Monday, June 30, 2008

Blackbird Bistro

Blackbird Bistro
2329 California Ave SW
http://www.blackbirdbistro.com/

Category:
Bistro

When:
Tuesday June 24, 2008
5:35 – 6:15


Walkabouters:
Keri & Eric

Happy Hour:
5:00pm-6:00pm Mon-Fri

Specials:

Alcohol: Bottled wine 50% off
Beers (tap) $3.00
Mixed drinks between $3.50 and $5.00
Specialty drinks listed at $3.00

Food: Appetizers between $3.50 and $5.00
Steak skewers, some tuna thing, Red Beet Carpaccio, chicken cannelloni (not recommended by staff), miscellaneous dips/bruschetta type items. We were headed to dinner so didn’t order any food items.

Atmosphere:

Music was kind of mellow, few tables (~4), 10 bar stools, limited outdoor seating (when we were there no one knew how to turn on the outdoor lights). Crowd was older, and appeared to be there for the appetizer and wine specials. Bartender (Mitch), was accommodating and a nice guy. Waitress was not very personable, unless you were sitting at her table.

Bar Hooks: No

Foot Rail: No

Cost of Happiness: $15

Overall rating (1-10 and personal thoughts):

Keri: 4

I probably wouldn’t go back, unless I was in a hurry for some tasty steak skewers with a low price tag (had those before). I had the Cuba Libra (specialty drink), it was okay, kind of bitter, so I wouldn’t recommend it. If I’m going to rush home after work for a one hour happy hour, the drinks, atmosphere and food need to be amazing, and worth the hassle of getting there in time, unfortunately, Blackbird doesn’t hit the “amazing” mark.

Eric: 5

Okay, sure. Technically “happy hour” is supposed to be one hour long. But where I come from, it is happy "hours". This one hour crap is just not acceptable. That means you have to get there right when it starts to make sure you have enough time to get happy. With the traffic around here, that is not easy to do. There is not much here that make me want to return. There are some decent beers on tap but it is a pretty boring establishment. It gave me the feeling that it was 2:00 and they were setting up for the evenings service. But in reality, it was almost 6:00 and they were just setting up tables in their outdoor area. Mitch, the bartender, looked pretty bored too. He gave me the impression he was hoping Friday would get here so there would be some customers. The best thing about this place is that it is a two minute walk from Keri’s apartment.