| A bar turned family diner is good news for an under-served South end neighborhood near Wapato park. Everybody seemed happy to be there when we stopped in Sunday for some seriously filling home-style cooking. 
You can still see the bones of the bar at Connie's: the tables are small and round and have to be pushed together for small groups. The menu and the atmosphere is all about family dining, however. At the next table over, the manager pushed her house-made cheesecake until the party relented, happily. We ordered our own gut-busting selection of nachos, fried chicken, a turkey sub (for a kids meal, less than $4) and a bunless "Brickhouse Burger." 
As it should in this type of place, my burger rocked. It arrived smothered in grilled onions and mushrooms, stacked on top of tasty bacon and swiss cheese. (Actual swiss cheese, not the processed swiss cheese food some local family restaurants are serving these days.) The French fries were good, too. Crispy and seasoned but not battered. 
Tacomadaddy slowly summited his enormous plate of fried chicken as the night went on, while the kids explored the mysteries of the juke box. We were grateful for the distraction from the homemade ice cream sandwiches some of the other kids were eating. The manager asked us quietly if the kids could have a couple of lollipops, and stealthily passed us four (complimentary) wrapped up chocolate chip cookies to take home for later. 
Connie's is currently only open for dinner, from 4 to 10 pm. When you go, bring your appetite and plan on staying for dessert. Vegetarians might have to make due with homemade pie, which doesn't seem like a big sacrifice. Connie's Brickhouse
1213 South 56th Street
253-475-2215 | 
