Brouwer’s Café

[malarkey]

Just talked with someone at Bottleworks. They are saying mid-March for the opening of the café. Considering that December 1 was the original opening date, they are certainly making us wait a painfully long time! Permits, ya know.. blah blah.

Also noted on their site: They will be hosting the 3rd annual Hard Liver Barley Wine Fest at the new café in April, the 8th to the 15th.

[tsquare]

Just talked with someone at Bottleworks. They are saying mid-March for the opening of the café. Considering that December 1 was the original opening date, they are certainly making us wait a painfully long time! Permits, ya know.. blah blah.

Also noted on their site: They will be hosting the 3rd annual Hard Liver Barley Wine Fest at the new café in April, the 8th to the 15th.

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Too bad they aren't in Tacoma - got a permit for 6,000 sf restaurant after a 70 minute meeting!

[malarkey]

OK, looks like it is finally here. Brouwer's Café will be opening Tuesday the 22nd of March. I think I might need to go...

[BradS]

OK, looks like it is finally here. Brouwer's Café will be opening Tuesday the 22nd of March. I think I might need to go... 

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I definitely need to go, assuming this is the place one of the Bottleworks employees was telling me about last fall---30-40 different drafts, multiple cask-conditioned beers, etc etc etc. With so many local pubs, excellent as they are, keeping no more than 10-15 beers on tap, and a large percentage of those being the same no matter where you go, this sounds like the type of beer place Seattle definitely needs! (Not that Collins Pub is doing a bad job by any means...)

Does anyone happen to know if this will be a 21 and over only place, or will allow families? The guy I talked to suspected the latter, but wasn't sure.

Also, what's the address?

Thanks!

BradS

[creo420]

400 North 35th Street Seattle, WA

in Fremont @ 35th & Phinney

[BradS]

Did anyone go?

[malarkey]

yep, went with LEdlund last week. If you go, have patience. They are still working out the service thing. We had croquettes and the spinach salad and moules et frites and the leek gratin... or was it some other kind of gratin? All the food was great, except the moules were not as fresh as they should be.

I have every confidence though that this place can pull it off. They've got everything else right: the beer is fabulous, the selection outrageous, the upstairs downstairs thing is smart, and it has a great vibe. I'll be there again, no doubt ;-)

[BradS]

I actually peeked in the door at the end of last week, without eating or drinking. The service seemed harried, as you say. But for me the truly heart-breaking thing was the sign posted right inside the door: 21 and over only. This induced an immediate state of near-clinical depression that has yet to lift. The place I've waited for the last 15 years finally opens....and I can't go. OK, I'm exaggerating. I can go. I'm over 21. But I can't go easily, or all that often, or (if I don't feel like going alone) without paying a babysitter. Such a bummer. Plus it really seems like they could have made, say, the upstairs a 21 and over zone, and the downstairs more permissive, if they really wanted at least part of it to have a tavernesque atmosphere.

I guess I'm stuck with the mediocre food and limited (though excellent) beer lists of places like the Elysian and the Wedge. Looking at the bright side, I do try every day to remind myself to be thankful (and I am, very thankful!) for Colllins Pub.

One more thing: when I went, Brouwer's still had no sign up. Don't know this is a plan or not (kind of a cultish in-the-know sort of strategy?), but anyway, in the interest of public service I should point out that it's the brown building directly north of the Trolleyman, and you enter from the west side, right underneath the huge plate of metal that looks ready to fall on your head.

[mamster]

Malarkey, about how many beers are available?

[malarkey]

oh geez, I didn't stop to count, but I'd guess around 25 on tap, and a whole bunch more in bottles. The menu has them separated by country. There's a Great Britian section, a Belgian section, and a Germany section. And I think they do have some American too, but funny I can't recall...

[kiliki]

BradS, have you been to the Barking Dog? They have a nice selection of Belgian beers, much better than average pub-type food, and the majority of the space allows minors.

[LEdlund]

We had croquettes and the spinach salad and moules et frites and the leek gratin... or was it some other kind of gratin?

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It was an endive gratin and it was yummy. I wished they served bread with it to sop up all the cream left in the dish - but the frites worked just as well!

[BradS]

BradS, have you been to the Barking Dog? They have a nice selection of Belgian beers, much better than average pub-type food, and the majority of the space allows minors.

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Bottleworks claims on its website that Brouwer's actually has 40-plus taps, and from my quick peek I believe them. It'll be quite a project to work my way through them. From April 8-15, they will all be switched over to barleywines.

kiliki,

It's funny you should mention that (and thanks for the recommendation). We have been to the Barking Dog a few times and really enjoyed it, but our most recent visit was probably the last we'll make in a while. It turns out that the Barking Dog has only one high chair. Anyone who's been to a restaurant with a baby of a certain age knows how life-saving a high-chair can be: it's the difference between enjoying yourself and spending at least half your meal with an infant squirming on your lap (and trying to reach for your beer). When we arrived that night, someone else was already using the high chair (or had it parked at their table, anyway). So we asked our server the obvious question: why only one high chair? Are they that expensive? Her bemusing answer was that while they try to accommodate families, they don't want to become known as a "family place."

This was hilarious. The place was packed that night, and virtually every table outside the bar area contained either an infant, or a woman in a late stage of pregnancy. Whether or not they appreciate their current clientele, the issue of whether the Barking Dog will become a "family place" has would seem to have been settled. It was probably settled the day they decided to locate in that neighborhood. Maybe they've realized that by now and bought a few more high chairs. We wouldn't know. There are too many other options for us to take the time to go back.

Collins Pub, meanwhile, occupies an entirely different universe: it's downtown in the Smith Tower, not exactly a family-oriented part of town, but every time we've shown up, they've gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. There are other great places too (Hale's particularly comes to mind). I've just been whining about Brouwer's because I had such high hopes. Family-friendly or not, I'm sure I'll be stopping by soon. After all, I don't exactly boycott the Latona or the Big Time.

BradS

[MsRamsey]

I don't have a child, but I went there for my birthday a couple of years ago and they were very unaccommodating about where they would let us sit. They made us all of us SQUISH into a booth that was too small and wouldn't let us take a larger table. I hate restaurants with picky little rules. That explanation about why they have only one high chair is maddening, and I have to completely agree with his point about where they decided to locate their business. They alienated me and lost any future $$ I would have spent there.

[kiliki]

Are we talking about the same place on 70th? They only opened the beginning of last year and don't have booths. Unless I am having a major memory lapse. Which isn't out of the question these days.

[BradS]

Are we talking about the same place on 70th? They only opened the beginning of last year and don't have booths. Unless I am having a major memory lapse. Which isn't out of the question these days.

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The Barking Dog is on 70th (705 NW 70th St), and as I recall they did open sometime around the beginning of last year, so I don't think they can be responsible for anything that happened a few years ago. But....they do have a couple booths. They're on the far left as you enter, along the back wall. There are only maybe 2.

BradS

[MsRamsey]

Okay, it was May 2004 (not a couple of years ago) and yes they do have booths. I know exactly where I'm talking about, and it's Barking Dog.

Edited March 30, 2005 by MsRamsey (log)

[MsRamsey]

--

Edited March 30, 2005 by MsRamsey (log)

[Mr. Bill]

I don't have any children, either, and I've been to the Barking Dog when it's packed. I've always wondered why someone would want to bring an infant to a noisy, packed bar. Anyways, I greatly look forward to the Hard Liver Barley Wine Festival. I hope it's as much fun as the Toronado's.

[BradS]

I don't have any children, either, and I've been to the Barking Dog when it's packed.  I've always wondered why someone would want to bring an infant to a noisy, packed bar.  Anyways, I greatly look forward to the Hard Liver Barley Wine Festival.  I hope it's as much fun as the Toronado's.

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In a noisy packed pub (I wouldn't characterize most of the Barking Dog space as a bar), an infant can be as noisy as she wants, and nobody will hear it, and nobody will care.

Now you know.

[chuck]

And you don't have to plan for, and pay, a babysitter.

[ScorchedPalate]

And all of us who have gone out for a nice, relaxing dinner love you for that.

[hungry_moose]

Huh? Cascadia & kids?

No! I don't believe it! I won't take my child here.....glad to see it though. It seems that this is a pattern lately....Lola's...Cascadia's...both chefs have small kids, so....but not sure if other diners will approve!

hungry_moose

http://www.cascadiarestaurant.com/html/me_7.htm

[ScorchedPalate]

How did this mild-mannered topic turn into a referendum on kids in restaurants?

[tighe]

How did this mild-mannered topic turn into a referendum on kids in restaurants?

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I actually think its a good conversation to have and one that I can now meaningfully participate it.

Before having a baby, I was squarely in the 'what the bleep are these people thinking, bringing a baby/kid to this place!' I now completely understand although it's still unacceptable to stay in a restaurant with a child who is disrupting others' meals. We've walked out a handful of times when irreversible melt-down set it. On the other hand, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask fellow-diners to tolerate babbling and toy rattling at a volume consistent with the overall level of the restaurant.

FWIW, the 'noisy place = good place for babies' equation hasn't worked for us. Maybe when he's a toddler, but at this point, it's just a sure-fire way to get the baby riled-up and in a tizzy.