Watercress at Bridge Street

I had a birthday last Wednesday, and Grandma took Smalls and me out to lunch. Because it was a special occasion, and because I needed to spend the gift certificate to Anthropologie that Grandma gave me RIGHT THIS INSTANT, I chose Watercress. Watercress is an upscale restaurant in Bridge Street, down near the Monaco movie theater. Beardy and I have been to their former location in a converted house downtown, but this was my first visit to the one at Bridge Street.

This is not somewhere I'd take Smalls for dinner, and I only chose it for lunch because it was a special occasion. The other clientele were people having business lunches, and there were no other kids. Smalls was incredibly good; the only unnecessary noise she made was RAWR-ing a little too loud when she was pretending to be a dinosaur, and she dialed it down when I told her to. And she put her napkin on her head a lot, but that didn't make any noise.

Quiet, napkiny hijinks.

If you do want to try Watercress, and want to brave it with the kids, go at lunch (or Sunday brunch), and look at the sides menu for more kid-friendly food. I packed Smalls a lunch and ordered her a side of pommes frites, which she liked a lot, of course. Pommes frites just sound better than french fries, don't they? She also ate the broccoli that I snuck onto her plate. The lunch prices are also more reasonable than the dinner prices. You can view the dinner menu here and the lunch one here.

Grandma got the shrimp and grits (mini review: the shrimp and grits at the Classic on Noble in Anniston is better), and I got fried catfish on a cornmeal pancake (looked almost as weird as it sounds, but tasted pretty good). If only they had kept that catfish bites appetizer they had downtown. Beardy and I TOLD the chef not to take them off the menu, but maybe they didn't listen to the ramblings of patrons who may have had a little too much wine.

I like Watercress, and I don't like giving it low ratings. Remember that these ratings are for those times when you have your kids with you. If this blog was for upscale restaurants to go to without kids, I'd give it much higher ratings.

Toddler friendliness ratings
Atmosphere: 2 out of 5 booster seats. Our waitress was really nice to Smalls, Grandma, and me at lunch, and she even poured Smalls' water straight from her pitcher into Smalls' sippy cup, and that impressed me for some reason, but it's just not set up for kids.
Food: 2.5 out of 5 booster seats. No kids' menu, and it's pricey, so if your kid doesn't like their fancy grilled cheese and tomato soup, you're out $10.

Lunch: Monday-Saturday 11:00 AM-5:00 PM
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 3:00 PM-Close
Sunday brunch: Sunday 11:00 AM-3:30 PM (Closed for dinner Sunday)
There's also a happy hour Monday-Saturday 3:30 PM-6:30 PM. The bar looks small but classy, so find a babysitter and try it out.

Watercress
365 The Bridge Street NW, Suite 125, Huntsville, AL 35806
(256) 585-3265
http://www.watercresshsv.com

 

Macaroni Grill

My mom, Smalls, and I recently had a big day out: storytime at the library, then frozen yogurt, pop jets, and the carousel at Bridge Street, and a late lunch at Macaroni Grill. After pop jetting for the first time this summer (I know summer's almost over, we just didn't get to it until now), I understand now why, in the summer, the bathroom at Bridge Street always made me think of the changing room at Point Mallard waterpark--this is where we have to dry off and change our soggy kids after playing in the pop jets. It gets to smelling like pool water and wet children. Fortunately Smalls and I were the only ones changing in there at the time, or it could have gotten crowded.

Once Smalls was presentable, we went over to Macaroni Grill for lunch. Grandma just retired from 35 years of teaching and got a gift certificate as one of her retirement gifts and she shared it with Smalls and me (thank you!). It was fairly late, maybe 1:30 or 2:00, and it was a weekday, so it was very uncrowded. Smalls was presented with the kids' menu/activity sheet and crayons. When the waitress came over, she brought extra crayons, and Smalls proceeded to draw on the paper tablecloth. And that's ok. It's kind of the thing here. The servers must practice writing their names upside down so they can impress diners as they introduce themselves. I can write backwards cursive, but haven't perfected my upside down.

The waitress also brought Smalls a ball of raw dough to play with, which we've never gotten here before. I wonder if this is standard, or if they're being influenced by the dough ball policy at Pie in the Sky.

I like the kids' menu here. Smalls got macaroni and cheese on a previous visit, and she ate all of it, one noodle at a time, very slowly. This time she got pizza and ate one slice. It's a huge pizza, though. Beardy ate a slice later in the day, and I had a piece for breakfast the next day. Then Smalls had another piece for lunch. Really. It fed us for 2 days! Sort of. You also get good bread before the entrees come, so Smalls did fill up on that a little. Her milk came in a nice, sturdy plastic cup with a lid and straw.

The waitress drew a butterfly on the table, so Smalls did too.

I got the flatbread with roasted chicken and arugula, and it was served on an embarrassingly large platter. Actually the platter was the size and thickness of a boogie board, you know those ones that kids throw into the surf, then run and jump onto it. Then they either skim along the edge of the water on the board or they trip and fall dramatically. Anyway, that's what I ate my flatbread off of. I suggest you share it with someone else if you order it. It's good, though.


Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5 booster seats. I love drawing on the table--I mean, Smalls loves it. I think the atmosphere is a good mix of grown-up restaurant and kid-friendliness.

Food: 4.5 out of 5 booster seats.

Macaroni Grill
5901 University Drive NW
Huntsville, AL 35086
(256) 722-4770

Sunday-Thursday 11 AM - 10 PM
Friday and Saturday 11 AM - 11 PM

http://www.macaronigrill.com
Get all the Huntsville-specific info here (hours, address): http://www.macaronigrill.com/locations/1231


 

Backwoods Bistro

Uppies and Cuppies is on the road again, this time in Sopchoppy, Florida.

We spent a week at the beach at Alligator Point, Florida, and visited Backwoods Bistro in Sopchoppy two nights in a row (that has to be a hint to how much we enjoyed it). The first night, we ordered from the non-pizza menu (grilled cheese and sweet potato fries for Smalls), but we noticed that other diners' pizza looked and smelled really good. So we went back the next night and ordered pizza (crab cakes and hummus for appetizers), and it was great. We got the Greek pizza, and the Backwoods, which was pesto and chicken. Smalls loved the pizza, too. She also liked the ice cream that came with the churros Beardy and I shared for dessert. She also liked saying "Sopchoppy" and "S-O-Peeee... choppy."

The kids' menu has some pasta choices that sound good, in addition to grilled cheese and chicken fingers. The prices range from $4.95 - $6.95. The pizza is also really good ($15.50 for a medium), and you can choose your own toppings or choose one of their combinations. Check out the menu here: http://thebackwoodsbistro.com/menu/.

Bathroom report: The one one-room bathroom also seems like a storage room, but it's clean and big enough to change a diaper in. No changing table, though.

Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5. It's casual, and kids certainly seem welcome. No complaints, but nothing special. 

Food: 4 out of 5.

Backwoods Bistro

106 Municipal Avenue

Sopchoppy, FL 32358

850-962-2220

http://thebackwoodsbistro.com/

Hours:

Tuesday - Thursday 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM