NO Minors Tonight!

Sometimes you just can't bring your baby to the bar.  I mean, you love your baby and all, and of course, you want to spend every single second of every day just snuggling him nonstop until you both want to scream.  But you can't. 

No.

And so, to keep from losing your new-parent-mind, you MUST recruit a good friend or two to look after your child for a few hours - he will be fine - and get yourself out a good old American No Minors Bar.  Seriously, do it now.

After realizing that we, in fact, were quite close to refering to each other exclusively as "Mommy and Daddy" even when talking to each other, we knew that we had to get out of this house STAT.  I slapped on some lip gloss and heels(!), dropped off the little Bean with some friends, and headed to South Lake Union to one of Tom Douglas' newest creations, Brave Horse Tavern.

Tom pretty much owns Seattle at this point.  Every experience we've had at his places has been amazing, and Brave Horse was no different.  The atmosphere was exactly what I was looking for - raucous and loud.  It's a huge bar with communal tables, TVs everywhere, and a big fat bar.  The brick walls definitely add to the noisy-ness.  If you are looking for an intimate date night, skip this joint. 

Tim and me, not looking for romance, but just a place to get our drink on, cozied up to the bar.  Bartender was super friendly and changed the nearest TV to the Tigers game for us.  Their beer selection was great (not Naked City fabulous, but great), and we both ordered pint that were served in super cold frosty 20oz pint glasses.  We both loved the menu, and although the sandwiches sounded great, we decided to share some apps so we could try more stuff.  Especially because the first thing we saw on the menu was...

Fried Cheese Curds!

Um, yes please!  And holy shit (see, you can swear when you don't bring your baby to the bar), they were amazing.  Hot and gooey, deep-fried and greasy.  Amazing.  And you get a ton of them too.  We followed these up with a hot pretzel and the "cannibal" crostini.  Okay, so yes, the pretzel is something that Brave Horse is known for, and it was totally good.  They serve it with 3 types of mustard, and they also have several choices of dipping sauces you can add.  We (stupidly) did not order any dipping sauces, and we would not make that mistake again.  I think it woudl have elevated the pretzel to the next level.  The cannibal crostini was topped with beef tartare, pickled onions and some sort of amazing sauce.  Beef tartare was a new experience for both of us, and one we are definitely inclined to repeat.  This dish was incredible. 

Tom Douglas, once again, you did not let us down.  Thank you for a bar that does not allow our baby.

P.S.  In other news, if you think you're going to hit up Dante's Inferno Dogs at 10pm on a Saturday night because that's the time you have to head home from the bar because you have a baby at home, think again.

Bless You Boys

You may not know this, but Will loves baseball.  Yes, it's true.  His father thinks he's a Yankees fan just because he does have a Yankees onesie, but he is wrong.  Will loves the Detroit Tigers.  And because of this love of the Tigers, Will demanded that we watch Game 4 on Wednesday afternoon. 

Okay, young son, we said.  Whatever you're into, we'll make it happen.  And so began our quest for a Seattle-area sports bar that is open in the afternoon which also allows babies. 

Not as easy of a feat as one might think. 

After discussing numerous possibilties including WingDome (Will was sick of it), Auto Battery (doesn't open until 3pm), The Pig and Whistle (doesn't open until 4pm), Bleachers (No Minors), The Ram (no TVs in the dining room), and Ballard Loft (just not feeling it).  We finally landed on Magnolia Village Pub.  Quiet little pub so no stress bringing Will the Tigers Superfan in there plus individual TVs at each table.  Plus, Magnolia is such a cute little neighborhood, it was a great place for a pre-game walk. 

Magnolia Village Pub totally lived up to our expectations too.  We both had a great meal off the nice-sized pub menu - hello, waffle fries!  The service was friendly and totally not freaked out by Will's Tigers's obsession.  They were out of several of their beers on tap, but their selection was still decent. 

Unfortunately, what Will does not love is rain delays.  He was so pissed off about the over 2-hour delay that we were forced to move on before the game actually started. And after the Tigers lost in the 11th inning...watch out, yo. 

Note:  My friend, Asia, a wise and worldly mom of 2, reccomends Fremont's Red Door as well as Hale's Brewery in Ballard.  We've got them on our list.  Stay tuned.