EXPANDED LOCATION INFORMATION (aka: Kelly likes Restaurant Concepts.)
EXPANDED LOCATION INFORMATION
a) The Dog's Breakfast Pub
Is an unaffiliated traditional British-style pub, found in the fourth sector. It bucked the Port's unspoken system and stopped paying AGI or SERO 'dues' a few years ago, when the original owner turned the establishment over to his two sons. It immediately lost half of its regular customer base within the first month of "going neutral", but after leading the way for small businesses in the neighborhood, clientele has been growing steadily since. Their regulars include some of the head producers of the Independent News Network.
The building is old, one of the few still standing on its original stone foundations from the Missionsworth settlement. They serve a nice hearty spread of English breakfast till noon, and hot pub fare all day and night. Along with billiards and darts, they're always looking for new ways to draw the locals in, and often bring in folk artists, trivial or hold open mic nights for entertainment.
AGI revoked their liquor licence in Fall 2011, and in a thinly veiled conspiracy tried to burn down the building in a 'kitchen fire', but they reopened recently with support from the UMCA and Portside Sporting Co, defiantly staying in business despite a 'dry' bar. They are currently fighting to be reinstated in court. Rumor has it that loyalists will still be slipped a pint, that they've opened secret micro-brewing operations in the basement. There must be someone more to their neutral status with some press attention from the Independent News Network, because AGI's inspectors and agents seem curiously leery of touching the place, for now.
b)Nibbleheim
A Viking-themed eatery, which opened in Summer 2011 to rave reviews from the newsfeed's food critic. Located in sector 8, in an AGI shipping warehouse refurbished in carved oak paneling, it resembles a great mead hall straight out of Beowulf (or Skyrim. Or Rohan. Take your pick.) It's a non-stop dinner show from sundown till dawn. You pay the bulky, horned-helmed bouncers at the doors to stay the night and have a good time. There are comical skits, sing-alongs, and a very interactive master of ceremonies.
The menu consists mostly of outrageously portions hocks of meat, slightly stale bread, hot hearty broth with stewed vegetable, and all the ale you dare quaff. Dining here is a rowdy, sloppy, spill-all-over-your-bench-neighbor affair, without tableware. Despite seeming lowbrow in its revelry, the Siren's Port Opera Company can be found performing here between productions, often doing song selections from Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Staff is clad in leather and fur and cheap plastic helmets (you can pay extra for your own, at the door!) The establishment is AGI affiliated, owned by an Orc who loyally served as a Sector 1 club bouncer and bodyguard for over 25 years. This ode to Odin is his big business dream, and AGI will probably name him entrepreneur of the year.
c) Gearheads
Is a steampunk-themed bar which opened Summer 2011 in the heart of Sector 2. Geekery is embraced here this is the place most SERO mad scientists take their happy hour between eyebrow singeing at the labs. On weekends, Hillsdale University students pack the bar, and it's almost impossible to snag a stool. This place is full of gleaming brass, polished cogs, funky fixtures and colored globes of hand-blown glass. There is a pervasive sound of clanking and hissing steam.
The bar flair is top notch here, with dozens of gadgets which serve no real purpose beyond making the pouring process more fun. All mixed drinks are referred to as 'elixirs', stuff of varying potency and effects, none of it your average gin & tonic or bloody mary. Drinks are served in beakers, shots in test tube racks. They brew unique batches of beer in transparent vats, right in front of customers.
The bar's staff (which includes Haruhi Suzumiya, you've been warned) are a wildly eccentric set, who enjoy mixing up more than just your average boozy beverage. Bar staff uniforms are goggles, gloves and leather work aprons, but top hats and heavy cogwork accessorising are a common sight.
d) The Grey Line
Is a high-end seafood restaurant and cocktail lounge that opened in Spring 2011. It is located in a shallow bay adjoining Sectors 6, 4 & 8. It was designed and concepted by one of SERO's brightest architects, in business partnership with one of their leading marine biologists. It is a sleek and modern structure, elegantly set into the bay, with wall to wall viewing windows in the main dining room which are partially submerged at high tide. Sea otters, sea lions, marine birds, crustaceans and many kinds of fish can be seen up close. By night, underwater lighting installed in the rocks outside attracts a strange array of monstrous sea creatures.
The menu includes only the very best freshly-sources seafood, just caught and brought in directly from the docks. Table service is extremely professional, knowledgeable about both the outside wildlife and the daily specials. Casual wear is not permitted, and guests are advised to make early reservations, if they hope to snag a table up close to the viewing glass.
An all-night cocktail lounge and piano bar is set back on a higher tier, overlooking the dining area. There is an a la carte sushi bar too, which is also open long after the main kitchen closes.