Savor 8 Great Restaurants in Puyallup and Sumner

Try these excellent eateries in western Washington (your palate will thank you!)

By Kevin Litwin on March 15, 2023

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You need to eat, right? Then why not treat yourself to dining at some of the most highly rated local independent restaurants in this region:

BOURBON STREET BAR & GRILL: The best Cajun food this side of New Orleans is served at Bourbon Street Bar & Grill, with menu items like crawfish mac and cheese and Cajun chicken pasta.

FIESTA TAQUERIA & TEQUILA BAR: With two locations in Puyallup, Fiesta Taqueria & Tequila Bar serves authentic Mexican food choices like chimichangas, burritos and enchiladas.

MAMA STORTINI’S: Established in 2005, Mama Stortini’s features a menu full of Italian dishes like lasagna, ravioli and thin-crust pizzas. The restaurant also has a relaxing and cozy bar.

OXBOW URBAN KITCHEN: Good times, great food & drink is the tagline at Oxbow Urban Kitchen, which opened in late 2022 along the White River in Sumner. The restaurant serves upscale American food, next to majestic views of Mount Rainier.

PERRY’S COCKTAIL BAR: A diverse menu is the order of the day at Perry’s Cocktail Bar, plus the restaurant has a variety of drink selections. Popular entrees include king salmon and pastor dumplings.

SORCI’S ITALIAN CAFÉ & ENOTECA: This restaurant is a little slice of Italy in the heart of northern Pierce County, with an extensive wine collection.

TOSCANOS ITALIAN GRILL: Dining, cocktails and fine wines have been part of Toscanos Italian Grill for nearly 20 years.

WICKED PIE: Classic pizzas and American fare are served every day at Wicked Pie. Customers can choose from 12 different wood-fired pizzas.

Meet a Successful Local Restaurateur

Multi-restaurant owner Shaun Broback has made quite a name for himself in the Puyallup-Sumner area, as he’s helped grow the region’s flourishing dining scene and even had one of his restaurants featured on the well-known Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

He opened his first establishment, Trackside Pizza, in Puyallup in 2006, Crockett’s Public House in Puyallup in 2011, a second Trackside Pizza in Sumner in 2015, Meridian Café in Puyallup in 2017 and a second Crocket’s Public House in Puyallup in 2019.

What made you want to open restaurants in this region?
I felt that Puyallup was an undervalued area, and there were good opportunities for spaces in the downtown area. There were a lot of families here, and I felt like the market was kind of turning — and pizza restaurants are great for families — and I just felt that there was kind of a demographic changing in the downtown area. I felt it was kind of the right place, right time for that. I really like the character of some of the old buildings in the downtown area. My buildings — some of them are 100 years old, and so for my restaurant concepts, I really liked the idea of being able to revitalize some of these spaces.

While most of your restaurants have different concepts, what do they all have in common?
Our primary commitment is to high-quality food at any expense. I’m not interested in operating businesses that are looking for the cheapest food that they can buy and then finding a way to market and sell that. We go the other way. We buy the best food that we can find, then we have to figure out how we’re going to go about serving that.

What’s one dish you recommend readers try at each restaurant?
At Trackside Pizza, the Grand Trunk Express. It has everything on it (Canadian bacon, peperoni, Italian sausage, salami, bacon, red onions, green peppers, black olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, oregano, garlic). At Crockett’s, we have a lot of great options. The Public House Meatballs — I think that’s a great place to start. At Meridian’s, our cinnamon rolls are pretty well known and almost famous in the area. People really like those a lot.

What’s next for you in this region?
I’m looking at developing another restaurant concept in the downtown area within the next five years. I’m looking at investing more in the downtown area to help continue to revitalize and bring new and interesting businesses downtown.