The Sixth Ward

I found a new bar the other day that has a pool table. Naturally, the first thing I always think in such a situation is "I need to do a blog post about this place." Then it's "I wonder who all esle already knows about this place," followed by "I wonder who's going to start a team here before me." Later on I always find myself in the predicament of wanting to write about the bar, but only having empty pictures of the pool table.

In the case of The Sixth Ward, it's a rare situation where I've photographed the bar (or restaurant) long ago and have some idea of "then and now." The Sixth Ward is a recent reincarnation of a restaurant that I photographed almost two years ago for the Times. Back then it was called Heirloom, and it served a vegetarian menu. I lost track of Heirloom, as it's on a stretch of Orchard Street that soon became a hassle to navigate due to construction on both sides of the street. Read here to get the most current dirt on the location, which is 191 Orchard. Yvonne and I had been walking by several weeks ago when we saw a new awning. I looked in and saw the telltale sliver of green felt. A few days later I went back to take some pictures. The pool table is in the back of the bar, in a sort of in-between area that joins the main part of the bar to its garden in the back. The pool table is in a kind of greenhouse-like space, lots of daylight. I only had my fifty millimeter lens with me, so it was a little tight for pictures. I was determined to make it back to Sixth Ward to actually play some people before writing anything. So after getting knocked off the Sophie's table on a Thursday night that's exactly what I did. Nobody was playing when I got there so I started hitting some balls around. After a while I saw a couple eyeing the table and nearby pinball machine and I asked if they wanted to play. Long story short, if I remember correctly, one of them had scratched and left me with ball in hand and a pocket hanger on the eight. I sensed they wanted play again but only if it was quick game between the two of them. So it was no-brainer for me to give them the table. I went back to the main area to get some more quarters and another beer. I went back in to play some pinball and to take a few snaps of the couple playing. Soon the girl had had enough but the guy agreed to play me.

By then some of their friends had shown up. And so, perhaps wanting to show off, I obnoxiously said I would bank the eight. In doing so, I had to pass up a couple easy straight-in shots on the eight. I tried to play those safe, until he missed a shot and left me with a risky cross-corner bank. I decided to go for it but the cue ball double kissed the eight and both balls, laughingly, went into the same side pocket. Loss of game for me and a good reason to head home.

Below I've included one of the daytime shots from my initial visit. As you can see, it's an attractive space with a skylight feel not unlike Toad Hall. Not surprisingly, it's a little tight in some areas but not too bad at all. Considering the abundance of all that glass, I suspect the table will see abnormally high shifts in room temperature and humidity throughout the course of a year. I don't envision the table ever getting moved because of a private party or live music shows. So it seems to be nicely achored into its space. There is a heater hanging from the ceiling so I would imagine that would keep it bearable. If anything, I could see them having to close the back room down if the temps dip below zero.

The biggest blow, for a cheapskate like me, is the $1.50/rack and $6.00/Stella combination, as opposed to Sophie's prices of $1.00 and $4.50, comparatively. You see, that's the most brilliant part of playing at Sophie's, that you keep getting two quarters back as change so you rarely have to make a trip to the bar solely to get quarters. On top of that, when you want quarters at Sixth Ward (or Lucky Jack's and Whiskey Ward for that matter) you're pretty much forced to fork over three dollars worth. I know, this is about as nitpicky as you can get. But I like my beer cheap and my pool cheaper. In the end, I sense there'll be some temptation for me to step into The Sixth Ward for a nightcapper and check in on the action from time to time.