Herculaneum: Small Restaurants

 As we continued down the street in Herculaneum, we came across more small restaurants, very similar to the others: l-shaped counters covered in irregular tile encasing food vessels. The photos shown in this post were taken somewhere close to where it says "Cardo V" just north of the House of the Deer on this map.

 This restaurant was a little different. Notice there are no food vessels in the counter, and the countertop is missing. Was it of some sort of material that did not survive the centuries?

 At the back of the restaurant were a few semi-private rooms with seating all around the walls. The table that occupied the center is long gone.

  More shots of the first restaurant. They were all over Herculaneum since many people did not have kitchens.

 Another shot from behind the counter. I wish the still served beverages, at least.

 When we were eating lunch in the gardens at Versailles, a couple from San Francisco sat at the table next to ours. We had a great conversation, and they had just come from Herculaneum. They were very impressed and that made us even more anxious to get there. But, the woman said, "try not to get angry at the little sh*ts who have vandalized some of the walls." I thought of that statement when I rounded the corner of this building and found some of the vandal graffiti she had mentioned. But alas, I got angry anyway.

 This place is more bar than restaurant. Notice there is not an l-shaped counter. I assume there were just tables in the center? When I stepped up to the rail and looked closely at the left wall, I saw this....

The original 2,000 year old shelves built into that wall. Things like this do make one pause.

Care to take a guess why that short, stubby wall is there?

It separated the latrene from the rest of the bar. Was it any more private than what it is now? I have no idea.