Friday, August 20th, 2010—Bar 222

Day 222—Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Walter’s Bar
The PayPal donation bell has rung and it was run by Dianne Swift. Dianne recently gave birth to a baby boy named, Emerson. I gave her some baby gas drops for a baby present and she in-turn sent in a generous donation of ten dollars with a message stating: “Your gas drops saved my night last night. Have one on my sanity.” You should check out Dianne’s website here: Hell Bound Heretic. Thanks Dianne!

Tonight I thought I’d stay in the neighborhood where I work. I’m a little tired from last night and I’ve saved a bar that’s only a couple blocks from where I work for a night where I was kind of beat and tonight’s the night. Walter’s Bar is one of the few bars in this area (I work near Madison Square Garden/Penn Station) that’s not a cookie cutter bar filled with refugees from the latest Madison Square Garden event and/or people having a drink before they get on their commuter train. back to the suburbs Walter’s is a real working class, neighborhood bar and a great place to throw back a beer or seven. And it’s a stone’s throw from where I work. You’ll see.

See, we're here already. Let's go in.

Wow, big crowd in here tonight.

But I managed to find a seat at the bar and Francis not only served me up a can of Pabst...

He threw in a shot on the house. I told you this was a friendly place!

The bottles are lit up at the bar. I always like that.

This is a rule I can live with.

There's a wooden bank and chairs opposite the bar that runs the perimeter of the brick walls.

There's a pool table in the back and the bar hosts local teams.

Joe was enjoying a beer at the bar. Cheers, Joe!

Walter's lamps hang overhead.

Owner Tony Ferber bought shots for both of us. He's a great host and knows all the customers in the place. His father Walter opened the place up 22 years ago. He owned another bar and threw Frank Sinatra and his bodyguard  out when Frank demanded he empty the place so he could drink in peace. The next day Frank came back and told the bartender he liked Walter's style and he wanted to buy him a drink. It was Walter's day off and the bartender called him at home and told him Frank Sinatra wanted to buy him a drink. Tony told me his dad didn't miss a beat and said, "You tell him to come back and buy me a drink when I'm working, this is my day off!" Ha ha ha! Great story, Walter sounds like a legendary, old-school New York barkeep.

Tony was a Marine for four years and proudly hangs this tribute to the Corps.

A Walter's cap.

Drink specials hang on the wall.

Custom-made neon hangs over the bar.

A vintage cash register is illuminated by the lit bottles at the bar.

Walter's logo was designed by Tony's sister-in-law. They keep it all in the family here.

There's a world-class dart board in the back and just like pool, they host local teams during the week.

There's a pizza oven at the end of the bar. Anyone hungry?

Joe is!

Here's regular Al, who holds up the paper and my card for proof that I was here on this night. Thanks for the verification, Al!

And here's Francis with the lovely Allison at the end of the bar.

And a glance out the window on my way out. Goodnight, everybody!

Review
Walter’s Bar is a friendly neighborhood joint in an area of town that is sorely short on joints like this. It’s a family owned business that was originally run by Walter Ferber. These days it’s owned and operated by his sons Tony and Michael. Most nights you can find Tony in the bar and he’s a friendly host and bartender. The bar is low-lit with rock and roll tunes playing at a conversational level. There’s a pool table in the back and a world-class dart board. The bar hosts both pool and dart teams on different nights of the week.

Walter’s has a full bar and during baseball season cans of Pabst go for two for five bucks every day of the week from opening to closing time (which is 4am, every night.) As you can tell from the aforementioned Pabst special Walter’s is a baseball bar and if a Met or Yankee player hits a triple, everyone in the bar gets two dollar shots that inning, which turns everyone into an avid baseball fan in the bar. And if a Met or Yankee hits a home run, everybody gets three buck shots. Play ball!

If you’re hungry, Walter’s has a pizza oven and has been on the block for 22 years. Stop in and have a drink at this family-owned local joint that’s a true local.

Walter’s Bar
389 Eighth Ave. (Near 29th St.)
212-502-4023