Love this little joint! My sis and I stopped in after what turned out to be a really long, gruelling day and all we wanted to do was chill out in the corner somewhere and nurse a couple of rounds and share a bite. This place was JUST what we were hoping for. Now, I'm from L.A.., (douchebag alert), so I must admit I'm a little particular when it comes to watering holes. Whether it's a classic dive bar or a hipster joint I need to get a distinctive vibe. This place felt great the second we walked in; it has nice lighting- warm and low but not depressingly so-, eclectic but unobtrusive music that doesn't bludgeon you about the face and neck so you can easily talk to the people you're with, a nice selection of beers on draft (ten or twelve I seem to recall, with about half being well-known breweries and the other half unfamiliar. If you're like me (not a conventional drinker but also not a connoisseur; somewhere between beer snob and ice-road trucker), this is a great thing because your first round or even second can always be about adventurousness, all the while resting in the consilatory knowledge that if your initial overtures are a disaster, you can still salvage the evening in the wet embrace of an old familiar standby...like my love life. (I had a Harpoon IPA-deeelish, thank you- followed by a Pabst, and -wait. -I need to stop for a moment. Because any place that has interesting microbrews AND good old Pabst, immediately gets into the "proverbial pantalones" of my good graces.....if you know what I mean...and I think....you......do; by proverbial I do NOT mean proverbial, know what I'm sayin'?!!.......ahem...
..But where were we?
This place is quite small (and I mean smaaall) and therefore rather intimate (it's a tiny house that was completely gutted and renovated). Literally feels like a house! Totally awesome! Lotta wood, no argument there. The bar, which is nicely positioned dead center, seats maybe ten people around it and there's roughly six tables. And thankfully, unlike a lot of bars where the regulars seem to have hijacked it, broken its will, and slowly transformed it into their own sort of collective living room of boozy dysfunctionality, this place had a nicely diverse but clearly harmonious and therefore CHILL clientelle.
The bartender- an actually friendly guy- greeted us immediately and checked on us several times though we were at a table and not at the bar itself. After a bit the owner (she was adorable) came over and hung out with us for a few and gave us a little history on how the place came to be. You could totally tell the staff was happy and that a lot of pride and good energy was flowing through the place. (Like attracts like, you know what I mean? A place can't fake that, I'm sorry, they just can't. I don't care how many T.G.I. Friday's ads you show me of hip, affluent, gorgeous, staggeringly popular people lost in the throes of gene-pool lottery-winning ecstacy, who, despite this, lead lives so bereft of imagination, so devoid of meaning, they ACTUALLY converge at a Friday's so as to have, any night of the week, without fail, THE GREATEST NIGHT OF THEIR OR ANYONE'S LIFE.....at of all places in the known Universe...a T.G.I. Friday's.
Yeah, no.
I don't believe it.
Why?
..Why don't I believe it?
....Because, ohhh, I don't know....because I don't eat rocks, drool incessantly, and therefore aren't a complete imbecile?!!)
...I'm getting a bit off topic, me fears...
Food was terrific for pub food (loaded nachoes with chicken), and the place was as cozy as all get out.. (Correction; cozy as get the hell out now. I mean it. All of you. Scram.) No joke, it's that cozy; I went in for a beer and left dressed as a giant mitten.
One more thing; I'd be remiss for not mentioning that their bathrooms were a religious experience. (No, I wasn't escorted out by security, they're just awesome bathrooms.)
Look, I'm telling you, if you want a warm, straightforward, inviting environment that's simple but a cut or two above the standard fare, and wood (good God, so much wood), this place is for you. Do check it out, you won't be disappointed. read more