PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

Back in the 50's, this fire station closed up shop and moved to brighter pastures. Now a restaurant resides in this historic structure, serving up some decent pub grub and keeping things hopping.

I recently had the pleasure of checking this place out, which was somewhat reminiscent of viewing a museum in a party atmosphere, thanks to the full fire fighting regalia. First impressions would think this is just some campy strip mall establishment, but upon closer scrutiny, the stuff on the walls are all genuine, with every item displayed with purpose. And no, blessedly, the wait staff were not wearing flair! I have always had a lot of respect for these guys, and to have such an overall fairly pleasant experience was worth the visit. I really wanted to slide down the original brass poles in the center of the main dining section, or at least slam a few to swing around on them!

The bar service is pretty good, where we hung out while my party and I waited for a table, and the hostess seems to do a fine job of getting people seated, even though she certainly has her job cut out for her. The wait staff were certainly in a dizzying buzz, but not too frantic, thanks to a good busing staff puling back up duty. The place seems very upbeat, where large groups of friends can gather and chatter without worrying they're causing a scene.

The food itself was fair, but nothing to write home about, though they make a very earnest attempt of offering plenty of vegetarian selections. The chili is okay, which my personal standards are pretty high, so they make up for it by offering “The Wall of Fire”, where guests are asked to go up to it, located next to the bar, grab up as many bottles of underground heat as they like and bring it back to the table with them. I liked this notion a lot, and it introduced me to a few new concoctions! And I'm a girl who likes her food HOT!

Since some people bring the kiddos along, this place is best to hit after 8pm to avoid banging their knees into aisle blocking strollers. There is also seating upstairs, where the fire fighters used to sleep, though that is mainly used for banquets. It's a pretty cool place to check out, with area parking being pretty fair. There's free pool on Mondays and is also a good place to catch the game as well.