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State of Tacoma's restaurant scene?

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I live in and love Tacoma. I feel terrible about the bad reputation my town has, particularly when it comes to food. Sometimes, though, it's deserved. I thought things were changing a few years ago with the opening of a few new restaurants downtown -- Maxwell's, for example -- and on 6th (Asado/Masa), but the recession seems to have hit the restaurants here pretty hard. A lot of the reviews on other sites suggest that many of my favorites are going downhill. Again, Maxwell's is the example: it seems to be getting worse and worse reviews on Yelp, FWIW.

Tacomans, please help me regain my confidence in our dining options. Have there been any notable openings in the last year? What places are improving? (I'm happy that at least my favorite Korean place -- Ho Soon Yi on S. Tacoma Way -- hasn't suffered.)

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  1. Paselkin, Pay little attention to Yelp reviews. Generally they are the Olive Garden/Applebee's crowd and when they are out of their element, they are lost.

    1. I agree with Leper to a limited extent. A lot of Yelpers offer little substantive help when you read their reviews and tend to heap praise on places that are mediocre or grant one-stars to places whose food they don't understand. However, a lot of Yelpers also have their act together. I Yelp occasionally and have written reviews of Tacoma places--Maxwell's included. I consider myself a fairly sophisticated and discriminating diner, and in my opinion, Maxwells has definitely gone downhill over the last year. It feels like they've just given up.

      That being said, I can't think of any notable openings and we tend to eat at the same places, over and over.