Tacoma cocktail bar known for gin has closed for good. ‘Just time to move on’

Gilman House Room 428, a gin-focused cocktail bar that moved into a smaller speakeasy-style space last year, closed permanently after service on May 24.

Its sister bar, tiki haven Devil’s Reef, isn’t going anywhere, confirmed co-owner Jason Alexander in a phone call on Tuesday. In fact, they just renewed that lease, he said.

The story was different at Room 428 in the Stadium District.

He and his wife Robyn Alexander originally took over the corner storefront at 12 N. Tacoma Ave. in early 2020. That first edition of Gilman House, which opened later that year amid pandemic limitations, garnered a positive reputation for its veg-friendly fare, top-notch cocktails and, somewhat inadvertently, as a brunch hot spot. In a sense, it became more of a restaurant than the bar-with-food they had