The Green Boley Bar and Restaurant opened shortly before Mac’s in 1979, and was a fun addition to the waterfront. Situated between the Pizzeria and what would one day be the Gingerbread complex, the Boley quickly became a popular destination for reasonably priced food and drinks, and the owner, Liston Williams, was always a cheerful and welcoming presence behind the bar.
The very first item on the Boley’s menu was a chicken sandwich, and it was so cute I still smile about it! The sandwich, I think it was a mere $2 EC, consisted of two thin slices of store bread with a fried chicken wing tucked inside. It obviously couldn’t be eaten like a regular sandwich but that was okay – it tasted fine and the price was certainly right. Liston quickly graduated to what the Boley became famous for – delicious beef, conch or chicken rotis, and over the years I certainly ate my fair share of them.
My absolute favourite Boley offering didn’t appear on the regular menu and was only served on Thursday nights. On that night no-one in the know” ate rotis, the Green Boley’s callaloo soup was king! The thick, hearty soup was downright incredible; loaded with chunks of tender beef, coconut dumplings and local provision such as breadfruit, tannia and, of course, callaloo, the filling concoction satisfied the taste buds in a way that’s difficult to describe. It was heavenly, just the smell of it in the air made me drool, and I wandered next door on many a Thursday night to indulge in a bowl.
Thursday night had always been jump-up night at the Frangipani hotel, an evening for socializing over drinks and dancing to steel pan music. However, many of those patronizing the Frangi bar couldn’t afford the BBQ buffet, and Liston’s soup became extremely popular; at $5 EC per bowl, one could drink and dance at the Frangi, then drift over to the Green Boley for a filling meal, and that’s what many people DID. Liston had a captive audience on those Thursday nights, serving bowl after bowl of the tasty, satisfying soup to appreciative customers. The drinks flowed as fast as the soup was served, and Liston stayed open for as long as people wanted him to.
The Green Boley shortly after Hurricane Lenny
I can recall walking to work through the coconut wharf at 3:45 A.M. and seeing people sleeping on the floor of the Boley Bar. This spectacle of bare feet sticking up in the air was quite common on Friday mornings; Thursday nights were for partying back in the day, and folks partied hard. After an evening of drinking, dancing and eating Liston’s callaloo soup, some of the Boley’s customers simply laid down (in other words, passed out!) when they figured it was time for bed. Liston, bless him, would sit on a stool behind the bar fast asleep, always ready to wake up if someone wanted another drink. Liston was for sure the most obliging bar owner I’ve ever met – he certainly went over and above the call of duty when it came to his patrons!
I miss the old Green Boley, and I especially miss that callaloo soup. It was the BEST.