FAT TUESDAY >>>

Can't make it to the Big Easy for Mardi Gras? Relax. There's plenty of beads 'n' beer revelry to be had right here in Tacoma. One of the better ones will go down at the Ale House Sports Pub & Grille on the edge of University Place. The party starts when the joint opens at 11 a.m. with food specials such as chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, blackened catfish and jambalaya.

And the Hurricane cocktails will flow out of the box, too, as well as $4 rum drinks and $2.75 beers.

But the raffle prizes and beads will not hit you in the face until after 6 p.m.

While the Ale House can't promise all of the gratuitous nudity and open liquor laws of New Orleans, they can guarantee 64 beers on tap and a good time.

[Ale House Sports Pub & Grille, 2122 Mildred St., University Place, 253.565.9367]

Where will you party on Fat Tuesday?