Date Night at the Grass Skirt Tiki Room

Date night.

I hate that phrase. It seems so forced, so contrived. But I've learned that when you have a one-year-old, every night out alone with your spouse is contrived by necessity. No going out on a whim. Everything must be planned.

So I happily accepted when my parents offered to visit for the express purpose of giving Paul and me a night out to ourselves. I felt only a bit of compunction when I realized that this would be the first evening that Edith would be put to bed by someone other than one of her parents. But it was quickly overcome by the anticipation of a dinner in which I didn't have to convince a little girl to stop throwing her glass of milk to the ground.

It took Paul and me about two minutes to decide where we would eat dinner: the Grass Skirt Tiki Room. It's not the fanciest place in Columbus, but we both really wanted to try the food and drinks, and they don't have high chairs. The Hawaiian-themed restaurant is all about atmosphere -- even the restrooms.

And the food ain't bad either.

We ordered a couple of fancy drinks and four small plates. The pulled pork in wonton cups were my favorite, followed by the sweet potato wedges and the fried pineapple with a honey syrup dipping sauce. The coconut shrimp served in a coconut was good for the kitsch.

We arrived about 8 p.m. and were seated even before our drinks arrived at the bar. The small room was pleasantly crowded the whole time we were there, and I'm not sure I ever noticed anyone waiting. The mood is pleasant, and the decorations so complete that I barely realized the restaurant doesn't even have windows until we were almost ready to leave.

We finished dinner way too early to go back home so soon, so we followed up the meal with drinks at Seventh Son in Italian Village, followed by the Crest closer to home. And to complete a great night, Grandma got up with Edith when she woke up the next morning, letting me sleep in an extra hour. Perfect!