You can expect a neighborhood where the streets smell of urine. It is across the street from a homeless encampment. The only "safe" parking, according to their contact person at the bar downstairs (the bartender), is a locked parking garage a block over. The room was in disrepair; including a leaking portable air conditioner perched on a chair, with buckets underneath to catch the water! This place was miserable! Apparently it is all supposed to be part of the ambiance, because the Merchant's Cafe is haunted. Really, the place just needs a better maintenance crew.