New bar openings and the demise of Lower Greenville
Before I get to the new stuff, Lower Greenville's suffered a string of bar closings, as pointed out by someone on Front Burner yesterday. I went to some of those places (Sidebar, What Bar, Speakeasy) and none of them ever really stood out enough to make me want to go back.
It's sad, but you really need to have a solid idea or concept these days or else no one is going to go and spend money there. Barcadia, for instance, has been packed on recent weekend nights, or so I hear. That place isn't on Lower Greenville, but Zubar and Gezellig are, and they seem to be doing well. Ditto for The Cavern, Kinki Lounge and the Libertine Bar.
On to the openings...
Veritas, a wine retail store and bar in Henderson/Capitol, opened this month and is neater inside than I thought it would be. It's in a strip mall, but the space feels warm and inviting, with candles on the tables and a chalkboard listing a few specials. (Cava with fresh kumquat? Yum!) The wine guy was really helpful and friendly and gave us some recommendations on stuff he thought we'd like. (He scored with the Windmill petite syrah.) They also have cheese plates -- bonus.
Other openings: Cafe Ravenna downtown has added a full-service bar (yay, a pizza-n-beer place for downtown residents!), and Blue Collar is coming soon to the triangle-shaped wedge of land across from the Slip Inn. Funny that it's called Blue Collar, while the number of blue collar people in the area is slowly disappearing.
I actually had a debate with my husband about whether a bar named "Blue Collar" would draw the young, cool hipster demographic. Do they want to go to a place that says "dive" on the side of the building? Doesn't that seem a little contrived? He said it wouldn't matter. I said it would. We'll see.
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