Relish is so much looking forward to smoke-free dining that we compiled a random list of soon-to-be former smokehouses (that quite frankly we’ve been avoiding)…and what we’ll order when we blissfully return:
O’Connell’s Pub
Recollection: No separate checks, no tomatoes, no free refills, no to-go orders, and they don’t care if it’s your birthday.
Recommendation: The roast beef sandwich or the almost-textbook-style cheeseburger.
Recollection: The quintessential pub, a public house for adults: no t-rav’s, no chicken strips, not even a TV unless you go upstairs. Only serious food and real beer spoken here.
Recommendation: Any beer and any burger, with a side of the stockpot stew of the day.
Recollection: Customers have been smoking there for 75 years, so it’s no surprise that odors from the previous night linger on.
Recommendation: The reuben made with smoked pastrami has all the smoke you need.
Village Bar
Recollection: The first place I remember being able to go “half and half” on side orders.
Recommendation: Their better burger with an order of onion rings/mushrooms on the side.
Recollection: When restaurants were mandated to allocate the majority of their tables for non-smokers, Michael’s balked—I believe their original non-smoking section was about 4 tables.
Recommendation: One of the best gyro salads in town, especially now that they use a bowl that holds the contents.
Recollection: The sardine-esque feel at the bar fosters instant camaraderie, except when smokers are present on both flanks.
Recommendation: In the wintertime, enjoy a glass of wine upstairs before heading downstairs to the see-all corner table for shrimp & corn bisque and/or bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin.
Recollection: A serviceable and inexpensive “farm fresh” tapas menu offset by the staleness of cigs.
Recommendation: That small plates menu paired with MLF’s soft-seating = a far better pairing.
Recollection: Took two steps into the bar, was overcome by cigar smoke, took two steps back out, then a few more out the door—haven’t been to that bar since.
Recommendation: Can again enjoy some gumbo and a shrimp chopped salad at lunch.
Recollection: The most egregious example of how an attractive remodel and nice vibe can be ruined by excessive smoke. Recommendation: The pizza I was forced to take home tasted fine the next day…but I’m sure it’s better right out of the oven.
Majestic
Recollection: One of the smokiest joints I can remember, especially unsettling at breakfast time.
Recommendation: Looking forward to another Bill’s Omelet (the one with gyro meat), the omelet that’s worth getting a hangover for.
Recollection: Racing around that racetrack bar, avoiding the smokers.
Recommendation: For lunch, grab a friend and split some sweet potato fries and a corned beef or pastrami sandwich—the standard, not the oversized one—unless a nap is already a part of your day.
Recollection: Surprisingly good pizza, and a friendly staff and owner (who sings on Saturday nights), but the customers are big smokers.
Recommendation: Looking forward to Edin Sadikovic’s smoke-free lounge act—seriously. He was big in Bosnia. Seriously!
Recollection: I like smoky scotch, but not quite that smoky.
Recommendation: Bangers and mash, rumbledethumps, cock-a-leekie pie, bubble ‘n squeak—will now be as much fun to eat as they are to say.
Recollection: If I’d wanted that much smoke with my pizza, I‘d have ordered it topped with smoked mozz.
Recommendation: No ashtrays = more room on the tables for the coldest bottled beer in town.
Recollection: Great $1 oysters on Thurs nights until 7…but I would have preferred mine cold smoked, thank you.
Recommendation: Looking forward to more oysters, more mussels in green curry sauce, and more of that creative menu, now that the must-pass-through-it smoke has cleared.
Recollection: A lively bar that’s always busy, so there is no way to escape a nearby smoker.
Recommendation: More smoke-free seats mean better enjoyment of perhaps the best-executed menu in town.
