Here’s the scoop on sweet additions to Everett waterfront

EVERETT — The Port of Everett has been missing an important component for years, its absence a glaring omission.

But on Tuesday, port officials pledged to rectify the deficiency and Finally! Finally! bring ice cream to the waterfront. (Well, frozen yogurt. Close enough, right?)

Who hasn’t yearned for a vanilla cone while strolling the boardwalk at Waterfront Place?

A Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt shop will open next year on “Restaurant Row” at Fisherman’s Harbor.

Menchie’s and five other restaurants will occupy space in two new buildings under construction just south of Fisherman Jack’s restaurant and South Fork Bakery.

This will add 21,000 square feet of new restaurant space and melt the port’s notoriety as an ice cream desert.

Besides frozen treats, visitors will also be able to order Eggs Benedict from Alexa’s Cafe, raise a glass of wine at Rustic Cork Wine Bar, nosh on fish n’ chips at The Net Shed Fish Market and enjoy the view and a brew at Tapped Public House.

“We’re working on getting a Mexican restaurant,” port CEO Lisa Lefeber told a crowd of over 40 people who attended a groundbreaking Tuesday.

Lefeber recounted the intense pressure she felt from port staff and her own kids to “bring the ice cream.”

“The former CFO told me: ‘Lisa, I’m not going to help you get funding for this project unless we get ice cream,’” Lefeber joked.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin Franklin, Lefeber, port commissioner David Simpson and the buildings’ future tenants donned blue hardhats, hoisted shovels and scooped a little dirt, kicking off the $15.2 million project.

“I’m excited for ice cream and beer!” Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin happily told the crowd, adding: “The port is a major economic driver for the city.”

The first building, a two-story, 12,000-square-foot structure, will be located next to South Fork Bakery.

The second, with 6,000 square feet, will rise near the Grand Avenue pedestrian bridge on the corner of Seiner Drive and West Marine View Drive. It will house The Net Shed Fish Market and a Mexican restaurant. The project includes 3,000 square feet of open-air space and a new 78-stall parking lot.

The pair are scheduled to be completed for tenant move-ins in next May and open for business by summer.

It’s a short timeline for Sean Drought, a partner in The Way Group Hospitality that operates Tapped Public House restaurants in Mukilteo, Mill Creek and Camano Island.

The Mukilteo resident and his partners have less than a year to configure the new restaurant and bar, which will feature rooftop seating overlooking the marina, and hire more than 40 people.

“It’s fantastic for us to be here,” Drought said. “This is a good fit for us.”

Drought and his partners will also run The Net Shed Fish Market, a fish-and-chips restaurant and bar that will also house a year-round fish market. The name honors the area’s historic commercial fishing industry and a row of waterfront sheds at the port that stored fishing nets and served as a hub for fishermen, Drought said.

“This will be my view,” Danica Cardin told the crowd as she gestured toward the marina.

Cardin is one of the owners of Alexa’s Cafe, a longtime Bothell staple. The American home style restaurant will offer waterfront views when it opens next summer.

Like other tenants, Cardin said she’ll spend the next few months designing the cafe’s interior and hiring some 30 people.

Joe and Leah Karl, of Mukilteo, will bring the ice cream.

The couple operate two Menchie’s locations — 12 flavors, 42 toppings — in Bothell and Marysville.

“We’ve been coming to this marina for about 20 years,” Leah Karl said. “We’re excited to be here.”

The Karls considered opening a store at the port after striking up a conversation with Lefeber and her kids at their Bothell shop.

“We started talking about it after that,” Joe Karl said.

He then told Drought about his plans during their regular 6 a.m. workouts at the YMCA and encouraged him to look into opening a taproom at the port.

Now, they’ll be neighbors.

Menchie’s will occupy the first floor of the building near South Fork Bakery and Tapped Public House will take the second floor.

“They’ll have to walk up our stairs,” Joe Karl said. Beer and ice cream, what better combination?

The city and port plan to install new street signs that point the way to Restaurant Row and its growing population of cafes, restaurants and bars, Lefeber told the gathering.

“Twenty years ago, where I’m standing now, was a contaminated shipyard,” she said. “We cleaned it up and paved the way for what’s happening here now.”

Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @JanicePods.