Spring St Smokehouse Chili & Hush Puppies

Spring St Smokehouse Chili & Hush Puppies, originally uploaded by ~db~.

Sitting incongruously just on the edge of Chinatown Spring Street Smokehouse is another restaurant I discovered because of it's air conditioning. Well, I'd actually been wanting to visit for a while, and the 100+ degree temperature that day simply provided a good reason to go in for some cool air and a cold beer. Oh, and some chili and hush puppies.

The chili is really good. Big chunks of meat, just enough beans, and a lot of not-too-hot spice. The hush puppies were okay, but too dry. I also had a really good lager from North State. The service was friendly, but during my entire meal there was at least two staff (I think one was an owner or manager) chatting at the bar, often more than two. The customers seemed to be an afterthought. At one point my waitress ran out of the restaurant chasing a lady carrying Chihuahua puppies in her arms who walked by the front window. I found out later the woman was selling them for $100 each and my waitress wasn't interested ("If she was giving them away, I would have taken every one"). So, good food, but not such professional service. About $8 for the chili and hush puppies.