A Terrible Beauty, West Seattle: Preview tonight, open tomorrow

| West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants | WS beverages

(Photos by Katie Meyer for WSB)
The last of four new businesses to open in the past two months in the southeast corner of the heart of The Junction is ALMOST open. Tonight was the invitation-only preview party for the much-anticipated West Seattle expansion of Renton-headquartered Irish restaurant/pub A Terrible Beauty. (As reported here a week ago, tomorrow is the official opening.) We have photos from WSB contributor Katie Meyer – starting above with the bar, topped by clocks showing the time in Seattle, Belfast, and New York. More photos after the jump:

Another view of the bar:

Here’s the north side, outside the bar zone, where families with children are seated:

Note one of the details for the family area – an old Seattle street sign for “Minor Avenue”:

For those seeking a bit of a hideaway, the southeast corner is softly lit

And of course, you’re wondering about the food – here’s a beef dip (with Swiss cheese), Guinness-gravy dip on the side, and a Caesar salad in the background:

Overall, Katie notes “cozy, warm, lots of dark, polished wood, Irish music playing over the sound system …” and two fireplaces, one up front, one in the back, both with “comfortable chairs and couches drawn up to them, and chess-game tables nearby.” It’s been just three months (plus two days) since A Terrible Beauty announced its West Seattle plans, and as for those who have pointed to the Edmunds/California SE corner’s much-turnover history, it’s been pointed out that ATB’s successful Renton locale itself had a checkered past till proprietors Jenna and Paddy took over. The West Seattle location is open for business as of lunchtime tomorrow, 11 am. P.S. The West Seattle ATB has its own page on Facebook.

Jasperblu June 27, 2011 (9:33 pm)

Sláinte! Cant wait. Really, really! :-)

Chuck and Sally's Van Man June 27, 2011 (10:26 pm)

There goes my paycheck.

Michael June 27, 2011 (11:25 pm)

That makes two “family friendly pubs” on the same block (Elliott Bay being the other).

Considering the popularity of Elliott Bay with moms and dads who want a brew but can’t find a babysitter, ATB might do well too. I do find it amusing that being “family friendly” is a selling point for a pub though (any port in an economic storm?). Hope they have burgers on the menu!

J W June 28, 2011 (6:19 am)

Are the open for lunch ?

southie June 28, 2011 (6:42 am)

The Renton location is awesome! Similar to California/Edmonds spot, the Renton spot could not keep a bar. Every 2 years it was a new place, but when ATB came in it has been a wonderful meeting place ever since! My family and I love going there. We’ve even had birthday parties there. But it looks like the WS location will be smaller. They have Karoake, Irish bands, great food, owners that actually walk around and know their patrons. I’m so excited for this new location. It will do great. Best of luck to you guys!

DTown June 28, 2011 (7:17 am)

We had a great time last night….and will be visiting again soon!

….yes, Burgers are on the menu!

sp June 28, 2011 (7:20 am)

Woohoo!!! Definitely excited to see this place open!

Pete Voss June 28, 2011 (8:01 am)

I’ll be bringing friends tonight for the Grand Opening. Can’t wait!!

Jiggers June 28, 2011 (8:13 am)

So another establishment moves into W.S. from another area. The Junction has that Ballard feel to it doesn’t it? As another poster said here, better be ready to spend your paycheck

austin June 28, 2011 (8:38 am)

It’s always funny to hear complaints about businesses in West Seattle from people who don’t even live in the puget sound area.
.
I for one am looking forward to checking out their selection of ales.

Mike June 28, 2011 (8:59 am)

Good luck to them. If they don’t overcharge for their Guinness, they should be fine.

Common June 28, 2011 (9:05 am)

I’m not really sure when people with children decided they had a right to bring said screaming children into bars, but some of us without children would like a venue that isn’t child friendly for a change.

alkilynn June 28, 2011 (9:34 am)

I am so excited – the buildup as the pub was being put together was tantalizing. What a treasure for us all.

Cowpie June 28, 2011 (9:43 am)

I hear you Common. I haven’t found Elliott Bay to be bad at all with kids around. The parents seem to wait for thier offspring to get a bit older and more controllable before bringing them into a resturant. That to me shows courtesy to others. I have yet to encounter a ‘screaming’ child there.

I’ll be hitting this new bar after the opening rush is over.

CMT June 28, 2011 (9:49 am)

Common – I used to feel the same way you do . . . until I had a child! But there are plenty of non-child friendly places around – Matador, Prost, Talarico’s (later in the evening), West 5, to name a few. To a lesser extent, there are restaurants that do allow children but don’t have a child vibe and you don’t often see children there, for example, Spring Hill and Fresh Bistro. The fact is that West Seattle is home to a lot of families with small children and we do a lot to support the community. Don’t make us get a babysitter when we just want to have a casual dinner at a pub. Irish pubs are generally open to children, I believe.

Jiggers June 28, 2011 (10:10 am)

Austin, how long have you live in W.S.? I’ve lived there for fifteen years. Why can’t I say what it is?

datamuse June 28, 2011 (10:38 am)

CMT: yes, they are. A pub isn’t supposed to be just a bar; somewhere between a bar and a restaurant, I think.
.
Jiggers: have you BEEN to Ballard recently? The Junction is nothing like it. (Too bad for Ballard, really…I used to like that neighborhood. Now I’m really glad that in the toss-up between Ballard and West Seattle, West Seattle won and I bought my house here.)

tony June 28, 2011 (11:28 am)

I’m not really sure when people without children decided that people with children couldn’t go to a pub. Not all of “us” parents have screaming children. I’ve been taking my child to places sense he was 2 months old. He’s well behaved and never screams. I’ve seen adults act worse than my now 3 1/2 year old in restaurants. For the record, ATB is a PUB, which means public place.

Michael June 28, 2011 (12:53 pm)

“Pub” means “public HOUSE,” which was the Old English term for a bar. Usually they served alcohol first, with food an afterthought.
.
Here in America, though, “pub” has come to mean “restaurant with a British theme.”

family dinner ! June 28, 2011 (1:00 pm)

tony, I agree. and agree with CMT’s point as well: there are places that do allow children but the vibe is more adult, and I wouldn’t bring my child, behaved or not. we went to blackboard bistro without our 3 yr old for a dinner. there was a couple there with a 4-5 yr old girl, and she was pretty good, but then the parents had to spend a lot of energy to try and keep her quiet.

on the other hand, the LAST time our family went out for a nice dinner (at Jaks), it was ruined…. by a drunk woman in her mid-40’s. she was so loud that we could hear all the details of her conversation with the other 2 people she was dining with, including all the expletives, details about her suicidal sister, and how sorry she felt for her nephews……. she was drunk when she was seated and was still ordering beer to go with dessert when we got our stuff boxed to leave and eat at home.

WorldCitizen June 28, 2011 (1:08 pm)

I thoroughly enjoy going into a pub that is not child friendly as well…and I have two young kids myself. It’s not the screaming or misbehaving, it’s the atmosphere. Sometimes it’s nice to be around just adults.

I appreciate having a pub to go to with my kids, and there are plenty of those as well. Not everywhere has to cater to the children of the neighborhood. I would rather there be less kid-friendly drinking establishments than more.

Westsidebaby June 28, 2011 (1:46 pm)

Sounds like a wonderful spot for cold winter days, actually. It won’t stop me from going in the warmer months, though!

Kim June 28, 2011 (1:55 pm)

Funny that every post on the blog about a new restaurant/pub opening results in the same argument about whether we have enough/too many 21+ establishments. People, puhleeze!

And by the way, West5 is NOT 21-and-over.

My question is, what beers do they have on tap at ATB? :)

local June 28, 2011 (1:59 pm)

just had lunch there. I’ll be going back! YUMMY! Service was a tad slow, but it was opening day – not an issue with me. The place was packed!!!

cj June 28, 2011 (2:01 pm)

I’m so glad the family friendly restaurant and pub moved in there. Looks like their food will popular. I cant wait to check the beauty out and try their shepard’s pie. We have plenty of adult venues here already and I would rather have family than sloppy drunks who camp a table half the night and wont leave any day [really tired of that]. Considering all the families with kids walking around WS Junction I see no reason why anyone in their right mind would want to push for it to become a magnificent mile of bars.

Donna Ryan June 28, 2011 (2:41 pm)

Welcome TB! Can’t wait to visit.

local June 28, 2011 (2:43 pm)

@ Kim – 30 beers on tap!

CMT June 28, 2011 (2:43 pm)

Kim – yes I remembered after I typed that West 5 is not 21 and older, although much of the seating is in the bar. For me it definitely fits into the adult rather than family-vibe restaurants.

full June 28, 2011 (3:02 pm)

Was lucky enough to go to the soft opening last night. Everyones food was great. The beers were great. (all the usual Irish stock plus some I hadn’t heard of and their own brand), The staff worked well under fast paced first night chaos. Had a great time. When closing time came no one wanted to leave. This will be a place and it will stay.
A Terrible Beauty was born.

berrn June 28, 2011 (8:13 pm)

Just got back from dinner. Service was very slow, but that is understandable. They were friendly, and the food was yummy.
Share the desserts-they are huge! We will be back.

miws June 28, 2011 (9:32 pm)

Maybe this will entice Cruiser to come back to West Seattle!

Mike

manu June 29, 2011 (11:51 am)

About the Load that southie talked about the renton location- Giants Causewy pub was there 5 years.

Chadwick June 29, 2011 (2:09 pm)

If you’re worried about “screaming kids” go to a real bar that isn’t a restaurant (there’s plenty) or go to a restaurant at an adult hour like after 10pm. Won’t see too many kids then. You could also just stay at home and cry in your beer like a big baby. Whatever you do, just chill.

Yardvark June 29, 2011 (3:12 pm)

It’s looks so good I’ll definitely overlook that the shepards pie has cow instead of lamb. Still can’t wait to try it! Best of luck to the owners and staff!

April June 29, 2011 (4:39 pm)

Talaricos definitely has a bar/adult atmosphere, but i always see kids in there. It’s not just the screaming that’s an issue, it’s the kids running around underfoot. And frankly, i just don’t like kids. Their very presence is irritating to me. Especially during Happy Hour, i’d rather relax with my glass of wine and happy hour food kidless. I don’t understand why people want to bring their kids into that kind of environment anyway. The huge bar takes up most of the space, it’s dark in there, candles on tables… if that’s not a non-kid-friendly type environment, i don’t know what is. However, i understand that parents have the right to bring their kids there, i just wish they wouldn’t choose to, and i can also choose to not give my business to Talaricos… but i really love their happy hour, so i just pray i don’t get seated in the kids’ section when i go. Unfortunately my prayers are not always answered.

All that being said, i will definitely be giving a Terrible Beauty a try… and hope i can get my happy on kid free occasionally. Just because i don’t have kids, doesn’t mean i like to eat dinner at 10 p.m. FYI. I have a day job. Us folks that aren’t fond of children like to eat out too, not just go to non-food bars.

Kathleen June 29, 2011 (6:09 pm)

Just had lunch there earlier today. Everything was great! I had the stew, my friend had braised chicken with cabbage and champ. Both meals were great. Server was great, atmosphere was great as well. Looks like there is a separate bar section, so those who don’t want to sit next to kids can sit on that side, and families can sit on the other side, so both sides of the kids/no kids debate can be happy. I was really impressed, and look forward to giving them my business!

pjmanley June 30, 2011 (8:47 am)

Who do you blame when a kid is a brat? The Parents. (Willy Wonka.) If it ain’t working, don’t force it. (Me.) If the kid is behaving, no problem. If not, do the right thing, box it up and go so you don’t ruin others’ meals. It’s called “common-courtesy.”

When I used to wait tables and bartend, I quickly discovered that proper restaurant behavior is entirely related to the manners and social-intelligence/awareness level of the parents.

Some of the anti-child comments here seem a tad self-absorbed, but, ironically many parents whose kids wreak havoc in restaurants share that exact same quality. Makes me wonder how many parents of these wild kids used to be intolerant of kids themselves? Stands to reason that people who are bothered by kids in their earlier years tend to be the types who ignore their kids later in life, leading to disruptive kids who act out a lot for attention. Just an observation.

Shane & Santy July 1, 2011 (10:41 am)

I’m taking my old lady there tonight! Guinness and Jamison, here we come!

Milo July 15, 2011 (7:48 am)

We’ve gone there to eat 4 times, but have only eaten there twice. the first two times they were so packed that we couldn’t get in. We learned and arrived early from then on. The place is beautiful,the food was fantastic with large portions and the beer selection will require much more sampling :)

Sorry, comment time is over.