rev:text
| - Comfortable and welcoming, in a wooden tables and brick walls kind of way - this new location is definitely a step up (and not just because they're now above ground, ba dum bum). I've been twice this summer and look forward to the cozy warmth I'll find here come winter. They also have a passable 'garden' patio (passable as such only in Toronto, where adding a potted plant to a concrete square of outdoor space might upgrade it to a garden patio). Theirs has 4 or 5 tables and a hedgey border that adds a bit of green to the space. Plastic patio tables, though. Blech.
First and foremost a beer joint, they have a great selection of both draft and bottles. If you're looking for cheap pitchers of something generic, this is not the place for you. If you're interested in trying something new and interesting and understand that only crappy generic draft can be $4 a pint, then Smokeless Joe is your kind of place. Good selection of local microbrews and yummy belgians. Also a reasonable scotch selection.
They have at least a dozen different kinds of mussels. I had the thai mussels ($16), which were spicy, tasty, and full of lemongrass (I'd eat them again, for sure), but not my favourites in the city. Lots of other food on the menu. Prices seem comparable to other places that serve the same fare.
Both times I've been there the service has been friendly and knowledgeable, with a dash of good humour. The kind of place one could spend an evening chatting with friends or curl up at the bar solo with a book and a pint and feel totally comfortable.
|