Knapp’s Restaurant, a Tacoma diner and cocktail lounge serving the city since 1938 and having faced potential closure, has a new owner.
“At first glance, I kind of fell in love with it. Having so much history and regard in the community, I’m a sucker for that stuff. I felt like this was a very cool brand that needed to continue to exist.” Billy Brewer told What Now Seattle.
He continued, “I got to meet all the employees. They called everybody that was off shift to come down and meet me and tell me stories about the recent history and history before that. I got to hang out in the restaurant and meet the local, the regulars. I got a wave of great hospitality, great people, and I knew that I found something special.”
Brewer’s path in the food industry began after he sought a fresh start from IT and tech sales. Driven by a long-standing passion for food, he wanted to build something of his own: Foraged Foods.
“That focus became building food brands, making food brands better and distributing them differently. I started looking at brands that are for sale and somebody pointed me into the direction of Knapp’s,” Brewer said.
Brewer said he doesn’t want to change the original Knapp’s, but aims to bring a “renewed vision” and a “polished, elevated” version of the brand.
Knapp’s is known for its breakfast, and Brewer said the diner also offers a great happy hour. One key change he plans is to extend happy hour beyond the bar and throughout the entire restaurant. He also wants to fill the gap between breakfast and dinner.
“There’s a lot of stuff in between. I think we can serve more people, lunch and dinner probably being the biggest opportunity for that. We’re working on getting people in for early or late lunch, early dinner to serve a completely different type of clientele than we typically do,” Brewer said.
He continued, “Where I’m focused is, I want to serve everyone in the community. The restaurant is big enough–we’ve got three dining rooms and a lounge–to be able to provide a unique experience for anybody that comes in. There’s plenty of space at Knapp’s for concurrent experiences.”
Brewer is also considering extending the restaurant’s hours on select days and expanding the dinner menu.
“I think there’s room for more tastes when it comes to dinner. What I see in the future is we do a corned beef from scratch and baby back ribs would be excellent. We’ve got other proteins that would be a very different take on dinner than what we’ve got,” he said.
Brewer looks forward to the potential of the old-school staple.
“Knapp’s has always been a pillar of the community and I want to do more around that,” he said.
Knapp’s could be just the beginning of his restaurant portfolio.
“I’m always looking for that food or brand that is underrepresented. My next mission in 2026 is finding food brands, maybe even before they are brands, to help enhance, elevate and expand their universe. It’s the beginning. I won’t be limited to finding other brick and mortar restaurants to resurrect,” Brewer said.
For updates on Knapp’s Restaurant, visit the website and follow along on Instagram and Facebook.
