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New in town

Dining rinkside

The Kraken have settled into Seattle, and if families want to catch the team practicing, they can head to the Kraken Community Iceplex in Northgate. Hungry kids and grownups can grab a burger with a view of the ice at the site’s new 32 Bar & Grill, serving everything from poutine to pizza. (And, yes, there’s a kids’ menu.) — Jillian O’Connor

10601 5th Ave. NE, krakencommunityiceplex.com

»Chomp Eating with kids

„Find kid-approved restaurants with great patio seating » seattleschild.com

The third and fourth generations of the Johnson candy family oversee the chocolate confections at their Tacoma candy shop.

A family’s sweet legacy

Hearts are full as candy company dating back to 1925 prepares for Valentine’s Day

by HALLIE GOLDEN / photos by JOSHUA HUSTON

For three generations,

the Johnson family’s bread and butter has been a mix of delicate chocolates, crunchy peanut brittle and gooey caramels.

It all started in 1925, when Russell Johnson began crafting and selling chocolates while working at his parents’ shop in Tacoma. He and his wife, Irene, soon bought the business, managing it as a restaurant with a decadent candy selection. By the 1940s, the pair moved a few blocks away to the storefront in the city that the community now knows as the Johnson Candy Company.

Today, behind that same window-filled storefront, featuring rows of handmade candies, the family-owned shop has become a true fixture in the city, with many loyal customers, some of whom have been patrons for more than half a century.

Cheap eats The hole deal

Many families with kids head to Ballard’s Dough Joy food truck for its egg-free, dairy-free, tree nut-free vegan doughnuts. But the flavors! Cookie Butta, chocoholic, strawberry milkshake, Over the Rainbow (a Pride tribute) and banana French toast, or mini doughnuts for dipping in caramel (or chocolate) will intrigue even avid consumers of animal products. On some weekends, patrons can grab the Chik’n & Waffle Skewer, a decadent kebab of three extra-large doughnut holes and two vegan nuggets. Coming soon as a Capitol Hill storefront.

— Jillian O’Connor

Truck address: 5401 17th Ave. NW, doughjoydonuts.com

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The business is now coowned by Russell and Irene’s son Ron Johnson, and his wife, Bee Johnson. Now Ron and Bee’s son, Bill Johnson, who used to help out at the shop when he was just 12, serves as its production manager. He says he hopes his own sons, ages 7 and 10, will be able to start helping out soon.

Over the years, the shop has had a few upgrades, including an expansion of its building, but at its core it has never strayed far from its roots.

Bill Johnson explains that the family still uses some of the candy recipes his grandfather bought from a retiring Greek candymaker in the 1920s. And several current pieces of machinery are from the business’s infancy, including a FireMixer, which the candymakers use to make caramel.

“I love to keep the old stuff going as long as I can,” he says. “You just can’t beat that stuff.”

The candy company has also faced its fair share of challenges, the most recent being the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the family had to close the retail shop and quickly switch to selling candy boxes and ice cream bars through a window. The shop also launched an online store.

By the fall of 2020, with newly installed plexiglass and mask requirements, the family was able to reopen the business to walk-in customers.

For the Valentine’s Day holiday, one of the busiest times of the year, the candy company plans to sell its popular packed heart boxes, which include an assortment of candies customers can select themselves, and also one of the biggest sellers, brandied cherries.

Bill Johnson, now 50, attributes the business’s longevity to his parents’ and grandparents’ hard work and commitment to not expanding it beyond what they could handle, as well as their small but dedicated team of employees.

The small business can be a challenge, he says, but over the years he’s come to understand and truly appreciate its importance for the community at large. He says, “When you have people come in and they say, ‘We’ve been coming here with our family, and we just love coming here’ … you realize that it’s more than just somewhere where you come to work, but it’s a part of the community.”

The younger Johnsons: Kids in a candy shop.

q 924 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, johnsoncandyco.com

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