Monday, December 6th, 2010—Bar 330
Day 330—Sunday, December 5th, 2010
Walker's
Tonight we dine with Fat Al, one half of the blogging team that produces the fine blog, The Half Empty Glass. He chose Walker’s tavern in Tribeca to meet at, so that’s tonight’s destination. And I think that jco, a frequent commentator at The Half Empty Glass is going to be there as well. Some of you will remember them from the last time we met at The Winner’s Circle in midtown, a classic night on the bar crawl. And I’ve heard rumors that Fat Al’s elusive blogging partner, anonymous271 might show up as well. And who knows who else might show up? We’ll never know till we go, so let’s hit the fucking road.
I was going to take a cab, but traffic was nuts and there were none to be had, so we'll be traveling on the subway. I'll probably get there faster anyway.
Here comes the train, take Fat Al's advice and lean back, motherfuckers!
And through the magic of the internet, I'll spare you a train ride that included skipping the Franklin Street stop and doubling back to get here, anyway, here we are!
Wow, it's crowded inside, but I see a spot at the end of the bar.
Alright, all settled in. Hey bartender!
Steve the bartender serves up an ice-cold Budweiser. Nice Elvis shirt!
Bar number 330. In 35 days you can stick a fork in me because I'll be done.
I had a feeling this place would have a tin ceiling and a glance upwards proves it to be true.
You don't have to be named Steve to work here, but I think it helps. Here's Steve, part of the friendly waitstaff.
Vintage photos and paintings line the walls which are also made of tin.
A quick glance outside the festive window.
Here's the dining area. That waitress looks like she could use a break.
And here's a the quick break. Her name's Linder and I call this shot, "drinking on duty." That's my kind of woman!
Phil and Roy were seated next to me and were very supportive of the whole 365 idea.
Phil even bought shots for the three of us. Cheers! We had a nice conversation about work, marriage, children and two-headed women. Phil had the quote of the night when he said, "I thought I was fucked up till I met you!" Ha ha ha!
And look who's at teh end of the bar, the Fat Al party! From left, anonymous271, Katie, Fat Al hidden by the NY Times and jco! Time for Sunday dinner.
A painting of this woman hung over our table and I'm really curious as to who she is and what she's doing right now. If she's making the world's largest belly button lint ball right at this moment, all would be perfect in this world.
Our dinner came, but my twice baked potatoes had beans in them, so I took a photo of the crayons on the table instead. And you know what happens when crayons are on the table...
Tic tac toe quickly follows. I had just made a remark about how no one ever wins when Katie quickly defeated an embarassed anonymous271 to all our amazement!
Oh the agony of defeat! (Update: anonymous271 has just posted about his defeat at the Half Empty Glass. Read about it here: "A Drumbeat of Humiliation.")
And Katie proudly holds the crayon that drew the winning game.
And then seconds later, Fat Al trounced jco with this Ballatine Ale triple X victory! Unbelievable. So what do these two tic tac toe losers have to say for themselves?
Exactly what I would say! Thanks to Fat Al, anonymous271, jco and Katie for meeting me and for a great night out. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Walker’s is an old-school, no frills neighborhood tavern in the heart of Tribeca. There’s a long, well worn wooden bar to enjoy beer and cocktails and a green tin ceiling hovers overhead. There’s a dining area with wooden tables adorned with white table cloths opposite the bar. There’s also a second room in the back with tables set up for people to eat and drink at. It’s a friendly neighborhood place and the bartenders and staff are fun and treat everyone like they’re life-long regulars.
There’s a full bar here with plenty of choices of bottled and draft beer as well as wine and mixed spirits. The food menu has such offerings as: Pasta Primavera; 12 ounce Angus Shell Steak; Cornmeal Crusted Willapoint Oysters with cajun tartar sauce and Walker's Chopped Sirloin Steak with green peppercorn demi glace, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables.
Live jazz is played here every Sunday night and the twice baked potatoes have beans in them. I’ll be obsessed with that forever.
Walker's
16 N. Moore St. (@Varick St.)
212-941-0142
12 References
Reader Comments (23)
Wow 35 more days. This time last year...
(how time flies)
On the Night of the Season Finale of "The Walking Dead" you chose to go to "WALKERS".
Looks like a great place to hole up in anytime (or even for a Zombie Apocalypse)
Great Sunday Crawl or Walk or Stagger or...
You've done a great service here my Brother!
@"Boris:" Thanks, brother! As I always say, "Fun flies when you're having time!" And thanks for all your help along the way, couldn't have done it without you! 35 to go!
Another milestone bar Marty...and a nice friendly, homey looking place it is, too. I'd like to say that this website is helping to dispel all the stereotypical views and myths concerning N.Y.C.'s subway system that the motion picture industry has foisted on all of us inbred cow tipping hillbillies here in flyover country. No wall to wall graffiti, no mutant alligators coming to snap your ass, no 'Warriors' helping you go through your pockets, and as Boris might suggest...no flesh eating zombies. I don't have cable T.V. Boris, but I do intend to own 'The Walking Dead' the moment it is available on DVD.
I think Walker's turned out to be a good choice -- and we could actually eat there (as opposed to the Winner's Circle).
Honored to be part of the crawl again, and that tic-tac-toe game may have been the highlight of my sporting career.
Just about a month to go. You're almost there...
Cheers,
Al
Katie is holding that crayon like a cigarette. A very good stop and when you hook up with friends the evening becomes even more memorable. First time on the crawl for Tin walls?
@Fat Al: Always a pleasure to have you and your crew on the crawl!
@Al: I think it is the first for tin walls and it was Fat Al that pointed it out to me.
35 bars in 26 days. yikes. good luck with that, unless of course, your quest does not have to be by the end of the year. bravo and congrats, nonetheless
@esquared: Thanks! I'll be taking into 2011, I started on January 10th, so my last day is going to be January 9th, 2011. Then I'm going to do 365 days of rehab!
Walker's looks like a nice place, but what's up with beans in your twice-baked potatoes? I've heard of onion flakes...chives...sour cream...and cheese, of course, but never beans. I'm up for trying anything, but I don't know. I just don't know. The fried oysters with cajun tartar sound yummy, though. And the ambiance is loverly. Congrats to the tic-tac-toe winners! And nice cat drawing! TO BELLY BUTTON LINT BALLS!
Tin ceilings, cool old vintage pics and wonderful fellow crawlers...
totally wonderful:)
I agree with Jaws, I like the fact that you show shots of your journey outside the bars as well. This has become a real look into the world of NYC for a lot of people. Oh and the fact that you linked to the Manson women when it said fork caused me to spit water out of my mouth! LOL! The tic tac toe was also a fun highlight here!
@365: Are you talking about baked beans in your potato? Sounds like you're not a fan of beans.
I'm a bit hungover to really comment properly...but Walkers is cool. No frills and lots of tin.
I hope you carry around some Duane Reade sanitary wipes for the subway, Marty!
@Biff: Go Browns!
@Clacky: I've had a life-long hatred and fear of beans and that was not a good surprise at all. I still highly recommend Walkers, though, a great place, friendly people and everybody else's food was great and well-prepared. A wonderful night!
@365: Did you send it back? I don't like it when you get something that hasn't been described on the menu.
I used to be the same when I was young. There was one meal time incident I can remember as a young child. I think it was some kind of Minestrone soup that my mum made. My dad decided to hide a single, tiny bean in my serve. Lets say I found it and I didn't react well.
I love beans now, though. We've got great house made beans for breakfast at work. Nothing like the canned variety. I've thought about adding some Speck (thick cut bacon chunks) to it but we couldn't serve it to vegetarians...and vegetarians LOVE beans! Do you have canned Spaghetti in the U.S? I'm sure you would.
They're 2 Aussie canned staples you'll find in almost every household pantry - Spaghetti and Beans.
@Clacky: I didn't send it back, I just picked the beans out, the potatoes were actually very good, apart from the beans. And yeah, we have lots of varieties of canned spaghetti, I ate a lot of it when I first moved here and didn't have much incoming money. The thing I don't like about beans is the texture of them in my mouth. It's really vomit-inducing to me!
walkers looks like a great stop...another nice addition to the crawl...having spent some time "in the south" beans were a staple (not the staple that holds paper together)...that was at every meal...yes even breakfast at times...good to see—well sorta see—the THEG crew on the crawl—follow don't post—and as for phil...man i thought i was fucked up until i more or less memorized "99" and "firetruck"..."elvis" was available for short period of time but was not able to get to it before it was gone...you know sumthing about elvis left the buildin'...so i guess i'm still fucked up...KOC
rr
@raginrr: We're ALL fucked up!
TO being Fucked up!
Two-headed women huh, heaven or hell? You know Fat Al being all mysterious only makes people more curious. Maybe that's the point? Tin ceiling of course cool, walls, interesting. Was gonna ask about the beans, good/bad, but Clacky helped clear that up. I only started eating beans about 2 years ago. I don't blame you, food is all about texture.
@kari: Food is all about the texture, how true! And two-headed women, a little bit of heaven a little bit of hell! I guess that would be true of two-headed men as well.
@ Clacky...I don't think most American's understand that beans (usually canned) is a part of the Aussie breakfasts ..on toast. One of the oddest things I was thinking when I visited your amazing beautiful country, but then I think we American's would think canned spaghetti on toast is odd too, another little specialty I was served...oh and bubble and squeak. Although different, very good.
"Beans beans the musical fruit...the more you eat the more you toot...the more you toot the better you feel...then you're ready for another meal" - Philboyd Studge
@Jaws, my grandpa used to sing that song ALL the time. Good memories :)