Choosing among 6th Avenue Tacoma restaurants comes down to timing: Southern Kitchen for fried chicken, Fuzion Cafe for an early dinner, and Matador, on Pacific Avenue, for happy hour and late food.
- Dinner with a crowd-pleaser: Southern Kitchen, at 1716 6th Ave.
- Early weeknight Asian dinner: Fuzion Cafe, at 6820 6th Ave, Tuesday to Saturday only.
- Drinks and food after dark: Matador, a short detour from the avenue, open until midnight or 1am depending on the day.
This walk goes by street number, so you can pick a stop by when you plan to eat. If you are still choosing a neighbourhood, the wider best restaurants in tacoma guide shows how 6th Avenue fits alongside the rest of the city.
The corridor at a glance
The addresses below are spread along 6th Avenue, so treat the corridor as separate stops rather than one stroll. Pick the row that matches your hour of arrival.
| Stop | Address | Hours or status | Planning use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuzion Cafe | 6820 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406-1704 | Tuesday-Saturday 4 pm-9 pm; closed Sunday and Monday | Early dinner only. Arrive before the evening gets late. |
| Aladdin Mediterranean Food | 6409 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406 | Permanently closed | Cross it off your list. |
| Matador | 721 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, WA 98402 | Sunday-Thursday 11am-12am; Friday and Saturday 11am-1am | Lunch, happy hour and late food. It sits on Pacific Avenue, not 6th. |
Hours and status for Fuzion Cafe and Aladdin come from the Fuzion Cafe listing and the Aladdin listing, while Matador’s details come from the restaurant’s own Tacoma page.
Southern Kitchen for fried chicken
Southern Kitchen is at 1716 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98405, and its listing describes it as sitting on the 6th Avenue corridor in downtown Tacoma. It has been serving the Pacific Northwest community since 2004, and its signature dish is fried chicken.
It suits a group where nobody wants to negotiate a menu. Fried chicken is a familiar order, and a restaurant that has been running that long is a safer pick than a newcomer when you are feeding several people. The limit is that no opening hours are listed in the material behind this guide, so confirm today’s hours directly before you plan a dinner around it.
Choose it when the priority is a hearty, familiar meal. Look elsewhere if you want a bar-style evening, since the verified detail points to the food rather than the drinks.
Fuzion Cafe for an early Asian dinner
Fuzion Cafe is at 6820 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406-1704, and is described as an Asian eatery. The hours listed are 4 pm to 9 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, with Sunday and Monday closed.
That schedule makes it a dinner-only plan. It is a poor fit for lunch, a Sunday meal or a Monday night, and it is not a late-night option because the kitchen window ends at 9 pm. It is the stop that sits farthest along the avenue in this guide, with the highest street number, so give yourself time to reach it rather than treating it as an add-on to a downtown walk.
It suits a weeknight when you want to eat at a reasonable hour and be home afterwards. Before you go, check the hours on its listing, because a short Tuesday-to-Saturday window leaves little room for error.
Brunch along 6th Avenue
None of the stops here lists a dedicated brunch service, so plan brunch as a late-morning meal rather than a guaranteed menu. Fuzion Cafe does not open until 4 pm, which rules it out entirely, and Southern Kitchen’s hours need confirming.
The practical option is Matador, which opens at 11am every day of the week. That makes it a workable late-morning or early-lunch stop, although its page does not present a brunch menu, so look at the current menu before promising anyone eggs and toast.
If brunch is the whole point of the outing, decide on the restaurant first and the corridor second. Call ahead for the weekend menu and seating, and keep an 11am arrival in mind as the earliest verified opening in this guide.
Bars, happy hour and late food
For bars and late food, Matador is the dependable pick in this guide, but it is on Pacific Avenue rather than 6th Avenue. Its Tacoma restaurant is at 721 Pacific Ave in downtown Tacoma.
Matador’s late hours
Matador is open from 11am to 12am Sunday through Thursday and from 11am to 1am on Friday and Saturday. That is the longest verified service window among the stops here, which makes it the answer to “where can we eat after the other kitchens close?” It is also the only stop here with a posted bar-style offer, so it covers drinks as well as dinner.
Happy hour windows
Happy hour at Matador runs daily from 4pm to 6pm and again from 10pm to midnight. The two windows suit different plans. The early one fits a pre-dinner drink or an inexpensive start to the evening, while the late one fits a post-show or post-dinner stop that still has a kitchen behind it.
Note that the late window ends at midnight, so on Friday and Saturday the kitchen and bar stay open an hour past the end of happy hour. Arrive inside the window if the discount is the reason you are going.
If you came specifically for a bar that sits on 6th Avenue itself, check the street’s current listings before you commit. For a guaranteed drink and food combination with posted hours, Matador is the safer plan.
Walking the corridor and sitting outside
Start with the lowest street number and work towards the higher ones, matching each stop to its hours. Southern Kitchen at 1716 is the early anchor, the closed Aladdin site at 6409 is a landmark you can skip, and Fuzion Cafe at 6820 is the far end. Matador is a separate detour on Pacific Avenue.
Because the stops are spread out, check route options with Pierce Transit or a map before you try to walk between them. A day built around one or two stops will feel better than a crawl built around all of them.
If your evening is anchored on a show, the restaurants near theater district tacoma guide may fit better than this corridor. If you would rather eat in a more residential setting, try the proctor district tacoma restaurants picks instead.
Decision checklist
- Fix the time first. Before 4 pm, Fuzion Cafe is closed, so look at Matador from 11am or confirm Southern Kitchen’s hours.
- Check the day. On Sunday and Monday, Fuzion Cafe is closed, which leaves Southern Kitchen and Matador.
- Choose the mood. Pick Southern Kitchen for fried chicken, Fuzion Cafe for Asian food, Matador for drinks.
- Plan the late end. After Fuzion Cafe’s 9 pm finish, Matador is the verified fallback until midnight or 1am on weekends.
- Confirm before leaving. Hours change, so check each listing on the day, especially for third-party details.
Frequently asked questions
Is Matador on 6th Avenue?
No. You will find the downtown Tacoma branch on Pacific Avenue at 721 Pacific Ave, not along 6th Avenue.
Is Aladdin Mediterranean Food still open?
No. Its former address at 6409 6th Ave is listed as permanently closed.
Does Southern Kitchen offer catering?
Yes. Its listing describes a dedicated catering service for events throughout the Tacoma area.
Which 6th Avenue stop is open latest?
Among the stops covered here, Matador stays open latest: until 1am on Friday and Saturday, and until 12am the rest of the week. It is on Pacific Avenue rather than 6th Avenue.
