Anti-Family establishments

I know you're anxiously awaiting more Michigan pics, but I haven't pulled them off the camera, yet. I'll probably do that tomorrow. We have PEPS (and LOST) tonight.

For this post, I have a complaint.

Last night, when we arrived back into town, we trekked down to Tacoma to pick up Quincy, who was staying with Kate and Dan. We wanted to take them out for dinner for dealing with our, ummm, special dog.

When we lived in Tacoma, one of my favorite places to eat was the Ale House. 64 beers on tap! And, apparently, they now have a very good, and reasonably priced, order of Chicken Wings on their menu. My favorite meal in the world is beer and chicken wings.

Well, apparently, since we have left, the Ale House has made itself a "21 and up" only restaurant.

In Washington, nobody under 21 is allowed in the bar. I am not sure what the law is specifically. Meaning, I don't know what distance from the bar is required. But, many places have a Bar section (21 and up) and a restaurant section (anyone). The Ale House used to have one of these sections. Not any more.

I was quite disappointed. I mean, logically, I figure someone over 21 can still sit in the family section. But, by making themselves 21 and up, they have just refused entry to those packing kids. Namely, me and my friends.

So, we went somewhere else. A new restaurant called Wingers. Apparently, they have a happy hour. BUT...the happy hour is ONLY in the bar. Again, we have Desi with us so we can't sit in the bar. I complained about this to the owner who tells me that I can order happy hour drinks from the bar and take them back to my table. But, I can't order happy hour food and bring it back. At first, I thought denying Happy Hour to people with kids was a way of making sure people didn't drink too much before driving their kids home. But, this policy totally eliminates that. Now...I can drink a lot, but not eat anything. What?

It's not just Tacoma. Now that we have Desi, we can't go out to some of our (my) favorite places unless we find a babysitter. The Beveridge Place, 21 and up. Matador, 21 and up. Celtic Swell, 21 and up. The list goes on. What is the logic here? I understand not allowing kids in bars. But, some of these places (Beveridge Place excluded because it pretty much is just a bar) have full restaurants. Complete with seats a great distance from the bar.

Anyway...this ticks me off. I'm on the verge of writing a letter to someone. Don't know who that someone should be. Maybe the President. I think it's bogus. I enjoy me some happy hour. But, I'm not to happy, right now.