80/20 Burger Bar

James's birthday was at the end of December. Because our birthdays fall near Christmas (mine was the 26th), neither of us have the traditional birthday party experience, but we do like to go out for a nice dinner together. But finding a sitter during the week after the holidays is a little bit of a feat, and we'd been abusing the familial babysitting privileges, so we knew this year that we would have to bring Anne along with us. With that in mind, we wanted to find someplace where a toddler wouldn't be too disruptive -- but a place that was still festive enough for a birthday meal.

When we look for a kid-friendly restaurant, we tend to keep three things in mind: a toddler-friendly ambience, but with dishes that will also appeal to more sophisticated grownup palates; bonus points if the food is reasonably healthy. Usually, we can get two out of three, and when we do, we mark it to go back to. 80/20 Burger Bar on 21st Street in Norfolk was the rare place that offered us everything on our list.

The restaurant is warm and inviting (I read somewhere that the owners built everything in the restaurant themselves, which is super cool), with a bustling atmosphere that covers up baby chattiness. There is a full-service bar, but it's separated from the eating area, which avoids that whole Sweet Home Alabama "you have a baby? in a BAR?" dilemma. The kids' menu offers darling slider burgers and some other options to accomodate a little pickiness. And the rest of the menu was novel and fun and delicious enough to get us parents excited, too. (James had the Alamo Burger and I had the redneck Wellington...a burger wrapped in pastry, with mushroom duxelles and goat cheese. How cool is that?)

Here is Anouk eating every. single. thing. on her plate

Our favorite thing about 80/20 is their commitment to serving grass-fed, grass-finished, locally sourced beef. We try to avoid unpastured meats for our family whenever possible, but especially for Anne, since she can't make decisions about what type of food she eats for herself. It makes eating out a little tricky at times, so it was nice not to have to worry about it. Everything on the menu was fair game.

Some other highlights: The extensive selection of french fries (bay spices! rosemary and parmesan! fire-hot-pepper blend!), house-made flavored sodas (alcohol-spiked available for the adults), and some really refreshingly creative sides (order some smack and cheese for the kids -- and for yourself).

And now, some things to keep in mind if you decide to visit: 80/20 opened just a few weeks ago and is getting a lot of (well-deserved) buzz, which does mean that wait times can be a little long, especially on the weekends. We were told 20 to 25 minutes, which was just long enough for us to pop over to Carolina Cupcakery for some birthday treats, but friends and family who have gone have been told to plan for an hour or more. It might be a good idea to call ahead to suss out wait times, especially if you plan on bringing the kidlets. Also, there have been rumors that chef Joe Pavey is planning on paring down the menu after a month or so, so make sure you order everything you want this go around in case it doesn't make the cut (Pimento cheese. You've got to order the appetizer cheese plate!)

We had a great time. It was a wonderful birthday dinner for a wonderful dad.

Cheers to you, Jamesy! Bottoms up!

Have you been to 80/20 Burger Bar? Are you planning to go? What did/would you order?

Happy weekend, everybody!