Bar Remembrance: The Ginger Man
Many of the taverns in my dive bar book have closed. Here is another.
The Ginger Man
5607 Morningside Dr
Who knew Houston was so literary? Along with Under the Volcano, this makes two bars named after alcohol-drenched novels within a mile of each other. The G-Man is the older of the two and within Rice Village proper.
A couple of decades ago, this was pretty much it for nightlife in Rice Village, which once rolled up its shutters early. No more – the Village now hops and even can get a bit douche-tastic in spots, especially on Morningside.
But not at the Gingerman. The funky little converted house with the front-and-back shaded beer gardens remains as it has always been – a great place to pore over a list of literally hundreds of beers – over 50 on draught -- while listening to Muddy Waters and the Clash on the jukebox.
You’ll still get some of the more eccentric characters in the neighborhood here – burnouts from Rice’s tough engineering programs and other assorted “Village Irregulars.” It can get crowded and loud on weekend nights, but if you go during pretty weather and sit outside, after three or four pints you’ll leave feeling the same way Time magazine once described Sebastian Daingerfield, the protagonist in this bar’s namesake novel: “A whoring, boozing young wastrel” ready to make a “ wild, fierce two-handed grab for every precious second of life."
What’s There Now: Vacant building, owned by Rice University. A Midtown outpost of the Gingerman came and went sometime around 2018.
Spent many evenings there as a Rice student and then as a graduate. Lots of darts thrown.
Darn, another one I'm sorry I missed