Here's a fun stop in Puyallup, a few miles out of Tacoma: the
Powerhouse Restaurant and Brewery. The red brick building started out as a substation to step down the voltage from a hydroelectric plant on a side of Mt. Rainier to a current the trolley system could use.
The history notes in the menu say that the station converted to serving the residential and business customers after the auto replaced the trolley, and did so until 1957, then was used for storage by P.S.E. until the late 60s. Rescued and rehabbed by the current owners, parts of the interior are a sort of museum of electricity.
Old glass insulating posts, shown in the lower picture, run along the booth dividers throughout the restaurant area. This is one of the best microbrewery adaptations of a historic building to interpret its past.
Oh, they do beer here, too. I saw seven regular taps and three seasonals. A couple of electrical names, Powerhouse Pale and Amperage Amber, but they don't overdo it. I tried the Pale and it was nicely done without any unusual wrinkles. The menu appeared to be pretty much pub fare, but with some steak, fish and chicken dishes that could be tasty.
(Visited 1/28/11)
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