Archive for January 2008

The phrases “sports bar” and “family-friendly” don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but at D Street Bar and Grill in Encinitas, both adults and kids can enjoy a meal and a fun atmosphere. Adults will appreciate the abundance of flat-screen TV’s showing just about any game they could want to watch and, if you ask your server, he or she will usually change one of the TV’s to a cartoon channel for the kiddos and provide them with headphones so that they can hear their show. This little detail has allowed my husband and I to have long, leisurely dinners and conversations that our three little darlings would not normally let us have while eating out.

As kid-friendly as D Street is, it also has a cool atmosphere and is very popular with both college kids and 30- and 40-something locals, which is confirmed by the large crowds on weekend nights. There are dj’s Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, a large beer and wine selection and a menu that is a step above the standard bar fare of chicken wings and French fries. My personal favorites include the Wicked Chicken Cheese Steak sandwich and the Chicken Parmesan, which is so yummy that it inspired me to start preparing it myself at home. The portions are oversized, so either split an entrée with your date or prepare to take it home for the next day’s lunch.

The kids’ menu is pretty typical: mac & cheese, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, noodles with butter, cheese pizza, but my kids always clean their plates at D Street (and often request to go to dinner there). The prices are decent and the service is reasonably good—some servers are excellent, some are only so-so, but as long as the kids are fed and entertained and my beer glass stays full, I’m content to spend an evening at D Street Bar and Grill.

If your kid loves those giant bouncy castles at birthday parties, he’ll think he’s died and gone to bouncy heaven at Pump It Up. Huge rooms filled with all sorts of inflatables will keep him climbing, jumping, and running until he’s worn out and ready to nap (Alleluia!). The inflatables include obstacle courses, “boxing” rings, huge slides, and the standard bounce houses that will keep kids from 18 months and up entertained for at least a couple of hours. I have to admit, I have a lot of fun there myself, especially while racing my kids through the obstacle course.

This place is extremely popular for birthday parties. In fact, my boys have been invited to more than ten parties there in the last few years. When you have a party at Pump It Up, you get the use of at least one supervised party arena for your group, as well as a private party room where you can eat cake and open gifts. The downside, in my opinion, is that it’s a pretty generic party. Of all of the parties that my family has attended at Pump It Up, it’s almost impossible to remember who the birthday kid was. The upside of a Pump It Up party is that my kids are completely exhausted and sweaty, which usually counteracts the hyperactive effects of all the sugar in the cake and ice cream.

Besides birthday parties, Pump It Up has “Pop-in Playtimes” for preschool and elementary school kids, as well as some evening “Date Nights”. Over the holidays, we sent our two older boys (ages 5 and 7) to an evening playtime and have never seen them so exhausted. That was totally worth the money.

San Diego County locations are in Poway, San Marcos, and Chula Vista.