It's 9AM

Would you like fries with that?

Chris Lowry

Jun 12, 2023

Is that it, she asked

Words every guy hates to hear.

Sad for her, it was.

But good for me, it was here idea.

We had a couple of late games scheduled pushed back even later due to a line of storms that rolled through.

So she wanted to try a new place to eat.

I told her that we should just do something fast and easy and cheap and stay ready for the game.

She said I was losing my sense of adventure.

I guess I had a feeling.

It had only been open a week.

The grand opening was on Wednesday, but the soft open was to test out the menu and get community reaction.

A huge open space filled with eight long communal tables, very European beer garden feel.

High ceilings, lots of brick and wood on the wall.

The brewery fermentation tanks lined up under the mural, the box kitchen off to one side and almost hidden by the bar.

It looked like it was trying to be cool and hip and fun, but the unadorned walls bounced sound around in the box so the only way to order was to scream over the din.

I’m a huge fan of having my ear tickled by breath.

Except when it’s the waiter and he can’t drink the beer he’s serving.

The menu was simple.

She split a fried bologna sandwich with #10 and I had a chicken salad sandwich.

We split an appetizer of olive tapenade and whipped feta cheese, that we had to get because any time there are olives on the menu, we order it.

Never mind that we could have grabbed a muffelata from a pizza joint up the road for half the price of an upscale fried bologna sandwich at this place.

There was adventure afoot.

The food was… meh.

It could have been colored by the atmosphere, which felt like it was trying to be something.

It could just be me.

A lot of noise and chaos makes me hyper alert, which puts a certain look on my face, and some people find that look off putting.

Eyes wide and searching, head turning and watching.

It could have been the weather, which was 86 when we left the house and 64 after the storm rolled through.

I’m not sure what set it off or set it apart, because I’m a huge fan of supporting local.

Maybe I was just miffed because the food wasn’t so great, the beer wasn’t so cold and the prices weren’t so low that I could forgive the first two.

Or maybe I had my heart set on something else and this particular visit was ill fated from the start.

Sometimes that happens when expectation meets reality and hope gets dashed.

A couple of folks trying hard to make something in a growing city deserve a shot, but…

Can you really just put kettle chips on a fried bologna sandwich and call it upscale cuisine?

It makes me want to set up a joint in downtown Argenta and call it Blue Plate.

A meat and two sides of Mamaw’s secret recipes.

Guaranteed to fill your soul because it’s made with love.

And flavor.

If I was a restaurant guy, I might.

Or find someone to give the idea to because running a place for picky consumers isn’t really my cup of tea.

Which they offered at this new place, but with flavor concepts, like lemon razz and rosemary tinge.

Cool names, but tastes that seemed slightly off.

Still, we might go back.

Like I said, there were factors involved that may have shifted perspectives and something on the menu looked worth trying.

A hot skillet pimento cheese dip with pita chips which I’ve never had before.

Or seen.

We don’t play in this town again for another month.

Just enough time to cleanse the palate and pray for better weather.

Have you had your hopes dashed by a promising place before?

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Would you like fries with that?

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