Tacos and beer in Renton. Tacos and beer in Georgetown. And salad in a Skyway tavern.

I didn't go into Dubtown Brewing(201 Main Ave S, Renton) thinking that I would like the place. For a couple of reasons. One is that I'm a Four Generals Brewing( 229 Wells Ave S. Renton) loyalist. I love Four Generals, and have liked almost all the beers I've tried there. Another is that I hate "progress" and development, and remember fondly the former gas station on the site of Dubtown that housed Jet City Espresso, the former coffee shop/junk shop/cool hangout space. I know, I don't sound like much of a real estate agent saying I hate development. But I'm more partial to funky old buildings. Nonetheless, Dubtown makes good beer. And the space is nice, in a modern space/concrete floor kind of way. I've sampled a few of their beers over a few visits, and the Pfudor(less intense IPA) is pretty delicious. I don't remember what it all stands for, but the PFU is Pink Fluffy Unicorns.
Anyway, it appears that downtown Renton can support two breweries. I've been to both breweries in the last week, and both were pretty busy, during times one might expect them to be slow. Or maybe people in Renton are just particularly talented at drinking beer.  Four Generals continues to produce great beer.  They've won medals at the Washington Brewers awards, a gold for their English Bitter, and a bronze for the very delicious Rye Pale Ale. But you know what? Neither of them are currently available, because they weren't selling. The Renton River Haze IPA is spectacularly delicious and available, and I just tried the Pilsener the other day, and it too is great. Easy drinking, but with character. Both breweries allow kids, dogs, and outside food.

A few weeks ago I went to my favorite taco truck in Renton, Chilolos,( 1408 Bronson Way N. Renton) to find out it was sold and is no longer Chilolos. It is now Birrieria Y Taqueria La Costena. They now specialize in Birria, a spicy  shredded beef stew, which is served in tacos and quesadillas. They still have mushroom tacos and quesadillas, a holdover from when it was Chilolos.
Are they still the best taco truck in Renton? I don't know. They no longer make their own tortillas like Chilolos did, but they are still very good.

I was gifted something like seventy pounds of plums. So of course I had to make something alcoholic , and found myself at Sound Brewing Supply in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. Going there, we passed both Counterbalance Brewery(503 S. Michigan St, Seattle), and the new brick and mortar, sit down location of Chilolos Tacos(6538 4th Ave S, Seattle). We got tacos from Chilolos and headed over to Counterbalance for a beer. The beer there is great, and Chilolos continues to be great, even from a new location. and they still make their own tortillas.

In Skyway, the Beachcomber Tavern has been reopened after being  extensively remodeled. They did not renew the lease of the previous owners, and the place was closed for a couple of years. During the remodeling, they uncovered a mural on the wall, which they have restored. They do not currently have burgers of fish and chips on the menu, a couple of things the old Beachcomber excelled at. They have sandwiches and salads. Skyway does not strike me as a neighborhood where people go out for salad at a tavern, but I had the tuna salad, and liked it. They don't feature microbrews there, but do have Elysian Space Dust IPA, which was from a microbrewery until Budweiser bought them out. The beer is still good, and still brewed in Seattle. Just no longer locally owned( or even American owned, as Budweiser's parent company is Belgian.) So if you find yourself in Skyway, and craving a salad, I think the Beachcomber may be the only place in Skyway to get a salad.