I've been meaning to go to Olmos Bharmacy for quite some time. I tried once a while ago, but I was too early and the bar, grated up in the back of the diner, sat dark even in the middle of the day (well, late afternoon, I swear). So on Friday, I ducked in for a quick beer.
Instinctively, it reminded me of the Korova Milk Bar somehow, but without the naked mannequin coffee tables. Maybe it was the high backed boothing that ran along the far wall all the way to the bar (though red and leathery in this case), or maybe it was the smattering of "down and out" 09ers slumped along it. Still it was a comfortable, undroogish atmosphere. The contentment I felt couldn't have been from the $4 Sierra Nevada that I slugged back. Nor the vaguely cheesy, but vaguely jazzy band: The Lewis and Clark Musical Expedition (I think the name is a pretty good description of the music). Perhaps the green neon lights that laced the window looking upon McCullough behind the band and the ones up above the bar (red blue red: Rx Prescriptions Rx) that hued the air in that way only neon can lent the abandoned diner its atmosphere. But I liked it. The silent metallic equipment behind the short diner counter top suggested being in a restaurant after closing, silent and dim and relaxed after the chaos of a dinner rush. The open area created from getting rid of the short wall that cleaved the room in two and cramped the space not three months earlier contributed to the surreal, laid-back atmosphere. Plus the bartender was friendly. Everything merged into a smooth, cool light.
I didn't have time, but it would be a great place to sit and talk and drink a glass of milk, um, I mean, wine, and pleasantly stare into space.
No comments:
Post a Comment