Primo Grill, one of the Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue neighborhood’s anchor restaurants, is to move in 2014. Charlie McManus and Jacqueline Plattner, the husband and wife team who own and run the restaurant, are to move Primo around three blocks away from its current location into a building that they are already the owners of and that currently plays host to their other business, Crown Bar. The footprint of Crown Bar is not expected to undergo any changes as a result of the relocation.
The move is unlikely to be completed before July 2014, even if all construction plans go as scheduled. The relocation will result in no more than a couple of weeks of downtime for the Mediterranean restaurant, which is expected to continue trading at its current location on Sixth and Pine while the new location is under construction at Sixth and Oakes. Work on the new space for Primo is to start once the current tenants shift to new locations, with the House of Tattoo set to relocate to the present operating location of the A-Plus driving school. The school itself will be moving to a new space on the building’s south side. Dog grooming service Clip-N-Clean will be leaving the building altogether. The relocation will offer the couple the chance to rethink the kitchen and decor of Primo, which has a menu covering a broad swath of the Mediterranean. The massive on-display wood-fired oven has always been the heart of the restaurant’s kitchen and menu; unfortunately, this cannot be relocated to the new space due to structural difficulties with the oven’s dome, according to McManus.
McManus has thus started designing a new display oven for the restaurant. A smoker is also set to be installed that Primo’s menu will be using, as will Crown Bar’s. The couple is planning new energy efficient upgrades to the kitchen at the new space stating Technology has changed a lot in 14 years. They are installing hoods designed to move the same amount of air as the ones in Primo. They’re more energy efficient and silent. The dishwasher they’re buying works on cold water, as opposed to hot water.
The decor is to include reclaimed pieces including Douglas fir flooring salvaged by a Puyallup firm. Although wood surfaces give warmth to the restaurant, McManus and Plattner say that the decor will be more vibrant thanks to artwork created by Tacoma Community College students. The couple has had a long partnership with the art program of the college, including providing funding for a scholarship program. The tabletops at Primo’s current home were painted by students and at the new space after the move the college students will be designing a 30-foot mural that has been inspired by the agrarian roots of the region.
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