. She said costs kept piling up and the restaurant industry had become harder to thrive in. Although she said the hurdles were too tough to justify continuing, she had many plans for Spud’s and did not plan to say goodbye.
A Grease Fire During the Lunch Rush
The fire broke out in vents above Spud’s pizza ovens during the Saturday lunch rush, and staff used fire extinguishers and evacuated customers before emergency crews arrived. No one was injured. Tacoma Fire investigators determined the blaze was accidental, likely sparked by heat from operating equipment and worsened by grease buildup, according to an earlier report from the same News Tribune coverage of the fire.
Because the kitchen spans much of the building’s length, smoke spread through most of the restaurant. Firefighters removed part of the ceiling to extinguish the flames, which charred roof joists. Smoke damage required restoration work that had not been completed.
Break-Ins Compounded the Damage
The empty building was broken into at least five times between Labor Day 2025 and January 2026, according to The News Tribune’s reporting. Paul said she lost memorabilia, framed jerseys and other inventory; FOX 13 Seattle reported that vandals took thousands of dollars’ worth of inventory as well as irreplaceable memorabilia. Power was restored after the January break-in, when Paul replaced the security system. In a Facebook post, she said she was still waiting on insurance approvals and roof repairs and cautioned that the work would not happen quickly.
From Pizza Pete’s to a South End Landmark
The Pacific Avenue restaurant began as a Pizza Pete’s franchise opened by Gerald “Spud” Hansen in the 1960s. Hansen later renamed it and added the Trophy Room, a dimly lit, two-tiered lounge, in the 1980s. Lane Smith, Jon Kehn and the Almonte family purchased the property and surrounding parcels in 2001, while Lisa Almonte and her partners kept the Spud’s brand and business. Dave Almonte managed the restaurant in the late 2010s, and Lisa Almonte once took leave from her elementary-school teaching job to keep it operating during the pandemic in 2020…