Anchor Bar

UPDATE:
This bar is no longer open. The person who made it really, really great, (Larry) is no longer there, and the bar is currently closed. Dont know the details, dont know when it will open up again. But I do know this....there will be some big shoes to fill if it opens again. Larry was by far one of the best bartenders i have ever met, and he was also the manager/part owner. He filled a special role there of boss and worker.

Sad its closed. It was great while it lasted. Hope something good can step up to the plate.

Will

UPDATE again:  went there on one of thier packed grand opening (Re Opening) and it was crazy. Packed to the hilt. TONS of people. Pretty sure a fire marshal woulda shut it down. the crowd was alright. The beer was served in warm glasses. Not the staff's fault, but they were not able to get them cold before serving more beer in them, thats how busy they were.  didnt try the food, not sure if its any good. New staff seemed to be handling the rush with skill, which is a hard thing to do.

One thing of note.....I know who the owner is. local winemaker Charles Smith. He was there that night. I am going to preclude the following with this statement. I know it was crowded. I know it is difficult to get through packed bars. I acknowledge that.  That said.....

He bodychecked me. Straight up walked into me to get me out of his way. No apologies, nothing. Just pushed my body out of the way with his. I have spoken with him before, and he is a somewhat curt individual. Sometimes almost a bit rude, but I have been able to have a functioning interchange before.  But to do something like that.....man.  I dont know if he recognized me and just felt like pushing through me was the best course of action, or if he didn't know me and didn't care who he was pushing through. Neither would surprise me, with the impression I have gotten from him.

I wanted to put this in here because it reflects poorly on his business. The new employees seem nice, I dont know about the new manager, as I have not spoken with him much or been in enough to form an opinion of his style and abilities, but I am pretty sure its not going to help attract clientele if the owner  is going to be shoving people out of his way when he is there.........I know if I go try it out again and he is there I will not be super ecstatic knowing I have to stay out of his way whenever he walks anywhere.

That said, I hope it works out. The local community could use another good bar, and the location is good, the prices are decent, the bar staff seems knowledgable and friendly ( dont know if Gabe is working there fulltime or just helped out on the busy night, but he is a great bartender, works at JimGerman and a couple other places I guess)  and its very convenient for anyone in the area to stop in and grab a beer.

Cheers

And just like that, a new bar is born, and the legend of Waitsburg grows.  

On a warm summer evening, we had a magnificent dinner on  Whoopemup's patio next door.  Looking at the Anchor's old building, the sky was turning light blue .:::. dark blue .:::. purple .:::. black.  I traced the Earth's revolution, by measuring how many bricks the Moon creeped along the roof of the Anchor Bar.  Music burst from its doors like spells from a wand, and bounced back and forth against Main St. storefronts.  We were being called....

...but we played hard to get:  C'mon, we had to go to jimgermanbar first.

Once we were good and ready, we walked across the street to the black & white-colored Anchor, and crossed the threshold.  This was the 2nd night of business.  But this place is already an anchor on Main St.

A two-person band (guitar/singer & drummer, hailing from Walla Walla known in these parts as Rubberneck) commanded attention from the tiny stage, at the STERN of the Anchor. The patrons spanned young-to-old, blue-to-white collar, Miami Vice-to-rockabilly.....(I was dressed in Crocket-esque pastel, because of our warm evening).

We walked through the large open space just westward of the stage (here is a long line of chairs on the STARBOARD-side wall and tables/chairs dotted the PORT-side wall).  Very large, cool, & stylish art/photos adorn the walls above (an antler chandelier in the center tied everything together).  Towards the center of the establishment is the small & efficient bar.  Here we grabbed a few open stools.  In the bar area and beyond:  stained-wood-paneling.  Something about this paneling (and the huge 70's photo of a Crater Lake-ish scene) made me feel at home...and younger.

The two kind and weathered women working the bar were super nice and flashed warm-Waitsburg smiles.  We just wanted a beer, listen to the band, and soak it in.  There are 5 taps, and on this evening they had:  Anchor Steam (of course), Skuttlebutt (I now get the joke with this one), Alpine, and PBR (of course, again).  They listed a 5th one in the menu, but it must have been tapped out.

To round out the geography, we went to the AFT of the bar where there is a small open area inhabited by 3 very cool and old school pin ball machines---I dare you to beat our high score on the "Jacks to Open" pinball machine (my bro threw down 206,070 points!).  If foosballs is your game of choice, you're also in luck.  

In preparation for the drive home we needed sustenance, actually the aroma of hot dogs demanded we eat.  We were going to have a dog,but when the words "sloppy joe" were uttered, a different choice was made.  

We had such an awesome time here, and already can't wait for the next visit.  It was cool to chat with the band at the bar.  We suggested other bars for him to send demos to (Tractor Tavern & The Brick, give Rubberneck some love!).  The vibe was super chill and lead us to a great night.

Upon leaving, the stars above screamed to us; the moon had since slipped below the horizon.  We drove a few miles outside of W-burg, and hung a right on a farm road.  We looked skyward, and were thankful for a wonderful day & evening.

[be sure to check out all the photos I posted...and post others when you go---there are so many cool photo-worthy things here!]