Miss Charlestown Café? New home for some of its old favorites at White Center’s just-opened Taradise Café

Story and photos by Tracy Record and Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

“Welcome to Taradise.”

That’s the greeting you’ll see when entering our area’s newest restaurant/bar.

“Tara” is for proprietor Tara Scott, who’s celebrating the grand opening today for her Taradise Café in what used to be Marv’s Broiler at 9808 16th SW in downtown White Center.

Here’s the special attraction for West Seattleites:

If you miss the Charlestown Café – which closed 4 1/2 years ago at the site where the Rally townhouse development is going up – you’ll find some of its legacy at Taradise.

Tara herself, for one, is a Charlestown alum, and has several others on staff.

She tells WSB she’s really excited to have the permission to use some of the Charlestown’s recipes. Her permanent menu is still being finalized, so we don’t have the full lineup, but she mentioned the curried chicken salad, the pancakes, and the clam chowder, for openers.

We asked about the Montana Potatoes, by the way, and she said she has plans for them too – likely under the name Idaho Potatoes, since that’s where she’s from. The restaurant will serve breakfast all day as well as a full lunch menu and rotating dinner menu.

While Taradise Café has a bar – and two pool tables! as well as darts and TVs for sports-viewing – the restaurant is open to all ages. The hours for starters will be 6 am to midnight Sundays through Wednesdays, then 6 am to 2 am Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Family factored into Tara’s decision to open a restaurant now. She explained that she has wanted to do it for a while but needed to wait until she could devote more time and attention to it – one key factor, her youngest child is now at an age where some self-sufficiency is starting to emerge.

So if you’re looking for some place to celebrate New Year’s Eve, the grand-opening/NYE Party is on until 2 am at Taradise. This date holds significance for the location, the proprietor adds, because Marv’s Broiler opened on New Year’s Day in 1976.

30 Replies to "Miss Charlestown Café? New home for some of its old favorites at White Center's just-opened Taradise Café"

  • JanS December 31, 2015 (4:39 pm)

    seems that White Center is really opening up, what with Noble Barton, and now this…always nice to have a variety :)

  • miws December 31, 2015 (4:43 pm)

    Wow! Had no idea this change was in the works!

    .

    This is almost 40 years to the day, (January 1st 1976), that Marv took over ownership from Busey’s, who in the ’40’s(?) had opened it as a Triple X Rootbeer Drive-In, before switching to a diner type establishment sometime in the ’50’s, or perhaps ’60’s. I started working there in December 1975, as a dishwasher.

    .

    Marv hadn’t owned the place for around the past ten years, having sold it in 2005, but letting the then new owner keep the name.

    .

    Mike

  • Sandy Adams December 31, 2015 (4:52 pm)

    It will be great to see Tara again! I hope she will serve REAL waffles — not Belgian — like our beloved Charlestown used to do!!!

  • Gill December 31, 2015 (5:22 pm)

    Hi, Tara. Welcome to White Center! We look forward to walking a few blocks and trying out Taradise Cafe. Happy New Year!!

  • 4thGenWestSide December 31, 2015 (5:32 pm)

    Love love love Tara & her whole family. Good people. She will be very successful there.

  • scout 15 December 31, 2015 (5:51 pm)

    Yahooo! Cannot wait!!!

  • wseakell December 31, 2015 (6:17 pm)

    This is wonderful news! My husband and I went to Charlestown often when we first started dating, and 6 years later with our roots in White Center we look forward to many wonderful meals at Taradise. :) (Love the name too!)

  • Pamela Tihista December 31, 2015 (6:45 pm)

    Please bring back Ron’s Favorite. It was the best tuna sandwich I ever ate! Best of luck!

  • Danielle S. December 31, 2015 (6:48 pm)

    Yay!!! So happy for Tara & sooooo happy to have some of Charleston classics back in West Seattle. Those pancakes & chowder were the BEST!

  • SJoy December 31, 2015 (7:06 pm)

    Yay! The pancakes! We hope you bring back to eggs Benedict too! Can’t way to come check it out!

  • BJG December 31, 2015 (7:13 pm)

    We could not be happier. Good going,Tara! White Center is not so far to go for a little taste of old West Seattle. Can’t wait to order the Curried Chicken Salad again. We’ve been staying home for lack of good comfort food in a comfortable environment. (Angelina’s, Chelan, and Luna Park, we still love you too.)

  • dsa December 31, 2015 (7:40 pm)

    I love White Center. Thank you Tara.

  • westseattledood December 31, 2015 (8:00 pm)

    I always enjoyed Tara and so many other servers there. She is more wonderful than I remember for bringing some more hard work and tender loving cooking to WC.

    Awesome times three if those buckwheat pancakes show up again. That would be unreal! :D

    I also noticed there is paper up on the corner restaurant on Roxbury and one of the interior shops on 16th. I wonder if these are new enterprises or do-overs? You all know anything?

    I recently noticed that there are actual traffic jams on 16th now which show up on my traffic apps. Isn’t that awesome? :D

  • pupsarebest December 31, 2015 (8:06 pm)

    My husband and I miss Charlestown St. Cafe greatly—it was by far the best breakfast place in West Seattle, both in terms of food and friendly staff.
    Best of luck to Tara and her entire staff—we’ll be in soon.
    Happy New Year!

  • AMD December 31, 2015 (8:13 pm)

    Loved the Charlestown Cafe and love White Center! Great news to kick off the new year!

  • Hoku December 31, 2015 (9:54 pm)

    Saw this post & thought I’d stop by to support a new business on my way home. Especially since they’re new and won’t have anybody there. Not true: the place is rocking and I love seeing the variety of people here! This is an amazing addition to White Center!

  • Alki Guy December 31, 2015 (10:21 pm)

    Please bring back the oatmeal pecan pancakes. They were the best.

  • ceebee January 1, 2016 (9:18 am)

    Hallelujah! We would often get the Chicken Curry Salad and the Cobb Salad. So one of us is doing his happy dance.

  • Enviromaven January 1, 2016 (2:52 pm)

    I miss the Charlestown and can’t wait to try Taradise. Congratulations and best wishes for great success!

  • PG January 1, 2016 (3:01 pm)

    Am I just not seeing the address?

  • WSB January 1, 2016 (3:02 pm)

    3rd paragraph, right beneath the photo of Tara.

  • JJ January 1, 2016 (3:52 pm)

    Great place, great people. Awesome view of the Darci mountains

  • Sealth Grad January 1, 2016 (8:02 pm)

    “I’ve got – TWO Tickets to Taradise!”

  • DBurns January 1, 2016 (8:17 pm)

    Congratulations, Tara and boys!! Truly hope it’s a blast and that things go well and success is smooth.
    We’ll be in soon for sure!
    Donna

  • MsD January 1, 2016 (8:28 pm)

    Agreed, Pamela Tihista. I still crave the Ron’s Favorite tuna sandwich. I’ve tried to replicate it with not-so-great results. Looking forward to trying Taradise. My whole family is very excited about the chowder.

  • KAA January 2, 2016 (10:49 am)

    Was excited to try it out, but when we got the family there this morning, they didn’t have highchairs yet.

  • JoanE January 2, 2016 (7:15 pm)

    the potato pancakes and house made apple sauce at Charleston were the stuff of dreams. Can I add those to the wish list? And happy to hear some of the staff will be back – Charleston was the very first place I had breakfast after moving to Seattle in the 90s.

  • J.See January 4, 2016 (2:28 am)

    Look, you want to call it a family place? Get some high chairs. No, not just one. It’s a nightmare to try and hold my toddler while we eat. I’m not paying to go to a place and have to do that. I know they just opened, but really. Don’t say you’re a family place and then act surprised when we bring family in.

  • TDart January 4, 2016 (11:57 am)

    Congrats Tara! You’ve been a West Seattle staple for as long as I can remember, serving my family at Charlestown Cafe. So excited for you! Will come to see you soon!

  • MsD January 5, 2016 (10:29 pm)

    Please don’t get high chairs. I love the comment about the absolute horror of trying to dine with a child without them. (The struggle is real and the stuff of nightmares, ya’ll.) The images I have in my head are better than paying for cable! Thank you.

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