web / Yelp
I'm not sure when the name officially changed from 22 Doors to 22, but I'm having a hard time with it. I'm all for brevity, but "22" is just a little too succinct for my tastes. It's like when Prince changed his name to O(+>; it feels better to say "the artist formerly known as Prince" than it does to say "22". And just as recently as a couple of months ago, one of their chefs said "22 Doors" on Top Chef: Texas.
Which brings me to the food. It's really good! Happy hour is a great time to make a meal out of a few shared appetizers, and 22's got one of the better happy hour menus around. Tip: split the burger with fries with someone because it's big enough that you'll regret getting one of your own, and by splitting it you'll have enough room for some roasted cauliflower or a miniature skillet of hot olives. Or, of course, deviled eggs.
I'd love to know how the bathroom was decorated, because the walls are a huge collection of cool black and white photos. If it's not, say, a wallpaper you can buy, then whoever assembled this collection did an amazing job if it was done specifically for one space. Most of the pictures I took were from the center of the bathroom while I turned, because I hoped to get the whole thing documented so I could look later. Nothing's worse than taking too long in a bathroom and find people waiting when you come out.
There's also chalkboard up above the photos, and those are always fun because they're interactive and people can get a little bit of that "I want to write on the walls" energy out without doing any damage. I like it even though chalk and chalkboards have always grossed me out a bit. I guess I'm ok with it as long as I get to wash my hands immediately after I touch it.
(A couple of years ago, I accidentally used the women's bathroom instead of the men's. It was also very nice and I'll have to send a woman in or just ask if I can go in sometime if I'm there early and nobody's around. If I do, I'll add another post.)
Not that it matters much this time of year, but 22 has a nice patio, which is pretty rare for this neighborhood. Enjoy it if you can manage to get a spot out there. If not, the barstools inside are some of the most comortable in town.
