Tacoma Comedy Club — Restaurant in Tacoma

Event: New Years Eve show featuring Tim Meadows (10:30 PM show). Topic: Deplorable behavior by your Security Personnel (Reference the 6’7” male pacific islander).

Greetings to the owners of the Tacoma Comedy Club (TCC).

I am Dr. M. Cooks, and my fiancé is Dr. L. Rich. The two of us thought long and hard before writing this review, as we have patronaged TCC since August 2014 to the present.

Issue: My fiancé and I decided to close out our table amount due at approximately 11:35PM (117 usd +18 % and 20 usd to the Waiter). In all we were just shy of 300 usd for the event including tickets.

Note: Tim Meadows had completed his set and was in the process of inviting his fellow comedians back to stage for the New Years Toast.

Dr Rich and I decided that was a perfect time to exit as she was not feeling well. We took our to-go box... Lemon pepper wings (not recommended… too salty), and proceeded to the exit. Upon arrival, the Asian pacific security guard looked at us, mind you that we were dressed for a night out, as he asked boldly “hey Bra… did you pay your bill”?

Note: we had not reached the door at that time.

I looked him in the eyes as we continued toward the exit and stated “Yes, we paid”. The security guard responded even more boldly; “I doubt that as no one has paid their bill this early”.

I looked him in the eyes again and recommended that he check the table if he had doubts, and departed as I did not want to be a male Karen in a place that I really like.

On Jan 2nd I called the TCC and expressed my concerns with the Security guards’ comments as well as his direct accusation that we did not pay. I requested that a manager should give me a call, and I was assured that one would. Well today is the 4th of January and no such luck.

We are African American; both holding PhDs and reside in Browns Point WA. Honestly, we feel as if we were racially profiled as well as discriminated against by your security as the attending audience was approximately 99% Caucasians of European descent.

Additionally, we purchased premium tickets but were seated in a corner with limited viewing on the first row by the stage. Again horrible, as there were empty tables on the Balcony.

Though I understand that one employee does not determine the culture of an organization, a call back from a manager could have easily prevented this review.

I give one star based on the Security guard’s behavior and Zero stars if I could due to the management’s failure to resolve the issue with a simple telephone call and maybe an apology.

To my fellow African Americans and others who feel the security guard’s behavior was deplorable, please show your support in our quest for a simple apology from the owners.

If not resolved soon. I will exercise my rights to do the following: Switch patronage to Nate Jackson's Comedy club as I can see that our patronage is not appreciated at the TCC. I am disappointed. Seek assistance and guidance from the State Attorney General as well as consultation with my attorneys Lambino and Martin on this issue. Report the incident to the Pierce County Chamber of Commerce and my district representative. Protest by signage in front of TCC daily beginning shortly, and yes it will be at the start of each of your shows.

To the Owners, we can reconcile via verbal apology, I am open. Respectfully, Marvin Cooks, EdD. CSM, US...

I really don’t like giving negative reviews, but I tried to communicate with the business, but didn’t get a resolution. First, let me start off with we have been to Tacoma comedy club too many times to count, and it’s always been a fun night. However, that wasn’t the case the last time we went there. This time it was a big birthday celebration and there were eight of us. I made reservations weeks before and were there about 20 minutes early, but we were seated in the very back and watched everybody else that came through after us get seated in front of us. When I made the reservations I asked about this and was told it was first come first serve, which is why we showed up early, but we were still placed in the very back even though there were so many other empty tables. Second, the show started extremely late. I thought the show was supposed to start at 7pm, but it didn’t start until around 7:30 and then when the host started, we could not understand a word he was saying. I also felt like that lasted longer than it should have, but I wasn’t too concerned about it since it was the host and we came for the actual comedian, but that was a long time to be bored! So I let those two things slide, because hey, things happen. But, once the comedian came on, we had the same issue of not being able to understand anything he was saying, maybe every five words or so. Our entire table felt the same way, I even heard people talking about it in the bathroom, someone brought it up and the other person said “oh I’m so glad you said something because I couldn’t understand a word they were saying either” So at that point, I knew it wasn’t just our table. So I approached the gentleman at the front desk while the show was going on and he said there’s nothing he could do about it until the next show as far as checking the microphone. So we stayed even though we were bored out of our minds, we didn’t want to be rude and leave while the show was going on. We come to Tacoma comedy club a lot and this is the very first time that we’ve been this disappointed (Which is why I am giving it two stars instead of 0). Also the ticket price seemed more expensive than we’ve ever paid at $42 a person which makes this even more upsetting AND you are required to purchase 2 items per person. We chose Tacoma Comedy Club because we’ve always enjoyed it and this was a big celebration for someone in our party and after spending almost $400 we left very disappointed. This was supposed to be a fun celebration, but we were not able to enjoy the show at all, we were all cold and bored and still had to spend more money on food and weak drinks due to the required minimum, which was probably another $150.

I don’t like to write bad reviews, but I didn’t get a resolution or even a decent response from the business and I tried in person and via email, so...

Not sure where to start with this review. Probably with the wait staff. I ordered a water to start. It was left behind my arm where I didn't know and almost turned around and knocked it over on the people behind me. My boyfriend's drink didn't come until 30 minutes later. I was then asked what else I wanted to order. My boyfriend ordered another alcoholic beverage. I asked for another water for now. The waitress told me she could bring me two water bottles for my two item minimum purchase. I asked for a refill in my water cup. She basically told me no and that I could buy bottled water and bring it home with me if I didn't want to finish it there to meet my two item minimum. I told her no thank you and was looking at the menu to order something. She came back later and asked me if I had decided. I picked an item and she then told me I had to order one more item. She said do you want to order the two items now to get it out of the way. Basically so she didn't have to come back to our table again. I wasn't ready to order another item just yet and I asked if I had to order another item right now. She said we have to order two items each or they'd ask us to leave. (Which I don't understand because wether we order a second item or not we already bought the tickets to be there. No one else was coming in to fill our seats and they'd not get the money regardless of ordering or not.) So we'd be asked to leave to make a policy point. I ordered the second item. She came back and asked if we wanted anything else my boyfriend wanted another drink to which he was told no because the drink he was ordering was their "strongest drink." We asked for the check. I don't think our waitress brought us any of our items either besides my tea. She then charged the wrong bill to our card to top off the friendly service we got. I've been here 4 times and I've never had the item minimum shoved down my throat so hard before. Last time I was here I just ordered a salad and we never saw the waiter again after that.

The seating arrangements. You will literally be rubbing elbows/bumping the people next to you they pack you in so tight. And you'll be sat with two random people if there's just two of you. Makes date night a bit less personal when your significant other is sat across the table from you and you can't really talk to them but you're up close and personal with the stranger on the other side of you.

The security/ rowdy audience. The other two guys sat at our table were screaming, talking, being extremely annoying the entire time. To the point we missed half of what was said the during the set. Security spoke to them once. And then were never checked again.

Food. The food item I did order was a lava cake. It wasn't warm and tasted bland. Not worth it.

This was not a good experience and left us wanting to find a different...