I shot this picture a few years ago, early in the morning when one of the TT's customers was leaving to sleep it off.^Dan Casey's column this morning in a local daily newspaper (here) splashes the "chile" on the counter at the Texas Tavern, which celebrated its 80th birthday yesterday.
I thought that, after my last experience with a TT birthday (75th), which I celebrated by discussing how awful the food is, would be my final reference to Texas, Taverns and birthdays for a while. ("Chile" is supposed to be chili, but the misspelling is only the first misrepresentation.)
Dan, however, has brought it up again in a column that is just about perfect. He likes the food as much as I did.
Here's a story I regaled Dan with this a.m. while telling him I liked the column:
Owner Matt Bullington's dad Jim, an old buddy of mine (and an accomplished photographer), tells this story: "We get people coming in at 2 in the morning so drunk they can barely lay on the floor without holding on. They've had a bottle of wine, a couple of mixed drinks and a six-pack of beer when they get to the restaurant and they order a cheesy western, hot dog with and a bowl with and one of our eight-ounce Cokes in the bottle, thinking that will get rid of any hangovers they might have the next day. When they wake up feeling like they've been hit by a garbage truck, they blame it on us. Every time."
Dan-
ReplyDeleteI never described anything like you put in your recent blog. The thing that puzzles me is why people like you and Dan Casey seem to have a need to be so vicious and personal in your descriptions of the food and our business. If you don't like the food, don't eat it. You are much too talented to sink to this level of journalism. It would seem as if maybe you were thrown out in your drinking days and are still trying to "get even".
Thousands of people will support the Texas Tavern. How many will support your thoughts? Or Casey.
Come on, Dan. Write on the level that you belong on. I might even do a free portrait for you.
Jim Bullington
You wrote:
ReplyDelete"We get people coming in at 2 in the morning so drunk they can barely lay on the floor without holding on. They've had a bottle of wine, a couple of mixed drinks and a six-pack of beer when they get to the restaurant and they order a cheesy western, hot dog with and a bowl with and one of our eight-ounce Cokes in the bottle, thinking that will get rid of any hangovers they might have the next day. When they wake up feeling like they've been hit by a garbage truck, they blame it on us. Every time."
I never said that to you and you know it. It borders on libelious
journalism. I think the booze screwed up your memory, among other things.
And, I ain't "your old buddy".
jb
Just curious if you had verified if this was the real Jim Bullington commenting on your blog. Seems a bit uncharacteristic.
ReplyDeleteAlso, wondering why you've recently opted to use phrases like "a local daily newspaper." It's a little silly when we all know you're talking about The Roanoke Times -- hell, you're linking to them, so it's not a secret.
Thanks, Jay
Jim Bullington, dammit!, you did too tell me that story. More than once. And no, I don't eat the food any longer (my doc would shoot me if I didn't croak from the fat, salt, carbs, sugar, etc.), but I like the owners who used to have a sense of humor about their little place on the corner. Having fun with the Texas Tavern has never been something I have considered vicious or mean. People will eat there because they want to or won't because they don't want to. It won't be because Dan Casey or I have said anything, whether or not journalistically (and this blog is not journalism). And you did, too, tell that story.
ReplyDeleteJay: "The local daily" referred to Valley Business FRONT as "a regional business publication" without a name. What's good for the goose ...