John Householder and Tom Pomroy, the owners of Five Points Tavern in Locust Point, opened the bar in November, taking over the space where Aloha Tokyo used to be.

They say the nightlife here is still sleepy, but that they see potential in the condo developments that have been buzzed about in recent years. 

"The neighborhood in general is growing and getting more populated," he said. "As more people come to the area, we'll see success."

In addition to Five Points, Barracudas Tavern also opened recently, giving the neighborhood some much-needed new blood. 

Though the definitive Fort Avenue bar crawl ran four years ago, when this paper still ran 5,000-word features, the new bars demanded another go of it.

For tomorrow's paper, I went to the Sly Fox Pub, Five Points and Barracudas Tavern.  Here's a part of the column:

Barracudas Tavern is the Buckcherry to Five Points' Creedence Clearwater Revival. 

It's loudly decorated, with stuffed sea creatures hanging everywhere inside. And, unfortunately, a big, bosomy novelty mermaid hanging above one of the entrances outside — not the kind of message you want to send out to potential female clients.

At about 10:30 p.m., a fight almost broke out between a couple of young men; I didn't overhear the reason but chances are it wasn't over the virtues of taxidermy. There were also no taps here, but prices were cheap: $4.50 for three Bohs; a 20-ounce glass of rum punch for $7.50.

The bartenders were casual and quick, but the restless crowd and the loud music — Usher, again — made me want to go back to the relative peace of 5 Points, or at least the better bars in the area, like J. Patrick's or Down the Hatch.

The rest of the column is here.