Don’t let the nondescript, no-frills décor fool you—this hidden gem off the overly hip Dempsey stretch does some decent grub. Okay, there isn’t much décor to speak of actually, save for a bar that’s basically the main centerpiece, some ubiquitous outdoor furniture thrown in and a pool table. Not to mention the fact you can’t actually see this place—which housed the erstwhile Dempsey Hut—from the road (it’s behind a little driving range). We stumbled across this cozy joint one evening for dinner while the rest of Dempsey wasn’t entertaining walk-ins, parked ourselves under the cabana and soaked up the groove. We must say that a lazy Sunday afternoon here doing brunch would be much better (with less mosquitoes, that’s for sure) than a hot sweaty evening. We settled for a Caesar salad for starters and a 130 Special burger plus a beef lasagna as our mains. The salad was decent with all the right trimmings. The 130 Special burger, which came with thick-cut fries, also went down really well—layered with baby spinach, sunny side-up egg and honey-mustard vinaigrette—the burger is something we certainly recommend. Or any of its six types of burgers, for that matter (the personable staff told us that it’s their specialty). That said, the beef lasagna with béchamel and tomato sauce was satiating, but nothing to really write home about. Overall, the food was solid and certainly served in big portions which will leave you in the warm, gentle embrace of a food coma. Too bad there wasn’t much of a dessert menu to round off our meal, so we ended with a refreshing peach freeze and mojito instead. This may not be the most romantic place for a nice dinner (unless you’re a mosquito) but its offbeat location is great for hanging out with pals over a few beers. Did we mention its all-night happy hour policy on Mondays?
