New Hangout, For Sure!
And, a long story to get to it.
I have this buddy who very much reminds me of the Tim McGraw song, Real Good Man. The lyrics go, I may be a real bad boy but, baby, I'm a real good man.
My friend, whom I'll call Keith (because that's his name) gets into so much trouble. Add alcohol and he thinks he's irresistible to women. All women. No matter whether they're nicely talking to him or trying to avoid him. We go out and I find myself saying things like, "The waitress is not flirting with you."
We have a great time, though. There's no potential sexual relationship between us so it just lets us be us. He tries to flirt with other women, I try to flirt with other men. It's all good.
The thing is, he's actually a good guy. He's a super Dad to his three kids, is very nice to his exes and quite the check picker-upper. If he could only learn to stop at the 'drunk but amusing' point instead of moving into the 'drunk and (somewhat) scary' point, he'd be perfect.
All of that was just lead-in to the fact that we've found a new place to call our hangout. He lives in Tempe, not too far from me, so we always try to find a place not too far from either of our homes. We used to go to Joe's Crab Shack on McClintock and Southern but ever since he almost went into anaphylactic shock from the dip, I have to admit I haven't been at ease there.
It used to be perfect. We'd split one of their appetizers that consisted of boiled shrimp, crab dip, potato skins and fried something (cheese, zucchini?). I ate the seafood, he ate the other and we washed it down with beer. Until the night he forgot about his severe allergy to seafood and started scarfing on the dip. His face turned red, he started coughing and I was worried that I'd have to do a tracheotomy with my ballpoint pen and pocketknife (which he gave me so it would almost be poetic).
So, Joe's was out and we needed a new place. He let me make the call and I said Four Peaks Brewery. It's literally walking distance from my house and everyone's told me it's a cool place.
Everyone was right. Ignoring the hell that is parking there, this place rocks! Great micro-brews on tap and awesome food - you can't beat that combination. We had Spinach/Artichoke Dip for an appetizer and Pub Fish and Chips for dinner. Everything was yummy and I ended up bringing home leftovers because it was too much to eat.
Did I say something about brews? Really good stuff, Maynard. There's not a one on the tap that I haven't liked. And, I've tried quite a few (which should come as no surprise).
We both agreed that this is going to be our new place. Now, if I can just keep him away from the seafood...
I have this buddy who very much reminds me of the Tim McGraw song, Real Good Man. The lyrics go, I may be a real bad boy but, baby, I'm a real good man.
My friend, whom I'll call Keith (because that's his name) gets into so much trouble. Add alcohol and he thinks he's irresistible to women. All women. No matter whether they're nicely talking to him or trying to avoid him. We go out and I find myself saying things like, "The waitress is not flirting with you."
We have a great time, though. There's no potential sexual relationship between us so it just lets us be us. He tries to flirt with other women, I try to flirt with other men. It's all good.
The thing is, he's actually a good guy. He's a super Dad to his three kids, is very nice to his exes and quite the check picker-upper. If he could only learn to stop at the 'drunk but amusing' point instead of moving into the 'drunk and (somewhat) scary' point, he'd be perfect.
All of that was just lead-in to the fact that we've found a new place to call our hangout. He lives in Tempe, not too far from me, so we always try to find a place not too far from either of our homes. We used to go to Joe's Crab Shack on McClintock and Southern but ever since he almost went into anaphylactic shock from the dip, I have to admit I haven't been at ease there.
It used to be perfect. We'd split one of their appetizers that consisted of boiled shrimp, crab dip, potato skins and fried something (cheese, zucchini?). I ate the seafood, he ate the other and we washed it down with beer. Until the night he forgot about his severe allergy to seafood and started scarfing on the dip. His face turned red, he started coughing and I was worried that I'd have to do a tracheotomy with my ballpoint pen and pocketknife (which he gave me so it would almost be poetic).
So, Joe's was out and we needed a new place. He let me make the call and I said Four Peaks Brewery. It's literally walking distance from my house and everyone's told me it's a cool place.
Everyone was right. Ignoring the hell that is parking there, this place rocks! Great micro-brews on tap and awesome food - you can't beat that combination. We had Spinach/Artichoke Dip for an appetizer and Pub Fish and Chips for dinner. Everything was yummy and I ended up bringing home leftovers because it was too much to eat.
Did I say something about brews? Really good stuff, Maynard. There's not a one on the tap that I haven't liked. And, I've tried quite a few (which should come as no surprise).
We both agreed that this is going to be our new place. Now, if I can just keep him away from the seafood...
