The Picaroon, a fine Renton blog, recently had a post about how important it is to support your favorite local restaurant. Recently, a number of Renton restaurants have disappeared. Touchdowns, Fin and Bone, Calico Chesecakes/Cafe Lure/Tapestry Saloon, and most recently Billy McHale's..You'd think there was a recession going on or something.
Some restaurants I may like a lot but don't really feel they could benefit from my cheerleading. For example, there's a fairly recently opened pizza place in Seattle at 50th and Genessee called Flying Squirrel. The food is awesome, but every time I've been there the place has been full, with people waiting in line. This place doesn't need my cheerleading, in fact it would be counterproductive to me personally to see the lines to get in get any longer. So stick to Domino's, folks.
In the Picaroon post, Miss P recommended people go to to A Terrible Beauty Irish pub on 2nd in downtown Renton, and indeed the food there is great and it's a fun place to go, but unlike the pizza place in Seattle, it's not always crowded. The people who own the place are nice and the place deserves business.
Along the same lines, Lakeside Bistro on Rainier Avenue, at the north end of the Renton airport, is another place with amazingly good food and it too is not always crowded. They've got a happy hour 3-6 PM seven days a week, live jazz on Tuesday evenings,a lunch menu, calamari spring rolls ( how cool is that?)and fresh seafood that doesn't get any fresher. The basil clams are absolutely awesome,and they cater to vegetarians.
Some places I'll go to and like. I'll go to Chang's Mongolian Grill and have a good meal, but feel no urge to root for the place.
But A Terrible Beauty and the Lakeside Bistro are two businesses that deserve to stay in business for a long, long time.
