Open Flavor Fridays - Restaurant: Impossible

Sometimes you have have that little place nearby that you like, but you just don't go to often enough. For me it was the Dog & Pony Alehouse. The Dog & Pony is just a few miles away, has an amazing tap list and was always inviting. Turns out that several people like me existed.

They asked Restaurant: Impossible to come by for a visit a couple weeks ago. It's never good when a show like that needs to visit.

This week I saw the all new Dog & Pony, which is a lot like the old Dog & Pony. There are still hundreds of tap handles on the wall, but in a much more organized fashion. There are still 32 (I think that's the number) taps of great beers, including hyper-local things you can't find anywhere else. I had a Strong Arm Brewing Cincinattius Imperial Brown. It's brewed in Fairwood. That's as local as you can get.

The menu is different. My favorite item was still on it, but there were also several things that R:I added during their visit. So this time I had the burrito, which may be odd for what was classic Americana food, but it fits the beer-bar vibe. The amount of meat was amazing. It was wonderfully filling, flavorful and worth the 12 bucks. It was two meals. The whole list of what they added made the whole experience pull up a level or two.

I regret not going to Dog & Pony more often. But they are much better after getting that visit. Things are clean, open, still warm. The food that was good remains and there are new items I want to explore.

Fitting them into my WoB-Renton, Berliner, Torrero's and stuff in Seattle dining budget is an issue, but it is one that I need to resolve.

This is your weekly off-topic thread.