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The Burough


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I stopped in the Borough at the end of the "Art of Downtown Living" tour last weekend and was unimpressed.

A coupon for a free appetizer was included with the tour map, so we decided to hit the Dawson on Morgan last and stop by there. The appetizer list was short -- 5 or 6 options. The Medi Bread we ordered took 20-30 minutes, even though the kitchen was *not* overwhelmed. And it wasn't that good; it was a bread bowl filled with chopped tomatoes, feta cheese and olive oil. They only have a few beers on tap (same complaint I have about Times Bar) and I'm not a liquor fan. Our waitress gave the impression that she didn't want to wait on us, and would disappear for 10-15 minute stretches at a time. I'm not a fan of hovering either, but it was all we could do to get drink refills.

To leave, we had to ask for our bill, and then had to tell someone other than our waitress what we had and then she wrote up the tab. Other people didn't seem to have a problem getting served, just us. It was a terrible first impression, and I doubt I'll go back.

I finally went to Times Bar for the first time the friday before that (a week ago today) My friends wanted to go to the mall food court for dinner, but i talked them into coming downtown. We weren't well dressed, and sat at the table near the doorway between the two sides. Even though we all just got water to drink, our glasses were never empty. The burgers were expensive, but worth it once a month or so on my budget. Same for the fries, though I may try the potato salad next time.

There is a larger number of suit and tie types at Times Bar (This week I have been riding the TTA bus to wachovia and walk down fayetville street and hargett; I think I saw Mayor Meeker in there last night.)

The Borough could be a good "meet up/staging" bar for people going out to other places in the warehouse district (which is what Vertigo/Pooles used to be, at least for a lot of people I know).

Pooles has the awsome "lunch counter" vibe going for it. If they could move that counter into Joes Place, that would be something. But the last time I went, they did a poor job creating a nacho plate appetizer. How do you mess up nachos???

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Times Bar seemed to me to be a place for 30-somethings who used to party alot but now have steady jobs and traded in their thrift store clothes for stuff from the mall. Funny, that sounds like me. Times Bar is like (to me anyway) Roly Poly, Pooles, and the Rockford in that during my time in those places, I feel like I have left Raleigh and landed in another city....they all feel more city-like than the rest of Raleigh to me.

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I think I qualify for Jones' description, except I never did the vintage clothes thing...

That being said, I hope "that other city" that you feel like you are in at those places, Sadlacks, the Borough, 518, etc. will be the city Raleigh becomes in the coming years. I think the last few years have been good to the city, but it is not a guarantee of the future.

Some of the places that remind me I'm in Raleigh - K&W, Char-Grill/Snoopys, etc. aren't bad either, and hopefully a good mix of the old and new will perpetuate through downtown.

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