Ri Ra turning a corner and a jaded mini-golf player

We like the new direction: keep going

We run into all sorts of people while we’re out doing the business of The Beer Drinking Report. People can get pretty weird on us sometimes.

But we’ll get back to that in a minute. A more important matter at hand is what’s happening at Ri Ra. Fredo and I stopped in there late last night and we noticied a significant shift with the inner workings of the place, which hopefully, signals the Ri Ra is settling in as a better establishment.

You might recall some months ago, my faithful Beer Drinkers, that Mr. X and I didn’t really like what was happening at Ri Ra: too loud, bad service, poor musical choices AND a $5 cover. I even suggested a few local musical acts they could draw upon to imrpove their game.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a great local act center stage last night, A Family Affair, when I stepped through the front door with Fredo.

One problem remains: because the layout of Ri Ra is so vast, the acoustics aren’t that great. But the band was situated between the upper and lower level dining areas — possibly in an effort to improve the situation. At any rate, it’s a good move because people in the lower dining area — where most of the action is at night — can see the band. Unfortunately, applause was rare and the music was sometimes drowned out by the din of conversation.

Another imrpovement: the bar service. The woman who took my order was prompt. She didn’t get it right the first time, but she was prompt to correct it and even came back in a reasonable amount of time to see if I wanted a refill. (I passed. It’s called One and Done, Mr. X. My Life Coach taught me that one.)

While I was making friends with the bartender, a couple of cute women started chatting up Fredo. We talked to them for a while and engaged in the usual bar room banter. But at one point, when I called out one of the women’s claims that she was a champion mini-golfer, she stormed away from us and ordered her friend to demand we leave them alone.

I’m not kidding. She was pissed.

Look, I’m not going to lie. I’m really good at mini-golf. And if you’re going to talk some smack as part of your strategy, I understand. But getting all riled up over it isn’t helping anybody. Fredo and I were befuddled. Truly. But hey, it was getting late and we had to move onto the next spot.

So listen, Foxy Golfer. I apologize. I understand you had a bad week at work. Your boss sounds like a real jerk. But c’mon, really? That’s no way to act. Tell you what: if you’re that upset, I will buy you a pint next time and make it up to you. Maybe you and Fredo can chat some more. Or maybe I will just see you at Captain’s Cove Adventure Golf and we’ll settle it sans the drinks.

Fredo said even though the conversation took an odd and sudden turn, he still had a good time at Ri Ra.

I did, too.

So, you may see us back there again soon.

– The Beer Drinker

Now if they could just get some stools without holes in them...