When it opened a few years ago, Proletariat Pizza, which serves mammoth New York–style pies and local pitchers of beer in an ultra-kid-friendly environment, went a long way toward cementing downtown White Center’s conversion from a seedy southwestern fringe to a dynamic commercial epicenter for working-class families of all colors and creeds. With a play nook for kids and communal tables, Proletariat’s half-price-pizza happy hour, 4–5:30 p.m., might seem a little strict at first blush. But for parents of young children, such a forced march can be a blessing, as taking kids out to eat within a feature film’s length of their bedtime often proves a fool’s errand. But while it’s one thing for a restaurant to be kid-friendly, the challenge is to be kid-friendly while letting adults be adults. The pizzas are of high quality (particularly The Favorite, featuring Mondo’s Italian Sausage and Mama Lil’s peppers), but it’s the ice-cold beer—often on special—from stellar breweries like Two Beers and Big Al that illustrate Proletariat’s concern for Centro Blanco residents who haven’t worn a diaper in more than two decades. MIKE SEELY 9622 16th Ave. S.W., 432-9765, proletariatpizza.com