This Fall's Sumner Food News Is About Staying Put

In September, the Brank family moved their Ole Hickory smokers across the street, along with the cherry wood that feeds them. Brank's BBQ had been at its old address for two decades. It now sits at 2451 136th Ave. Ct. E, in a building the family put up from the ground. The restaurant was closed for 15 days, The News Tribune reported.

All three food stories in Sumner this fall look a lot like that short move across the road. A 31-year-old barbecue restaurant built new without moving out of its neighborhood. A cheesecake business that could have chased grocery-chain shelf space took a small counter on Kincaid Avenue. And a group of friends from the area bought a downtown bank building that had sat empty since 2018. They are saving its old brick so a coffee bar can open onto Main Street. Each one chose a smaller and closer option, and that keeps more of Sumner's food scene on blocks residents already use.

Brank's built new without getting bigger

Brank's has smoked meat in Sumner since 1995, when Charlie and Lori Brank started the business. Their children Jessica Hughes, Sarah Williams and Preston Brank now run it, and some of the third generation are on staff. The family bought the vacant lot across the road in 2018 and began formal plans around 2023. The new restaurant opened in early October and held its grand opening celebration on Oct. 24.

The new building has no more square footage than the old one. The News Tribune says it feels bigger because of the vaulted ceilings and oversized windows. A roll-up garage door opens onto a modest patio, and on a clear day you can see Mount Rainier from it. A banquette runs through the dining rooms so groups of different sizes can sit together, and the posted occupancy limit is 130. The kitchen and service station are larger, which Hughes said would make their catering business easier.

Regulars will know the menu because it hasn't changed. You'll still find the brisket-laced mac and cheese, the house chips loaded like nachos, the "Scout" sandwich and the Cowboy Beans. In October 2026, combo platters cost $31 to $38 for two meats and $44 to $46 for three. Pre-set family combos ran from $70 for about three people to $240 for about ten. The house rules haven't changed either. Brank's takes walk-ins only, accepts no reservations and serves no alcohol. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The Thanksgiving menu Brank's has posted

Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26, two weeks from today. The bigger kitchen matters most during holiday catering. Brank's online ordering has a Thanksgiving menu posted for the Sumner location. Here's what it lists:

• Whole smoked turkey, 12 to 14 pounds, $125, served hot and whole. Pickup only, in a 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 3 to 6 p.m. window.
• Smoked ham, $125 whole or $65 half, served cold.
• Sides: green beans with bacon and onion $23, corn casserole $25, green bean casserole $25, macaroni and cheese $30, cornbread stuffing $32, cheesy hash brown casserole $32, a quart of gravy $10, and a dozen cornbread with butter $30.
• Desserts: a whole pumpkin roll for $25 and a small tray of warm apple crisp for $45.

Brank's holiday menu page asks for at least 48 hours' notice on orders. During Thanksgiving week, that's the minimum, not the target. Pick your pickup date when you order, and call the restaurant at 253-891-1789 if you'd like to confirm the timing.

PNW Cheesecake Co. chose a small counter over grocery chains

Brank's stayed close to where it already was. PNW Cheesecake Co. stayed small. Matthew and Kimber Cornwall started the business in 2023 at the Maple Valley Farmers Market. They built a following through markets, festivals and a handful of independent shops, including Mount Rainier Creamery in Buckley, The Mercantile in Orting and The Lake Tapps Society. Earlier this year they moved production into Sumner's industrial corridor. They bake in a kitchen certified by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, inside the building mostly occupied by Catalyst Foods, and share that kitchen with Ube Overload, a mobile Filipino-inspired bakery.

The couple had considered expanding through big grocery chains. The News Tribune reported that they decided against it. That route could have cost them control over their product and pricing, and it could have ended their work with the independent stores that grew alongside them. Instead, Kimber saw a listing for a 600-square-foot unit at 925 Kincaid Ave. in late September. They moved quickly to confirm with the City of Sumner that their business model would align with zoning requirements, and they had signed a lease within a few days. The shop is on the same block as Bomb Charcuterie, across from Heritage Park.

Matt told The News Tribune that the storefront answers a question they hear all the time:

"Besides 'What is Seattle-style cheesecake?', the most common question we're asked is, 'Where's your storefront?' In a way, we're catching up to that expectation."

The shop is meant to be a counter. Kimber called it an outlet store, because no baking happens there, and told the paper that "the limitations are kind of nice for us." The plan is a simple setup with refrigerators stocked with the brand's 5-inch cheesecakes, both flagship and seasonal flavors. The plan also lets customers pick up standard whole cheesecakes, about 10 inches across, on a regular basis and preorder them for the holidays. The first planned hours are Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with weekday hours to come as production grows. The couple posts updates on their Instagram, and their site is pnwcheesecake.com.

If you haven't tried them, the cheesecake is soft and creamy, based on Matt's family recipe. The paper compared it to a silky mousse pie and suggested a spoon. Flavors have included huckleberry, banana cream pie, P.O.G. for passion fruit, orange and guava, turtle, and bubblegum. They've also collaborated with Bonnie's Buns, a Bonney Lake bakery, on a cheesecake made with cinnamon rolls. Like Brank's, the Cornwalls plan to keep doing what they already do. They'll keep selling through their retail partners and showing up at local markets and festivals.

A 1948 bank at Alder and Main is being restored

The third project follows the same idea on a larger scale. The former Bank of America building at 921 Alder Ave., on the corner of Alder Avenue and Main Street, was built in 1948. It was a bank from the early 1980s until 2018, then sat vacant until May 2026. That's when a group of old friends from Edgewood, Sumner and Puyallup bought it under the name Dirty Dimes LLC. Project manager Dalton Arndt told The News Tribune that the building will hold two businesses. The back will be an office for a financial group. The side facing Main Street will be Huxdotter Coffee.

Work started May 20. Arndt said the first month went mostly to removing an old marblecrete finish that contained asbestos, which meant tenting the building on all sides. Underneath it, crews found the original brick, and the developers want to keep as much of it exposed as they can. The drive-through side used to be a theater. Crews found painted murals there, one with "June 5, 1936" written on it by hand, and Arndt said they plan to seal and protect it. The developers are also working with the Sumner Historical Society and the city on a history panel for the outside of the building. The site's history goes back to the Shipley building, a wood structure from 1891 that burned in 1914.

Huxdotter already runs drive-through locations in North Bend, Auburn, Renton and Snoqualmie. The Sumner plan adds more than a drive-through. It includes two drive-through lanes, a full kitchen, indoor seating, bistro tables on the sidewalk, and beer and wine in the afternoon. Arndt said the bar is what sets it apart from the coffee shops already downtown, including Craft 19 across the street.

"They are pulling beer and wine permits, so they plan to stay open later into the afternoon, bring some more activity to Main Street in the evening hours," Arndt told The News Tribune.

In July, Arndt said the developers were aiming to finish construction by year's end. He said the coffee shop hoped to open before the end of the year but would likely open in early 2027.

Where the three spots fit into a Sumner week

Put the three together and the new food places sit close to where people in Sumner already spend time. Brank's is still on the same stretch of 136th Avenue Court East. The cheesecake counter is a short walk from Heritage Park. The coffee bar is going into a corner of Main Street that has been empty for years. Here is how they line up for the rest of the season:

For Thanksgiving, that could mean a smoked turkey from Brank's, plus a look at the Cornwalls' Instagram for news on holiday cheesecake preorders. For the new year, it means watching the corner of Alder and Main, where the bank's brick and the 1936 mural are being prepared for a coffee bar meant to keep Main Street busy into the evening.

If being able to walk to a Kincaid Avenue counter or a Main Street coffee bar is part of what you want from a home in Sumner, Elton Home Team knows which streets put those blocks within easy reach. We'd be glad to show you around. Start Your Home Search with us.