We started out at Brewskies, which is on Southeastern Avenue in Wanamaker (ain't everything?). It was a Friday evening and there was a big, big, crowd packed into a bar area not much bigger than Tammy Faye Baker's dog house, and just about everyone there was smoking, including the bartender and the waitress. They have those activated charcoal ceiling fan add-ons (which you've probably seen if you've been in many bars-- they look kind of like big plastic wheels spinning overhead) to combat the smoke, but I'm sorry to tell you and Eddie the Wheel Salesman that those things don't work worth a darn, as far as I'm concerned. We had to leave after one beer just to be able to breathe. The crowd was friendly, though, with several folks recognizing us as newcomers and welcoming us to the place, which like several other Wanamaker establishments (like the Ordinary and Wheatley's fish fry) is something of an icon of the neighborhood. The patrons were mostly of our own age group (40+) and appeared to be good solid citizens. The beer and drink prices were decent, too. We didn't get to see the family dining area, but the food smelled good.
After a couple of deep breaths of cold, clear winter night air and a short drive with the windows down, we passed up The Gold Mine (I'm sorry, we were in there about 6 months back and the place was dirty and kind of smelled, and the 2 cars parked outside on this Friday night told me things probably haven't improved), and arrived at Gusto! (the exclamation point is part of the name) which is on Southeastern in the same little 50's mall as the One More Lounge (see past posts). Gusto!'s crowd was smaller, younger, and kind of smart-looking. The owner (Tim? sorry if I don't get his name right) said all of their food ingredients are fresh and never frozen, and the food looked and smelled delicious, though we didn't eat because we'd just come from the Hibachi Grill. The drink prices were good, and Tim poured a tasty new concoction of his own making for the 6 or 8 people at the bar to sample (for free!) that was called an Orgy, or Orgasm, something like that-- a combination of Red Bull and some French liqueur with a name similar to the drink, which I also can't remember. I peeked in on the family dining room and it looked very homey and comfortable. We had a great time, and definitely plan to come back for the food. Ah, you Wanamakerites, or Wanamakerers, or whatever you are, you're a lucky people to have such great institutions devoted to beer, fish, pizza, and meat!
UPDATE, 06/30/2013: The Marion County non-smoking ordinance has probably cleared the air inside Brewskies by now, but I saw where they were cited for having illegal gambling machines. Heck, that'll be a selling point for some folks!
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