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Eating well in the bar

Two Pierce County spots fulfill our light, tight dining strategy

Mediterranean spices sing in Brix 25's lamb meatballs. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner

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As a long-time South Sounder who loves to dine out, I struggle with con?icting goals. I want to eat well, but can't afford to patronize luxury establishments every week. Fast food is cheap, but I hate the nausea and regret I feel half an hour later. One of my best strategies is to dine at the bar. It's low fuss, I often receive better food and service, and it's friendly and fu

During weeknights, my wife, Kate, and I - looking not quite daisy fresh in rumpled clothes and feeling irritable with stress and hunger - often employ our light, tight, dining strategy:

1) Greet the hostess or host with an oscillating index finger and mumble the word "bar."

2) Grab a drink each and eat off the appetizer/early dinner menu.

3) Wrap it up in under an hour, for about $50 including tax and tip.

4) Feel good about minding our midweek budget, avoiding delivery of bad pizza or car floor surprise, and not dreading the alarm-clock eruption we face after a few hours.

5) Congratulate ourselves on being frugal, canny urban diners-at-the-bar.

What about communal bar tops? There seems to be an unwritten rule at finer establishments in the South Sound: you don't chat much with nearby tables. Near as I can tell, there are two exceptions: 1) congratulating fellow diners on their candle-lit dessert (with any luck, sans song); and 2) asking them, "Ooooh, what did you order?" (often receiving a look of polite forbearance that is clearly two seconds from curdling into contempt). Of course, at the bar, all rules are thrown out the window. Whether it's because you're sitting close, or have better access to the social lubricant of alcohol, bar diners converse far more easily than their dining-room counterparts.

We recently dined at two of our favorite bar surfaces - Brix 25 and C.I. Shenanigans.

There are few civilized pleasures as sublime as a weeknight session on Brix 25 barstools. One of Gig Harbor's sleeker, more well-oiled dining-entertainment machines, this intimate, Northwest-flavored restaurant greets every diner with complimentary half-glasses of sparkling wine. As the name hints, the grape is always on their mind. On our minds are the lamb meatballs, petite smoked mozzarella ravioli and poached pear and camozola brushetta, all priced less than $10 on the bar menu. Despite what we learned as kids, meatballs don't always come on top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese. Sometimes they come in the form of lamb with Moroccan chickpea stew, drizzled with tahini yogurt. A knockout. Also aiming for the fences is the ravioli, with smoked mozzarella domininating its stuffed collaborators ricotta and asiago, submerged in an Italian sausage bolognese concoction. A large dish, a third of it travelled home. The perfectly picked pears tangoed on our tongues with the cambozola and chopped hazelnuts. Two more slices of brushetta and all is well. With tea and a Manhattan - $58.

Next, we visited C.I. Shenanigan's - not the version with Club Rio upstairs and piles of gooey chicken fettuccini alfredo, but rather the one with honest Nathan behind the bar and the well-priced All Day Favorites menu. Nathan, with imaginary fake beard, tall hat and high voice, steered us to wise decisions. In the '80s, my skirted roommates perfected Shenagian's ultra cheesy fettuccini while raising college funds serving wine coolers. Today, the chicken fett carries the same garlic bump, but arrives much lighter and colored with ample red and green bell peppers. Blackened, indeed Nathan. One menu line below, a thousand chicken chunks bang plump prawns and spicy andouille sausage, held tight with firm jasmine rice. It's cool to chat up a neighbor after several bites of this seafood jambalaya. No fire breath here. With gratis foccoia bread and excellent butter, razor clam chowder, a pear salad, soda and a glass of wine, we walked away happy, and with one more dollar than Brix 25.

BRIX 25, open daily at 4:30 p.m., 7707 Pioneer Way, Gig Harbor, 253.858.6626

C.I. SHENANIGANS, Open Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. and for Sunday brunch at 9:30 a.m., 3017 Ruston Way, Tacoma, 253.752.8811.

LINK: South Sound Dining Guide

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