Smith's Alternative — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

I hope you don’t mind me quoting your review Harold, but this is probably the first time someone has put my own experiences of this place, into such accurate and succinct description.

Also autistic and Gaslighting, outright verbal insults, accusations, clique mentalities and emotionally manipulative & abusive behaviours towards the Neurodiverse community from this place is nothing new. In my case those on the autism spectrum who aren’t autistic “enough” to be considered as such, but just socially awkward enough to get the full brunt of this establishment’s bullying by both the other neurotypical customers but also it’s management was constant. Can’t say I’m surprised as ableism is incredibly common but to have the management and customer base call themselves activists but then to turn around and show incredibly abusive ableist behaviour kinda shows their activism is about as genuine as every other inner city upper middle class “activist” which is obviously not genuine at all.

“I used to enjoy coming here for the art vibe, music (my talented son played here with his band) and sketching (life drawing). I hope to do some writing here. Getting thrown out on November 10, 2023 by the owner Nigel while trying to buy tickets for the CSFF - Smith's Sneak Peek; Nigel gaslit and abused me because I am neurodiverse and was getting bullied and gaslit by other customers in the past, which is likely a human rights violation. I had been a good supportive customer over the past year, trying to stay in a safe space while dealing with (mostly covert and minor) neurological (ASD/ADHD) symptoms which only unmask when I...

I had been spying Smiths Bookshop since touchdown, having very limited time I was hoping that I could make it there. I wasn't there to buy a book, but I desperately needed a good coffee. The shop has been there for twenty years (so the sign said) and has weekly poetry readings.

As soon as I entered I felt relaxed and happy. This shop has a great chilled out vibe, a sense of humour, and lovely staff. The books are of a wide stock, reading you would be hard finding elsewhere, and very interesting topics (Tree Houses of the World stole my attention). There really was a book for everyone. Great if you are a fellow visitor looking for something to read on your travels. Every nook had something else hidden away, and you could let yourself go for a couple of hours of exploring.

If I was a local, this would be my local coffee stop. We sat out on the footpath on comfy arm chairs, nicely shaded from the sun, and doing as much people watching as my eyes could enjoy. The coffee was fantastic, just what I needed. My friend had a great tea, served in a pot. The girl serving was a little sprite, and I wondered if she might have a little Faerie in her blood.

Smith Bookshop felt like it had been plucked out of a trendy inner suburb of Melbourne, only with zero pretentiousness. It is a little outside the main mall area, so I guess it wouldn't get a great deal of passing traffic, but it takes you away from the hustle. The only negative aspect of the shop is that I could not stay longer and give my mind a good solid feed. Highly...

OK, so I am up for an alternative cafe / bar, so I thought I would try this one evening. Beer - none on tap. No enthusiasm for what was there (ie: knew nothing about it). Served a fairly generic IPA [all that was on offer] from the can (no offer of a glass). I was hungry, so asked for menu. Extremely limited. Basically cheese platter seemed all that was available. So, guess if 'alternative' meant 'supermarket', it would be OK. Supermarket cheese, with tasteless and dry lumps of cheapest supermarket bread. Worst of all - olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This was obviously prepared by someone who had never had this before, as they chose cheapest tasteless cooking olive oil, but also cheapest balsamic. NOTE TO HOSTS: the balsamic for dipping bread into needs to be slightly sweet - note pure acidic. Caramelized balsamic is the usual. But not cheapest supermarket. It's easy - dip a bit of bread into it, and if it tastes like acid - olive oil will not calm it down. pay the extra few $ and get a real balsamic for dipping. OK - so I read back on this. Why two stars not one? Maybe they are trying to be alternative and just...