Cat & Rabbitt to return to Tacoma
The homegrown cake shop will launch its new Tacoma location after closing its Sixth Avenue walk-up store in 2024.
By M.J. Cameron
Cat & Rabbitt Cake Shop is returning to Tacoma with a new location inside the Museum of Glass this spring through a partnership with Sliced Deli and chef Kyle Campisi. The shop will offer monthly flavor rotations, its signature six- to seven-layer cakes and grab-and-go coffee.
The opening marks Cat & Rabbitt’s return to the city where the business first began and reintroduces a local dessert brand that has remained part of Tacoma’s food conversation even after leaving its original storefront, according to the South Sound Report.
Cat & Rabbitt opened in 2020 on Sixth Avenue as a walk-up window shop founded by owners Terryn Abbitt and Julia Brown. The business developed a loyal customer base for its layered cakes, creative flavors and neighborhood presence. On April 28, 2024, the owners closed the Tacoma location because the landlord of the building, X Group Restaurants, wanted to take the building in another direction and the owners moved production to downtown Puyallup according to an Instagram post by Cat and Rabbitt
Their Puyallup production space, first leased in 2022 at 111 Stewart Ave., was designed to accommodate wholesale operations and gave the business room to continue baking while planning its next step.
After receiving final approval from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), which oversees wholesale food operations rather than local health departments, the owners announced on Aug. 8, 2024, that the Puyallup space was ready for expanded production.
“I’m really looking forward to getting my hands dirty because we’ve been closed for a couple of months now and I really miss being in the kitchen” Brown said in an interview with KIRO 7.
In the same interview, Abbitt said she hopes customers “feel the love that we put into our product.” She also said they wanted to continue the welcoming service that customers associated with the original Tacoma shop.
The new Tacoma location is expected to recreate much of the original Cat & Rabbitt experience through its signage, flavors and service style. Unlike the former Sixth Avenue storefront, production will remain in Puyallup. Cakes will be baked there, transported to Tacoma and sliced to order for customers to take home.
Abbitt and Brown emphasize scratch-made ingredients and, when available, fresh local fruit, according to The News Tribune. Popular flavors include Bill’s Banana Brown Butter, named after a regular customer, and Very-Carrot Carrot. Other offerings include sticky toffee pudding, chocolate salted caramel, raspberry coconut, marionberry goat cheese, strawberry passion fruit poppyseed and Meyer lemon meringue.
The owners plan to deliver cakes to the Tacoma shop several times a week, depending on demand and availability. The model allows Cat & Rabbitt to maintain its larger production base in Puyallup while restoring a storefront presence in Tacoma.
Cat & Rabbitt’s return comes as Tacoma’s food scene continues to expand, with locally rooted businesses remaining central to the city’s identity. For the brand, the Museum of Glass opening represents both a new chapter and a return to familiar ground; bringing a Tacoma favorite back to the city where it began.
