Yeah, Renton has a reputation, a not so good reputation. If you tell someone you are heading to Renton, you have to pronounce it “rent-in” or “rent’n” dropping the “o” so that it sounds ghetto when you reference the evolving epicenter of sprawl at the sphincter of Seattle’s wild side.

So my big brother Bret lives in Renton. If i could’ve had any say in his 2nd house purchase i most certainly would’ve swayed him to buy closer to Seattle in ooooh say Ballard or Wallingford or something…. but no, he got a quaint little 3 bedroom fixer upper off of the Maple Valley highway, a few minutes past 405. Anyhow, needless to say i kicked and screamed and a ton at first everytime i had to go visit. Over time, and as the renovations started to reshape the home as i had originally known it to be, the Renton area started to grow on me. His home went from a rotting, foundationless, cat pee saturated shell to a modern, cozy escape from my bustling city life. I now find myself spending more time in Renton in Seattle these days it seems. I mean he has the dog, the yard, the 2 car garage, fireplace…the works. Granted you can have this in the city but this one doesn’t.

Over the summer we would go for bike rides along the Maple Valley trail and would make our way into the revitalized downtown sector where i found myself almost at home. New small businesses and cafe’s are opening every day it seems and the welcoming, small town feel takes me way back.

My all time favorite is the Whistle Stop, but a close second that i recently discovered is Cafe Lure which is an extension of Calico Cheesecake and the Tapestry Saloon. We had a prawn linguine and a ceasar salad, and of course we had to try the cheesecake, we ordered a Tiramisu. All get 10’s on my score card.

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