Grub Crawl - Mills Ave and Lake Ivanhoe: Pour Choice Tap House and Wabi Sabi at the Hall on the Yard

I tried these two new places in the late afternoon after the football game. The first is on Mills (one of the blocks closer to Virginia). The second is at the new condos on the train tracks on Virginia (Alden Rd). It's called The Hall on the Yard. Many food stalls. I also saw two new (to me at least) places on Mills before you cross over 50 (from TP or DT). One was a tea place. Across the street was a bakery/cafe. I think it was Japanese.

Pour Choice Tap House - You give them your card. You get a wristband. It has only $20 max at a time on it. Place wristband against sensor. Pull handle. The screen calculates each pour. They give the per ounce price ahead of time on the screen. They sell beer, hard seltzer, cider and wine. Beer has the most taps. About two dozen in all. It might depend on how often they change it up for someone like me. I tried five in minutes and didn't want or already had most of the rest. Only cost me $8. They sold ping pong balls (for beer pong) from a gumdrop machine. Open space, TVs with sports on. Big white space. Food truck in rear parking lot. Open for two months. Pretty full. Mixed crowd.

Wabi Sabi - Chose them from among a dozen or more options. Had been craving a Banh Mi and I like the term. It means the art of doing everything as well as it can be done (in Japanese). They had a coconut curry pulled chicken one for $14. Never had that kind. It was good. So stuffed. Also came with basmati rice. Made it two meals in one. The rice was a little dry. Bun was just ok. Don't remember much of the menu. It was a rotating video screen. A bulgogi banh mi too? It's pan-Asian. Open for two months. You are supposed to sit at a table and order through a waitress or go up and order to go like I did. The place is all dolled up in marble, etc. They want you to treat it like a real restaurant. As such, most of the pricing is over what similar food stalls would charge (pre-tip). They also have a grand second floor with great views. The hall is very large. Not very wide. Long. They have a a stall for most popular food staples. It will take a while to try them all. Parking is terrible. Few spots. I had to park near the Imperial. They said that they have been in soft opening for two months. I think Wednesday they are engaging in some formal opening ceremony. Maybe that was this past Wednesday? For density and curiosity, it is one of the things you should try and experience. It is a spectacle. It will be interesting to monitor the turn over. I suspect the lack of parking, competition from with in and nearby and formality may make succeeding here a struggle. If the East End Market or Winter Garden Marketplace (and the many re-visits) are any indication. Not open on Monday. Opens at 11am. Also saw a beer garden in the rear and a Foxtail Coffee and an ice cream place across the play space in front.

*Gnarly Barley opened on the corner. I forgot to mention in the last post that it finally occurred to me that the park at the end of the road in NSB is a federal park. Not a state park. My annual pass gets me in for free. I drove through at twilight. Beautiful. Apollo Beach. Saw two armadillos and tortoises. Will start beaching there. Beach is much cleaner with softer sand. Hilly. The beach on Friday was stunning. Water was like glass. Could see marlins or something jumping out of the water. Perfect sun, wind, temp. Sunday was almost as good. A tad more undertow and clouds. I feel so bad for people in the North. Even the ones going home after enjoying Florida must have been suicidal thinking about what was waiting for them. I have two more in the queue. Maybe Sunday and Monday. And maybe a yet as done one for Tuesday.