Last century, when we lived downtown, Dock Street Brewpub at 18th and the Parkway was a favorite if infrequent destination. The brew was varied, fresh and local (brewed down at Dock Street), and the food what is now standard brewpub fare, but at the time seemed new and innovative (and might have been). Dock Street's closing a few years ago was just another sign of the end of the 90's.

During the last snowstorm, we were at the Franklin Institute and, having seen that a new pub was in the old space, gleefully trekked down to the Public House for dinner and a trip to memory lane. The snowstorm was just beginning, so the bar and restaurant were quite deserted for a weekend night, something that could be either good or bad.

Turns out: bad.

Even with only a quarter of the tables filled, it still took an hour from the time we ordered until the food tepidly arrived. I had the grilled tuna sandwich, my husband the grilled chicken sandwich, our friends the calamari. We tried to order the hummus appetizer platter for the baby, but they were out of hummus (they couldn't find a can of chickpeas?) and settled for buttermilk chicken tenders.

The calamari was over-battered and the tuna sandwich was tepid. Both the chicken sandwhich and tenders were well-cooked, not underdone, not dry.

Against all logic and evidence, my husband ordered the bread pudding; I had a coffee to keep him company. Of course, the coffee came out first. Not only was it extremely long in arriving, it was dry as a bone. My only guess is the bread pudding was unmade and the chef threw it together, skipping the egg custard, in an effort to get it to the table before last call.

Would I go back? Not unless I was with a group of friends who absolutely could not walk another step without fainting from hunger. I could always have a salad.