{"id":20409,"date":"2013-09-25T08:06:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T12:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=20409"},"modified":"2013-09-25T08:06:20","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T12:06:20","slug":"lunchtime-free-agency-berk-regulars-seek-new-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/city-journal\/2013\/09\/25\/lunchtime-free-agency-berk-regulars-seek-new-franchise\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunchtime Free Agency: Berk Regulars Seek New Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raleigh author Scott Huler is on the hunt for a new weekly lunch spot now that the Berkley is closed.
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\"Scott_Huler\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
Scott Huler<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Sometime during the first week of my employment at the News & Observer back in 1992, a troop of the features reporters \u2014 yes, plural, this was back in the days when there were multiple reporters \u2014 took me to the Berkeley Cafe for lunch. The Berk, on Nash Square, you probably know, is the kind of dark, low, grungy, interior type of place that makes the best bar imaginable. Long bar; low ceilings. Christmas lights all year long. Ceiling fans you had to duck. For a long time an extra room where you could play pool or be extra loud. We had whatever kind of burger was on special, soaked up endless refillable teas and soda pops, played pool.<\/p>\n

And started a tradition. The Berk has been a great blues club, a great downtown divey lunch spot, and a great journalists\u2019 hangout — back when there were journalists. But above all, it became a place where me and my best friend had lunch. Every week. Since then.<\/p>\n

For twenty years. We have been going to the Berkeley for lunch. Mind you, it hasn\u2019t always been easy. Like anyplace with a shifting cast of characters, the Berk has gone up and down in character, in pleasantness, in quality. At times \u2014 including now \u2014 the Berk has delivered the definition of good bar food: greasy, homey, comfortable. The kind of food where you forgo the mayo as a gesture towards health, but you, the server, and the cook all know that that borders on the absurd. At other times it has been suggested that the motto of the Berk ought to be \u201cBad food, served badly\u201d \u2014 and we went back every week.<\/p>\n

\"Berkely2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes we kept going to flirt with the waitresses. Sometimes we kept going to complain about the waitresses. Sometimes we kept going because what the hell, we needed to keep in touch and we had to eat something and at least we both knew the way to the Berk.<\/p>\n

I left the N&O, but I didn\u2019t leave the Berk. I left Raleigh for a spell, but I didn\u2019t leave the Berk.<\/p>\n

And now the Berk is leaving me. It\u2019s closing at the end of September for some kind of vague period of remodeling or rebranding or re-something else; current story is it will reopen as the next version of Sadlack\u2019s, which is a great thing. I have no doubt the doors will open again and I have no doubt I\u2019ll enjoy whatever\u2019s there when it does. But the Berk, as I have known it, will be gone, gone for good.<\/p>\n

But heartbroken as I am, I choose to see this as an opportunity rather than a catastrophe. So. Downtown Raleigh restaurateurs, take note. Two lunch free agents have entered the market. We are not big spenders but are as regular as grandpa\u2019s clock. We tip the requisite 20 percent \u2014 if he\u2019s a man, we appreciate the server\u2019s good service; if she\u2019s a woman, we want the server to like us. We fill up, redeem, and start again with get-the-tenth-lunch-free cards. We talk to the staff, talk the place up, even lend a hand when needed. I used to go behind the bar and get our own soft drinks when the place was busy. When a motivated waitress covered several of the tables with customer photographs, I was in some of those photographs. So were my friends \u2014 and even the birth announcement of my oldest son. I kissed one of those waitresses one time.<\/p>\n

And again \u2014 it\u2019s all going away.<\/p>\n

\"Berkeley\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And once a week my friend and I need to find somewhere to have lunch.<\/p>\n

So \u2014 Raleigh, downtown: eateries, bars, lunch counters, dives. What are we bid? Who wants to absorb two aging free agents? You\u2019d have to say as lunchtime ballplayers we hit for average rather than for power, and our waitress-squeezing days are probably behind us (I say probably \u2014 you never know how a change of pace can perk up a late career). But we\u2019re an asset to the team, keep the bench loose, lend some locker-room experience. Know how to act, literally, like we\u2019ve been there before.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re looking for a spot; looking for a deal. We\u2019re available. You can reach out to our agents and make an offer. Or, hell, you can just let us transfer these eight Xs on our last Berkeley card onto your customer card and we\u2019re probably yours. Just save us a table at the back.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, we\u2019ll see you next week, at the \u2014<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see you next week, some damn where.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raleigh author Scott Huler says farewell to the Berkeley Cafe. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24050,"featured_media":20411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1098],"tags":[1419],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24050"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}