Earl's

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I'm looking for a place to have a little drink and maybe some dinner. I drive toward the mall at 470 and I-25, just hoping to find something that's not Friday's.

I see the P.F. Chang's, remember the lettuce wraps I shared with a friend in Long Beach and cut across three lanes to turn right. Then I see Earl's. I don't know if this is a chain or not (turns out it's not) but at least, if it is, I've never heard of it. I go in.

It's crowded and yuppie-ish. I sit at the bar and order a Fat Tire and clam chowder. The clam chowder was stock full of clams and the pan bread melted butter all over your fingers (this was good, but slightly annoying). The soup was definitely good enough to encourage me to head back, though the very friendly but not-my-type guy, smoking at least 8 cigarettes in an hour but then paying my entire bill may have scared me away.