"Either we do this here or never." Trish Huff said that about the corner of Harborview Drive and Pioneer Way after she heard Heritage Distilling was leaving its tasting room there. She and her brother, Nick Hosea, chose "here." By August, Gig Harbor Now was describing crowds at the corner, with people on bistro chairs out front and others peering into shop windows along the street.
That corner is the most finished piece of a stretch that changed a lot this year. It runs from Pioneer Way down past The Tides to Ancich Waterfront Park. Walk it in early October 2026 and you'll pass one new business that's fully open. You'll also pass a market that planned to close for a remodel, a smokehouse with new owners and no opening date yet, and a cleared pier site waiting on a fishing dock the city doesn't expect to start building until early 2027. Most of the timelines along this stretch point to next year.
The corner that's already done
The Midway opened July 2 at 3118 Harborview Drive, in the space Heritage Distilling left. Heritage had announced its Gig Harbor tasting room would close Dec. 31, 2025. A spirits tasting room became a deli and café, which is a different kind of daytime stop at the busiest intersection downtown.
Huff and Hosea grew up in Gig Harbor and started Morso Bistro in 2020. The name has local roots. It honors their mother, who was a teacher, and the Midway School, an old wooden schoolhouse in the peninsula's Midway neighborhood along 38th Avenue south of 56th Street.
On the menu, Gig Harbor Now's August coverage named the Moira Rose, a kimchi grilled cheese, along with the Plain Jane grilled cheese, The Montauk and The Frenchie. The News Tribune's opening story listed:
- croissants, pastries and scones made daily, plus cakes, cookies and bars in the case
- a vegan carrot cake with tahini glaze
- spicy garbanzo, potato and roasted carrot harissa salads
- espresso drinks, beer and wine
- jams, olives and bread dips to take home
Hosea likes to experiment with the pastry case. In August a caramelized onion danish didn't sell nearly as well as the fresh peach and mint version he'd made before it.
Hours have shifted since opening. The News Tribune reported 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in July, and Gig Harbor Now reported 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in August. The online ordering page currently lists 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, but it doesn't show when it was last updated. Either way, The Midway closes in mid-afternoon, so plan for lunch, not dinner. The owners have said delivery or longer hours could come later.
A few doors down, a market between versions
gather Gig Harbor, spelled with a lowercase g, is at 3126 Harborview Drive. It's owned by Pouneh Minovi Kaufman and her mother, Mandy Minovi. It soft-opened in June. It was the first market to open downtown since Harbor General Store on Pioneer Way closed in 2023.
The summer version was mostly retail: crackers, salami, pretzels, candy bars, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, plus $40 insulated picnic baskets you could fill from the shelves at 10% off. Kaufman described it as a stop for boaters, residents and visitors to pick up supplies for a day on the water.
The longer plan is a different business. In July, Kaufman told The News Tribune that gather would close in the fall for a full remodel and hoped to reopen in 2027 with a Mediterranean café. In August, she told Gig Harbor Now the larger remodel was planned for next year. The owners had also withdrawn some special-use permit requests for events because the cost outweighed the benefits. We couldn't confirm whether gather is open this week. Check before you go, especially if you're counting on it for picnic supplies on a dry October afternoon.
Around the corner on Pioneer Way, a smokehouse with new owners
Brimstone PNW Smokehouse served its last meal at 7707 Pioneer Way on Aug. 2. Brenda and Matt Henning bought the business. They own My 4 Sons BBQ at 9823 Portland Ave. E. in Midland and plan to call the Gig Harbor location M4S BBQ. At the Midland restaurant, meats are smoked daily over hickory, and rubs, sauces and sides are made from scratch.
In late August, Gig Harbor Now expected a soft opening within a week or two. That didn't happen. A report on Oct. 2, based on a state liquor license application, still had no exact opening date and pointed readers to the My 4 Sons BBQ Facebook page for updates.
A bit uphill, B's Bagels & Butters is preparing to move from 3308 Uddenberg Lane into the former O'Looney's Irish Pub at 3222 56th St. The owners are aiming for a full opening in spring 2027, and the current shop stays open until then.
Down the shoreline, what the crane is doing
The red crane at Ancich Waterfront Park in September wasn't building anything yet. It was clearing the site first. Redside Construction, based on Bainbridge Island, started taking out the old Jerkovich Pier on Sept. 14, removing its decking and creosote-soaked piles, and by Sept. 26 The News Tribune reported the rest of the pier was gone. Nick Jerkovich estimated the original dock went in around 1915, came down around 1980, and was rebuilt into the structure crews just removed. His family still moors boats at its private fishing floats off the park. The city said Ancich Park would stay open during the work. The Community Paddler's Dock is a city-owned float attached to the existing pier. We found no source saying whether it's open right now, so if you're launching a kayak, check with the city first.
The pier removal is environmental mitigation, and so is a second job a few blocks south. Under the city parking lot next to The Tides, a 36-inch storm drain has emptied straight into the harbor for years, eroding the shoreline. The fix is a rock pad 4 feet deep and 12 feet wide that extends at least 16 feet out from the drain to spread the flow. The next phase starts Monday. From Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9, Maritime Pier, its restrooms and several parking stalls will be closed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Dump trucks and a conveyor belt will spread gravel and sand on the beach during those hours. The Tides Tavern and its ADA-accessible ramp stay open.
All of this has to be finished before contractors can start the actual project, the Commercial Fishing Homeport at 3589 Harborview Drive. Here's what it will include and what it costs:
| Homeport detail | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Moorage | Up to 17 commercial fishing vessels |
| Floats | 280-foot main walk float, 80-foot gangway, 17 finger floats |
| Utilities | Utility extensions with a sewer pump-out station |
| Total cost | About $4.9 million, including design, mitigation payments and construction |
| Original budget | $3.68 million; inflation and fuel costs covered from other city funds |
| Community contribution | $200,000 from the Gig Harbor Commercial Fishermen's Civic Club |
| Construction start | Early 2027, per the city's Oct. 4, 2026 notice |
Getting here took more than a decade. Changing environmental rules sent the city back to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers several times, with questions about stormwater, kelp, bull trout and marbled murrelets. Design and permitting were finally completed in June. In August, the city's public works director said he expected the homeport to open next spring. The city's newer notice, posted Oct. 4, puts the start of construction in early 2027, so a spring opening may slip.
What's dated and what isn't
Put the timelines side by side and you can see why the north end feels unfinished this fall.
- Open now: The Midway, daytime hours, at Harborview and Pioneer.
- No opening date as of Oct. 2: M4S BBQ at 7707 Pioneer Way.
- Status unconfirmed this week: gather Gig Harbor, with a remodel and Mediterranean café planned for 2027.
- Spring 2027 target: B's Bagels & Butters at 3222 56th St.
- Early 2027 construction start: the Commercial Fishing Homeport at Ancich Park.
Clare Dunis, executive director of the Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance, described the summer this way: "The energy along the street this summer has been fantastic." She credited small independent businesses with creating the "third places" where neighbors run into one another. Two downtown dates still fall on this year's calendar:
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 3 to 6 p.m.: Downtown Waterfront Trick or Treat. Harborview Drive closes from Pioneer Way to Rosedale, so the north-end corner sits inside the closure.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, noon to 8 p.m.: Shop the Harbor along the waterfront.
Both events run along the same blocks this post covers.
If you own near downtown and want to talk through how the homeport, the new storefronts or a vacant commercial space might affect a sale or a rental, we follow this stretch from Pioneer Way to Ancich Park closely. Reach out to Christopher and the team at Greater Peninsula Properties for a direct conversation with the managing broker.
