As people who are drawn to preposterous interior decorating, odd smells, the latest weird Hardee’s hamburger, cheap drinks and any fried sticks, poppers or tots my party of four could not wait to go to St. Mary’s Street’s newest restaurant: The Hook Up The symbol of a hook and the word up make up it’s neon sign that had been beaconing us for weeks. We thought we better get a move on in case it was a short-lived venture. In my eight years in Raleigh I’ve seen the space have two restaurants open and close and lengthy periods of lights out. Perhaps this concept of a “marina bar” nowhere near water will be just the thing to finally make an eating establishment work in this unlucky spot.
We were a bit disappointed by the lack of a crowd. Hooking up didn’t seem very likely with such slim pickings. The other customers were probably there being a bit sarcastic too, seeing as how one of them was a very cool x-Mitch’s waitress who was lax about IDs and the hour of last call, and at the same table was Larry’s Beans.
The first thing that stood out on the menu was a little cartoon fish with a caption that said, “Vegetarians like hush puppies.“ Brian said he didn’t like fish with messages. Warily I noted the menu item called Kinda Cajun Chicken. Julia questioned the phrase “light cream sauce.“ We ribbed the Margarittaville party on dude decor. It was exactly what we were looking for.
The first bright spot was the discovery that High Life was only $1 and Corona Light only $2. That’s pretty good—and it wasn’t a special for that night, but every night. Julia had come wanting popcorn shrimp but seeing that they had something called flounder tenders she changed her mind. Brian ventured to get a non-fried dish, which I didn’t think was very safe. I got the shrimp so that Julia could have some.
The food came and we took a few bites and… it wasn’t bad. It was kinda all right. Brian 2 had eaten earlier but couldn’t buy anything anyway because he was broke due to work travel and slow reimbursement. He took bites of everything though, and then wanted more. The fries looked questionable, but only about 7% of them were limp.
The flounder tenders were much more real, flaky and fish-like fish than expected. Brian’s non-fried dish was thumbs up according to him, but I did not try it. The prices were reasonable and it is the kind of place that employs hot waitresses. It may just be that we were thinking it was going to be terrible and it turned out to be edible, but I’d say I was wrong to have such low expectations. In fact, Brian 2 went the next day and enjoyed their outdoor seating in the sun, leading him to the decision that it is his drinking spot of choice for Summer 2008. They played “Hello Darling” when I was there, and I already feel sentimental about the place. It’s call to “Eat Up.. Drink Up…“ should be heeded and if a few more fish show up to this sea, that promise of a hook up just may be filled.
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