![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/New-Bio-Photo-Andy-Hinds-Aug-2012-web-291x300.jpg\")
<\/a>The Waypoint team has impressive credentials. John Pani, an Uptown local who lives with his family in Kensington, is a 12-year veteran of the San Diego hospitality industry. Brian Jensen, who runs the beverage program at Waypoint, is the owner of the Bottlecraft beer shops in Little Italy and North Park and a guy who blows my mind every time I ask him to explain what exactly is in the pretty bottle I picked out of his massive selection of brews. The executive chef, Amanda Baumgarten, has worked and trained in four different Michelin-starred restaurants, appeared on Bravo\u2019s Top Chef<\/i>, and opened Herringbone in La Jolla, among many other accomplishments.\u00a0 The Waypoint menu does her credentials justice. Check out the description of the \u201cPo\u2019 Boy\u2019s Tacos\u201d: \u201cFried oysters, french fries, jicama & jalape\u00f1o Slaw, aioli & smoked tomatillo salsa.\u201d You might want to dab that drool off of your chin.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be honest, parents\u2014the reason you and I are stoked about this restaurant opening is that it\u2019s yet another place we can take our children and enjoy an adult beverage or two with the blessing of the staff, and, one hopes, the tolerance and patience of any child-free patrons. With a 30-tap system focused on West Coast craft brews and over 300 different bottled beers in stock, there should be no shortage of options for thirsty grown-ups; and a designated \u201ckids area\u201d offers books, games, and a forgiving floor surface for children who don\u2019t want to sit around listening to the old people say words like \u201choppy\u201d in a context that makes no sense to them. Back on the fun side of the restaurant, there\u2019s also wine, if you\u2019re into that kind of thing.<\/p>\n
I talked to John Pani about why being kid friendly was an essential element of Waypoint Public\u2019s mission. First of all, John is the father of three youngsters, aged six, four and two; and despite conventional wisdom suggesting otherwise, parents don\u2019t automatically start craving Chuck E. Cheese as soon as the kids are born. John takes his kids to Station Tavern, Blind Lady Ale House and other kid-friendly Uptown establishments just like you and I do. And, being that he\u2019s a hospitality pro, I wasn\u2019t surprised to learn that he had noticed these places are almost always packed with customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to hit the trifecta,\u201d John told me, citing the Waypoint team\u2019s expertise in food and beer, as well as their determination to appeal to the neighborhood demographic, which includes a growing number of young families. \u201cThese urban neighborhoods are becoming so much more family-friendly. People are saying, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m staying here\u2014I\u2019m not going to the suburbs.\u2019\u00a0 I think there\u2019s an opportunity to address that market. And we\u2019re trying to hit that right on the nose.\u201d<\/p>\n
John feels like Uptown parents are likely to be tapped into (so to speak) the fun stuff happening in their neighborhoods. Like, for instance, the explosion of craft brew purveyors.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because I have kids,\u201d he said, \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t want to go have a couple craft beers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unprompted, he mentions some negative comments about bars that welcome kids and the parents who bring their kids to bars. This appeared to be in response to an article about Waypoint Public on Eater.com, and I had been planning on asking him about that very thing. John was preaching to the choir\u2014or possibly another preacher\u2014when he said, \u201cThere are certain kinds of bars where it is absolutely inappropriate to bring kids \u2026 but that\u2019s not our market; that\u2019s not who we\u2019re trying to be.\u00a0 Just because we serve good beer doesn\u2019t mean children shouldn\u2019t be around. That seems\u2026\u201d I finished his sentence: \u201cPuritanical?\u201d He liked my choice of words.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard, read and participated in arguments about bringing kids to bars ever since mine were born. The only part of the anti-kids-at-bars argument that I can see some validity in is from folks who just want to drink in peace without being disturbed by rowdy rugrats. But even to them I would say, there are plenty of places where kids aren\u2019t welcome: go there if kids get on your nerves.\u00a0 We parents don\u2019t have so many choices. Or, wait until, say, 8:30 p.m., when most of the families will have cleared out.<\/p>\n
To the moralists who think that kids should not be around adults who are drinking alcohol in a (gasp!) bar, I would point out that many, if not most, family restaurants serve booze. They may not attract aficionados of the precious malted beverages the way places like Waypoint Public do, but I think you\u2019ll find that parents won\u2019t drink any less responsibly at a place where there is good beer than they would at a chain restaurant that serves ice-cold swill. The fact that there are 30 taps doesn\u2019t mean that we will drink 30 beers\u2014at least not in one sitting. Furthermore, if you hear \u201ckid-friendly bistro and beer bar\u201d and imagine toddlers sitting among Jaeger-slamming frat boys, or relegated to the playpen while their parents drink into the wee hours, you are confusing places like Waypoint Public with a sad dystopic nightmare that I hope doesn\u2019t exist in real life.<\/p>\n
I loved living in Uptown for many years before having kids, so I understand the appeal it holds for young, kid-free adults, especially as it has grown more eclectic and vibrant. Part of that growth has included, as John Pani suggested, more young families, whether they have been attracted here by the combination of hipness and kid-friendliness, or just remained here after having kids for the same reasons. It\u2019s gratifying to see that businesses have recognized this trend, and are responding by investing in our neighborhoods in ways that address our\u2014I hesitate to say \u201cneeds\u201d\u2014let\u2019s say, \u201ctastes.\u201d I suspect that people who lament the influx of kids into our community are a tiny minority, but I want to assuage their fears. We\u2019re not going to spoil your fun. We\u2019re just not ready to give up on our own.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andy Hinds | Parenting Waypoint Public, on 30th\u00a0Street and North Park Way\u2014the space that used to be The Linkery\u2014had its \u201csoft opening\u201d on October 15th.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1274,"featured_media":246647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Parents rejoice as another kid-friendly bar opens in North Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}