05 Billiard

The chatter of foreign voices swearing at one another and the not unpleasant smell of smoking drifted out onto the street, enticing me to check out 05billiard. It’s an almost industrial space. Cement floors hold onto remnants of paint. A small shrine provides a shock of red against the dirty blue of old chairs and tables. People sit around playing cards and somewhere, off to a side room, you can hear the reassuring ‘clack’ of balls coming from someone who knows what they are doing. It’s like you just walked into a movie about the triad, or some other asian crime syndicate hustling to make it. I didn’t play here, and the clientele was rather cagey about my presence.,“why do you want to know the hours”? «Are you taking a picture of me «? Still, it evokes a romance hard found at 3pm off el cajon blvd.