The Boilermaker quickly and quietly slipped into Blue Bear Tavern’s space last weekend, at 216 S 11th St. As previously reported, Blue Bear was under construction for what seemed like an eternity, finally holding its grand opening in October.  It was only operating for about 6 months before it went dark a few weeks back.

Blue Bear

Luckily, the owners of neighboring The Farmers’ Cabinet swooped in, and from what we’ve heard (but not seen, as they were not open when we stopped by), the inside has been transformed from the dark wood/marble interior to a “medieval-goth-vampire” interior with lots of candles and exposed brick.  The facade is the same, but a different color.  The 12 or so taps have been increased to an impressive 28 on the downstairs bar, and 12 on the upstairs bar.  A new comfort food menu has been created by The Farmers’ Cabinet’s chefs.  To keep with their namesake, a menu has been specially created with a variety of boilermakers – a shot with a beer!

No longer blue

Judging from the Yelp reviews, Blue Bear Tavern has been suffering for quite some time.  As sad as we are to see Blue Bear go, especially after all the effort going into finally opening it, we’re thrilled to have a place for new and tasty libations in Washington Square West.  The Boilermaker has no website yet, but check them out on Facebook here.

Spooky taps. From their Facebook page.