At Tacoma’s Engine House 9, a rustic restaurant and bar, a pair of women chat in a corner. One of the women, Natalie Perkins, gently rocks an infant in a carrier. She catches the attention of the baby and they both smile and coo. Natalie, a stay-at-home mom, says she loves coming to Engine House 9 on her rare nights out to talk to adult friends and meet new people. Tonight she ran into an old high-school friend, Aubrey Lawless.

“It’s a great place to hook up,” says Lawless of the eatery, nicknamed E-9 by regulars.
The restaurant is located just off Tacoma’s main thoroughfare, Sixth Avenue, in a square brick building. A red, fire-station garage door sits out front. The building peers out onto the street through old oak trees that engulf its façade.

The inside decor of E-9 is a color palette of deep red and dark wood. Red parachutes—which were once used for saving lives—billow from the ceiling, and old wooden ladders hold lights above the tables. Vintage fire hose nozzles are lined up in front of the bar and an antique fire hose is perched in front of the restroom doors. Every square inch reminds customers of the building’s rich and historic past. E-9, the original Tacoma fire station, is on the National Registry of Historic Places. A registry plaque is prominently displayed on the front door.

Natalie and Aubrey wait for their friend Marty to meet them for a drink before the women head home for the night. Natalie, Aubrey and Marty all went to Wilson High School together and still meet at least once a week to catch up. Marty has recently become an educator, and as a young energetic leader, has devoted his days and evenings to the kids at his school. Today was his first conference to become oriented with his new school.

After Aubrey hands a second glass of beer to Natalie, Marty approaches and sits down.

“How was it?” Aubrey asks Marty. “A+,” Marty responds, smiling. His smile is wide and deep. “I was there all day,” he says , letting out a sigh, without losing the smile. “Sorry it took me so long. I went to the store for a second, didn’t know you were already here. I should have listened better to the (phone) message.”

“I should have clarified and said ‘two sexy ladies in sweatshirts’,” joked Natalie. “Maybe you would have been here on time.” Marty laughs, and lifts his head in an attempted “rico suave” move, then pours himself a glass of beer from the pitcher. Marty’s outfit is typical of the men at E-9. Young, professional, yet hip and casual, Marty wears a pair of dark blue jeans, a striped white dress shirt and a black leather blazer.

Marty recently became a detention teacher at the local middle school and has been coming to E-9 since before he was the legal drinking age. When the threesome was asked about the E-9 culture, both women turn their heads quickly towards Marty. “He’s the one to ask,” says Natalie. “He practically lives here.”

Marty first came to E-9 with a cousin who was a teacher. His cousin had known that Friday afternoons at E-9 were notorious for gatherings of teachers in the area: “venting,” says Marty. Though he wasn’t a teacher at the time, Marty came seeking friends, advice and fellowship from educators, and kept with the tradition—usually at least three times per week.
“First of all, it’s a cool building,” says Marty, who likes to bring out-of-town friends here when he can. He nods his head towards an older couple sitting two tables away. “It’s a place where different people gather. From 21 to retired, we all co-exist.”

As you walk up towards the front door of E-9, you peer through the large glass window on the left that looks directly into the kitchen. Greased-stained red aprons adorn the two cooks who share a few inaudible comments and cackle. The front door opens to a counter covered with a sea of newspaper clippings from the Tacoma Weekly, Tacoma Ranger and South Sound Newsletter, band flyers, group flyers and community event notices. Rising above the counter is the largest brass fire pole still in existence in Tacoma. There used to be a round opening in the ceiling, but it blocked off now.

Back at the threesome’s table, a server brings the women hamburgers. She leaves the table and then returns bringing an old cardboard Thomas Kemper Orange Soda box filled with barbeques sauces, ketchup and E-9’s secret sauce.

The server, Janet Sperling, has been in restaurants since she graduated high school. She worked at Applebee’s for almost 10 years, then switched to Ricardo’s, an Italian restaurant next door to E-9, then moved to E-9 last year. She doesn’t have to wear a uniform, she can chat with the customers, and she enjoys the laid back atmosphere of the old fire station. Today Janet is wearing a pink Tequila Rose tee shirt underneath a black hoodie. A large dangly pink-beaded necklace and bracelet jingle as she refills waters, and delivers monochromatic taupe-colored meals: hamburgers and French fries, quesadillas and tater tots, and chowder and mashed potatoes.

“Comfortable,” Aubrey describes E-9, “it’s unique but not, at the same time.”
Tuesdays at E-9 are quiz nights, when customers organize into teams to answer random trivia questions in the hope of winning prizes that include a free beer, a beach ball, a E-9 T-shirt or a visor with a local bank’s logo on it. Tuesday quiz nights are a tradition at E-9.
Another longstanding tradition is the beer club, a popular rite of passage for beer drinking college students. To be a member of the beer club, you have to try every beer at E-9, 90 beers in 90 days.

Rows and row of beer club plaques reach from floor to ceiling in the back half of the bar, each with a beer-drinker’s name and the year they were initiated into the club.
“Am I a member of the beer club?” repeats Marty. He laughs, “no.” The beer club is an institution for college students, professors, parents, and anyone looking for a little challenge. “Some names are on the plaques 60 or 70 times,” says Marty.

“And if you do the math,” adds Natalie, “that’s a hell of a lot of money!” The three laugh. Traditions are the soul of the E-9 culture.

“Are you staying for trivia?” asks Marty. Once you have been to E-9 you are part of the crowd, and you are expected to be a participant. Come back whenever you feel like it, but do not forget that Thursday is Karaoke night.