Business Community

Anthony’s Restaurants group buying Gig Harbor’s landmark Tides Tavern

The tectonic plates underlying Gig Harbor’s restaurant industry have shifted, with the Tides Tavern announcing it will be acquired by the Kirkland-based Anthony’s Restaurants group.

CEO and owner Dylan Stanley confirmed that the Tides is “under contract” to sell the 53-year-old waterfront business to Anthony’s. Known for its reliably high-quality seafood, Anthony’s already operates 32 restaurants around the Pacific Northwest, including Anthony’s at Gig Harbor, just over a mile down the bay from the Tides.

Dylan Stanley’s father, Peter Stanley, now 78, founded the Tides in 1973. Dylan came on full-time in 2011.

Anthony’s “will steward [the Tides] in a way that honors its legacy and keeps the Tides unique and special in the decades to come,” Dylan Stanley said in a prepared statement.

Anthony’s Restaurants is buying the Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor. Photo courtesy of the Tides Tavern.

Staff to remain

Tides chef John-Vincent Palacio and general manager Kristin Bergeson, as well as the restaurant’s management team, will stay in their roles, “continuing to lead the Tides and serve the Gig Harbor community,” Stanley said.

Stanley said in a news release that Anthony’s is “hopeful that the entire staff will choose to continue on under their ownership.” The sale will be complete within the next four weeks, “if all goes well.”

“The Tides will still be the Tides. Same great people, food and service, as always,” Stanley said.

The Tides’ press release quotes Anthony’s president and CEO Amy Burns saying: “The Tides Tavern is a treasured part of the Gig Harbor community, and we’re honored to be entrusted with its next chapter.”

“My father, Budd Gould, and my brothers, Herb and JJ Gould, share a deep respect for what the Stanley family has built. As fate would have it, my father started Anthony’s 53 years ago as well, committed to upholding the same care, warmth, and Northwest hospitality that have made the Tides such an important gathering place for generations.”

Stanley declined to state Anthony’s acquisition price for the Tides, or revenue or income figures for his business.

The place everyone knows

But a visit to the Tides gives the impression of a popular, bustling restaurant serving locals and tourists alike. In summer, the crowd swells to include boat-in diners, served in their vessels while moored at the Tides’ large dock.

The Tides has evolved toward upscale dining during its half-century-plus in business at 2925 Harborview Drive. The journey started when Peter Stanley, now 78 years old, bought quirky and rough-at-the-edges (some would say to-the-core) Three-Fingered Jack’s Tavern in 1973, for $50,000 and a promise to foot the previous owner’s business debts. Over the years, its pull-tabs, pool tables and live music went away, along with its order-at-the-counter food service model.

As it aged into what is likely Gig Harbor’s oldest continuously operating, public-facing business, the Tides became a local institution, a feature of the city that out-of-towners recognized even if they know nothing else about place. And while keeping its rustic interior and picture-perfect view of the harbor, the Tides evolved a menu that competes easily with “nice” waterfront restaurants (including Anthony’s).

The Tides’ fame and its recognizability as a symbol of Gig Harbor earned it a mayoral proclamation when the business turned 50 years old in August 2023. Speaking before the city council and a crowd of citizens, then-mayor Tracie Markley declared the Tides a well-run, “iconic and joyous meeting place” and saluted its two generations of management.

“This was not an easy decision,” Dylan Stanley, 56, said of the sale to Anthony’s. “The Tides has been part of our family for 53 years. My dad and I are incredibly grateful to our loyal customers, employees, and the community for their support over the years, and we are grateful that Anthony’s, another family-owned company,” will continue their legacy.

Stanley looks forward to ‘decompressing’

In an interview, Dylan Stanley said that after the acquisition closes, he looks forward to “just kind of decompressing for a while and giving myself a good 6 months of not being tied to the phone” or thinking about the business.

Stanley said while he will be available to Anthony’s for questions or consultation following the sale, he is not joining the company.

“I’ve been a boss for a long time,” said Stanley, who also co-founded the Old Town Bicycle group of stores, later sold to Trek Bicycles. He also started, and then sold, a company that manufactures fly-fishing tackle boxes, he said.

“I’m looking forward to recouping some of that family time” and spending more time with his two daughters, who are college age, Stanley said.