Shot in the Light

Walking into Coastal Kitchen at 9:45 a.m. with booze on the brain shouldn't be an everyday occurrence. There aren't a lot of reasons to drink that early (outside of camping trips and college-football Saturdays), and if you're heading for hard liquor, you might end up in the back of a paddy wagon at some point. But here, Bloody Marys are a highly recommended staple. When I arrived with a friend on a recent morning, there were already two tables' worth of patrons drinking them, and I quickly ordered one to see what the buzz was about. Having twittered "where's the best place to get a Bloody Mary right now" only half an hour earlier, and getting several responses to try Coastal Kitchen's, I figured it would be phenomenal. Sadly, the hype built expectations too high, and my drink—made with Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, Tabasco, etc., and Popov vodka—only tasted OK. Sure, I gulped it down in less than three minutes (it's hot out), but it didn't change my life. Speaking of hot, there are a lot of good-looking housewives pushing strollers in that neighborhood. While munching on the restaurant's current Chilean-inspired menu (try the sea-bass hash—mostly self-explanatory except for the two poached eggs that come on top), I ordered another drink and realized something very important: Coastal is a great place to watch the MILFs of Cap Hill go by while enjoying life's spoils.