20-05-2025
Spot with ‘best sandwiches in T-Town' closes. New owner plans to revamp menu
Outpost Sandwiches at Court House Square, one of the city's best lunch restaurants, closed its most recent chapter last week, as a new owner — a chef with many years of experience in the local industry and beyond — plans to revamp the space and concept.
Partners Adolfo 'Fito' Calles and Lauren Hernandez said goodbye to their sandwich shop after service on May 15, ending a journey that began in 2017. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in an Instagram post the next day, it appeared that personal reasons drove the decision.
'Well we are speechless. 8 years. 120,000 sandwiches, a pandemic, a baby… and shortly another baby. Thank you everyone who has come by this week or reached out. It really means the world to us,' they wrote under a photo of toasted and untoasted bread — likely Macrina Bakery sourdough, the shop's loaf of choice. 'We get asked by friends and family, why we decided to move to Tacoma and this is clearly one of the reasons … we've really felt the love of the community.'
Dave Cooper, most recently of the venerable Marzano in Parkland and Le Pichet at Pike Place Market, has bought the business. Like en Rama and Liftbridge Coffee upstairs, the developer of Court House Square, A Street Associates, built the restaurant spaces and contracted out the management of them to industry professionals. Last year, the building owner sold en Rama to new owners, and now Outpost has followed a similar path.
The News Tribune also reached out to the building owner's representative for more information.
Court House Square was originally built in 1919 for the U.S. Postal Service. It was renovated in the early 1980s, according to county property records, but its modern life really began in 2012 when A Street Associates purchased it 'with the intention of bringing its 72,000 square feet back to life,' according to the organization's website.
In addition to the food and drink businesses (which, years ago, included Ice Cream Social's production facility and an Infinite Soups next to Outpost — then called The Countertop), the five-floor structure is also home to a few dozen small businesses, from tattoo shops to recording studios, florists to therapy. The fourth-floor holds a desirable ballroom event space and the third floor co-working office The Pioneer Collective. There is still a working post office on the main floor.
Outpost was beloved not only as a top choice for a quick lunch downtown but also as a destination for sandwiches made with care.
Calles comes from a family of restaurant-industry professionals and worked for many years in kitchens around the Bay Area and food trucks in Los Angeles before settling in Tacoma. In an interview with The News Tribune in 2022, he said the shop had offered relatively 'safe food' when he and Hernandez took over in 2017. They kicked things up several notches, focusing on homemade touches by roasting beef, pickling onions, whipping lemon-herb mayo and fresh basil pesto.
'Homemade is our biggest push as a sandwich shop,' said Calles in 2022. 'I want it to be comforting.'
In the downtime of 2020, they developed a Friday pizza ritual, perfecting the recipe for their Grandma-style pie — available only by the slice, and only on Fridays — over the next few years.
Outpost shared many Instagram stories last week from fans. 'Best sandwiches in T-Town. Period,' said one. 'Y'all were seriously so good at what you did,' said another. On Reddit, a Fircrest resident said, 'I eat lunch there every time I work from downtown Tacoma.'
Cooper anticipates various updates, both aesthetic and menu-wise, he confirmed in an email to The News Tribune. Bringing years of experience in the kitchen, including at respected restaurants in Chicago, he hopes to share more details next month.
▪ 1102 A St. (basement level — main entrance on South 12th Street)
▪ Details: new owner for Court House Square sandwich shop; target opening early summer 2025
