Ballard Smoke Shop's Got Wall-Mounted Trout, and Toast

Aja Pecknold

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Imagine an institution like the Cha Cha: Only replace the musician employees with tough-loving grandmothers, the ironic hipster clientele with salty old fishermen, and the tiki kitsch with nautical paraphernalia like wall-mounted trout. That's a little taste of the Ballard Smoke Shop. Like the Pine Street staple's adjoining burrito kitchen, Bimbo's, the Smoke Shop also has an attached restaurant, only it's the kind with upside-down coffee cups on the tables and whole pies in the case—the kind where $9.50 will get you steak, eggs, hash browns, toast, and a (stiff) Bloody Mary. Regulars (who seem more like fixtures) fill the majority of the stools, and on busier nights they appear to tolerate the influx of folks who have consumed fewer drinks than they've spilled during their time, much like the invasion of Trixies and Chads who pour into the Cha Cha on weekends. Though the Cha Cha is being forced to close its doors soon, thanks to the erection of culture-rich condominiums, it will rise again up the street. Should a similar fate befall the Smoke Shop, however, chances are it will sleep with the fishes, as Ballard Avenue continues to boom with slick establishments free of nicotine-stained walls. Let's hope that's not for a long while. 5439 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-6611.