My family has a Friday night tradition of eating dinner out, then grabbing some ice cream. We usually hit Little Azio at Moreland and Ormewood (tres child-friendly) and then Bruster’s, but occasionally we mix it up with something different. Friday night, we had East Atlanta Thai and Sushi, then strolled down to the neighborhood bookstore, Bound to be Read.

There was a childless time out of mind when we ate every Friday night with a large group at the now-defunct Cabbagetown Grill (now 97 Astoria)- What ever happened to our favorite waitress, Mary Ann? We may never know. After having our first child, we ate East Atlanta Thai and Sushi every Friday night, often meeting friends there. Even when we didn’t have plenty of hands to hold the little one, the manager, Num (apologies if I am spelling this incorrectly) would sweep our son away from us as soon as we came in the door, at least long enough for us to order and start sipping a drink. You can’t beat that kind of service. Then along came number two, and it became easier to slap some pasta down in front of them than to juggle children while ordering from a sushi menu.

Occasionally, though, we still have the craving, so we bite the bullet and take both the little ones to the Thai place. We just make sure to get there before the crowd, so as to minimize disruption of other patrons’ meals. It is usually pretty quiet at the six p.m. hour. Our dinner was excellent. Husband ordered the seafood soup – so lemony! I had the basil rolls as an appetizer, and we both had sushi. Son had his usual pad thai with tofu. The service was excellent; The staff is always very friendly there.

Afterwards, we checked out our local bookstore, Bound to be Read. Owner Jeff McCord is friendly and helpful, and he stocks an interesting selection of new and used books. I particularly enjoy browsing the local history section. There is a children’s section in the back of the store with child-occupying props such as a plane hanging from the ceiling, a lego workbench, and a train engine that a three-year old boy can just fit inside while ringing the bell. Other nice touches? You can subscribe to the email list and receive information on new books, special events, and what Kona the cat is up to.

After we left the bookstore, we grabbed some ice cream next door at East Atlanta Village Ice Cream Shop (good, but with confusing hours – you never quite know whether they will be open or not), then headed home. Yum.

I love that I can find good food and a good bookstore right within walking distance of one another. Now someone just needs to open up a babysitting business in a Glenwood or Flat Shoals storefront, so that we can drop the kids off and go have a beer at The Earl. (Damn smoking laws. . . .)