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Formerly the Old Bailey Pub, this new pub in town houses messes new-age Britannia to the classic richness of a British pub.
Smith's is a great pub environment before 8 or 9pm at night, when DJ's go on and make the music obnoxiously loud. Don't get me wrong, the DJ's there generally play good music - it's just at a volume and EQ setting that interferes with conversation and grates the nerves after awhile.
Drinks are on the pricey side, but I don't know of any other bar in town to carry the Unibroue Ephemere on tap, or Sapporo. Food is solid, especially the curry chips and lamb burger. Keep an eye on their daily specials, and you can easily make up for the extra $1 or so they charge for "pints" (see the other review).
I tend to go with the local draft, which you can get jugs of for about $1 more than most of the other downtown pubs, if I'm running on a budget.
Service wise, it's hit and miss. I've gone there and had fabulous service some nights - and other nights will be completely ignored despite the pub being 2/3rds empty.
Overall not bad. I'd like to see how it shapes up once the furniture and fixtures get a worn-in feel to them.
I've been going here for years but recently stopped going for a few nagging reasons.
Smith's has great ambience but the food is hit and miss and the prices are getting too high here. They make a fantastic burger but other pub staples like the wings are poor. For instance, we got wings during their wing night. The wings dont come in normal wing flavours like hot or bbq but rather more "fusion" flavours like ginger bbq and curry which would be fine if they tasted good and were properly seasoned. Instead, our wings were literally caked with spice and had so much curry powder and salt we couldnt eat more than a couple. Seems like they are trying too hard to go for trendy fusion food that sounds cook rather than things that actually taste good.
The other problem here is the price of drinks. If you ask for a pint, you'll get only a sleeve but will still pay the price of a pint - or about six bucks. Too much! Our server also didnt seem to understand the difference when I pointed out that my drink was not a pint as asked for. This is odd for a "British" style pub because in Britain, you'd send a pint back for not being full right to the top, and full in a proper pint glass.
Smith's is a good place to visit despite this but a few things need to change for this to be the great pub it could be.
While going for a drink after work has become more and more routine for me, I still find my group returning to Smith's. The location is a big draw, and LOVE how there aren't a bazillion sports games blaring everywhere (although there are screens discretely tucked here and there). Prices are reasonable for drinks, but the value for food is lacking compared to other pubs. For a SMALL quesadilla appetizer you're paying around $9 - not even shareable really. The service is usually just great, apart from one busy day when my group was politely asked to leave to free up the table (manager became embarrassed when he learned the reason we were waiting was because wait staff hadn't bothered to collect our credit cards! oops!). Cool British style pub, great for drinks/atomosphere/decor, not 100% on the food though.
I love this place. It's got such a good selection of brews, both on tap and bottled. It's one of the few places we can get large groups to agree on.
They have mini-burgers (beef, lamb & veggie) that get thumbs up. My personal favs are the lamb burgers, but my veggie friends tell me that the veggie burgers are surprisingly delicious for pub food.
The pizza special changes daily, and I've yet to be disappointed.
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