Owner renovated popular restaurant #k5evening with hard work and instructional YouTube videos
TACOMA, Wash. — Judging by the line of people waiting to get in, it seems like everyone wants a piece of Tacoma's Side Piece Kitchen.
“Sidepiece started as just a pipe dream,” said Hailey Hernandez, who was burned out at her previous job and took out a $2,000 payday loan in 2022 to start a takeout-only business.
“Our biscuits are 100% handmade,” she says. “In fact, all of our products are handmade.”
Within a year, demand for the biscuits and cheesecake was so high that Hernandez convinced her husband, Dante, to join Side Piece. The two found a brick-and-mortar store in a rundown pizza place near the Tacoma Mall. Haley Hernandez got started with the help of YouTube videos.
“So much can be found on the internet these days,” she laughed. “I think with the help of the internet you could even build a restaurant.”
“She's got drive,” Dante says, “she's got passion and she's going to see it through no matter what.”
“I can do anything. That's what I have to constantly remind myself,” Haley said. “I can do anything I set my mind to.”
The food here is fantastic – they often sell out of biscuits by noon – and the restaurant's zany '70s vibe reflects the vibe of the couple who started it.
“We were born and raised here and we're not ashamed to be 100 percent Tacoman,” Haley said.
“We're not mincing words,” Dante added, “we're just having a good time while we're doing it, and I think that shows.”
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