I remember that place. Didn’t it used to be the Smiling Fiddle?

Just a heads up, Bob and Tony’s restaurant downtown next to the magic shop is now Ruby and Danny’s. You know Bob and Tony’s took over the space when Zach and Ziff’s ran out of steam (ice cream on sushi boats was innovative but nobody got it).

Before that it was McGuffin’s, famous for their rabbit races. Some of you still think of that property as the legendary Florence Burpee’s with the popular open stage Florence and her dog Poppy hosted every Thursday. If you are a little older, you might remember the space as The Snowdrop, a great place in the winter because of the huge fireplace. Oldsters might remember the people that ran a bar there before the Snowdrop called the Smiling Fiddle Pub. Even if you didn’t like bluegrass, the beer was cheap and people still talk about the Mushroom Burger.

Before that is was Johnny Raven’s place Violet Oysters. Two New Yorkers gave it a shot before Johnny. They swooped in from Manhattan to “show the local yokels how it’s done.” Well, the lasted about 3 months. They took over the property from The Ghost Lion bar who had a great comedy open mic that Bill Burr used to drop in at when he was in town. Before that it was a roller rink until the shooting. Before that is was a disco for seniors called Stayin’ Alive which didn’t go over too well with the demographic.

Your parents may think of the space as The Huge Spaghetti Barn which fed you and 48 extended family member for $2.39. Some of us remember going there as kids. They set a hug vat of spaghetti about three feet high in the middle of the table. Dad would lower one of the kids down in there and the lucky stiff would be The Flinger, responsible for flinging spaghetti and meatballs out of the vat to all the hungry relatives. Grandma used to be able to snag the meatballs clean out of thin air with no hands.