Looking for a SW Haven
I had a really nice time meeting some other urbanmamas at Sohbet in North Portland today. I have now completed the Triad of kid-friendly cafes as reported here on Urbanmamas and Marlynn's Best of Family Friendly Portland survey:
Sohbet (NE) (nice toys, great food and coffee)
Urban Grind (NE)
Tazza Cafe (NW) (smaller play area, but great stumptown coffee)
I enjoyed them all. Maika (my 20 month old) liked them all, too, though her favorite was probably the Urban Grind's kitchen toys. My problem is that I live in South Beaverton. While it doesn't really take more than about 20 minutes to reach any of those three cafes, I would love to find one close enough that Maika doesn't fall asleep in the car on the way home.
I have found some great kid-friendly restaurants (Pasta Veloce on SW Scholls currently being my favorite. You walk in, order and pay up front, then sit down and they bring you a menu. Drinks and napkins and extra silverware are self-serve, and they have a few boxes of giant lego-type toys to take to your booth.) in my area, but am still looking for a haven where I can take Maika and then manage some socialing or some writing at the same time as I sip a hot drink. The local Conestoga recreation play gym, while extremely nice, just isn't the atmosphere I am looking for.
Any ideas, anyone?
I live in the SW PDX area, and I'm looking for a good place myself too, but have yet to find one...
Posted by: betty | February 10, 2006 at 07:58 PM
Oh ladies, if you find one, you MUST share...sometimes I am tired of driving 20 minutes to get to one!
But, if it's just us, I do like taking my son to the Barnes & Noble Washington Square. I grab a coffee and a milk for him at the Starbucks next door then we spend some time in the children's book section. We sit at the kiddy table and I chill with my coffee while he reads or looks for new books. They also have storytime for kids ages 3-6, as well as 5-8.
Also try the Coffee People off HWY99W and Bull Mountain Rd (about 5-10 min from you, I think, Kirsten). It's bigger than most Coffee People shops and they have a couch and a couple of arm chairs toward the back in a space that's big enough for a couple of mamas and their kids to get together. Plus they have free WiFi.
Posted by: Marlynn | February 10, 2006 at 08:47 PM
I believe my husband, on a day off, took the girls to storytime at Pottery Barn Kids at Washington Square (Tuesdays at 10am). But, I looked at the website (http://www.shopwashingtonsquare.com/calendar) and it appears that they only had these in December? Still, Pottery Barn Kids seems like a great place to play for a little bit, if you're in the mall and need a play break.
Posted by: olivia | February 10, 2006 at 08:54 PM
Marlynn, thanks for the Barnes & Noble storytime suggestion. I'll have to try that one out for a change of pace. We're about 15 minutes from Washington Square.
So far, I've mostly been taking Ben to storytimes at either Hillsdale Library or Capitol Hill Library.
Posted by: betty | February 10, 2006 at 10:28 PM
yep...same boat here...south beaverton, near washington square, boys fall asleep in the car on the way to or from some place in town...summers are easy, parks, etc...the park across from beaverton library does movie night.
Posted by: shannon | February 12, 2006 at 01:56 PM
I've been to the Peanut Butter & Ellie's over in SW, close to the community center and we liked it. I'd meet you out there anytime!
Posted by: Kat | February 13, 2006 at 05:14 PM