If you’re a parent you understand the significance of a “family night out”. Kids in clean(ish) clothes, faces washed, various toys, books, and gadgets to keep them from screaming from start to finish. And then there’s the plethora of “just in case” items; diapers for the babies, underwear and pants for the potty training, limbs and eyeballs for the 8 year olds who are accident prone. Different ages bring different stages of this public fiasco but now that my daughter is almost 4, eating out means I get elbowed a little less and my food tends to stay on my plate more.

If you’re not a parent, know this: kids are squirmy.

Typically we make our meals at home for three reasons. 1. We’re broke. 2. We have high expectations of quality and flavor. 3. We have a child: See paragraph above.

On the rare occasion we choose not to pay our electric bill and eat out, we want to make sure our light bill money is being used to purchase something goooooood. Too often we leave restaurants shaking our heads saying, “we could have done better at home”. For the price, we could purchase double the amount of food, invite our neighbors, and cook up a frenzy of perfection. But laziness and convenience is usually what drives us out the door to a local eatery. Grab the keys, honey.

There are plenty of places to eat in Shelby that fit the bill for convenience. Only a few meet our expectations for quality. When I sit down at a restaurant I want something I can’t make at home. Something you do better. An experience that leaves me completely satisfied and looking forward to spending next months rent check at your establishment.

Last night we found it at Newt’s.

The clouds parted, the angels sang, and we ate an excellent meal.

It’s kid friendly and casual. It’s smiles and good beer. Admittedly, this was my second time eating dinner at the Modern Burger Joint and both times I’ve been very pleased. My first experience was with a black bean burger and last night I tried the Totchos.

I’m pretty sure the descriptions for Totchos is this: Tater tots covered in cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, and awesome. Seriously. Fantastic.

Thom had his “usual” and was very pleased with the RJ Rocker Brown on tap.

We sat outdoors under umbrellas and good music and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. For $32 we stuffed ourselves with delicious food (including an extra order of fries!), excellent beer, and a tasty “black and white” milkshake. You can’t go wrong.

We don’t eat out often. But when we do … we prefer Newt’s.

(No payment or bribes were received for this post. We just love ‘em!)