A new day-to-night café is set to open its doors at 901 Pacific Ave., Suite B in downtown Tacoma on September 4, serving breakfast sandwiches and acai bowls in the morning before shifting to daiquiris and cocktails by early afternoon. Tropical Sip Café will open at 8 a.m. daily except Sunday, when it will be closed, and co-owner Charles Askew plans to start pouring daiquiris at noon.
According to The News Tribune, the café has been in development for about a ye ar and will let customers choose their own daiquiri toppings and ingredients, alongside smoothie options like the Tropical Sunrise and Bahama Mama. The to-go daiquiris are possible thanks to a 2023 change in Washington law: Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5448, permanently allowing licensed restaurants and bars to sell cocktails to-go after the pandemic-era version of the policy expired, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Rules for the To-Go Pour
That permanent statutory privilege comes with strings attached. Permanent rules adopted by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board in July 2023 require that every to-go alcoholic drink be sold alongside a food purchase, sealed in a container that prevents immediate consumption, and transported in a vehicle’s trunk or another non-passenger area. At Tropical Sip Café, beer and most cocktails will be dine-in only, while the daiquiris are the item specifically built for takeout, per the same coverage from the News Tribune.
Washington’s tax structure adds another layer to the equation for a business leaning on spirit-based drinks. The state charges the highest excise tax on distilled spirits in the country, $36.68 per gallon, driven by a 20.5% consumer spirits sales tax plus a $3.77-per-liter volume tax, according to data published by the Tax Foundation in May. That tax load sits in the background of any independent operator’s math on daiquiri pricing and margins.
A Storefront With Deep Roots
The café’s new home is a 790-square-foot street-front retail space leased at rates between $17 and $20 per square foot, according to commercial listings from Kidder Mathews. The location sits one block from Sound Transit’s T Line Commerce Street Station and within a three-minute drive of the University of Washington Tacoma campus, putting it in easy reach of student and commuter foot traffic…