Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Stix-N-Stones can't spell, but they sure can cook.

Stix-N-Stones recently opened in the former Fin N Bone at 317 Main Avenue S. in beautiful downtown Renton.
Fin N Bone had good food but didn't offer a lot of options for folks unwilling to spend the big bucks. Stix-N-Stones is different that way. They do have the upscale options such as Steak Oscar, Halibut, Wild King salmon, prawns scampi, etc.
But they also have lower priced items: Entree salads like Dungeness Crab Louie, Cobb, and Maytag Blue Cheese, and burgers, wraps, and sandwiches. The "Pittsburger" is an especially awesome burger with grilled onions, mushrooms, bacon, and provolone.
Monday nights they feature an all you can eat non menu item specials for 10.95.
I took advantage of this last night and had the chicken parmesan, which was great. It had a parmesan crust, pan fried, and topped with mozzarella, and served with an absolutely yummy pasta side with a home made marinara with olives, onions, and peppers.
I exercised great restraint and only had two servings.
They serve breakfast on weekends and in the lounge on Friday and Saturday nights. Haven't tried breakfast there, but prices are low and the menu looks good.
So far, I'm impressed. I'll be back.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

I Like Beer

As Freidrich Nietzsche said, or was it Tom T Hall " I like beer. It makes me a jolly good fellow."

Renton is blessed by an abundance of places to have a good microbrew. Just to name a few, A Terrible Beauty, The Red House, Whistle Stop Ale House, River Rock Grill, and my current fave, The Dog and Pony. The Dog and Pony, at 351 Park Avenue N. has 30 something beers on tap. They also have great food, reasonably priced, and a funny menu ( funny HaHa not funny strange). It's a friendly place. They show movies outside on their patio Saturday nights in the summer, and it's not unusual to see well behaved dogs at their masters feet on the patio, looking just a little pissed that their people are eating pulled pork or a Kobe burger while they've just finished their Kenl Ration kibbles. On busy nights service can be a little slow, but the servers there work hard and are unfailingly pleasant. The menu is pretty diverse. You can get carnitas and you can get Greek salad and you can get Mac and cheese. I've yet to have something there I didn't like.
Every other Wednesday is brewer's night, where a rep from a brewery gives away things like t shirts and beer mugs, swag.