JANUARY 18, 2018 // 15
Story and photo
By RYAN HUME
COLUMBIA BAR
FOR COAST WEEKEND
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for
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Restaurant
1157 N. Marion Avenue
Gearhart
503-717-8150
www.mcmenamins.com
A STORIA
C ORNER
D ELI
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304 37th Street | Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-7768
All orders take-out
503.325.7414
bakedak.com
#1 12th Street, Astoria, OR
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n a recent visit to the
slightly rebranded
Workers Tavern,
there was, well, work being
done. The sounds of electric
screwdrivers and/or pneu-
matic nail guns occasionally
pierced the constant rumble
of traffic off Marine Drive.
Since Diana Kirk took
over the historic bar from
the legendary Mary Todd
in fall 2016, Workers has
undergone some cosmetic
surgery. Not a full facelift
by any means, but more like
a little injection to erase the
frown lines.
There’s a new kitchen
and new wall-to-wall check-
ered flooring. The new sign
out front is temporary as
Kirk awaits a custom-made
neon number designed by
Jeff Miller of local Red
Dwarf Graphx. They have
raised the front of the
building two inches, which
accounted for the periodic
noise from the sidewalk.
Though the construction has
kept the bar closed during
the day, they will resume
normal business hours in
February.
The good news is that not
much has changed at Work-
ers Tavern.
Kirk has retained the
original staff and local
favorites like Friday and
Saturday Prime Rib, Meat
Bingo and the Yucca, a
well-shaken vodka punch I
have written about previ-
ously in this column. The
cosmetics are more akin to
taking a much-needed spring
cleaning to Astoria’s living
room.
The better news is that
Kirk and staff have been
mindful of making Workers
more financially accommo-
dating. The once cash-only
establishment now accepts
debit and credit cards, and
Kirk has put an emphasis
on dropping the prices of
the food and bar menu.
Seriously, when was the last
time you heard about a place
Workers
Nasty Apple
Workers Tavern’s Nasty Apple
having cheaper food and
drink?
Kirk explained this is all
part of the Workers philos-
ophy. “I want Workers to be
about the workers of Clatsop
County,” she said. “Workers
for workers.”
In this spirit, the next
evening, she explained, was
to be their inaugural craft
beer night, with $3.50 craft
pints and $13 pitchers, with
an additional 10 percent off
for brewery and brewpub
employees. Kirk, who is also
an author, working on her
second collection of essays
titled “Sucking Wind,” has
much more in mind for the
community-oriented tavern,
including a few hostel
rooms, a concert series out
back in the beer garden and
the introduction of Tavern
Poker, a national point-based
tournament where the top-
ranked semi-finalists from
across the country are flown
to Las Vegas to play for a
$50,000 jackpot.
This drink from Work-
ers’ new seasonal cocktail
menu — nasty only in the
reclaimed feminist sense of
the word following the third
Presidential debate of 2016
— is a spin off the more tra-
ditional Washington Apple
cocktail, which Kirk finds
too sweet. Hence, cutting
the cranberry juice with soda
water. Just like a Washing-
ton Apple, Workers uses
MacNaughton, a Canadian
blended whiskey — the kind
of whiskey, Kirk quipped,
that would please any drunk-
en uncle. “It’s the kind of
whiskey,” Kirk joked, “that I
wouldn’t pull out for guests,
but would keep in the cup-
board for ourselves.” Any
whiskey will work against
the sweet/sour of the Apple
Pucker schnapps. With
enough cranberry juice and
soda water on hand, you can
experiment and be as sweet
or nasty as you want to be.
WORKERS
NASTY APPLE
2 ounces MacNaughton
Whiskey
1/2 ounce Apple Pucker
schnapps
Cranberry juice
Soda water
Ice
In an old-fashioned
glass, pour in your pre-
ferred whiskey and the
schnapps. Fill to the brim
with ice, then top off with
whatever combination of
cranberry juice and soda
water pleases the palette.
Workers Tavern splits the
difference down the line
with half juice and half
soda water.
—Recipe courtesy of
Diana Kirk, owner, Workers
Tavern, Astoria CW