Walter Foods--Brooklyn

718.387.8783

Williamsburg eateries beware; there is a new game in town. Un fettered by it’s predecessors of comfort cuisine, Walter’s is poised to take the mantle of hipsterdom and turn it on its pretentious ear. Walter’s serves up its product with something many should take note: Pride and Polish. From the clean, well lit, and finished dining room, to the beautiful bar, to the hand tied bowties of its staff, there is nothing that isn’t finished, and finished well.

Make no mistake, this is a bar first and restaurant second, though the quality of the food and service would lead one to believe otherwise. There is something inviting about the bar besides its prominence, as though it’s a permanent fixture of comfort in a topsy-turvy world of economic woes and nationwide layoffs. The cocktail list is plenty, albeit old-fashioned, and the mixologists behind the bar are both friendly and adept. The cocktails are well done, cold draft cubes and basic, refined ingredients make their “old fashioned’ legitimately old fashioned, and other classic cocktails (Pimms Cup, Hemmingway, etc…) are cold, crisp, and enjoyable.

Even though the bar is the crown jewel, the menu compliments it quite well reflecting a willingness to serve crowd pleasers but doing so in a matter that is both unique and refreshing. Two good examples of this are the Cocktail Franks in a Blanket and the Chicken Pops—really just buffalo wings with the bone exposed. The menu also offers a middle tier of sandwiches and burgers and each is worth trying: The Rib Eye burger is well cooked, and the Filet Mignon French Dip and Lobster Club are all worthy of having more than once. The entrées reflect the same no-frill attitude but are executed with precision and delicacy. The hanger steak (aptly disguised as a “Butcher’s Steak) was cooked and seasoned well. The half fried chicken, and seasonal oyster platter are other enjoyable meals. My only complaint would be the price, as a $44 dollar surf and turf seems a bit steep, but I’ve seen worse ways to piss away money.

All in all it’s about time that restaurants turned the corner in Williamsburg. Too long this neighborhood has succumbed to establishments where the food is all that matters; where if clean and professional ambiance is ostracized as a gimmick and automatically considered too commercial or Manhattany. Dressler was the first to take a stab at this, yet fell flat with the amateur service after nailing the ambiance. At last we have a restaurant that has servers who take their job seriously, but more so, have pride in running a restaurant. Thank God that someone has finally taken the inhabitants of Williamsburg as something more than anti-establishment trend setters, because it was long over due.