White Center Now: The blog about White Center

So I went down and tried Al’s beers when everything was quiet. At the moment he has two offerings, an Irish Red, and an Abbey Wheat. Both are non-traditional styles, and it is nice to see something different from a Northwest brewer.

The Abbey Wheat; This is not a pale ale. I think it is awesome that someone is brewing something a little different. Personally, I love Abbey beers and I found this one very light and drinkable. By that I mean I could see drinking a lot of them on a hot day.

The Irish Red; I don’t know a lot about this style. It is very malty and seems more like a brown ale to me, but the only other Irish Red that I have had was a crappy Busch version of the style, and the only thing red about that was the label. Al’s beer is big but not over powering. That is a hard line to walk and he seems to have done it just fine.

The outside is pretty much the same as the old Pac Rim. Not that it’s a bad thing. I loved the Rim, and missed having a patio that I drink on. Inside, it is still a little sparse, but I am sure that will change. The lovely wine accent paper is gone. I wished I could have salvaged it before it went into the dumpster.

So all in all I give Big Al a big Thumbs up. He is having his first tap night at Beveridge Place in West Seattle tonight. Go down and ask him when he is going to make an IPA.

Beveridge Place Pub – Brewer’s Night

big al and the crew will be at Beveridge starting at 7 pm tonight, 8/14/2008. This is Big Al Brewing’s first event outside the brewery, and we couldn’t be more excited. We’ll have both of our beers on tap and there will be raffles for big al give aways.

Location : Beveridge Place Pub map
When : 7 pm until Big Al can’t take any more!

In reply to some of the comments regarding my post on the search for the Great Burrito, here is my reply.  Sam, as far as Vegetarian fare goes, almost all Mexican restaurants usually have some nice dishes that fully fill the nutrition bill.  Guaymas has some excellent veggie dishes and also serves whole black beans so that would be my first choice for Veggie food, although you will find some good tortas at La Fondita (taco trailer).   I agree that some of the other restaurants have excellent food as well but I was really interested in the “grab & go” variety.  Given that the burrito is perfect for this purpose, and that I love them, I focussed on them but there are other Latin American restaurants that serve great fare, most prominently  the Salvadorean Bakery. No disrespect meant for those not mentioned.

In my next search I will explore the Vietnamese cousin of the burrito:  the Vietnamese Sandwich (that which feeds those of us with quarters snatched from the sofa cushions).   I invite your observations on the best Vietnamese Sandwich in WC.   Let the games begin!

If there’s anything that I am an expert on it is burritos: the kind of Tex-Mex hearty burritos that come wrapped in white flour tortillas and do not have the pretense of yuppie “wraps.” Hell, I was eating burritos when I was a baby. My mom would dump a cheese & bean burrito into the blender and then feed it to me with a side of jalapeños. Later I was inaugurated to tripe and brain barbacoa burritos. So I know of what I speaketh.

We in White Center are blessed with a bounty of Mexican and Latin American restaurants. Way back in time when White Center actually lived up to its reputation as Rat City I discovered Taqueria Guaymas on the corner of 17^th and Roxbury. Guaymas serves mission-style burritos which, strictly speaking are not actually a Mexican product. Mission-style burritos originated with California’s Chicano community. These burritos are defined by their hefty girth and the prodigious helping of rice and beans. In this regard, Guaymas makes the best mission style burrito around, Spanish rice, whole beans and your choice of fillings. Guaymas has locations in more upscale neighborhoods but the original one is still the best, especially when it comes to authentic meats.

At the other end of the spectrum is the taco trailer between 15^th and 16^th Avenue SW, otherwise known as Taqueria La Fondita. The burritos here leave good grease stain on your plate and hefty piece of lead in your belly. In other words, this is the real deal, Tex-Mex burritos as I recall them. Unlike mission-style burritos, these are not as packed with carbs but what they lack in grains they make up in flavor. You can taste this morning’s huevos rancheros in the grease they use to fry the carnes for your burrito. This is the stuff you eat when you need to cure a Tequila hangover. The salsa they use is nothing to write home about, but the side of grilled carrots and jalapeños is excellent.

More recently El Paisano, WC’s great Mexican butcher shop, has opened a restaurant by the same name close to the intersection of 15^th and Roxbury. The meats used are excellent and include my favorite barbacoa de chivo (goat meat barbeque). These burritos are more authentically Mexican. The red meats are succulent and leave no doubt that these were made with a very fine grade of meat. The roasted chickens are coated in a red adobo sauce that permeates the chicken with a subtle spicy flavor. The red salsa is excellent and is strongly recommended.

If you want to explore there are more Mexican and Latin American restaurants in White Center. I did not review these others, because they are somewhat outside of my orbit and are more in the nature of sit-down restaurants; these include Restaurante Del Rio and Viva Mexico (both on 17^th Ave. SW). In any event, it’s hard to go wrong when it comes to burritos at WC.

George White, the eponymous co-founder of White Center, could not have known that, in so founding this neighborhood, he was displaying an ironic sense of humor. White Center certainly has its share of white residents but what most likely defines it, in most peoples’ minds, is its amazing diversity. There are literally people from every continent who have as their primary tounge, the language of their native land. Alongside English you will find people who speak: Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog, Russian, Chinese, Japanese along with a couple dozen other languages. This rich diversity of cultures is welcomed by most and disdained by some. As some long-time residents of West Seattle said to me recently, “we live in West Seattle not in spite of White Center but because of White Center.”

I myself love the infusion of life that immigrants bring to White Center. You would have to travel many, many miles in most Seattle neighborhoods to find the rich diversity of food that you will find in the few blocks that make up this wonderful neighborhood. From papayas, prickly pair apples, mangos to rambutan (chon chon), durian (sau rieng), and sapodilla, you will find fruits and vegetables literally from every corner of the world. The same goes for chicharones, goat meat, brain tacos to Ca cuon fish rolls, Chao tome prawn paste, and mam salted catfish, snakehead and mackerels along with the necessary condiments, you will find them all in White Center. So next time your Greenwood friends start ragging on White Center, invite them over to an international dinner befitting a world traveler.

The big event this weekend is the

Pasefika Annual Festival

White Center Heights Elementary School

10015 6th Ave. S.W.

10 am until 5pm

Pasefika’s 5th Annual Festival. There will be performances by various Pacific Island groups. Also there will be drawings for gifts donated by vendors, sponsors and community partners, as well as food booths. Free admission.

Full Tilt is having Rat City Ruckus on Friday at 9pm http://www.myspace.com/ratcityruckus

and our first art opening with Chris Hunter Saturday at 8pm http://www.myspace.com/alkigypsy

If you have any events, news, or concerns, drop us an email at whitecenternow@gmail.com