Hair of the Dog - or what did I do on St. Paddy's Day??

The best way to cure the hangover from yesterday's St. Paddy's Day revelries, is just a ounce more of the same. You heard that right - give me a pint of Bitter and hand over the aspirin!!

Oh, and speaking of the "Hair of the Dog", here he is - and let me tell you, they refused to serve "his" kind yesterday. Forced to drink at home, alone, yet again.

The Eastside Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band was just one of an entire day's worth of entertainment that awaited you at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub yesterday, I tell you - those bagplayers were hot. They can come save Lady P anytime.

A Shout Out and thanks to Robin, of the fair green hair, and Chandler Wilson for inviting The Picaroon out to play yesterday. Far Right is their mate, Jason.

 

The green beer goggles were rockin' my world yesterday. But just for the record, ladies and gents, it was the eyeware that I was enraptured by and I did go home alone.

Bill and Faye Moss celebrated 56 years of wedded bliss yesterday - and handed out long stemmed green carnations to all they met. The Moss's are shown with their son, Biff on the top right, and Bill Collins, who always manages to get into a photo somewhere. Bill and Fay were married on a Thursday it seems, and they handed out carnations on that first day of marriage as well. A tradition was born. Long live the Moss's!!

And here is my final salute to you all - a cup of the finest from the Green Isle - Guinness. Hope all of you are recovering nicely.

Renton - where the Shams do Rock

First thing to get proper Green in the town of Renton, you stop off for a bit of the real blarney - a cup of Mike's coffee at Liberty Cafe and a bit of a chin wag. That will set you right in the mood, as it were. Always someone around who wants to have a chat.

926 South 3rd Street  Renton, WA 98057  (425) 235-1400

Then, thinking you're up for the stronger stuff, you head off to see Jenna and Paddy at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub for a pint and a giggle, You may even stop by their new Irish Market. It has all the tastes and wonders of the green isle herself for you to take home. I have my eye on some tea and a cool shirt me wee self, and it's open all the same hours of the pub. Now that's making it easy.

201 Williams Ave Renton, WA 98057-2106 - (425) 227-3396
Open Weekdays 11am-2am; Weekends 9am-2am

Then, you begin to cry into your cups, thinking of your Irish heritage and all. You think of  your dear ole Mum, whom you haven't called in ages, and head over to Cuigini's Florist Shop to buy her a bit of the green to help celebrate the day.

413 South Third Street  Renton, WA 98057  (425) 255-3900

By now, your head is aching something fierce from all that thinkin' and drinking, and you need a little TLC and a bit of primping. You've heard that a girl can get a great bit of pampering, maybe even a new "do" over at Bianco& Co Salon and Spa
231 Wells Ave South, Renton -(425) 282-5046

 

Maybe feelin' a tad maudlin and in need of reviving, a Pot O'Gold  Guinness chocolate cupcake with Irish cream butter frosting could cheer one up completely. Available right here in our little burg at Common Ground Coffee and Cupcakes

900 South 3rd St # A  Renton, WA 98057-2710  (425) 235-1717

With a belly full of cupcake wonder, my brain begins to tingle from neglect. Old Renton Book Exchange is just the ticket to restoring some brain cell activity and honoring my Irish roots with a book or two on the homeland. 

227 Wells Ave. South  Renton, WA 98057  (425) 430-2665

One must ask - do I really have enough of the green for the day? For a little creative pick-me-up and a whole lot of fun in general, always head off to Happy Delusions, where Indie crafters are well represented.

924 South 3rd Street  Renton, WA 98057-2734  (425) 255-6078

And finally, a shout out to our resident a winner of a $1,000 math and science Carson scholarship for her college fund, Ms. Samantha Goetz-Granquist. Local Rentonite nominated by her school, with a high grade point average, an interest in geology and an active participant in her community, this lovely young woman is loved by all.

ALSO Look at the next best thing to sliced soda bread - AllRenton.Com - check it out!!

Got plans?

Tonight you could go out and hit three of the coolest local hangs, get your entertainment groove on and have one great night out. Let's start with a relatively new Open Mike Nite program at Liberty Cafe, hosted by KT and Hoops which begins at 7 ish. I cannot believe how much incredible talent there is hiding away here in the burg. This is the third week of this happening, and it is happening.

Then, mosey on over to DC's Bar and Grill for Trivia Night at around 8pm. The buy in is a couple of bucks per person and the winning pot has not been under a $100 bucks for awhile. This attracts a fun and boisterous crowd, and there is liquor and good beers on tap to boot. Yes - it is good.

Then, you have the Karaoke and Open Mike Night at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub. I have noticed that once KT and Hoops have finished up at Mike's Liberty Cafe, they scoot over this way. Let the fun continue and keep it all within a couple of blocks.

Localized fun at it's best.

Liberty Cafe
926 S. Third Street
(425) 235 - 1400

DC's Bar & Grill

907 S. Third Street
(425) 255-2511

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

Where to eat with your honey

Valentine's Day Jazz Brunch and a lovely Jazz Valentine's Day Dinner for two at A Terrible Beauty today. What a great way to tell your honey how you care by eating yummy food in a local haunt that has fast become my personal fav. Yum.

You may want to call first - you order off the menu for brunch which just opened at 9:00 am this morning and goes until 3pm. The classic Irish breakfast shown above is served without something called "spotted dick", but I think that you can handle not having that fried fat and blood on your plate in the morning, right?

The dinner tonight is filling up quickly - Couples dinner comes with choice of bottle of wine, champagne, or draft pitcher , soup or salad and an entree choice of prime rib, halibut or eggplant dinner with a decadent dessert for $50/per couple.

This place is open to you and the kidlets (or any of those who are under age) until 9pm when it becomes a hang for the adult crowd. Head on over - whether today with your honey or some other fine weekend. This is a place you don't want to miss!

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

Best Rueben Around Renton - and beyond

Food envy is a terrible thing to be plagued by when it comes to family outings and restaurants of choice. The Rueben Sandwich at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub is served up on lovely marble rye, is so large and unruly that it took two of us to manage it and the large plate of freshly made fries from real spuds served with salt and pepper that was our choice of sides.

This is your sandwich alert. If you love a good Rueben, this spot should be on your immediate "go to" list for lunch or dinner. Don't miss it - it will blow your mind and your tastebuds.

PS Remember - until 9pm, this is a family joint - so you can take the kids - if you really want to share that is.

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

The Picaroon is aware that we love this restaurant - and we just want you to love it too!

Not cooking dinner tomorrow?

Well, my two favorite coffee haunts will be closed tomorrow, as will a host of other places (as well they should be!), but there is a grand place for you all to go if you are not in the mood to play head cook, but definitely want to have a traditional feast - A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub.

This family friendly establishment with excellent beer and atmosphere will be glad to cook up that holiday meal for you this Thanksgiving. So, give a call and then saunter on down in the pants that you wear when you want extra breathing room in your waistline.

Classic Thanksgiving Homemade Feast
Now accepting Reservations for Thanksgiving 2009
at A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub and Restaurant

Call or come in to choose your perfect table and timeframe!
(425) 227-3396

3 course feast served at your table featuring
*Festive Soup or Salad
*Choice of entree meats with all the fixins!
*Choice of 4 homemade desserts!
*Vegetarian and Vegan Choices available!

A warm and calm environment with the entire family without the stress of cooking at home. Let us serve you while you enjoy soothing music, warm fire, wonderful ambiance, and thankful time with your family.

Adults $15
Children under 12 $7.50
Children under 3 FREE!

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396

Eat Local and keep it all going

Here is the local restaurant news from Renton - Fin and Bone, Billy McHales and Calico Cheesecake/Lure Cafe/Tapestry Saloon closed all within the last few days. SOooo - here is the plan, people of Renton. Remember to eat and drink locally. Support the local places that we all love so that when we come out of this financially challenging time, and we will, there will be some place to go back to in the days ahead.

Pat and Jenna have put their heart and soul and flair for a great meal into A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub. It is open to the entire family seven days a week until 9pm, has an awesome brunch served on the weekend from 9am till 3pm, and has a host of wonderful specials to make each day different and interesting. For example - Fridays, all day for $10, gives you chowder and fish 'n chips. Tuesdays gives you a pint of Irish red ale brewed by Big Al and a Irish burger that has all the common trimmings plus Dubliner cheese and Rueben sauce for $9. Full bar plus 17 draft beers to choose from - with some lovely choices that include 9Lb Porter, Whistling Pig, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, O'Brien's Harvest at this moment.

Ask Jenna to receive text messages of the free cover music scene (as in good bands) that is a weekly plus occurrence at this hoppin' local hotspot. There is also Open Mike Night/Karaoke on Wednesday's with the beautiful Tara. That 's tonight folks, so you might wanna start making some plans.

Keep your eyes open for a new coupon to come out and for box lunches for people on the go who need a good meal from a kitchen that cares. This should be a welcome addition to the lunch options for working folks in and around downtown Renton. There will also be a special emailing of coupons for those who fill out a form with their email address, and if you use the one you receive, you will get another coupon as a reward and your server will get a bonus for having brought you back in once again. Family style business, here - where everyone comes out ahead.

Come out, eat enjoy and support, dear Renton

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396
Full Menu till 11pm, open til 2am
Happy Hour 3-6 Weekdays

Wedding Revelries at A Terrible Beauty in Renton

Wedding Revelries for Jenna and Pat, new owners of A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub were celebrated this past weekend - thanks for sharing your wedded bliss with us, happy couple! Just about the time when the opportunity to own the establishment on Williams Ave.S. was coming up for Jenna Shannon Garvey, so was the romance that had flitted and flirted in the back of these two fated friend's minds. Jenna and Pat Michael O'Brien have known one another for years, Pat an ace of a chef and Jenna the uber capable barkeep, etc. but never thought either was interested in the other "that way". But sometimes in life, when it rains, it pours. Love, life, new work and that ever illusive element of happiness seem to be showing up in the new pub owners lives in spades.

The crowd of well wishers gathered upstairs in the pub's upper floor that is rather like a large walkway suspended in air over the pub's main floor, repleted with stripper pole area that the little tykes took over that evening as their play domain( yep, kids are allowed now up until 9pm). The wedding couple, though married quietly with just family around them on Sept. 12th, donned their wedding attire for the festivities. Willie Dzul, chef and often the author of my favorite brunch edibles on weekends alongside owner Pat himself, made a huge spread replete with a watermelon shaped into a peacock with fruit spears as tail feathers. I finally got to try some of the pub's mac n' cheese - dangerously good.

After toasting with champagne and eating cake from The Picaroon's family's favorite bakery, Borracchini's on Rainier, the music started in. There were 4-6 music talents slated for the evening, and as with all the incredible talent that A Terrible Beauty has been booking lately (2-3 times a week featuring bands), the cover was FREE. While we were partying up above, the pub was running as usual just below us and things were starting to heat up.If you would like to get on the text message list with Jenna, she will hit you up at least twice a week with the music lineup.

For The Picaroon, this is still the best brunch happening in Renton ( the soda bread alongside the omelets and/or eggs benedict with the killer hollandaise sauce gets me every time!). Great place for an after work beer - the offering is not slouchy, and I love the fact that this is now officially a family hang as well.

If any of you were worried when this establishment changed hands, again, that it would be just "same old same old" on this corner of Williams and Second St. S., you were dead wrong. Jenna and Pat are part of the community already through actions and spirit, and they mean to make a play for your attention and participation. Give them some - it is well deserved.

ps thank god they had a professional photographer there that evening - cuz we did not do any great justice to the bride's awesome dress or her crystal clear converse shoes (read "glass slipper" here) with Irish green laces.

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. South
(424) 227-3396

Jazzy Brunch for Everyone

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub is the newest best place to take the family for brunch. That's right - their license has gone through, and now up until 9pm, the under aged are allowed on the premises and everyone can come together to enjoy the great restaurant vibe that owners Pat and Jenna are putting down

I have written about the brunch at A Terrible Beauty before, but since then it has gotten even better. Now you can go and listen to the mellow and melodic music of a pair of jazz guitarists while you sip your good cup of joe and enjoy an incredible collection of eggs benedict dishes and omelets, served with (my favorite choices) a scone or piece of Irish soda bread. Oh, and the bit about being able to bring in the younguns is important update news as well.

The breakfast/brunch begins at 9am and ends at 3pm. If you were partying at the pub the night before, bring in your receipt and get 20% off your breakfast until they stop serving it. Jenna and Pat have also been hitting the streets with a handy dandy coupon that entitles you to 50% off the second brunch, lunch or dinner entree when you purchase the first at equal or lesser value. Try to pick one up. Sundays feature the $3 Bloody Mary.

Be on the lookout for a lot of incredible music opportunities at A Terrible Beauty as well. They are promoting Alternative, Punk and Rock Music without cover charge and on a weekly basis. Sign up with Jenna to receive a biweekly update as to who is on the stage/docket and include it in your rooster for nights out and fun.

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. S.
in the DTR
(425) 227 - 3396
Full Menu till 11pm, open til 2am
Happy Hour 3-6 Weekdays

A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub offers late night fun and next day breakfast

Where else can you go on a Friday or Saturday night and hangout, listen to music and have fun and then go back the next morning to have a bit of the hair of the dog and feast on some good solid breakfast food? Why, A Terrible Beauty, the Irish pub recently opened by Pat Michael O'Brien and Jenna Shannon-Garvey, of course. Bring in your receipt from the night before and receive 20% off your meal the next morn. How's that for service!!

A friend and I meandered in this morning to check out the brunch fare and found it very pleasing indeed. Pat, the owner and Chef Willie Dzul were manning the kitchen, Erin was waiting tables and serving up some good Pike Place Roast Coffee from Starbucks and the menu had a good mix of omelets and traditional British fare (read scones, Irish soda bread, grilled tomatoes, beans, rashers - you get the gist) - something yummy for everyone.

The doors open at 9am Saturday and Sunday and this is just the first month at having weekend brunch, so get over there before it starts becoming the "in" destination and you can't get a seat.

PS : TONIGHT - Bands all evening - admission is free, Free Banger Dog BBQ Check it Out!

A Terrible Beauty
201 Williams Ave. South

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

The first stanza of "Easter 1916 " by William Butler Yeats

New Business Day at the Picaroon

Welcome new business owner Jenna Shannon Garvey to the DTR, folks! Once a hardworking and well liked soul at what was previously known as Finnegan's Irish Pub, owner JP sold the concern to Jenna a couple of weeks ago and she has been working extremely long hours to get the doors open (9 days ago) and the mojo flowing ever since. Jenna and her boyfriend, Pat, are in on this project together and really excited. I was there last night and a pool table being built, a game being held in the bar and a totally new menu and compliment of cooks working in the kitchen.

The hope is to get a license that allows kids in until 8/9 pm and to work on getting people in for their Weekend Breakfast. The outside will also be painted to look like an old time Irish building. This could be fun, kids! Go down and lend a little support - buy a drink and check it out.


A Terrible Beauty Irish Pub
201 Williams Ave S