If you don't know it by now, the missus and I are big believers in happy hour. We don't treat it…read morelike a hobby so much as a part-time job with better benefits. Today's venue of choice was a place called Rivers End, which sounds like either a cocktail bar or a warning label, depending on how your day's going.
It starts off a little funny because you have to figure out the right door, then march yourself up the stairs like you're reporting for duty. Once you get up there, though, it feels like the kind of cool old place that's seen some things. You can almost feel the years rolling by, from Caribbean rum days to whiskey nights to the modern era of "smart cocktails," where they put things like herbs and intentions in your drink.
The vibe was right. Cocktails were great--strong enough to matter, smooth enough not to apologize for. The food was excellent across the board, the kind that makes you stop talking for a minute so you can do some serious fork work. Most important, our waiter Shane was dead on the mark: there when you needed him, gone when you didn't, and never once tried to explain the menu like we'd just landed from Ohio for the first time.
I can't find a single thing to complain about, which for me is almost a complaint in itself. Good value, good food, and a good scene--about all you can ask from an afternoon you're not spending at work. Next visit will be brunch, and I hope it's soon. Oh, and I did have the tostadas, but I got so excited by the smell I forgot to take a picture. Lewis would've understood. Some things are meant to be eaten, not photographed
