Business Community
Ivar’s Seafood Bar coming to Uptown Gig Harbor
Ivar’s Seafood, the iconic Seattle-based restaurant chain, will open a location in the Uptown Gig Harbor complex early in 2026.
Ivar’s signed a lease in November for the former Lunchbox Laboratory location at 4901 Point Fosdick Dr. No. 700. It hopes to open in February, President Bob Donegan said in a phone interview with Gig Harbor Now.
“We’ve looked at Gig Harbor for 15 years,” Donegan said. “We’ve seen every 2,000-square-foot space that’s come available. … We’re happy this one finally came up.”
An Ivar’s Seafood Bar is planned for the former Lunchbox Laboratory location in the Uptown shopping center. Photo by Vince Dice
Seafood Bar
The Gig Harbor Ivar’s will be one of the chain’s Seafood Bar locations.
An image filed with the city of Gig Harbor indicates what signage will go on the new Ivar’s Seafood Bar in Uptown.
Seafood Bars are “fast-casual” eateries, in contrast to Ivar’s flagship location near Colman Dock in Seattle, its Salmon House on Lake Union or the Mukilteo Landing restaurant.
Ivar’s operates 18 Seafood Bars, the nearest on South Mildred Street in Tacoma and South Tacoma Way in Lakewood. Menus vary by location, but typically include fish and chips and the clam chowder that made the chain famous.
Gig Harbor will be the first new Ivar’s Seafood Bar since the Issaquah location debuted in 2018, Donegan said. The company also converted a Kidd Valley Hamburgers restaurant to an Ivar’s Seafood Bar in Kirkland in 2019.
Hiring and menu
Ivar’s plans to hire about a dozen employees for the Gig Harbor restaurant. Postings on Indeed and Glassdoor show the company recruiting for general manager and assistant manager jobs here.
The space provides plenty of capacity. It has indoor seating for about 80 people, with another 40 or so seats available on the patio during the good-weather months.
Photo courtesy of Ivar’s.
The extra space may allow Ivar’s to offer a larger menu than it does at other Seafood Bars. Donegan suggested that the Gig Harbor location may offer more menu items from Ivar’s Kidd Valley brand.
Kidd Valley burgers have proven popular at Ivar’s stadium locations, including Cheney Stadium, T-Mobile Field and CenturyLink Field.
Donegan said the Gig Harbor location may also feature more chicken and salad dishes, along with the usual chowder and fish and chips.
Lunchbox Laboratory
The site in Uptown — close to Milkvue Donuts and Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt — has been vacant since Lunchbox Laboratory closed in January 2024.
Lunchbox opened there in 2015, initially as part of a Seattle-based chain of burger joints. New owners acquired the Gig Harbor location in 2022, according to The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma. Those new owners did not respond to inquiries about the closure last year.
Donegan said Ivar’s had interest in that specific Uptown location even before Lunchbox opened there. After Lunchbox closed, Uptown management reached out and a deal soon followed.
Uptown Shopping Center
Donegan said the Uptown spot is especially attractive to the chain. He cited its easy access to Highway 16, the thousands of cars that pass by on Point Fosdick Drive every day, and the strong adjacent anchor tenants, like Safeway and Kohl’s.
“With the grocery stores and Safeway gas island, we’re finding that people visit the center a couple times a week,” Donegan said. “We’re hoping that people will stop in for some fish and chips and chowder.”
The interior hasn’t been touched since Lunchbox Laboratory closed in 2024. Photo by Vince Dice
