Hard Times Cafe

To celebrate national chili day, I met Monica and Kyle at Hard Times Cafe on King St. in Old Town.  I've passed this place so many times not ever giving it a second thought other than, "what's that horse statue doing in the back of that old timey truck?"  Anybody who's been to old town just had a light bulb go off and knows exactly what restaurant this is now.  Apparently known for its chili, their schtick tonight was order something, anything... a diet coke even... and get a free bowl of chili.  What nobody told us was that this was a popular celebration in Old Town and that we'd have to wait an hour to get a table... so our something was a number of beers.  I was thrilled that Shiner Bock was on tap.  A Texas brew from Shiner, Texas, that you just don't see often.  After a few of these, we were seated.  Our waitress brought us a taster of chilis.  There are 4.  A red one that was too hot for me.  A Texas one that was full of flavor.  A Cincinnati one that was on the sweet side and I wish I had ordered, and a vegetarian one that tasted like a can of smashed ass.  There was a moment of flashback to Langley O'Club free chili Sundays with all the Peters' kids when I asked if they served their chili over rice.  Sadly no.  When the waitress explained the deal of the night, it was clear she was either 'over' it or toked up because we asked if our beers from the bar counted as our 'something' and she responded with 'I don't care, I'll bring you some chili.' ... but we ended up ordering some sliders.  I settled on the Texas chili, but forgot to ask for it with beans, which would have settled the spice down a bit.  Regardless, it was some great chili.  After some laughs, some more beers, a lot of chili, and a pocket full of saltines to take home, we called it a night. National chili day will be celebrated on my calendar next year again.  Especially if the economy blows as much as it does now.  Everybody should celebrate these hard times at the Hard Times cafe.