Smith Street Clean-up

I took yesterday off and was relaxing today when the sun came through the window and I was motivated to get up and go out. Figured maybe I could catch a few places on Smith Street that are usually closed during the day but might open for Sunday brunch. My instincts proved to be deadly on:

135) Apt. 138

This place, on 138 Smith Street, has a nice dark distressed bar (not old, but made to look that way) bar. It has about a dozen small tables with one large dining table set in the back against windows. One wall is brick and has a lot of what looks to be original art work and the other side covered with wallpaper that had a vaguely forest like look to it.

I had a Newcastle Brown Ale

136) Banania Cafe

This place was jammed with a brunch crowd. It is fairly small and the bar is more of a service bar than anything else, but it did have three stools so I am counting it. I ran into a friend of mine that used to work at a now closed place not far from where I lived, so we chatted. It is a great place to go to for brunch if you don't mind a crowd and waiting, which I do.

I had a draft Merlot, yes, a draft Merlot.

137) Village Pub

Downstairs from Village 247 is this place, and it is a real find. You go to the back and take the steps down from the little outdoor seating area. You walk into a small dark bar with a large screen TV showing the Miami/Houston game. They have strange plaster reliefs of faces that appear to be in anquish gracing the walls. The bar looked like it had been painted with the same grey stuff they use on Navy vessels to keep you from slipping. They had a real old shuffle-board table. And I mean really old. Strewn about the place were all kinds of strangely decorated beer mugs, the theme of which I did not fully understand.

I had a Steelhead Scotch Porter, made by Mad River brewery located in Blue Lake, California

138) Cubana Cafe

This is a real small place but had the look and feel to it of a small place in the Cuban section of Miami. It had a little bar in front, blue ceramic, and a small sidewalk area in front. I sampled some of their crispy fried plaintains with chimithurri.

I had an Appleton rum and Coke.

139) Mancora

This is a Peruvian restaurant with a small bar up front. One large wall has a mural of people casting nets for fish on the sea. They have nice red and purple lights hanging over the bar. An interesting picture of two elderly people starring into each others eyes in the front.

I had a glass of Merlot and headed home.

Now, I was going to call it a day but then the wife and I decided to go out for dinner so we went to a place that I knew had a nice little separate bar.

140) Thai Grille

This place is on Henry Street just about on the corner of Clark Steet. This is a nice Thai restaurant that has a separate bar area, almost another room altogether. It is a small place, nice dark bar with overhead lights and bird cages hanging in the front window. A couple of regulars at one end of the bar watching a ventriliquest on the Comedy Network station and comparing him to someone who, every once in awhile, had a similar, but much better act, on the Ed Sullivan show.

I had a Singha beer and then went to the next room and had dinner. We shared Spring Rolls and then I had breast of duck and my wife had the whole red snapper. Great food and the snapper was extraordinary.


Not a bad day, and I am now down 860 bars to go.