Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/753315
PHOTO BY MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; MERRICK ALES (FULL ROOM); BEN PORTER (BAR) IF THIS BAR COULD TALK FOR 140 YEARS, IT SERVED THE GREATS OF NEW YORK, BUT NOW THE BAR FROM THE LEGENDARY CEDAR TAVERN HOLDS COURT AT AUSTIN'S NEW EBERLY. You know at first glance that this majestic bar at the Eberly's new Cedar Tavern—named for its original home in New York-—has a storied history. And what stories they are. The dark mahogany bar served the counterculture of '50s and '60s New York: Jack Kerouac, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Jackson Pollack. But its history goes back yet another century, to 1866, when woodworkers carved it out of mahogany shipped from Honduras, the same wood used by the British and Spanish for boats, furniture, and palaces. It was wood meant to last. During its legendary, 140-year run, the Cedar Tavern attracted devoted regulars. Among those in the early 1990s were Stubb's Bar-B-Q co-founders John Scott and Eddy Patterson, along with Bobby Patterson, Eddy's artist brother (and a Pollack fan). They later settled in Austin, but Bobby died in 2004. After Bobby's friend Tom Maitland told Scott and Patterson about the Cedar Tavern's closing in 2006, they tracked down the bar in a basement, bought it, and moved it in more than 100 pieces to Central Texas. A master carpenter put it back together with the help of only two photos. "It was like the ultimate jigsaw puzzle," says Maitland, now Eberly's operations manager and resident historian. The bar, with its stunning Tiffany windows, gargoyles, rosettes, and one-way mirror, now sits like a shrine in a tiled, airy space. Says Maitland: "It was all about showcasing the beauty of this historic bar." 615 S. Lamar Blvd., 512-916- 9000; eberlyaustin.com . 6 AUSTINWAY.COM CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Built in 1866, this historic bar is now treated like a shrine at the Cedar Tavern at Austin's new Eberly restaurant and event space on South Lamar Boulevard; in the '60s, the Cedar Tavern attracted counterculture heroes like Bob Dylan; bartenders Ryan Foster and Jim Ross. FRONT RUNNER