Heard the rumors about Knapp’s? We have, too. Here’s what we know about fate of diner
The owners of Knapp’s Restaurant and Lounge in Tacoma said Monday afternoon that, despite rumors to the contrary, the 86-year-old Proctor District establishment is not closing.
Sound Restaurant Family provided a concise statement in response to questions from The News Tribune:
“We have heard the rumors and can confirm that Knapp’s is not closing. Business will continue as normal.”
The rumors began swirling on Saturday. A frequent local X (Twitter) user shared a post about “unsettling rumors circling the Proctor District today.” It seemed the beloved diner, which Ned and Corinne Knapp opened in 1938, and adjacent bar would close after service. Its fate? A Mexican restaurant, maybe.
Then, on Sunday, information traveled through the physical and digital ether that maybe it wasn’t so.
Knapp’s was open then, and it was open again on Monday.
Sources have nonetheless told The News Tribune that a closure is imminent. Staff apparently has been left in the dark.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on where the rumors might have originated and if something, such as a building sale or similar, had occurred that would cause confusion.
A phone call to Dan Tweten, who manages the restaurant group with his brother Jonathan Tweten, was not returned Monday.
Before Sound Restaurant Family, Donna R. Lomis was the proprietor for many years. She retired and sold the Gamble Building, comprising 2701-2709 N. Proctor St., for $1.2 million in 2002, three years before her death. It is now valued at $3.8 million by the county assessor, which still show the owner as Gamble Building LLC, affiliated with Todd Clarke and Drew Frame of real estate company Kidder-Matthews in state business filings.
The Twetens own other throwback diners in the region, including The Poodle Dog in Fife (established 1933), Burs in Lakewood (1950s but renamed Burs in the ‘70s) and the Hob Nob (1929) across from Wright Park in Tacoma. Like Knapp’s, each boasts a next-door 21-and-up lounge frequented by locals.
Even the unconfirmed prospect of Knapp’s demise struck a nerve with locals, who chimed into that Twitter thread. A “Tacoma icon,” as one commenter put it, families have been sipping coffee and noshing on pancakes and benedicts there for decades. The potential loss recalled an undesirable sequel to the very real news in June 2023 that Harvester, another nearly century-old diner, had closed.
At the time, Dan Tweten pointed mainly to struggles at that location with construction of Sound Transit’s Link extension. He also said the decision to cut Harvester from their portfolio meant they could keep their other businesses on steady ground.
“We’re thankful we have these other restaurants,” he said last June.
The Twetens’ grandfather started the family restaurant business, and their father Tim took the helm in the early 1990s. The brothers have expanded their offerings beyond diners with Powerhouse Restaurant and Brewery in Puyallup and Coastal Kitchen in Seattle. Another Harvester in Gig Harbor was last operated by a relative until a few years ago when it was sold and became an Original House of Pancakes franchise.
Pierce County has lost numerous diners in recent years amid higher costs for everything from bacon to boxes, higher wages for workers, and the overall changing tide of family-style dining.
As the owner of Cattin’s in Puyallup told The News Tribune after it closed in 2022 after 48 years, “The ma-and-pa-type restaurant, we’re kind of a dying industry.”
The 1920s-era building that houses Knapp’s is home to a hair salon on the corner. The FernSeed closed last year to focus on its bigger South Tacoma store. Above the ground-floor retail are 13 apartment units, according to property records.
KNAPP’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
▪ 2707 N. Proctor St., Tacoma, 253-759-9009, knappsrestaurant.com
▪ Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
▪ Lounge stays open until 9ish on weekdays and later on weekends.
Staff writer Debbie Cockrell contributed to this report.
