Duke’s Chowder House – Ruston Way

We happened upon Duke’s after an impromptu drive to lovely Tacoma, WA. What a great find. Then again, it seems that Duke has quite a history as one of the Seattle area’s most established chef/​owners.
First of all, everything on the menu is fresh, local, sustainable, nitrate-​free. Even the fountain soda is HFCS free and LOCAL! Seriously.
Menu prices for this level of quality makes no sense. I would’ve paid twice for this meal, it was just. That. Good.
I had the special, Summer Seafood Grill with fresh, skewered Mexican Prawns, atop a huge piece of Wild King Salmon, which was THEN PUT ATOP a sweet potato prawn cake. Ridiculous.
My wife’s Dungeness Crab Club was creamy, crunchy, perfectly seasoned and served with hand cut sweet potato fries.
Our 10 year-​old had the fresh fried Cod with Chowder combo and she loved it. Our server, Matt, who was friendly, attentive and kind, even offered her more chowder ‘on him.‘
The staff were all fantastic and we absolutely fell in love with Duke’s. I highly recommend visiting Tacoma, too. Friendly town with a lot of really great architecture and obviously some fantastic restaurants.

Happy hours deal, got the calm chowder was delicious and lot of clam. Indeed the crab cake is award winning dish, fill with lot of crab meats. Restaurant with view…

Had the mussels and crab cake which wear amazing! Cherry on top was our waiter who never let our drinks get low and anticipated every need. View of mt reiner is not great but still a awesome view of the bay.

Forgot I was so jaded by my beef experience a couple years back. I have been back a few times now and I do enjoy the seafood! The crab cakes are delicious, though a bit small for the price, when getting as an appetizer. They cook salmon right… tender and delicious. Unlike Anthony’s, they serve much better sides and vegetables. Much more «gourmet» with the tender crisp asparagus and starch choices. The sourdough bread served with meals is pretty special also. My advice, come for the seafood and expect portions to be a bit small.

I am going to miss this place when I move. The sunset on the water with a spicy crab chowder, glass of wine and finish the evening with a delicious moist carrot cake (happens to be gluten free but the laymen would never notice) is a delightful evening. A comfortable location to meet friends or family. I had a great server Cesar who allowed me to just sit and watch the humpback whales pass by this evening.

I started coming here because my favorite Bartender (Kristy) started working here. To my amazement, the entire restaurant and the rest of the staff is completely amazing. I love being here a lot.
There is not a bad dish on the menu.
The restaurant is clean, the food is great, and the staff is friendly.

Great lunch had the «hanky panky prawns» with potatos and asparagus. Very good and the service was great

Phenomenal food, the «Dungeness crab stuffed just for the halibut» tasted amazing!
The service was very welcoming and the view of the ocean was great.

The clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is as advertised… award winning.
Great staff and cannot beat the view.

It’s our first time here and it’s no wonder why they have excellent ratings! The service is excellent, the food is great and the views are wonderful!
It’s was partly cloudy at lunch time but warm enough to eat outdoors. I ordered the Prawns Ceviche and Clam Chowder while my husband ordered the Chowder (he selected the Lobster Mobster — Bisque with langostinos) and Organic «Wild Child» Salad Combo. The Chowders are a tad on the salty side but still very good, especially since for us the best Clam Chowder and Seafood/​Lobster Bisque are those from Stew Leonard’s in Connecticut. These are not far behind in taste and quality.
Our server, Chloe, was never remiss on checking on us and how the food was. She informed the manager who immediately came up to us to apologize, and offered to take the Chowders off of our tab! We said it’s not a problem because we still enjoyed our lunch anyway and that we will definitely be back for more! That is what we call service in pursuit of excellence!
More power to you guys and see you again soon!

Been dying to come here for some time but the lines outside of Duke’s has always been prohibitive (unless of course you want to wait the 2 hours for your Sunday brunch… no thank you.) On the Saturday night that we did end up coming here, we were lucky enough to get seated within 15 minutes.
On the positive side: cocktails are on the high side, but you definitely get your money’s worth. Loved their moscow mule — light, cold, refreshing, with a solid punch! Absolutely get their chowder and their service is on point — fast and friendly, just how it should be!
What I would have liked to see better: a cleaner dining facility — this place is undoubtedly busy but the little dining area we sat in that was off to the right of the main room was somewhat in disarray. Lots crumbs on the floor and tables that had large parties that just left which were not yet cleaned up (and we didn’t arrive for dinner right before closing time). This just left a not-​so-​pleasant first impression when we have been trying (and failing) to get into Dukes for dinner and/​or brunch for some time now. I would have also loved a little less lemon on my halibut. I wanted to have died and gone to heaven, but i think the sourness of the lemon still kept me alive.
Still, we had a solid experience at Duke’s and (wait time permitting) I would not be opposed to venturing back here again.

I have a feeling that I’d rate higher if I had experienced the delicious looking cocktails and perhaps a different menu item.
Prices are good at happy hour and they have happy hour all week. Location is phenomenal and parking isn’t bad.
Service was good. Timely, attentive, and professional. The ambience is nice. We ate outside, as it was a nice day (not terribly hot, windy or cold.) honestly, I think I would have enjoyed dining-​in better. The inside looked classy with old wood accents, wide windows and roomy seating.
Outside, the tables were extremely close together and the built-​in heater posts were so cramped they trapped severs, bussers, and patrons in. Tubby and not-​so-​tubby people had to dance and squeeze passed them. This made for an awkward claustrophobic meal.
My son’s chicken fingers and fries were on point, very good.
My burger, not so much. The burger patty wasn’t a patty, it was just warmed unformed hamburger mush plopped onto a ‘meh’ bun. I know I ordered rare, but the meat wasn’t prepared the way a rare burger is prepared, like the grill wasn’t hot before to sear the edges quick. It was just warm, at best, including the «melted» congealed cheese and the soggy fried onions. The bottom part of the bun had turned into a gravy of sorts, being that the fluids from the meat and mayo soaked it into wet gravy matter. The lettuce was shredded iceberg, another no-​no.
I’ll give Duke’s another try, assuming that this trip was just a «Duke Fluke».

I love Dukes in Tacoma! The views of the water are fantastic and definitely take advantage of their outdoor seating when you can… SO worth it. Service was prompt and friendly and there’s no wait around 2:30 when I arrived. Prices aren’t terrible but expect to pay at least $ 20 to $ 25 for fresh fish, but that is pretty typical around here.
I ordered the 5oz blueberry and goat cheese salmon and a sampler of their lobster mobster and clam chowders. They give you a complimentary basket of warm sourdough bread MMMMMM! All of it was scrumptious and my total bill before tip was $ 39.35 (pricey for just me but still yummy).
Bonus: if you’re feeling stuffed, go walk it off on the trail that goes along Ruston Way. Great water views and exercise.

Good stuff: Clam chowder, outdoor seating with heating, free bread in a basket, service
Bad stuff: No mint with check!
Came here for dinner during restaurant week. Food was overall tasty and flavorful. Their award winning clam chowder certainly earned itself a standing ovation; of course I didn’t embarrass my wife and just ate it instead. The blueberry and goat cheese salmon was unique. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite dish of all time, but it was certainly worth trying. The peach sorbet was refreshing and had the right amount of sweetness. Overall good experience. Our server Matt was great too.
Would recommend to a friend who doesn’t mind paying extra to eat sustainable food.

TLDR: Good eats at the waterfront. Fast friendly service. Try the salmon sliders. Go during happy hour.
Restaurant built on a dock on raised pillars. Outdoor seating on a deck has a very nice view on a clear sunny day. Staff are friendly and food comes out really quick.
Complimentary sour dough bread while you wait.
Clam chowder: very herby and delicious! Clams slightly chewy but the flavor blasting herbs make up for it.
Salmon sliders: comes with three «sliders» and a small bowl of Cole slaw which had kale, cabbage, and carrots. This is a must have if you haven’t ordered this before. The salmon is very good and the pesto is slightly sour. Won’t be very filling in its own – get a small bowl of that chowder and you have a filling meal (at least for me it was).
Fish taco: good and very filling. Comes with chips and verde dip that is more on the sour side – followed by a kick of spice.
Cheryl’s Naughty Lemonade: tastes like sparkling lemonade with a hint of vodka. Perfect for a light and refreshing drink at any time of day.

Great food, great service. One of my absolute favorites. Try the calamari, the fish tacos, or the pesto pasta!
I also recommend hanging out at the bar — good times!
Tom, Chris, Zach, and Kyle make everything better. And they put the Rockette’s to shame.

This place was average. We asked to sit by the window and were told it’d be a 15 – 20 minute wait. Lucky for us — something opened up quickly and we had a lovely view of the water. The California Burger was very good. My husband had the fish & chips with the chowder and said it was just okay. While the hostess provided good service, the wait staff sis not. We were very much ignored (drinks unfilled, waiting for the check, etc). I wouldn’t go back — I’d check out other places on the water.

An extensive list of gluten free chowders made us make a special effort to stop by one of these restaurants during our stay in the Seattle area. This particular location was right on the water and I’m sure would have had a beautiful view if it hadn’t been dark out.
The atmosphere is fun and casual with interesting pictures and random items on the wall to look at. We were quickly greeted and shown to a table by the window. Our server was very attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable about gluten allergies.
I had to try one of their gf chowders since it’s so infrequent I get to nom on chowders which are usually prepared with flour. I ordered the champ clam chowder which was okay, but a less delectably addictive than the chowders I remember devouring in my youth before I was diagnosed Celiac. The seafood Ocean salad I ordered had a couple prawns and some crab and it was fine, but also fell a little short of my expectations. The boyfriend got a salad with a crab cake, presentation could have used some help as the crab cake was just tossed on top of the salad without any sauce and was very browned on one side, he left most of it. I was quivering with anticipation that they actually had gf desserts too! I ordered the carrot cake and greeted it’s cream cheese frosting with alacrity. Sad to report I once again was disgruntled by a dry cake and a random on the side raspberry sauce that didn’t combine well.
Sigh. I was fully prepared to make this place a local haunt once relocate. However, I must say service was great and the extensive list of gf options are encouraging and I’ll likely be back to give it another try. I did think prices were pretty high, especially when I was impressed by neither the food quality or quantity.

Stopped by here before my cousin’s show at the Tacoma Dome on February 13^th. My aunt had luckily called a few days before and was able to squeeze in a reservation for 2:45pm, we forgot it was Valentine’s Day weekend. We were sat by the window looking out onto the water even though it was quite grey and rainy that day. Parking was pretty easy within the large lot out front, too. There were 6 of us total and I believe 3 or 4 of us got the Dungeness crab «un» cake salad, my cousin got halibut and someone else had the prawns special. Our server was incredibly nice and checked in on us regularly, he knew we were sort of on a schedule that day. The food was really good and our group had a fun time chatting and catching up. The location is pretty nice right on the water, I’m sure on sunny days it’s really amazing with the view. I’d definitely stop by here again in the future, thanks, Duke’s!

Went for lunch with visiting family. Nice spot by the water, enough parking at lunch. Arrived at opening and got a sweet table by the windows. Local bird hanging out on the deck was fun to watch. Boats passing by. Nice atmosphere.
Staff was friendly and very helpful when we said it was our first time. Answered all our questions at the table. We opted to get the soup sampler and lots of fish plates.
Presentation on the soup sampler was awesome. Cute little scallop bowls with bread. I liked all but one of the soups.
Our fish meals were excellent. I honestly liked all but one soup. Would return to try more! They have a club thing and I got an email for a free item. I look forward to returning to try more items on the menu. It was a wonderful meal with good service.