Radnor’s Burgers & Beignets — Restaurant in Tacoma

These folks are a refreshing addition to the South Tacoma Way neighborhood, and we should all rally behind them and their policies! Lewis and Myra have dropped everything they have into opening Radnor's, and it wasn't for the money. I heard on a podcast that they actually took pay cuts when they endeavored to bring their smash burgers to our neighborhood. They keep it sweet and simple. A humble menu featuring a few varieties of their smash burgers, fries and beignets? Yes, you read that correctly! French cuisine meets downtown grit city burgers and whoa... does it go well together! Add to that a good selection of drinks including some beer and cider and this modest little hole in the wall is more than meets the eye. Once your place your order at the counter inside what appears to be a teeny, tiny, dining area, they reveal a larger dining area. (Insert loud ta daa music here...) Turns out that Radnor's shares the building with the Edison which is an event space and when no event is taking place, you have a huge dining area complete with some kickass music playing as well as a couple of ping pong tables and an offering of table games to keep you occupied before, during and after your meal. I cannot rave about Lewis and Myra enough when it comes to their level of dedication to their menu as well as their neighborhood and giving back. They serve very fresh, very high-quality ingredients quickly and they set their prices around half of what they could actually charge and not make any enemies. I've eaten fewer quality burgers for much more expensive prices from some other bougee local places and now I won't return. Radnor's is on my list of the top places to visit in Tacoma and will now be in my full rotation when choosing places to dine out. All of this isn't to say that everything was perfect because there were a couple of hiccups. Minor issues that just need tweaking in my opinion like, we asked if the jalapeños are fresh or pickled and the answer was that all of their ingredients are fresh but when the burger came, it had pickled jalapeños on it. That may have just been an honest mistake about the difference. The second thing was that after we ordered, we were told that they would bring our order out to us and so we figured that meant that our food would be delivered to our table, but it wasn't. You need to listen closely for your name to be called and then you go and get your order from a pickup window in the kitchen door. Lastly and I hope that management will correct me if I'm wrong, the fries were also not fresh. While I much prefer the frozen seasoned fries that they do serve to most hand cut, and flash fried spuds, (the kind you find at In-n-Out or Dick's), the fact remains that their fries seem to come frozen from a bag. If it's up to me though, keep that up because I can't stand those other guys fries. Hold the soggy grease bombs and the tasteless cardboard sticks please. My only other "complaint" if you will was that the burgers seemed thrown together instead of built so I had to put it back together before I could eat it. I know that they do have a secret menu and so I got the Bopper and the Mac Daddy or their take on the Whopper and Big Mac. Nothing about either burger was in any way reminiscent of their inspiration but standing alone, they were still good burgers. Next time I plan on sticking to the traditional menu, but I do want to find out what else is on the secret menu. These folks are all about creating a base of repeat customers as much as they are jumping into the community and giving back. They help feed hungry kids for free, they host charity events and fund raisers, they have the event space available for rent or to book for events. They cater, provide entertainment and can supply a full bar if needed. They are constantly seeking out new ways to partner with the locals and to make Tacoma a better place. They have embraced us, and I say we return the...

Disclaimer: I tried going on opening day and it was so incredibly busy that I decided to try again the following week. Me personally, That’s not something to hold against a new business on opening day. As a Tacoman, it made me so happy seeing the genuine love and support this place is receiving. Anyone giving them bad ratings because they weren’t in andout in 5 minutes on opening day should be ridiculed and shamed!

SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

Disclaimer now out of the way; I swang through a second time on Thursday at 5pm and it was still busy, but I was still in and out in 8-10 minutes.

The service was spectacular for a hole in the wall burger joint! I didn’t get the gals name, but the woman working the register was super pleasant and you could tell she genuinely takes pride in her job and working for this new establishment. Even us customers were all chatting each other up and we’re all excited for this place to hopefully become a new staple of The Town. It’s a very small, intimate establishment. With that said, you can see plain as day the amount of thought and effort that went into all avenues of their business. The food, the staff being trained well and bought in to the program; as Marshawn Lynch would say there was also the Ambiance AND the Decor! Even down to the logo. I was genuinely impressed before I even got my food!

I got a single smash burger, the Rad Fries, and an order of beignets. The burger was delicious, the Rad Fries were as well. Although I could see some people not being a fan of so much “Rad sauce”, but personal preferences are just that, personal. As far as the Beignets, I’m not a big dessert or sweets guy, but they were maybe my highlight of the visit!

Going back to the thought put into every aspect of this new restaurant, I wanted to add that they impressed me again with the amount of care put into the packaging. The checkered wrapper the smash burger came in, the beignet bag, the unique packaging the Rad Fries came in was a great touch as well. And to “wrap” it all up (yes, terrible pun WAS intended), the bag the burger and beignets were placed in, almost surely with care, was also properly branded.

And don’t forget the MERCH SHOP where you can get “STW” hats and shirts, as well as Radnor branded hats and shirts.

The greatest thing of all I saved for last. Not only is the quality great and the food delicious, it’s also fairly priced. In a time where everything except for our paychecks are skyrocketing in price, this is a huge selling point. A cheeseburger meal costs substantially more than a smash burger and fries costs at Radnor’s.

I almost submitted this without mentioning 1b of the greatest things: the hours of operation. I believe Friday and Saturday they’re open until 1am. There’s nothing like it in Tacoma and I think they know exactly what they’re doing. This section of South Tacoma Way has been on the rise, and Radnor’s is going to fit in perfectly. They’ve seemingly done their homework on EXACTLY what Tacoma has always been missing and put in the work to hit the ground running.

I don’t know the owners. I have no stake in the game. I’m just a fellow Tacoman that recognizes greatness when he sees it. And my first ever visit was on the level for me. I never make reviews unless it’s a rare situation where it was so next-level bad that I feel the need to hate and tell the world. This is a first to me that my experience was so GOOD that I felt compelled to take my time and give praise...

So I heard about this program for youth and students being able to get free lunch from participating restraunts. So I took my kids to Radnors and the bald big guy at the front cashier desk seemed nice enough at first,but also seemed a little agitated. So I ordered my sons their lunch and the guy asks if I wanna order anything for myself. I ordered what I thought was a full meal than later found out it was just the sandwich. Okay fine, so I go to pay and they only except debit cards, I wasn't able to accommodate that, so I said just cancel my order. The bald clerk guy says its okay offers to pay with hus card and takes my cash. Once I realized it was not a full meal u asked the price and was told 8 dollars. I give the guy 10 dollars and ask; should I have change and the clerk guy obviously gets more agitated by this throws a dollar at me and proceeds to walk off saying in a sarcastic way,(Have a good day MAM!). On top of that it wasn't even the Correct change. I was shocked in his behavior. If I had extra money to give, I wouldn't be bringing my sons to get free lunch. This clerk assumed he could keep the change or just overcharge and say nothing as if I dont know my math, idk. This guy's behavior was very not customer friendly and he us working with numerous youth coming in weekly this summer. How many other customers is he using his own card to pay and taking cash from the customers and ASSUMING he can keep the change. We all work hard for our money and maybe if the guy had better customer service he'd get more tips, idk... its too bad cause this was my first time at thus establishment and will more than likely...