Go Ask Alice

If the real life version of Aunt Alice was anything like the Muppet version, then she must have been one cool cat. Alice the Muppet sits on a wooden swing in sexy black and red lingerie, pearls dangling from her plush neck, watching over the bar. She looks like someone you would want to party with –– if she were animated that is –– a mix between Miss Piggy and Animal.

In honor of closing out coastalbeat.com’s first year in existence the $15-and-under crew decided to throw the budget out the window and spend our lunch time getting some good food with our new favorite local Muppet at Alice Sweetwater’s Restaurant and Bar.

The place was packed around 1 p.m. The lively atmosphere was just the right thing to get us in the festive spirit. We scoured the menu that ranged from fresh seafood to burgers, pasta, chicken and sandwiches. Alice Sweetwater’s also offers steamed shrimp in quarter, half, and full-pound baskets, and oysters served a variety

of ways.

Sweetwater’s Manager Mary Beth Atwell gave us the low down on Alice – an eccentric great aunt of the original owner who apparently knew how to have a good time – and the menu – try the lobster bisque and the grouper is popular, 600 pounds a week popular.

The lobster bisque was pricy ($6.95 for a cup), but came with a full chunk of lobster claw meat. It was the best lobster bisque I’d tried since my favorite soup stand in college. Nostalgia prevents me from dubbing it better though. The bisque was perfectly creamy and thick, and worth the price in the end. My Cajun crab cakes ($7.25) were a little overcooked, but well seasoned and the mustard sauce complimented the dish well.

Photo by Tovin Lapan

Both the inside bar and outside patio at Alice Sweetwater’s are lined with flat-screen televisions for easy sports viewing, and along with Muppet Alice, mounted marlin and swordfish guard the wood-trimmed bar.

My friend got the Caribbean Chicken Pasta ($10.75) and a mini burger ($1.75). The mini burger was a three-bite size chunk of medium rare, tasty goodness. It’s the perfect thing when you want that burger flavor, but not the post-patty lethargy. The more-than-ample portion of Caribbean Chicken came on a bed of linguine with garlic bread on the side, and had a little kick to it, but wasn’t necessarily “Caribbean” in flavor.

Both the inside bar and outside patio are lined with flat-screen televisions for easy sports viewing, and along with Muppet Alice, mounted marlin and swordfish guard the wood- trimmed bar.

The service at Alice’s was great, friendly and fast. In the end our bill came out to $31.80. Even when the $15-and-under crew set out to break the budget, we couldn’t overcome our ingrained fiscal responsibility and somehow came out on top.

One recommendation: On the wall of Sweetwater’s is an out-of-commission wooden wheel with different boxes like $4 top shelf, $1 domestic draught, $2 bartender choice etc. Apparently back in the day the wheel was deployed from midnight to 2 a.m. when workers from other bars and restaurants would come to Sweetwater’s for a late night meal and libation. Right now it’s no more than decoration. Bring the

wheel back!

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