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| - Carly's has a bit of a reputation among Phoenicians and downtowners. It's tiny, so they usually have a maximum of three people working there at any given time. Most people discover Carly's on a First Friday visit, when it's wall-to-wall and completely overwhelmed. There's a name for that, you know. It's called "amateur hour." The people-in-the-know realize that Carly's is a great place to avoid whenever there's a crowd on Roosevelt, and a great place to hang out when it's locals-only (I. E. not much of a crowd at all). In fact, Carly's is one of not-very-many restaurants or bars in the area open every day of the week, with late hours. Additionally, it has a full liquor license, with hard liquor options. The other places in the area (The Roosevelt, Lost Leaf) only serve beer and wine. Lost Leaf doesn't even serve food. The point I'm trying to make is, Carly's has a niche. A "Sunday afternoon and i'm hungry and there's no place nearby open" niche. Literally, we walked past the Subway in the Cronkite building and it had closed. LAME!
The point is, Carly's has decent food (maybe a tad over-priced in this economy, but hardly a deal-breaker), the service is not great, but not intolerably bad (aside from First Friday, of course), and the vibe is actually quite good.
The last time I was here I shared a pita chip-based appetizer, and it was delicious. I went on to eat the pear sandwich, featuring pear, brie, and proscuitto. It was fantastic! Additionally, I loved the Modest Mouse they were rocking in the background, although I wasn't sure what was going on with the sub speakers. It was a little unbalanced. Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back soon. Probably not on a First Friday, but on a Sunday afternoon or another time when it seems like most of the other places are closed, I'll be here.
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